Nha Trang, Vietnam

I don’t know what I was expecting from Vietnam, but I was very surprised at what I saw there.  We pulled in to port at a beautiful beach and took a trip today that highlighted the local villages and countryside of Nah Trang, Vietnam.  We first stopped at a market in town that was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. I have been to Mexico, and other poor parts of the world before, but I have never experienced anything like this before.  The moment I stepped out of the bus, there were at least five people who had walked up to me and were shoving postcards, hats, paintings, and any other local souvenir product you can think of in my face.  As we walked down the aisles of the market, there were fruits and vegetables lined up next to the smell reeking from the fly covered slabs of meet laying out in the hot sun for sale.  It was incredibly overwhelming and after paying a lady five dollars to stop following me around and about 2 minutes time, we were back on the bus.  But don’t think that was an escape; they actually followed us to the window where our seats were and tried to sell us things through the window. It was one of the saddest and craziest things I’ve ever seen all at the same time. People on the bus with us would ask, “How much did you get that for, because I bargained mine down to a dollar”.  To me, it wasn’t even worth bargaining down for because these people were so desperate for even just a dollar from us.  I felt like without even my small contribution, they might not be eating the next day.  With that said, I don’t think my $20 worth of souvenir shopping today will save the world but it was both incredible and thought provoking to see the combination of Americans, who have thousands of dollars, bargaining for their already under priced small worthless trinket from five dollars down to one dollar, and the desperate locals who will agree to any form of payment.

 

After the market experience where “no” is not a word in their vocabulary, we went to visit a local kindergarten classroom.  It was a small open aired non air-conditioned, two classroom building with a bathroom and small room with a few tables for lunchtime. We were told before hand that we would be going here, so we brought along some candy with us to give out to the kids.  They were so cute and so excited to have candy.  None of them spoke any English, but here it didn’t seem to matter.  Both the smile and chocolate on their faces was enough to know they were happy.  It was a lot like any kindergarten class back home, all of the kids had their nap blankets set out and their art projects were hung on the walls, but something I’m used to seeing was a bowl of toothbrushes by the bathroom sink. I couldn’t ask because they don’t speak English, but I’m guessing the kids don’t have toothbrushes at home, so the school provides them.  Although they were all in a bowl together and it was obvious that they weren’t marked, I guess sharing a toothbrush is better than no toothbrush.

 

Everyone here rode bikes or motorcycles; there were very few cars.  Whether they were weaving a basket, carving a chair, or shoving a postcard in your face, everyone seemed to be hard at work.  The jobs and work being done were all very tedious jobs, which we would normally expect a machine to do. Although the people here seemed desperate and lacking, there was something in their smiles and attitudes that couldn’t help but make me think that maybe their lives are simpler than the complicated ones we often make up for ourselves