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!
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