This past weekend the SBCC Study Abroad China & Vietnam group experienced a wonderful and insightful trip to the coastal province of Nam Dihn where the beauty of rural Vietnam and its local people was made evident to us. We danced with local villagers on Saturday night in the community center and by Sunday morning we were on a cruise through Xuan Thuy National park. It’s a pity that the trip was so short, but we made every moment worthwhile.
[below: a few of the many children of Giao Xuan village]
The excursion started off early Saturday morning around the ungodly hour of 7 A.M. (little did we know what time we’d be waking up the next day) but the groggy eyes of fellow classmates at breakfast slowly turned into happy, chattering faces as the food hit the tables. As the clock struck 7:15 A.M., we grabbed our packs and waited out on the street for our bus to arrive. The warm air of another gorgeous day in Vietnam surrounded us with excitement. The bus finally arrived at 7:30 A.M. and everyone piled on, hoping to catch another couple hours of rest. The bus ride was a sleepy one and lasted about four and a half hours though the stormy weather made the ride a bit hectic at certain points. We eventually reached our first stop, a Bonsai tree farm just inside Nam Dihn province. The trees, which are the main export of the town, were everywhere. There were trees of every shape and size, each with its own unique charm. As we left the farm we passed an elementary school where we were greeted with curious looks from the mob of children who were heading home for their lunch break. Their inquiring stares made me wonder if they had ever seen Westerners before. The second Bonsai tree farm we visited had an array of elaborate trees - some spiky and others small - that were grown into designs that resembled miniature villages. Afterwards, we got back onto the bus and set out towards our final destination, the village of Giao Xuan near Xuan Thuy National park.
Upon arrival at Giao Xuan we assembled at the village community center to meet our host families, claim our bikes for the day, and get further instructions.
[below: Andrew S., Anthony, Kevin E. , and Russell – “Hells’ Angels”]
After lunch, which consisted of local seafood and plentiful greens, we took a bicycle ride over the dikes that surrounded the local aquaculture of the Red River Delta. We learned about the village economy and how the fruit of the sea was their main source of income.
[below: Sam and Sean C. at the sea wall overlooking Giao Xuan’s aquaculture mudflats]
Later, on our way to take a tour of the “alcohol house” (the house in which the villagers produced their rice wine), we were chased by children of the village who screamed excited “hellos” and we raced them to our destination.
[below: the infamous “Alcohol House.”]
After our tour of the village and the surrounding countryside we broke up into groups of three or four and spent the evening with our host families. Dinner that night consisted of cheers and celebration, as well as difficult but memorable communication between ourselves and our host families. We settled onto the floor of the village homes for meals of rice and fresh clams.
After dinner we reconvened at the community center where a festival of traditional Vietnamese dance and music was performed for us.
[below: villagers in traditional dress after their dance performance]
After a presentation in which boys and girls performed a classic dance, the SBCC students were invited onto the floor to participate. The villagers clapped large, painted rods in a rhythmic fashion on the floor so that the students and accompanying Vietnamese dancers had to leap across them as they danced. It was a great evening.
[below: the students wanted to post a photo of Dr. Mooney dancing at the Giao Xuan village traditional culture demonstration but he looked like a total idiot so the editor has wisely chosen to suppress said image.
-no image-
]
We woke around 5 A.M. (!) the following morning to tour the local aquaculture in and around the vast, half-submerged mangrove forest near the village. As we biked in the pitch-black darkness of the morning back towards the community center we noticed that the villagers were already waking to begin work. Women had begun to chop sugar cane and were arranging their tools for the rice paddies, where they would work all day. It was still dark when we boarded two fishing boats for a ride through the mangrove forest of Xuan Thuy National park, a habitat that supports thousands of migratory birds, among other mammals.
[below: on the Xuan Thuy National park delta]
Just before sunrise our boats slid further and further through the forest until, finally, we left the mangroves behind and drifted into the wide, open waters of the delta where slender bamboo pillars held up a multitude of small wooden structures spread across the delta. These were temporary houses that the clam farmers used while they harvested. The site was beautiful - if not perfect - in visual brilliance: the rising sun slowly painted the sky pink and orange while hundreds of these strange bamboo huts hovered above the calm morning water. There were twenty of us to a boat, two boats total, and hundreds of pictures.
After our boat tour of the national park and a breakfast of rice porridge and bananas, the group proceeded to lend a hand to the locals by helping to plant flowers along the road. We shoveled, hoed, raked and plotted while old local farmers and young boys stood around laughing at our efforts until they showed us how to do the planting correctly. When we left about one hundred feet of seeds rested in the soil, waiting to bloom.
[below: Sean C., Forrest, and Brianna planting on the delta-side of the sea wall outside Giao Xuan village]
On the whole, our weekend excursion was eye opening in more ways than one. We left with a new foundation - a novel understanding of a group of people with less money, less industry. It made us think twice about the possessions and customs that we value most at home. Seeing so many children running around the village playing in complete bliss despite their material poverty was really enlightening for us to witness since we are so dependent on our luxuries and entertainment. The rewarding breath of fresh air that many of us gained while spending the weekend in Nam Dihn was from respectful hospitality and camaraderie. It was a great thing to see a culture with fewer luxuries able to sustain a lifestyle while welcoming us with so much generosity.
[below: Mary, our extraordinarily helpful colleague Phuong, Risa, and Sean C. in Giao Xuan]
- Forrest J., Brek W., Sean C., Risa H., Sam L., Briana P., Kevin W.
No comments:
Post a Comment