Journey to Peace Village

The Thomas Wolfe quote "you can't go home again" has been used so much that it has been a cliche. But yet it sums up my somewhat ambivalent feelings about returning to the USA after two and a half years.

Don't get me wrong. I'm very excited about coming back to see my family and friends. However a lot has happened since I left and I fear the reality of the losses that have occured setting in.

My uncle's wife, Aunt Flo, and my good friend Ann Uttech both have died since I left. I know coming home there will be a big void and I will miss their presence very much. Aunt Flo was always very kind to me when I visited my uncle, greeting me with a warm smile and delicious food. She was a very compassionate person and very supportive of my dream of going to Vietnam. I know everyone in my family misses her deeply.

Ann Uttech was a prime mover in getting me back into poetry. She helped me turn my life around and see that dreams could have substance if you honor your heart and put some muscle and work into your goals. Ann helped me reawaken my creativity and find my voice. And finding and honoring my voice, being able to express myself through poetry and writing, this literally saved my life.

I will miss them both and grieve their loss. However, I have a lot of people to return to. I'm very excited to see the many family and friends I left so long ago. I'm also thrilled about being reunited with my writing group--the women who have continued to encourage me to develop my voice and who were with me during some of my darkest days--including the death of my mother. I know that whatever souvenirs I bring to all my circle of loved ones, it will not be enough!

Which brings me back to the question "can you go home again?" I believe that maybe this is the wrong thing to ask. For home is not a physical place, however much we are tied by bonds of blood and memory. Home is not even, to quote another cliche, where "the heart is."

Instead, we carry our home with us. The heart is where home is.

Labels: Viet Nam and the West

Tooling around Hanoi, I've often felt that it really wasn't much bigger than Milwaukee in terms of physical size. For example, going to Hoan Kiem Lake feels like going from about 35th street to the lakefront. Yesterday, one of my students, Thu, printed out a picture of Bar Harbor Maine and was shocked at the width of the roads and the spaces between houses. I told her, yes, this is typical, even in much larger cities.
The other day I checked on Wikipedia--Milwaukee vs. Hanoi and found this is true! However, there's a lot, lot, lot more people! Here's the lowdown:

Milwaukee: population 602,191(city only)
land area: 97 square miles or 251 square km
Hanoi: population: 6,232,940 (metro area)
land area: 71.9 square mies or 186 square km

So there you have it, an area smaller than my hometown, but packed with houses, traffic and people!!!

Labels: Viet Nam and the West

I had a very good but busy Christmas. Almost as hectic as back home. A lot of cover work for other teachers and a lot of shopping! But I still managed to enjoy the holiday.
I performed a poem at the Christmas talent show and got a positive reaction. At Lang Hoa Binh, the children were thrilled with their gifts and sharing in the spoils of candy I won with my poetry.
I went to Huy's house on Christmas Day after attending mass at St. Joe's Cathedral. It was the coolest thing--I wrote a poem about a boat in the morning and then Huy and his family gave me a painting of a boat at lunch! Talk about synchronicity! In the evening I had a small party for some of my students and a staff member from work, Ms. Quynh. It was fantastic. We had pizza, drank Dalat wine and sang karaoke. I bought a karaoke machine for my house and obtained an English karaoke DVD in Thailand. A great time!

Labels: Christmas, religion and culture, Viet Nam and the West

I had a real unique Thanksgiving. Inviting my students over for dinner, I rounded up a chicken and some of the fixins for a not quite traditional dinner. Chien and Thu tracked down some corn and sweet potatoes. (The sweet potatoes here aren't orange and taste "planatin like.) They also got some fruit and cucumbers.

I set to work on the chicken and dressing. The chicken was a small "Quan ga," a special Vietnamese chicken about five or six pounds. I don't have an oven, so I simmered it in orange juice (from freshly squeezed oranges) and white Dalat wine. I made some dressing from bread, apples, onions, garlic, and seasoned with some thyme I luckily snatched up at the Fivi mart.

The chicken was a huge hit. It turned out juicy and tender and unlike other Thanksgiving, no leftovers. The stuffing was different. It wasn't quite as good as back home, but it generally tasted the same. The Vietnamese were intrigued by it, but preferred the standby of rice. Cucumbers took the place of pickles, and were accented by hot pepper. The fresh corn was delicious and sweet.

All and all we had a great time and the Vietnamese loved Thanksgiving.

Labels: food, Viet Nam and the West

A week ago Saturday I was bitten by a dog. This led me to experience anxiety about an overlooked health problem--rabies.

I'd gotten a wide range of immunizations when I left the United States, but unfortunately rabies wasn't one of them--the shots are quite expensive, and who thinks they're going to get bitten by a dog?

We think of rabies as kind of a joke. Foaming dogs chasing people, people turning into werewolf wannabes, etc. It's not really a laughing matter, especialy in the developing world. Unfortunately, rabies is a serious health issue here in Vietnam--as it is in most developing nations in Asia and Africa. I washed the wound out and went to the doctor. I was lucky--the dog is a neighbor's and is kept inside most of the time. So the dog's health could be monitored just to make sure he didn't have the disease. The only treatment left to me was to get a series of five vaccinations--I've had three already and will complete the treatment next month.

I was still anxious about the whole situation, because if the dog had rabies--well, there's no good way of saying it, the disease is fatal 99% of the time.

So I got educated in a hurry about an overlooked disease. According to the World Health Organization, more than 55,000 people die of rabies every year, most in Asia and Africa. Between 30-60% of deaths occur in children under 15. This is largely due to the fact that dogs are not routinely vaccinated for rabies as they are in the West.

Ten million people per year receive post exposure treatments (I'm one of this lucky group now).

For more info about this overlooked disease:

http://www.worldrabiesday.org/

http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs099/en/

Labels: health, Viet Nam and the West

There was extensive coverage of the election even here in Viet Nam. Barack Obama is very much of an "unknown" here, so there have been many articles in the Vietnamese media and on TV giving people basic biographical information.

If anything, there was more of a pro McCain sentiment among the Vietnamese--he's a known figure here. Not only did he spend more than five years in Hoa Lo prison ("the Hanoi Hilton")--he also was a key figure in normalizing relations with Vietnam in the 1990s. Above are pictures from his visit and a memorial built on the spot where his plane was shot down in 1967. Cindy McCain made a visit to Ho Chi Minh City this spring to promote aid for hospitalized children.

This isn't to say people are against Obama, they just don't know much about him. Hilary Clinton was the preferred Democrat during the primaries, she was well known from the Clinton visit to Vietnam.

After initial bafflement, I found participating in the election quite easy. I downloaded a "backup" ballot from the internet and also sent a request to the city of Cudahy. They were remarkably efficient, sending me both a federal and state ballot! So I ended up (following the instructions) sending in three ballots to Cudahy.

The expat community was quite heavily for Obama. There's a real sense of excitement and expectation of change. Meanwhile, local people try to find out more about the next president....

Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture, Vietnamese history

Recently I had th privilege of meeting the first lady of Greece at Lang Hoa Binh. May Panou Papoulia is the wife of the president of Greece, Karolos Papoulia. She has a degree in psychology from the Sorbonne and worked as a psychologist for forty years before retiring in 2001. She has a keen interest in the education of the developmentally disabled.

Mrs. Papoulia announced that the Greek government was giving the school 40,000 euros during her visit. She also spoke about the suffering of Agent Orange victims and the need for the international community to become more involved.

I was very excited to talk with her for about five minutes, as well as other members of her party, including a French official from UNICEF who volunteered in Vietnam for five years. Mrs. Papoulia is a very dynamic individual while putting you very much at ease. The event was very exciting for the children and she gave each child t shirts commemorating the 2004 Games in Athens.

An exciting day!

Labels: education, Viet Nam and the West

Today is the anniversary of a horrible event in our recent history--the 9/11 attack which killed over three thousand people in New York City. This year I decided to remember the attack in a more active way--by visiting the children at Peace Village.

There's a big holiday coming up, Mid Autumn festival--which is a time to give children presents. It so happened that at Peace Village they were having a party for the children on 9/11. So I bought some gifts, both educational and fun and brought them out to the children.

I really felt this was the best way to honor my country and those lost--buy serving others. I'm glad to hear that both candidates on the presidential campaign have emphasized the need for service to others as a way to improve as individuals and as a country.

On this day, we can't help but feel sorrow and pain. But it's very satisfying to be able to give others joy. One small step toward peace.

Labels: Viet Nam and the West

Viet Nam isn't a top competitor at the Olympics. There's only been two silver medals won at the Games since the country started competing in 1952. One came this week and electrified the country. Hoang Anh Tuan pulled an upset and won a silver medal in the men's 56 kilogram weightlifting competiton.
He lifted a total of 290 kilos (600 pounds) in the snatch and "clean and jerk" phases of the competition.

Vietnam doesn't put a lot of budget into international sports (except for soccer). In soccer, while they haven't made it to the Olympics, they improved mightily in the Asian cup, making it into the quarterfinal round and beating rival Thailand.

This is not to say that the Vietnamese are not sports minded. People are great at participant sports and you see many folks of all ages playing soccer, basketball, table tennis and badminton. This is reflected in the coverage of the Olympics on tv. Live coverage of the Games is broadcast all day and into the night. There is more coverage of sports that are unusual in the US--including badminton, Judo, table tennis, volleyball and weightlifting. This doesn't mean I haven't been able to keep up with some of the activities of team USA--last night I watched James Blake upset Roger Federer and I've been treated to games of the men's and women's basketball team.

All and all watching the Olympics gives me a chance to improve my Vietnamese and learn about some unusual sports.

Labels: sports, Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture

The second day at the Hue Festival was even more incredible than the first. I went to 3/2 park and saw an art exhibit. All the paintings were done by disabled children and were on the subject of fairytales. Here Tam met Sleeping beauty and superman shook hands with King Huong.

The colorful paintings were hanging from clothes lines and I shopped around, finally deciding on a beautiful rendering of Tam, the Vietnamese Cinderella.

That evening I went to the Citadel for more events at the musical festival. The Citadel was astonishingly beautiful at night, the paths being lit by candles and Chinese paper lanterns. The stage I wanted was at the back, but I sampled some Thai music and dancing on the way. Finally I arrived at the stage, which was set inside the ruins of a small house. One mahogony chiar sat in the orange lit frame while we sat on plastic stools waiting for the show to start.

First came the Ao Dai Fashion show. Both older and younger women modeled versions of the Ao Dai, the Vietnamese long dress. The styles varied from daring new designs more like evening gowns to the century old classics. The fashion show was followed by Co La, an all women's Vietnamese folk group that uses traditinal instruments to play everything from Celtic to jazz music. They were incredible musicians.

After Co La I was going to leave but there was a fireworks show. Then at another part of the Citadel I stopped to watch a Cambodian dance troupe. This was unique performance as they were backed by Vietnamese traditional musicians. After leaving the Citadel I went back to the hotel. This was perhaps the highlight of the night. A French street band called S.N.O.B. (System for clearing the ears) was playing at a bar next to the hotel. The brass band was brilliant with their takes on everything from Jewish folk music to Led Zeppelin. I went back to the hotel after playing some air guitar and just kicked back and enjoyed the tuba!

Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture

Friday afternoon I finally arrived in Hue! It was so exciting to finally make it to the Festival. This is something I wanted to see since I heard about it this January!

The Hue Festival is held every two years and celebrates the cultural heritage of Hue. Music groups from Vietnam and around the world are invited to participate. I specifically came to see American jazz singer Coco York. For months I'd been dying to hear some music from back home.

Coco York was worth the wait. The Los Angeles based singer gave Vietnamese music lovers a quick introduction to jazz through her versions of classics such as On a clear day. Backed by a highly talented trio of musicians from Sai Gon, Coco gave all of us a lesson in scat and showed that jazz is one of the great gifts of America to the world.

The Union of Young Vietnamese in France gave an innovative dance performance. Combining traditional elements with hip hop, they brought East and West together. Through it all were kids in the audience with "Mr. Yellow Cat" masks on. Mr. Yellow Cat is the logo of the fest. He was created by Thoma Vuille from Switzerland and has made appearances all over the world.

Labels: Viet Nam and the West, Vietnamese culture

Hello Everyone from Viet Nam! Today is the first day of the New Year, called Tet here in Viet Nam. It is celebrated at the same time as the Chinese New Year and shares some of the customs with China. But there are many customs unique here.

I've had a fantastic Tet and have learned so much. Before the holiday even started, Tracy (my friend from the States and from TEFL school) and I went into the countryside to visit my student, Chien. She lives on a small farm about 50 miles outside of Hanoi. It was just an incredible experience. It is very difficult to reach, because it is only accessible by dirt roads. But it is worth it. Chien's family and neighbors are very friendly and hospitable. The scenery is absolutely beautiful. It's the authentic Vietnamese way of life!

Chien's mom had prepared a delicious meal that included many special foods that are eaten at Tet. One is Banh Chung, a kind of rice cake filled with egg or pork. It takes about 10 hours to make and is the centerpiece of the meal, kind of like turkey on Thanksgiving.

In fact Tet is kind of like Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's and Easter all combined! It welcomes the New Year and the start of spring. People gather with their families and give children "lucky money" in red envelopes. On New Year's Eve, people have parties, drink beer and champagne and go to fireworks shows or make their own! My friend Tracy, who's visiting from the States, and I attended three parties on New Year's! First we went to my student, Huy, and ate dinner with him. Then we went on to Huy's aunt's house. Finally, at home, the landlady had prepared a dinner for the tenants, myself, Tracy, and two Indian men who work for a steel company as engineers. Needless to say, I was stuffed!

For videos of this super Tet, go to:

http://www.youtube.com/user/maryecroy

Labels: TET, Viet Nam, Viet Nam and the West

It's Monday morning. Tracy and I watched the Super Bowl and were shocked to see the Giants come back. I loved the half time show with Tom Petty. "She was an American girl raised on promises..." How fitting to hear that now!

Then it was off to the market to lay in a bunch of supplies for Tet. We bought a whole chicken, assorted vegetables, a kilo of meet. I also bought presents for my Vietnamese friends and I want to get some "ornaments" to decorate the Tet tree. My tree is a large branch from a peach blossom. It's just starting to bloom. Although sparse, it's beautiful. Spring is where you find it.

Labels: TET, Viet Nam and the West

January 11 was an incredibly warm day! While Wisconsin was locked in freezing rain and fluffy snow, we were in the 80s! I couldn't believe it. I used my newly learned Vietnamese vocabulary and wrote a poem about it.

11-1-2008

Mưa đong tư nhân mưa xuân!
Mưa đong quen vảo mơt ngây

Nông qưa! Nông qưa!
Tôi thich nông vảo môt ngây!

Qủa đau mưa ơ phô
Tôi hanh phưc vảo môt ngây


Winter pretends to be spring
Winter forgets for one day

Too hot! Too hot!
I love the heat on one day!

strawberries rain on the street
I'm happy on one day!

Labels: poetry, Viet Nam and the West

2007 has certainly been a year of radical change in my life. I started the year in Milwaukee and ended it living in Ha Noi!

It's been a year of unprecedented challenges for me. Adjusting to life in a foreign land and trying to learn something about the customs and cultures whille trying to do somewhat of a midlife career change has made me reach down into the depths of my mind, body and soul. I've done things I never thought I could accomplish. And I don't mean the kind of things you might think. I'll give you an example:

New Year's Eve I received a bicycle from one of my fellow teachers, Sean. He's going back to New Orleans for a few months and didn't want the bike anymore. So I travelled "downtown" to his hotel to pick it up. It was too far to ride the bike, so I ended up having to take it by motorbike. I thought I was going to hire an extra motorbike and have them tie it on to it, but I ended up having to hold on to the bike! So here I am, holding on to a 40 pound bike sitting crossways on the seat, and clutching onto the drivers shirt and bike with one hand. I don't know how we did it, but we managed to drive the bike about three or four miles through the crowded Hanoi streets back to the apartment! This is just something I never imagined doing!

New Year's in Vietnam is celebrated differently. Some people exchange gifts, but it is just not a big deal. The big deal comes about a month from now during Tet. It is curious that the most popular New Year's song isn't "Auld Lang Syne," but "Happy New Year" by ABBA! In fact, I had to teach my students "Auld Lang Syne" (which I thought was important because it was written by Robert Burns. To jog your memories of this song here's the link to you tube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcLMH8pwusw
with a video of ABBA.

When I was a teenager, I thought ABBA was kind of a Swedish cornball band. But looking at the video I have a new appreciation for them--the sentiments of the song are quite sweet and needed in a war torn world.

The Lyrics:
No more champagne
And the fireworks are through
Here we are, me and you
Feeling lost and feeling blue
Its the end of the party
And the morning seems so grey
So unlike yesterday
Nows the time for us to say...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I
Sometimes I see
How the brave new world arrives
And I see how it thrives
In the ashes of our lives
Oh yes, man is a fool
And he thinks he'll be okay
Dragging on, feet of clay
Never knowing he's astray
Keeps on going anyway...

Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have a vision now and then
Of a world where every neighbour is a friend
Happy new year
Happy new year
May we all have our hopes, our will to try
If we don't we might as well lay down and die
You and I

So I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and joyous 2008!

Labels: New Year's, Viet Nam and the West

Thefamiliar things are still here. Santas and Trees. Lights strung and glittering. Even the carols: We wish you a Merry Christmas, The First Noel (and a newer one We will live forevermore because of Christmas Day). But the shops, schools and offices go on. It's a decoration, not a reason to come home.

Most people don't exchange presents on Christmas, as Tet is the big holiday here. Some songs such as the ones above and "Jingle Bells" are familiar, and even have Vietnamese versions. Other customs such as Christmas stockings and reindeer, Wisemen and Angels, are totally unfamiliar. It's a weird thing to experience Christmas here!

But it was not an empty Christmas!

I went to St. Joseph's and that was the most familiar. I bought a creche at the book shop there and a few days later attended a packed mass on Christmas morning. This really again got me in contact with my spiritual roots. Just as enriching was going to the Christmas party at Lang Hoa Binh on Christmas Eve. The children just lit up at the presents I gave them. The joy they felt really was the best gift you can get! Then I went to Huy's house on Christmas Eve. I passed on a tradition that I rreceived from my friend Barb of pizza and scrabble on Christmas Eve! It was a blast! People from the neighborhood came and it was a great party! I received a coat, ornaments and a cute coffee cup from Huy, his family and Huong, a neighbor who I also teach! It was just a super day!

You can see more about my Christmas on my you tube and my space websites.

www.myspace.com
(look for lawalsh)

www.youtube.com
(look for maryecroy)

Labels: Catholic Church, Christmas, Viet Nam and the West

Viet Nam recently enacted a helmet law. Like Thailand, all people riding motobikes in Viet Nam are required to wear helmets. This is part of a safety campaign to reduce the number of accidents and traffic deaths. Almost every day I go past a big electronic sign that keeps count of the number of accidents and deaths this year and last year. It reminds me of when I was a kid in the 60s and saw these types of totals on the front page of the newspaper. Most people seem to be complying with the law and on December 14, the day before the new rule went into effect,there were huge lines to buy helmets. Fortunately, my school provided me with a free helmet.

Labels: culture and society, legal system, Viet Nam and the West

Bowling night at Apollo was a great cultural crossroads! Our Vietnamese staff members came up of the idea of a gathering at the Hanoi Star Bowl, which is right near one of our campuses. I finished dead last, knocking over only 46 pins! But I still had a great time and enjoyed the atmosphere of a 50s style bowling alley meets Vietnamese culture. For example, a woman in Ao Dai greeted the bowlers and then orders were taken by waitresses on roller skates. Ms. Hong, our scheduler, gives a game try even though she is five months pregnant. I also snapped a picture of Tim, a teacher from Florida, sampling Vietnamese food with chopsticks between frames. The meeting of cultures is often unpredictable, and sometimes very fun!

Labels: culture and society, sports, Viet Nam and the West

I started reading "US 1" in the Muriel Rukeyser book I bought here. It's a great anthology that includes a poem about workers afflicted with silconitis. Rukeyser investigated a case that happened in West Virginia in the 1930s. The poem incorporates excerpts from congressional hearings and stock quotes more brilliantly than I've been able to weave materials from daily life.

I was in awe at the way Rukeyser brings these different strands together. Standing alone, the transcripts and stock quotes are the banal products of modern life, but when dropped into a poetic context--the description of dying workers and lost dreams, the work becomes mirror and voice to the exploited--and to those who would seek change in our society.

This is the intellectual Highway 1 I travelled, with thoughts of the past, mountains and what it means to be an American in the most abstract and actual sense. But I also got gritty on Highway 1 here in Viet Nam.

I took a taxi down this road to teach at the ABB company which has its Viet Nam headquarters just outside the city. Highway 1 is the closest thing Viet Nam has to a freeway, and it is like the U.S. road system: a three lane highway with stoplights every few kilometers. But it is at the same time unlike any U.S. highway. It's three lanes of cars, motorbikes and bicycles all living in a benign chaos. The traffic here rages against American sensibility.

Labels: poetry, politics, Viet Nam and the West

I found a compilation of Muriel Rukeyser's work in a bookshop in Ha Noi. Several years ago I was introduced to her work by the women's writers circle and poetry maestro Dano, but I never realized how many years ago she wrote. She seems very cuttent but actually she began writing poetry books in 1935 and died back in 1980.

Reading her work, I can see her innovation and ability to create a vision which is uniquely hers, but yet is representative of our country and culture. Here we see how the struggle for justice can become a pulse and a breath.

The book seemed to be waiting for me to take it home. Rukeyser made here own trip to Ha Noi in the 1970s, puting her feet where her pen was in the pursuit of peace.

Her poem "Flying to Ha Noi" is a simple but revealing description of not only the trip, but her life odyssey.

Flying to Hanoi

I thought I was going to the poets, but I am going to the children.
I thought I was going to the children, but I am going to the women.
I thought I was going to the women, but I am going to the fighters.
I thought I was going to the fighters, but I am going to the men and women who are inventing peace.
I thought I was going to the invenotrs of peacebut I am going to the poets.
My life is flying to your life.

What I find most intriguing is the term "inventors" of peace. Perhaps this is a metaphor that is useful in trying to gain insight in this seemingly fruitless dream.

Peace is usually seen as an undiscovered land (Shangri-la) or a lost original state (Eden). We look to history and maps to discover the secret of peace. But Rukeyser, the pilot, the poet, the mother and daughter sees it in a different way.

Peace is something that never has been. Yet it is possible. It can't be discovered but has to be created Wright style, with bicycle chains and a vision and understanding of how to simplify the problem. It can only be created by people who have suffered the horrors of war.

People like the Vietnamese. People like us, post 9/11.

For more information on Muriel Rukeyeser's life and work, you can check out this link:

http://www.english.uiuc.edu/maps/poets/m_r/rukeyser/rukeyser.htm

Labels: poetry, politics, Viet Nam and the West