Vietnam: A Kaleidoscope of Shades, Sights and Sounds

Beep!  Beep! Beep!  

You know that feeling where you wake up and forget where you are, what is going on and why you are awake?  Well, at 3:45am when my alarm went off Thursday morning – I had this moment of panic.

I had only slept for two hours – having spent the night prior speaking at the Rotary Club of Silom for dinner and rushing home to do laundry after midnight and pack for our trip.  I had been WAITING for Vietnam for so so so long – but I couldn’t believe it was actually here!  I have been so busy with school that I haven’t even had a chance to get excited for the trip!

I was concerned that my excitement would prevent me from sleeping on the short two-hour flight to Hanoi, however, the minute those jet-engine tires lifted off the runway in Bangkok- I was out.  I woke up just as we were flying into Hanoi and drooled out the tiny plane window at the sight of a new country.

Viet Nam is a place I have wanted to go for quite some time.  It all originated perhaps from my high school sophomore AP History course, where my teacher had us read segments from the infamous “Lies My Teacher Told Me” outlining the mistakes American textbooks make in reporting history accurately.  The Vietnam War (which, in Vietnam is referred to as the ‘American War’) was not a chapter we covered in class, but I anxiously read on and discovered horrific things that were left out of any textbook I had ever read and furthermore, things that I had never heard of.  I wanted to see it for myself.

As I stepped off the plane and entered my first communist country, I couldn’t help but feel incredibly excited and curious.  This huge rush of adrenaline came over me as we negotiated for our cab, threw our backpacks in the truck, and headed out into Ho Chi Minh City.

Say Goodbye to PAIN: India removed from Polio Endemic Country List

Immunization Day in New Delhi with Rotary

In New Delhi, on the 25^th of February, Ghulam Nabi Azad, India’s minister of Health and Family Welfare, made the announcement at the Polio Summit that the World Health Organization has officially removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries.  At the time, there were only four countries in the world left endemic.  These four (PAIN) included Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nigeria.  Today one is removed from the list.  

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said at the summit that it was a huge success that the country had made it through an entire year without a single new case of polio reported.  India's last reported case was a two-year-old girl in West Bengal State on 13 January 2011. Before polio eradication can be certified in India, it must go two more years without another case of the disease.

The Tower of London illuminated on Feb. 23, 2012 to celebrate 107 years of Rotary

Until 2009, India accounted for nearly half the number of the world’s polio cases. A chief factor in the country’s success has been the widespread use of the bivalent oral polio vaccine, which is effective against both remaining types of the poliovirus. Another has been rigorous monitoring, which has helped reduce the number of children missed by health workers during National Immunization Days to less than 1 percent, according to WHO.   

Rotary International has played a major role in helping to stop the transmission of polio in India. Rotary has been a spearheading partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative since 1988, along with WHO, UNICEF, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is also a key supporter of the initiative.    

Immunizing children in Bangkok with Rotary in February

Sporting their signature yellow vests and caps, the nearly 119,000 Rotarians in India have helped administer vaccine to children, organize free health camps and polio awareness rallies, and distribute banners, caps, comic books, and other items.

Rotary should be immensely proud for the work it has done to rid the world of polio.  Having recently been on an immunization trip myself, I experienced the direct impact that Rotary has on the lives of so many.  Congratulations Rotary and India on an incredible success.  But Rotary’s work is not done…and then there were three.

To read more about India's first polio-free year, Click Here! 

To see pictures of other famous landmarks illuminated for the 107th anniversary of Rotary, Click Here! 

Blue, Navy Blue: My Steady Boy said “Ship Ahoy” and Joined the Na-ay-vy

Megumi and I volunteering with Rotary for Royal Thai Navy Appreciation Day - in thanks for their help in the floods

On Thursday, March 1^st, Megumi and I had a Rotary presentation at a local club – Bangrak.  The entire meeting was in Thai (except for our presentation), and I began to struggle through my extremely limited vocabulary as they ran through the typical lunch time announcements.  But at one point, the announcer paused and said, in English, “Royal Thai Navy Appreciation Luncheon.”  My ears perked – at first because I was excited to understand something, and second, because she said Royal Thai Navy – which meant men in uniform.  Megumi and I eagerly asked about the opportunity, and less than 24 hours later, I found myself cooking, waitressing and bartending for over 300 of Thailand’s finest.  

On Thursday afternoon, after discovering that we were able to volunteer, I asked my Thai teacher to tell us all of the pick-up lines she knew so that I could practice before my big debut with sailors the following morning.  However, after arriving on site and serving 300+ people, I realized I should have been asking how to say “Would you like rice or noodles with that?” or “How many dumplings would you like?”  Rotary was hosting a luncheon to thank the Royal Thai Navy for their help and overwhelming assistance during the floods.  After all, it was the Navy who quickly dispatched boats all around the country equipped with strapping young soldiers to paddle and rescue people from their flooded homes.  

The Rotary cooking crew after a long day!

What I was most surprised to see, after awaiting my man in uniform, was how young these soldiers looked.  It is no secret that Asians age much better than a Westerner, but these soldiers looked like young boys to me.  They can enlist when they are 18, so although they were young, they were incredibly strong, smart and constantly smiling.  

I had a wonderful day with the Bangrak Rotary group and a wonderful day with the Royal Thai Navy!

Double Stuffed: Macaroni and Cheese Party

Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Party!

Due to the large supply (as in…two CASES) of Mac and Cheese that I was blessed to receive from the Grants when they visited me in February, I decided to share (ration) the wealth and host a Kraft Macaroni and Cheese party for my classmates.  On Thursday, 1 March, we all sat down to induldge in the wonderous taste of delicious processed orange cheese and tube macaroni.  We ate over eleven boxes of Mac, and chased it down with another one of America’s finest: Double Stuffed Oreos.  It turns out both are quite a luxury here in Thailand, and extremely hard to come by.  We made an event out of it – and had a blast!

Thank you so much Jon and Linda for the delicious Mac and Cheese :)

I swear I'm a student too...

MAIDS group at the World Bank Regional Office in Bangkok

With all these posts about all the adventures, parties, sightseeing and fun - you may think that I am not actually in school or working hard.  While I understand that it may appear that way on this blog, let me assure you I have never been worked so hard.

Attending Dr. Surin's lecture (being interviewed in the background) at the FCCT

In the past week however, I had some unique and amazing opportunities.  The first was to see Dr. Surin, ASEAN Secretary General (who I mentioned in a previous post when I attended the Post-ASEAN Summit Conference) speak at the Foreign Correspondents Club here in Bangkok.  He highlighted his recent trip to Myanmar and denoted plans to accelerated development within the country.  Having recently traveled there myself, I was interested in his mentioning of furthering cease fires, in combination of building infrastructure with the introduction of financial banking (there are NO ATMs in Myanmar, let alone trustworthy banks!), highways, and internet communication systems.

In the elevator on our way up to the World Bank!

And second, my class took another field trip - this time to the World Bank regional headquarters here in Bangkok.  We received a warm welcome and were even encouraged to apply for employment opportunities upon graduation.

I often have to pinch myself to ensure that all of this is real.  Getting to meet Dr. Surin and hear a lecture at the World Bank is something that I never had the opportunity to do in the United States, but seems to be one of the many I have been given here.  Who knows who we will be able to meet by the end of this year... :)

The Bridge on the River Kwai with Tigers and Demons – Oh My!

At the Dumnoen Saduak Floating Market in Rachaburi!

On Wednesday, March 28^th – we had a full day visiting the floating markets two hours outside of Bangkok in Rachaburi and visited the tigers in Kachanamburi.  The floating market was a treat for me as I had never been – and loved taking a speedy canal boat past local houses, schools and streets to get to the market, where we climbed into a smaller paddle boat and wandered through the tight canals admiring all of the vendors.  I thought Bangkok was bad for its traffic jams on highways – but out in Rachaburi at the Dumnoen Saduak floating market, there was the largest traffic jam of boats I had ever seen!  We passed boats with women grilling chicken at the bow of the boat, while peeling mangoes at the stern and I quickly realized this was my paradise - slowing paddle through, sampling delicious fruit and tasting savory sweets.   

Floating vendors along the river - it brings a whole new meaning to shopping!

As we turned a corner and went under a bridge – I saw something that I had wanted for a long time, but had never seen since I arrived in Thailand five months ago.  Coming from a family obsessed with musicals, I made sure to watch one of my favorites, The King and I, before coming to Thailand with the Grants.  In the movie – there is an amazing play with some of the prettiest costumes and puppets I have ever seen.  I was fortunate enough when in Myanmar to find one, but this green Demon mask was something I had looked for a long time, but not been able to find…not until today that is.  I figured it must cost a fortune and didn’t say anything as we paddled past but swore to myself I would not leave Thailand without that beautiful mask.  Turns out my mom saw it too – and as soon as our boat ride was over, we set out to find (an ATM) and that green mask.   

My beloved mask - the green one in the middle with the gold crown :)

We scurried down the stairs adjacent to the bridge and nearly fell in the canal trying to tip-toe our way onto the platform that displayed all of the masks.  There was only one there that I wanted – and when I saw it up close, it was gorgeous.  Mom got it for me as a present – and it is by far my most precious memento of Thailand.  I carried around a massive box for the rest of the day, cradling that mask like it was my baby.  I am so nervous about the humidity affecting the wooden mask that I have gone to extreme measures to ensure its protection and sometimes wonder if I am being a bit over dramatic!

Overlooking the River Kwai

After our successful mask discovery, we got back in the shuttle van, ate a delicious lunch, and crossed the River Kwai on the famous (rebuilt) bridge.  Apparently I need to see the movie (in part because in won seven Academy Awards and in 1997 was deemed "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant" and selected for preservation in the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry – which I didn’t even know existed!) but also because it explains the significance of this extremely important bridge.  The black iron bridge was brought from Java by the Japanese who supervised Allied prisoner-of-war labor as part of the Death Railway linking Thailand with Burma.  It was awarded its name as the Death Railway due to the approximate 90,000 Asian laborers and 16,000 Allied POWs who died as a direct result of the project.

Sleepy tiger

After the bridge – we sprinted back to the van to get to the tigers.  Gosh were they cute.  When we got to Tiger Temple, I was upset because they told us we couldn’t wear red, orange or pink (I was in pink) and we couldn’t use a scarf to cover our shoulders (you can’t have shoulder showing in a temple!) – it had to be a t-shirt.  I had two fouls against me.  Luckily, Mom had packed an extra shirt – and I doubled up and we ran in.  As we eagerly awaited our chance to see the massive tigers – Mom made a comment about how sad it was to see the tigers drugged.  I did think they looked a bit lethargic – but then again, all cats seem to be a blob, so I couldn’t tell.  

It was a little intimidating walking around a massive pit with fifteen large tigers rolling around – but they looked just like an oversized kitty cat and were just as cuddly.  After the big ones, we ran over to see the baby tigers, where one of the monks told us that they do not drug their cats, but raise them since birth around humans and do not feed them blood but instead, cooked chicken.  In the beginning, I felt bad that these tigers couldn’t have the thrill of a fresh kill, but after seeing a few of them daintily eat their roasted chickens, I decided perhaps this was the way to go!

This monk is the caretaker of the tigers and the temple!

Overall, I had an amazing week with my Mom in Bangkok although I am exhausted and will spend the next several days trying to catch up on all the sleep that we missed running around the city!  Thank you Mom for a wonderful week :)  Hopefully I will be able to explore the Philippines with you soon!!!

Mother Daughter Reunion in BKK

My Mom, whose travels around Thailand for the past three weeks have made me incredibly jealous, completed her tour of the Land of a Thousand Smiles by spending several days with me in Bangkok.  As soon as she landed, we were out shopping on Khao San Road, sampling mangoes and sticky rice, buying hill tribe artwork, and taking in the tourism of the backpacker district.   

Mom was even able to find her precious singing bowl and we spent hours combing the adjacent roads testing each bowl to see which one “sang” the best.  We spent the following entire day overwhelmed and on sensory overload as we rummaged through the thousands of stalls in Chatuchak market.  We bought colorful shirts with matching funky necklaces, dresses and blouses, tons of jewelry, elephant wind chimes and more.  We walked through sections in the market full of spices and sweets, and turned a corner to find tie dye and army jackets.  

Capybara from South America - pretty brown eyes!

The highlight of the market (besides our awesome purchases) for me, was the exotic animals we found while wandering around the pet portion of Chatuchak.  We were walking past puppies, kittens, guinea pigs, rabbits, hedgehogs, and ferrets – when we saw a MASSIVE animal in a cage.  It looked like a guinea pig on Barry Bonds steroids.  It had beautiful brown eyes and apparently was from South America.  I had to go home to look it up, but it is a Capybara – the largest rodent in the world.   

Baby Capybara which is larger than a Chihuahua!

Apparently, they can weigh up to 145 pounds.  It sounds like you would need a very large hamster ball for that thing to roll around in!  Kate and I can tell you – we thought we had owned just about every kind of rodent – from mice, rats, guinea pigs, gerbils and hamsters…we figured we had seen it all.  This guy was monstrous – but he had the prettiest big brown eyes.  Apparently there are wandering capybaras roaming around the United States – who were abandoned by their owners.  Kate…perhaps we should go find a few!  

Fennic Fox - aka the Energizer bunny on Red Bull

In the same exotic store, the owner also had two beautiful Fennec foxes – that were his pets!   

He let them run around the store and I quickly let go of ever wanting a fox as a pet – they got into everything!  They sure were cute but were like Energizer bunnies on Red Bull and bounded around the small shop fast enough to make your head spin!