Unexpected Vietnam...

Our time in port is beginning to become more and more of a whirlwind. It is amazing how the days just go and you almost don’t know what happened. The trip is really starting to fly as it near the end and it is sadly starting to hit us all that we have only three ports left and the final is back on American soil. We are running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to blog and journal and catch up on work between our next couple of ports because we only have three days on the ship. It might seem like no big deal, but to study and reflect and sleep and prepare to do the port travel all over again it is not enough time to recuperate.

On that note I will share with you my time in Vietnam. It began early in the morning on the 3rd. Our ship had to travel up the Mekong Delta for three hours to get to our docking spot on the Saigon Port. It was amazing, many of us sat for hours watching the landscape move from thick jungles to residential, to city like. Vietnam is captivating right from the start. The way people live is exactly what you see depicted in stories. Rice hats and fishing boats surrounded us. There were palm trees and thick tropical brush lining the river. It was so enthralling. When we finally docked there were about ten Vietnamese women holding banners that said “Welcome Semester at Sea”. No matter where we go in the world we are warmly welcomed and it is always humbling. Vietnam was the location where many of the students parents planned through SAS to meet up with the ship, so I was able to meet my friend Mary Chandler’s wonderful parents. It was emotional pulling into Vietnam and being so anxious about this country. I was so excited to be in Vietnam, it was where I was most looking forward to going because of Hannah and the connection I already had with this country. It was hard to watch all the parents see their children and feel the little tinge of homesickness that strikes. Nonetheless, I was very blessed to get to spend with the Allen’s (Mary Chandler’s parents), which gave me a sense of home and family in Vietnam. The ship took a long time to finally get cleared and us to be able to leave. Once we were free we all jumped on the shuttle and headed into town. Ho Chi Minh city is extraordinary. It is busy and full of tourists and people. It is clean and crazy, but exhilarating. We went to the market and for about five hours lost ourselves in aisle upon aisle of trinkets and treasures. I mean everything you can imagine and tiny little women grabbing your arms saying, “what you looking for miss?”, “miss you want bag, miss you need shirt?” it was so much fun. By 4:30 we had exhausted ourselves and headed back to the ship to get ready for dinner with Mary Chandler and her parents who had offered to take a group of six of us out. We started with drinks at the top of The Majestic hotel overlooking all of Ho Chi Minh and then moved to a delicious dinner at Lemongrass Café. We finished the time of with drinks at the Rex hotel before we said good-bye to each other and headed in for the night.

The next day was my only planned activity through Semester at Sea and it was one thing I had been looking forward to more than almost anything. We were planned to go to an Agent Orange orphanage and meet the disabled children affected by Agent Orange. We first met Vietnamese students on the ship and were able to have a discussion about their lives and what we wanted to do to help out the places we were visiting. We left the ship and went to the YMCA of Vietnam where we were told all about how the YMCA is providing jobs for women and helping to serve the community. Some of the Vietnamese students stood up and sang for us to give us a little cultural experience. My friend Olivia had coordinated about five students to do the Michael Jackson “Thriller” dance for them, which turned out amazing. A fellow Western student, Joey then stood up and sang a little Old Crow, “Wagon Wheel” to share a little bluegrass with them. After we had our little impromptu cultural exchange they had prepared a delicious lunch for us, full of greens and spring rolls and of course pounds of rice. After lunch the group ended up splitting up, some of us went two hours to the orphanage and the rest opted to stay back and help the YMCA. The orphanage was a challenging sight. Children were walking around with so many disabilities we have never even seen. I think one thing easily taken for granted is pre-natal care. These children typically did not live past twelve and many of them, potentially, could have been saved by good pre-natal care. After spending about an hour sitting and interacting with them, they loved my blonde hair and my watch with indiglo, we moved into a mini-conference to see how we could enhance the children’s quality of life. It was sad because we only had $100 to help them, but all their needs were much beyond that, so our session turned into a fundraising brainstorming session to promote awareness of what these children were dealing and the workers who cared for them everyday. The Vietnamese people are so kind and caring with Americans, but I was able to see first hand how the war had affected the lives of many who had no tie to it in anyway. It was a hard reality to take in and see these children who had no potential for life. Many children just laid on the floor staring up and trying to play with blocks, one tiny hydrocephalic girl laid down crying, her head to heavy to move it by her own power. I don’t think the image of her simple struggle will ever leave my mind. We all left more aware of what was happening in this world and burdened by the responsibility we, who have been given much, have to take care of those who cannot take care of themselves. The day ended with a dinner of Pho, pronounced Pha, a traditional noodle soup dish, and an adventurous ride on a cyclo, where you sit in front of a bicycle on chair and are pushed by a tiny man through the busy streets.

My third day I had to be filmed, someone finally recognized my incredible talent and beauty, so I will be featured in a two-minute video about Vietnam. It is my acting debut so I anticipate all of you will look it up on the semester at sea website. My friend Leigh Anne accompanied me as we rode Moto’s through the streets and went to a tiny street market, selling everything from live fish, crabs, pig heart, liver and ears, to Pringles, baby formula and clothing. One stop shopping! We spent the morning filming, I had to cross the street multiple times to get good shots. Let me tell you something about crossing the street in Vietnam, we were literally given lessons aboard the ship about how to cross the street and it goes like this. You walk in a straight line, at a steady pace and don’t look at the oncoming traffic. If you try to anticipate what the moto’s are doing you get hit, if you go to fast you get hit, if you stop walking you get hit. Pretty much you close your eyes, walk and hope for the best. Sure enough we all did as we were told and the vehicles all just moved right around us. Once we were done filming Leigh Anne and I hit the markets for some more gift shopping. When we had finally worn ourselves out we sat down for some Vietnamese iced coffee, best iced coffee I’ve ever tried. They use condensed milk rather than plain and they individual drip cups rather than brewing in mass quantities, delicious! We finished our night with drinks at a bar called “Allez Boo”. It is the local spot for backpackers in the area, which there are tons, there we met some Australian guys on vacation because Vietnam is so close they all travel to up there for vacations. I just wanted to tell everyone that I met Australians and they were exactly what I would anticipate Australians to be, good-looking and they had accents. After a nice conversation we wandered back to the ship, hopped on the back of moto’s(mo-peds) and arrived safely home to fall into bed.

Our plan for the next day was to indulge in some of the cheap spa services you can find throughout the city. After an hour and a half of walking in and out of spa’s that looked particularly sketchy or too expensive we discovered a wonderful little oasis. For $16 we all bought 75 minute aromatherapy massages. As enjoyable and relaxing as it was I think I figured out that I can never again spend my money on having someone else rub my back. We finished the day off with dinner, a little relaxing back at the ship and then headed to the Hyatt hotel to listen to a singer/ songwriter girl from Kansas City, Andrea Hamilton. She had an incredible voice and it was relaxing to listen to her play and sing. I didn’t realize how much I miss shows and the power of live music. There is something so special about hearing a voice and an instrument in person, I was glad to get to experience that and be reminded of the joy that music can bring.

Our last day a group of seven of us booked an independent tour to the Mekong Delta. It was the perfect way to end our time in Vietnam. We traveled two hours to the river, where were taken to a coconut candy shop and then walked through the jungle to a tea hut to try tea and hold a big snake. We then traveled to a fruit tasting hut, and then finished the tour with a ride down a tiny section of the delta on little rowboats. It was so beautiful. The brush was so green and the water so brown, there was no chemical enhancement or involvement, just the natural formation of a landscape. It was like going back in time. There were huts all along the river where people lived. It is hard to believe that some people conduct life in such simple ways still. It was such a stimulating little trip and after a traditional Vietnamese lunch I headed back to the ship. I spent the rest of my night on the deck of the ship staring into the lights of the city and being nostalgic about our homes with my sweet friend Kate.

Vietnam was not packed with touristy adventures. I didn’t see many things that had to do with the war because I think as Americans we are so overly focused on that topic. It is a huge part of our history, but for my generation it is unfamiliar and rather than understanding more of America’s past I wanted to experience the Vietnamese reality and future and it was wonderful to be a part of. The people are so welcoming and warm. They know so much about their government and how we view them. It was such a beautiful place to visit and I am sure that my life will bring there again one day for a much longer period of time.

I have been asked multiple times though if I saw Hannah in the faces of the people there and I can say that I did not. I am so thankful for her heritage and the Vietnamese people that sacrificed a daughter so that I may have a sister, but I can say she is more a Brooks to me now than she has ever been and she has always been that to me. I thought I would be so moved, but I wasn’t, no matter where my family members continue to come from around this globe I am so thankful to say that they will always be Brooks’ so much more than their ethnicity or genetics. Every new person to my family will be my brother or sister more so than I ever even realized before, if that makes any sense at all. What a gift to have a family made up of a mosaic of the beautiful people on this planet!

Vietnam was extraordinary, not what I expected, but so special nonetheless. The Lord was faithful to continue teaching me about myself and about who He is. He is amazingly faithful to answer prayer and bring your understandings in a full circle.

Oh and just to throw it in…I’m an AUNT! I am across the Globe and fourteen hours ahead, but I was able to literally be on the phone at the exact moment sweet Eme was born. So praise the Lord because He is good.

I have said it from the beginning, but I still miss you guys and love you all tons!

Carley