Roth Report
Television & Radio
Travel Center
Note: Due to a spotty internet connection in Vietnam, the first blog entry was not posted. We are working to get this entry posted soon.
-Taylor and Robin
~Robin and O
The Vietnamese director, Thai, (who has taken very good care of us this entire trip by the way), decided to play a little prank on the American college boys.
Considering you've already read the title of this blog entry, you probably know where this story is headed, but let's start from the beginning. We were planning on having snakes tonight for dinner, so Thai had the brilliant idea of sneakily placing these snakes in each of the guys' bunks before they got back from lunch. We girls squirmed at the idea of finding a snake in our own bed, but we figured the guys would be able to handle it... or so we thought. After lunch, we cleverly followed the guys into their room under the guise of "playing a game of cards," but all the while staying close enough to the door to make a hasty escape. As Taylor reached for the deck of cards on his bed, he noticed a black, slithery water snake cozied up on his blanket. We've never heard three grown men scream so loud or move so fast in our lives (they may claim otherwise, but we caught it on video). Although we got the reaction we had hoped for, the tables soon turned, as our favorite Vietnamese high school student nonchalantly grabbed the snake off the bed and began chasing after us.
I think all of Vietnam probably heard the shrillness of our screams as we sprinted to our room and locked the door. It was absolutely terrifying and retrospectively funny, but at least Thai got the reaction he was hoping for!
We're off to bed, where we will definitely be sleeping with one eye open tonight!
~Robs and O
Today was the last skills competition day. The kids were excited to show off their technical abilities one last time before the final competition day, aka game day. During the past three weeks the camp has been building up to an academic-athletic championship. In the morning camps there is a major battle for 2nd between my green team and Seldon’s yellow team; in the afternoon, it is a different story, as I am trying to lead my team out of last place. At the end of the day my morning green team gave up its 100 point lead and now is tied with the yellow team going into game day. Afternoon points are not up yet, but our performances today lead me to believe we are now firmly in third. This puts even more suspense on game day tomorrow because the coaches of each team will be playing each sport to try and help their team gain more points. Hopefully, with my sports experience, I can better cement my team’s position in the table (4 years of VT soccer, 2 years of pickup/intramural basketball/tennis…/volleyball…). As the kids left camp for the day, they were all thankful for our participation in the program and very sad we will not be seeing them much longer. We gave each student notebooks and pens with our contact information to keep in touch and help them in their future studies. With their new pens and paper all the athletes participated in a mini autograph session, yes someone wanted a diver’s autograph. As the final day approaches we are all excited for the heated competition, but also sad to see the good byes approaching.
-Taylor
Today was bittersweet since it was our last full day of classes with our kids in Vietnam. It was a scorcher like any other day but seeing our kids finally starting to catch on to the skills we have been teaching them, made the past three weeks totally worth it! After the day was done we switched to party mode!!! If you haven't already guessed, Robin had the genius idea to throw a Halloween party at the center. The guest list included all of the American and Vietnamese college students and directors, as well as our high school helpers. This party was also a birthday bash for one of our favorite highschoolers, Monkey, who is turning 16 on Sunday. Our Vietnamese friends went all out and definitely had the best costumes out of the bunch. The top two costume winners were a feared insect here in Vietnam, a mosquito, and a very useful office appliance, a printer. The party started out with lots of dancing underneath strobe lights, aka manually operated flashlights, and also some festive singing. We then progressed to learning and participating in a traditional Vietnamese dance, partnering up and trying to jump in-between and over moving bamboo sticks. After that the boys in their "macho man" costumes preformed a little jig that was very entertaining. Following that, the girls preformed a cleverly choreographed rendition of Poker Face by Lady GaGa, and received a standing ovation. Don’t worry, we got everything on tape! The party ended with presents, pictures, cake, and even a small food fight! Overall, it was an amazing time for everyone and one of the best Halloween parties I've ever been to!
~Ashley O.
When Americans think of Vietnam
They only think about the war,
But what I have discovered
Is Vietnam is so much more.
The markets are always busy
The fruits are sweet and ripe.
The countryside is beautiful
The people are full of life.
The cities are packed with motorbikes
That weave through the streets.
There is fruit on every corner
And the smell of fresh fish and meat.
Vietnam is a colorful place
From the city to the countryside.
There are vibrant fabrics and silk scarves
Of every color, shade, and dye.
The plants and fields are the greenest greens
and the sky is an endless blue.
Fluffy white clouds crawl across the sky
As the bright yellow sun shines through.
The mosquito's come out at night
Under the faint light of the moon.
The pouring rain hits the roof
And here begins another monsoon.
Now I know more about Vietnam
Than most Americans.
There is more the same than different
Between "us" and "them."
~Robs
As competition day closed on Friday, we were looking forward to the weekend because it meant the beach. We left the research center Friday around 6 pm for a two and a half hour bus ride. This bus ride was different than the others though because we headed in the opposite direction than normal, and into a more rural area of Vietnam. The bus ride passed by fairly quickly due to the large amounts of karaoke sung. As the sun set and darkness rose, we soon noticed the bus traveling on roads that looked like those straight out of horror movies. The road was too narrow for more than one car, and all around was black with few stray lights to light the road. Although the road was quite eerie, the sky was amazing. That night I saw the beauty of an unlit sky. There was no light pollution, and there were more stars than I had ever seen in my life. There is no picture that could ever give credit the beauty of a pure unlit sky. We first arrived around 8:30-9 o’clock and proceeded directly to dinner at a restaurant across from the hotel. Dinner was traditional Vietnamese food that tasted better than it looked. After dinner, the whole group, including the Vietnamese students, participated in karaoke at a joint around the corner from our hotel. Unlike karaoke in the US the karaoke machines are placed in individual rooms, thus here you don’t have to worry about making a fool of yourself in front of a whole restaurant but rather just your friends. The next morning we left for the actual beach. We again proceeded to travel in continuous areas of rural Vietnam and saw an ever changing landscape. For most of the ride it was a scene of endless rice fields and small rivers, but as we got closer to the beach the landscape changed to small mountains overpopulated with rock quarries and cement plants destroying the country side. Along the ride we were also able to experience a Vietnamese rest stop, and let’s just say the girls or I will never be complaining about the bathrooms along any US interstate. When we arrived at the beach everybody was in shock. We got off the bus to see our hotel perched on the side of cliff overlooking the water. The first night we were able to watch the sun set behind the coastal mountains and again were in awe by the beauty of Mother Nature. The next morning we woke up early to catch a boat to an island where we would spend the day. The boat ride was about an hour long and fortunately nobody got sick. As we left the hotel and approached the island the ocean water changed from a dark silt color to a clear blue. Sunday was our day to finally relax and do nothing. We spent about half the day lounging on the island in hammocks and in the warm ocean water not worrying about anything in the world. There were two islands that were about 400yds apart and there was a huge sandbar in between. We all agreed that this was the probably the most beautiful beach we had ever been to in our lives. However, little did we know, 1 hour in the sun on a Vietnamese beach is approximately equal to multiple hours in the sun in the US, causing everybody to acquire some type of sunburn. The boat ride back was very relaxing for most, as we able to nap and watch rolling storms off in the distance. We returned to the research center late Sunday night quite dehydrated but well relaxed and ready to tackle another week of camp. -Taylor
Wednesday morning we woke up to PANCAKES for breakfast. I can't tell you how excited we all were and how many we all ate! After a breakfast that started off the day right, we headed on over to the school to begin our first session. I'm coaching tennis (funny, I know), and we're at the point where the kids are actually getting to hit the ball. They don't quite understand the concept just yet, and they think that the harder and higher you hit it the better. They let out cheers if they hit someone or get a ball stuck on the roof. I'd say we still have a bit of work to do haha! After a long long day, the coaches played a couple games of tennis and basketball. Robin and Taylor actually decided to prove their awesome soccer skills to some older Vietnamese locals. All was going well until Taylor sliced his foot open (The rules here are barefoot only) and ruined the fun for everyone! Juuust kidding, it was only a tiny blister and everyone was ready to get out of the heat anyways. That night we enjoyed dinner outside under a beautiful Vietnamese sunset, and later all of the girls watched Pride and Prejudice together in our make-shift cinema... aka a projector and a huge white sheet of paper. I think that's all for now!
The soccer field that Robin is supposed to be practicing on has until now, been more of a swimming pool then a soccer field; since for the most part there have been monsoons daily. The field is all dirt, with a small goal at each end, and occasionally she has to send one of the kids back into the Vietnamese jungle to find a ball that has disappeared behind the far goal. Finally though, in the past two days, the rain has ceased (which has made it crazy hot, but that’s okay), and she was finally able to get the kids out on the field to practice. Also, the staff decided to have a little bit of fun and play some soccer ourselves. It was as if we went back to where it all started as kids, playing on a dirt field, with a busted ball, purely enjoying being with our friends, and simply taking pleasure in the outdoors! It was soooo much fun, even though the campers we played against beat us twice haha! We will definitely be playing more if the weather holds up and we old folks hold up… which we will, because no matter how tired we may be, there is always time to have a little fun and just be a kid! That’s all from me tonight but we’ll talk to ya’ll again tomorrow! Goodnight! (it’s 8:30pm here by the way, about 9:30am US time haha).
~Ashley O.
This weekend, when we went to Can Tho, a couple of us planned on doing our laundry in the hotel. We put all of our laundry into a big bag and hopped on the bus headed for Can Tho. When we got there, we realized the bag was missing. We checked the bus up and down but couldn't find our dirty clothes bag anywhere. When we returned to the Hoa An Research Center, where we are staying, we found our clothes up in our room. Turns out they never even made their way onto the bus, so we had no choice but to hand wash a week's worth of filthy clothes in small buckets. The Vietnamese students gave us lessons on the best way to hand wash (they were experts) and we got to work. We all felt like we went back a century in time and they were surprised that we were so utterly clueless on how to hand wash a load of laundry. But hey, we do now! Our moms would be so proud.
-Robin
Our first week of camp was over and we were looking forward to seeing a city again and especially looking forward to some westernized food and the use of a fork for a little bit. Ever since being in Vietnam I have been eating and enjoying the local Vietnamese food. In most cases it has been better tasting than looking, but I was still missing good old American food. The first meal in Can Tho was dinner and we went to a local pub/restaurant down the street from the hotel. For dinner I order a beef steak and WOW…it was delicious. After dinner the group decided to stay in the hotel and catch up on some much needed sleep.
Saturday morning came way too soon since we all couldn’t sleep in due to our weekly schedule of waking up early. For the most part, Saturday was a free day for us to adventure. We spent the morning shopping at the local market and man was it an experience. Between avoiding the crazy sellers chasing us and the bartering, we were able to make some very nice purchases as well as some tacky ones. After lunch the boys were forced to entertain themselves while the girls were treated to massages and facials. Dinner that night was at the local market, and I added a new taste to my pallet, frog legs; what they say about them is true, they taste just like chicken. After dinner we were able to enjoy the night life of Can Tho, and just like shopping, the night life was also an experience. We went to a true western disco, which even had a mechanical bull, and we had an extremely enjoyable evening.
The next morning we went to the floating market a 5:30 AM, which was way too early. Even though it was in the early, the floating market was very interesting. Not only was there tons of boat traffic, but people were also selling all types of fruits and vegetables. In our passing we were able to buy some Jack fruit for breakfast. When returning to the hotel, we immediately napped till lunch when we went to a downtown restaurant and enjoyed some kind of sausage rolls filled with all kinds of vegetables and rice. After lunch we experienced our version of Vietnam’s Wal-Mart, and it made Wal-Mart seem small and empty. Here we were able to purchase some necessities we had used up in the first week of camp such as deodorant… haha. Next we visited Can Tho University to see how a US university compared. What I saw was amazing. Our tour showed us the classrooms, the recreational fields, the student union, the library, and the dorms. The most drastic things to see were the recreation fields and dorms. The fields had no grass and consisted only of dirt , while the dorm rooms were 10 per room all sharing one bathroom. After the visit we headed back to the research center to start week two of camp.
Until later,
Taylor Walsh
The first week of camp was a success!! We are having such a great time getting to know all of the kids and other coaches. The language barrier has proved to be pretty challenging and the days are hotter than hot, but it has been well worth it! Our days begin around 630 am, they include 1 morning and 1 afternoon session/group of students, and then a discussion about the lesson plans for the next day. By 830 pm we are all pretty worn out from all the activity and heat, so after a nice cool shower and a couple games of cards, we’re usually passed out by 1030.
After camp on Thursday, we actually had a chance to visit the homes and meet the families of some of the students. Since Hoa An is one of the poorest towns in Vietnam, the conditions were nothing like what we are used to or even imagine. The house I visited was made of bamboo and had just 2 rooms for 7 people. The floor was made of dried mud and there was just one very dim light. The family was so pleasant and appreciative of all of us. The experience was extremely eye opening and one that I will most definitely never forget.
That’s it for now! BYEEEEE—Ashley S.
So… we’re going to take you back to day one of our experience at the Hoa An Research Center and Secondary School. All of the American female students are rooming together in one room, and we sleep in our own little cubbies aka a bunk bed wit h a mosquito net (which is much needed by the way!). We eat at the outdoors “canteen” three times a day, where a variety of foods are placed in front of us. Everyday we travel by bus to the Hoa An Secondary School, which is only about 5 minutes away. In case you didn’t know, the Vietnamese love to sing! So our bus rides are always filled with songs, everything from twinkle twinkle little star to anything by Madonna. The first day there, we were really given a chance to get to know our Vietnamese college students who we work with, while the kids took pretests for each subject. They are all soooo nice and soooo much fun to be around. We sometimes just sit and chat with them about the differences in our cultures! Meeting the kids for the first time was very exciting, although we could tell that it was going to take a day or two to break them out of there shells since most of them are very shy; however, that does not hold true for Jeuo and Doh, who we nicknamed Tom and Jerry. They are definitely the troublemakers of the camp, and both happen to be on my team! Even though they are crazy, we love them because they are so much fun and very entertaining haha. Well, I guess that’s it for the recap of day one, now on to the rest of the week!!!
Sorry it has taken us so long to figure out the spotty internet here in Vietnam and get this blog up and running! We’ve been here for over a week and there is so much to tell! We will get you all caught up where we left off our last post, last weekend. We arrived here last Friday night after 2 days worth of flying and we stayed the night at a hotel in Ho Chi Minh City. On Saturday we had our first encounter with Vietnamese cuisine at the hotel breakfast- it was a bit… different. I tried some duck curry and Vietnamese pork paste and I ate what I thought was a small piece of cheese, but it turned out to be butter! After breakfast we met the other college students from Duke and UNC and we packed up our bus. We went and got on a small boat and took a tour of the Mekong Delta. The Mekong river water is kind of murky and brown, but they explained to us that there is silt in the water that makes it that color. That made us breathe a little easier. We stopped in 3 different locations along the River. The first stop we tried a variety of delicious Vietnamese fruits: Chumchums, pineapple (did you know it grows from the ground?!), mangosteen, grapefruit, jack fruit and dragon eyes. Young children singing traditional Vietnamese music also serenaded us. For the next stop, we held a small piece of wood that was covered with honeycomb and hundreds of honeybees (that were friendly!). We sampled some honey tea with pollen and a variety of dried fruits and nuts. For the third stop, we hopped into small canoes, put on some cone hats, and paddled down a small creek. When we got to the end of the creek, we each got to hold a python (also very friendly!) on our shoulders (it was sooo freaky). We then went to lunch, where they served us elephant fish (they put the whole fish on the table from head to tail), rice, vegetables, and sticky rice, which is a huge ball of sweet rice that expands to a size bigger than a basketball in the oven- delicioussss. The tour was amazing and eye-opening and it got our trip started off on the right foot. After the tour, we got back on the bus and rode for 3 hours until we arrived at Hoa An Research Center. We literally rode on one road the entire time and the houses slowly got smaller and the scenery became more rural. So far, Vietnam is very colorful and different and the people are nice. We will update you more soon!
-Robin
