We met our roommates after landing in Hue (we didn’t actually know we would be flying to Hue from Saigon until about a week ago), after claiming our bags. (Sidenote: Grant left one of his bags at the gate in Saigon and had to wait a week to get it back). It was kinda crazy because we knew literally nothing about them, thanks to Vu keeping it a secret from us. But he chose the Vietnamese roommates only after meeting our group during the Academy, to make sure everyone would fit in and work as a group- which is amazing. My roommate, Khanh, upon first impression: very cool, very excited to meet me. She introduced me to her best friend, Nga, who was Kayla’s roommate (funny because Kayla and I were roommates in Saigon!) Overall kinda crazy and overwhelming, but there’s really no other way it could have happened.
We all went outside to our bus and loaded up our luggage- actually, Hoi, Jared’s roommate, did it. This was especially amusing because Jared we had been calling the “dad” of our group, and Hoi was honestly so similar (upon first impression, and also ever since). We sat with our roommates on the way to Quang Tri and started to get to know each other. To be honest, it could have been (and should have been) a lot more awkward than it was, because it really wasn’t that awkward at all. Khanh and I talked about our families, our backgrounds, our respective CET groups, our majors at school (all the roommates are English majors but with different focuses, like Khanh wants to teach English and some others want to do interpreting or be tour guides). Soon enough we arrived in Quang Tri and settled into our guesthouse. It’s a really nice, quite large building with three floors, and we take up the entire second floor. The rooms are in this large hallway that essentially functions as our common room, and then there’s an open third floor. Vu and Hien (our program assistant) also have their own rooms on the second floor. We’ve got air conditioning and semi-dependable wifi which generally makes us a happy crew.
Over that weekend, we visited the market, had a bike tour, and walked around Quang Tri so here are some general observations about my first impressions of Quang Tri:
Small town, but we imagined smaller
The DukeEngage program profile hones in on the fact that Quang Tri is a small town in rural Vietnam, and though Dr. Robert prepared us by telling us about government restrictions on working in truly rural Vietnam – and how QT isn’t that rural- it was still a little disconcerting. Disconcerting because you can basically get anything significant that you want in Quang Tri, and because it’s got this main street lined with bakeries, small smoothie and coffee shops, karaoke places, and clothing shops. Don’t get me wrong- Quang Tri is no Saigon, for sure. There are no skyscrapers, and there are some dirt roads, and the houses are smaller and the traffic less congested with cars. But somehow, in my imagination- and this was a shared feeling- I saw a very small village with few economic investments or establishments. I do believe what we experience of QT is much of the center of town, and it gets more rural on the outskirts, which matters a lot when considering that we’ll be teaching kids from all over the area.
The market is wild
Wild is a little bit of an exaggeration. But it’s a beautiful chaos with many vendors selling many vegetables and fruits, among the freshest I’ve seen. And it’s all even cheaper than in Saigon, like the coconuts or the rambutan. We went to get buckets and laundry detergent, as we’ll be handwashing everything, and observed some solid bargaining from Nga.
Slap me if I ever complain about Duke laundry again
…because it’s absolutely luxurious compared to hand-washing extremely dirty clothes every day. The steps are simple enough: clothes, water, and detergent in the bucket, soak, swish, scrub, wash, wring, dry. But the first day I probably spent about two hours in the bathroom, first of all because I had to wash everything from Saigon and I was out of clothes. But also because I had to learn how to get good at this. (Also funny note about drying: the first few days I felt weird about hanging out my underwear and bras for the world to see…but at this point it really seems insignificant). After a few days, I figured out a system: to just wash everything as I shower because I’m wet already. My mom would be super impressed that I now can shower, sufficiently wash my worksite clothes, and get ready in less than 15 minutes. I’m hoping that my efficiency will not be temporary, but no matter what, our laundry situation is, because we get to go back to $1.50 laundry machines and dryers that take too long and underwear snatchers, while most people here end up doing this backbreaking and time consuming chore every day.
Vu is a hero (even though his line is “don’t be a hero”)
Not sure how much I’ve said about Vu already, but in case it isn’t still fresh: Vu is our CET program coordinator, who visited us during DukeEngage Academy and attended all our sessions and everything. He participated in this program when he was a student, as a Vietnamese roommate, and he’s just the best. Our belief as a DukeEngage team when we met him was that he could do anything. We hung out with him a few times in Saigon, like when he took us out to eat or took us to the War Museum or told us how to do simple things like use the ATM or buy water, but here in Quang Tri we see him every day and now we know that he can do anything. He’s super into biking, like for races, and he’s training for one right now that’ll be in Saigon in November. He trains and fundraises all the time, and wakes up at 4 am to bike. He tends to wear his biking clothes a lot, and sometimes comes straight to our worksite after his morning bike ride looking very biker-y. He’s also a celebrity in Quang Tri, where he’s been working with the DukeEngage program for a few years, and our community partners like at the school we’re building at or at the Youth Center really respect him as do we. He’s so sincere and genuine but also very down to earth, really helped us understand the culture here, really did everything to make sure we were comfortable and safe. Such as tell us any time we could do anything dumb: “Don’t be a hero.” He would tell us this when we wanted to have anything with ice in it for the first few days we were in Vietnam, or at the worksite when it rained, and though we joke about it, it definitely has kept us healthy! Will definitely share more Vu stories later (and Hien stories)!
Co Bang nourishes our bodies and our souls
Co Bang (Bang is her name and Co is her title of respect based on her age relative to ours) is the sweetest lady- she’s the local cook whose food we eat every day. Hien made sure I would have vegetarian food every day, so Co Bang makes me omelettes or morning glory without meat for every meal even if everything else on the table has meat. Even though we eat simple meals, like pho for breakfast or rice at lunch and dinner, it’s all so nourishing and kind of humbling because of the simplicity. And the way we eat our meals is so different from how we eat at Duke- more often than not, a meal at school is rushed and either eaten in front of my laptop screen, or rushed and eaten with friends between classes, Here, meals are relaxed and we have conversations about our days or whatever else, and we eat family style and pass the “egg pizza” (amazing fried egg) around or serve each other rice and lemonade. It’s true that I miss the spices of Indian food, and I do have limited options here (despite the full tables because meat), but I’m definitely taken care of and that is more than enough.
We all went outside to our bus and loaded up our luggage- actually, Hoi, Jared’s roommate, did it. This was especially amusing because Jared we had been calling the “dad” of our group, and Hoi was honestly so similar (upon first impression, and also ever since). We sat with our roommates on the way to Quang Tri and started to get to know each other. To be honest, it could have been (and should have been) a lot more awkward than it was, because it really wasn’t that awkward at all. Khanh and I talked about our families, our backgrounds, our respective CET groups, our majors at school (all the roommates are English majors but with different focuses, like Khanh wants to teach English and some others want to do interpreting or be tour guides). Soon enough we arrived in Quang Tri and settled into our guesthouse. It’s a really nice, quite large building with three floors, and we take up the entire second floor. The rooms are in this large hallway that essentially functions as our common room, and then there’s an open third floor. Vu and Hien (our program assistant) also have their own rooms on the second floor. We’ve got air conditioning and semi-dependable wifi which generally makes us a happy crew.
Over that weekend, we visited the market, had a bike tour, and walked around Quang Tri so here are some general observations about my first impressions of Quang Tri:
Small town, but we imagined smaller
The DukeEngage program profile hones in on the fact that Quang Tri is a small town in rural Vietnam, and though Dr. Robert prepared us by telling us about government restrictions on working in truly rural Vietnam – and how QT isn’t that rural- it was still a little disconcerting. Disconcerting because you can basically get anything significant that you want in Quang Tri, and because it’s got this main street lined with bakeries, small smoothie and coffee shops, karaoke places, and clothing shops. Don’t get me wrong- Quang Tri is no Saigon, for sure. There are no skyscrapers, and there are some dirt roads, and the houses are smaller and the traffic less congested with cars. But somehow, in my imagination- and this was a shared feeling- I saw a very small village with few economic investments or establishments. I do believe what we experience of QT is much of the center of town, and it gets more rural on the outskirts, which matters a lot when considering that we’ll be teaching kids from all over the area.
The market is wild
Wild is a little bit of an exaggeration. But it’s a beautiful chaos with many vendors selling many vegetables and fruits, among the freshest I’ve seen. And it’s all even cheaper than in Saigon, like the coconuts or the rambutan. We went to get buckets and laundry detergent, as we’ll be handwashing everything, and observed some solid bargaining from Nga.
Slap me if I ever complain about Duke laundry again
…because it’s absolutely luxurious compared to hand-washing extremely dirty clothes every day. The steps are simple enough: clothes, water, and detergent in the bucket, soak, swish, scrub, wash, wring, dry. But the first day I probably spent about two hours in the bathroom, first of all because I had to wash everything from Saigon and I was out of clothes. But also because I had to learn how to get good at this. (Also funny note about drying: the first few days I felt weird about hanging out my underwear and bras for the world to see…but at this point it really seems insignificant). After a few days, I figured out a system: to just wash everything as I shower because I’m wet already. My mom would be super impressed that I now can shower, sufficiently wash my worksite clothes, and get ready in less than 15 minutes. I’m hoping that my efficiency will not be temporary, but no matter what, our laundry situation is, because we get to go back to $1.50 laundry machines and dryers that take too long and underwear snatchers, while most people here end up doing this backbreaking and time consuming chore every day.
Vu is a hero (even though his line is “don’t be a hero”)
Not sure how much I’ve said about Vu already, but in case it isn’t still fresh: Vu is our CET program coordinator, who visited us during DukeEngage Academy and attended all our sessions and everything. He participated in this program when he was a student, as a Vietnamese roommate, and he’s just the best. Our belief as a DukeEngage team when we met him was that he could do anything. We hung out with him a few times in Saigon, like when he took us out to eat or took us to the War Museum or told us how to do simple things like use the ATM or buy water, but here in Quang Tri we see him every day and now we know that he can do anything. He’s super into biking, like for races, and he’s training for one right now that’ll be in Saigon in November. He trains and fundraises all the time, and wakes up at 4 am to bike. He tends to wear his biking clothes a lot, and sometimes comes straight to our worksite after his morning bike ride looking very biker-y. He’s also a celebrity in Quang Tri, where he’s been working with the DukeEngage program for a few years, and our community partners like at the school we’re building at or at the Youth Center really respect him as do we. He’s so sincere and genuine but also very down to earth, really helped us understand the culture here, really did everything to make sure we were comfortable and safe. Such as tell us any time we could do anything dumb: “Don’t be a hero.” He would tell us this when we wanted to have anything with ice in it for the first few days we were in Vietnam, or at the worksite when it rained, and though we joke about it, it definitely has kept us healthy! Will definitely share more Vu stories later (and Hien stories)!
Co Bang nourishes our bodies and our souls
Co Bang (Bang is her name and Co is her title of respect based on her age relative to ours) is the sweetest lady- she’s the local cook whose food we eat every day. Hien made sure I would have vegetarian food every day, so Co Bang makes me omelettes or morning glory without meat for every meal even if everything else on the table has meat. Even though we eat simple meals, like pho for breakfast or rice at lunch and dinner, it’s all so nourishing and kind of humbling because of the simplicity. And the way we eat our meals is so different from how we eat at Duke- more often than not, a meal at school is rushed and either eaten in front of my laptop screen, or rushed and eaten with friends between classes, Here, meals are relaxed and we have conversations about our days or whatever else, and we eat family style and pass the “egg pizza” (amazing fried egg) around or serve each other rice and lemonade. It’s true that I miss the spices of Indian food, and I do have limited options here (despite the full tables because meat), but I’m definitely taken care of and that is more than enough.