Gastronomical Changes, pt 1

It goes without saying that when you move to the other side of the world, things change. Your outlook on the world changes, your ability to adapt to strange new situations changes, and your place in the societal hierarchy changes. One of the things that no one tells you, however, is that your diet will change. It may seem obvious but I had expected that in a modernized, large metropolitan city like Ho Chi Minh I would be able to find just about any type of food I could want. And for the most part, that's true. But due to scarcity or price there are some food items that just tend to fall out of most western people's diets when they move to Vietnam. Here are a few of them.

• Dairy. Besides those who are lactose intolerant, most western people get a lot of dairy in their diets. Be it milk, ice cream, chocolate, cheese, etc, these foods are just not as accessible as they are in America. There are some dairy items that are fairly popular here, such as yogurt, condensed milk, and to a certain degree ice cream. However, you start to notice that most of the dairy from your home diet seems to disappear. Regular milk like the kind that you'd put on cereal is expensive and unavailable in any decent quantity. Good chocolate is expensive. Cheese is especially hard to find and when you do, you'll likely balk at the price. Back home I had access to a smorgasbord of fine cheeses: brie, emmental, feta, mozzarella, camembert. If I want a chunk of brie cheese here I practically have to sign over the rights to my first-born child. 

• Bread. Besides the ubiquitous french baguette, good bread here is much harder to find than in America. I'm used to only eating high-quality multi-grain wheat bread; in Vietnam the "wheat" bread is likely just white bread with food coloring. Not to mention that once you do buy some, if you don't keep it in the refrigerator the heat and humidity will birth mold on your bread before you've had time to make a sandwich. It makes sense; rice is the staple here and for good reason, it's one of the most fertile rice-growing areas on earth. Sadly that comes at the expense of good grain options. 

• Beer. Now, here beer is a more commonly available beverage than water or tea, but the lack of high-quality suds here is disappointing. It ties in with the bread, as both are grain based and as of yet no one has found a way to make rice beer (I think). There are a few breweries that produce a good product, and some venues import beer from overseas, but generally speaking you're limited to 4-5 different beers, all of which are just lower quality clones of Budweiser or Coors. 

So there you have it; 3 staples of the American diet which fall to the wayside once you decided to move to Vietnam. There are more ways in which your diet changes in an Asian country; some things that are less integral to your diet and some that are more. Ho Chi Minh is a city of 9 million people, thus any type of food is available here: Mexican, Indian, American, Italian, you name it you can find it. But in your day to day life it's unrealistic to think that you can make this move without having to adjust your eating habits. In part 2 I will cover a few foods that I didn't eat much of back in America but I have found myself eating relatively regularly here.

Adventure Time: Let's go to Cambodia!

Cambodia is a country trying to find an identity. It has remnants of French colonialism, an influx of western money and businesses, and at its core is the Khmer people and their language. Unlike Vietnam, which had its language changed drastically by the French, the Khmer language survived the period where they too were ruled by France. In fact, Vietnam is one of the only Asian countries to not have a language system based on symbols. But this post isn't about Vietnam.

I got to Phnom Penh, Cambodia about 6pm yesterday, after a confusing and at times nerve-wracking experience at the border figuring out the visa process. I'll post more on that later. Since arriving here I can't help but compare everything to Vietnam, both positive and negative. I'm very much enjoying my time here, as English is much more commonly spoken, USD is their secondary currency, and it has the same sort of patina on every surface and space, buildings seemingly dancing on the precipice of decay.

I'd heard that the Cambodian people are incredibly friendly and so far I have to say that's true. Even though the tuk-tuk drivers will hound you for a ride as they do in Vietnam, I haven't really had the feeling yet that someone is trying to scam me. Even today at the Central Market where you can become a proud "Rolex" owner, the vendors were willing to bargain even if they are looking to make a buck off of us. I can't quite explain the difference but the people here are quick to smile and say hello.

I haven't yet gone to see the Killing Fields or the torture prisons, and I'm not sure I will. I don't want to pretend that those atrocities aren't real, or don't still affect aspects of Cambodian people and culture to this day, but I also have a hard time with such depressing experiences. I'd be broke right now if I followed my impulse to hand money over to a crippled or disabled street beggar every time I passed one on the street.

Our (I'm here with my friend Ryan) first hostel was a clean but basic place called Rachana Hostel. It was centrally located and only $12 for a double room. But that was an online only deal so we'd have to pay $25 to stay each additional night so instead we headed out to a place called Good Morning Guesthouse, where I sit and type this now. It's definitely a hippie backpacker place but the price was fair and it was near our first hostel. Had I known the room would look like something I'd imagine a Cambodian prison would look like maybe I'd have gone elsewhere... but for now I'm here and making the best of it as always. The staff is friendly and they have a cafe/lobby area with comfortable chairs. Tomorrow we will find somewhere else to stay, there is no shortage of hostels and guesthouses in the area.

I'll be here for at least 5 days; after my time here in Phnom Penh I'll either bus to Sihoukanville with Ryan or head back to Saigon. I'd like to go to Siem Reap where you can see the ancient temple of Angkor Wat, but that's a 5-hour bus ride the opposite direction. At some point I'll hit the street with my camera and try to capture some of the interesting architecture, the pagodas, and the people. Supposedly there is an elephant sanctuary somewhere nearby, if so you can bet on me visiting. Hopefully wherever you are reading this you're in good health and good spirits, thanks for reading my blog and please stay tuned for more updates!

An update on my life recently

Okay. So I've been really bad at updating this blog (which I knew would happen but didn't want to admit). So now instead of giving each of these experiences their own posts and fleshing out the stories, I'll have to give you a bird's eye view of the last month of my life.

Part 1: Volunteering

Three Fridays ago my friend Minh invited me to go to a charity event about 20km outside of the city. I'd been looking into various volunteering opportunities recently so I figured I should jump at the chance. We were to be handing out food to the poor at a pagoda. We would use the city bus which I hadn't taken before but I'd almost been taken out BY one of the busses (they drive like maniacs). A while later we arrived at a Buddhist pagoda where they shelter disabled orphans, some of which have grown up in the temple and are now adults living and working there. Very few people spoke enough English to make conversation possible so at first it was a lot of smiles, head nods, and hand gestures.

They fed us breakfast which was a vegetarian pho, then we got to work tilling some land behind the buildings to make a vegetable garden. I had tilled before, with a motorized tiller in my mother's garden. These were not motorized tillers. They were sticks with tools fashioned onto the ends. And if I hadn't mentioned it before, Vietnam is kind of... sweltering hot. And we were outside, sans A/C, for the entirety of the day. Yeah, you get the picture.

Around noon we had lunch, which was a really big meal of rice, noodles, morning glory, a vegetable curry, various small dishes. This meal we ate with the monks of the temple, one of which was a well-traveled young man who spoke English very well. It was a special day; it was Buddha's birthday as well as the first official day of that young monk studying there under the... head monk (Master Monk?). He told me about his thoughts on his time in America and several other countries, how he got to be here, and told me a little bit about his religion, without being pushy.

By 1pm we had a few tables set end to end and covered with food and other gifts such as simple toys for children. Each person who had gotten a coupon got 5kg of rice, 20 packs of instant noodles, soy sauce, sugar, salt, and wet wipes. The turnout wasn't as high as was expected, there were still about a dozen people unaccounted for. Numerous theories as to why it wasn't as busy as usual were bandied about. About 4pm Minh and I went back out to the road and waited for the city bus to take us back into the hustle and bustle of downtown Saigon.

Part II: Relocation Efforts

My lease at the apartment I'd been staying in the last 3 months expired on the 24th of May, and my friend Ryan and I had been looking at moving in together. It was a stressful search, as the real estate agents here (which almost every landlord utilizes) are the epitome of greediness and ineptitude. You'll ask to see a specific listing then they'll either tell you that it's no longer available, despite being advertised on their window, or they'll agree then show you a different, more expensive apartment. 

But eventually we found a 3 bedroom apartment for a good price in a good location and most importantly, with good landlords. They're an older Vietnamese couple who don't speak much English but are very friendly and agreeable. It's on the 13th floor so it has a great view and gets a good amount of wind. 

Of course, nothing is ever as easy as it seems. Turns out there was a LOT of cleaning to do, as the standard of "clean" can be very different between westerners and Vietnamese. There was 5 years worth of gunk and grime and dirt and soot packed into the nooks and the crannies. We've only just begun to clean really. And our keys only work on the door locks sometimes. But as with everything we have to roll with the punches and adapt. 

Part III: Future Trips

In the last few weeks I've planned two future trips, and possibly a third. In about a week I'll be taking a bus into Phnom Penn, Cambodia, where I'll be tagging along with Ryan for a few days on a poker tour. I'm not much of a poker player but I thought it'd be cool to see a little bit of Cambodia. I might then take a bus to Sihanoukville which is a beach resort town. It worked out perfectly with the timing of my visa so I figured if I have to leave the country to get a new visa anyway I might as well make a trip of it.

Then in September I'll be going to Europe! The plan was originally just to see Austria (where my friends Evan & Gretchen are getting married) and Germany, but my sister thought it'd be cool to see Scotland while we're in the neighborhood, and well you can't just see Scotland and not go to London, so we're going there too, oh and then after Germany we will see Switzerland for a few days! So the trip looks like this:
Sept 8-16th in the UK
Sept 16-21st in Austria
Sept 21-23rd in Germany
Sept 23-25th in Switzerland!

It's not enough time to really see that much of Germany and Switzerland, but you know, money. It will still be a great trip, and we will even go to Munich during Oktoberfest!