When
we came to Cambodia we were only able to get 1 month visas. So when they were about to expire we decided
to take a trip to Vietnam, that way we could just pay for new visas when we
came back to the Cambodian border.
6
of us took a night bus from Phnom Penh. It was supposed to leave at 12:30. We
didn’t even get picked up to go until close to 1am. We thought we were the last
ones to get on the bus and all found seats and feel asleep thinking we would
leave soon. More and more people just kept showing up though. By the time we
left Phnom Penh around 3am, the bus was so packed that people were sitting on
the floor because they ran out of seats.
We
drove through the night on a rather bumpy and wild ride and made it to the
border by about 6 or 7am. There we had to wait for an hour because the border
wasn’t open so we couldn’t cross.
We
had to get off the bus like 3 times in the border crossing process. Once to
check visas, once just to stand there, and once to walk through with all of our
stuff. The last time they made us take all of our bags off the bus and go into
a building with them. We then had to walk them through a metal detector before
we were cross. I was trying to explain to them that because of my pacemaker I
can’t walk through metal detectors and the guy just kept telling me to walk
through anyway. I thought he didn’t understand me and I was getting frustrated
and kept trying to explain. Finally
he called to another guy who was outside and spoke better English. The
guy came and told me that it didn’t matter because the metal detector wasn’t even
on. I decided to trust him and walked through anyway. Sure enough, nothing
happened. We walked through with all of our luggage and it didn’t go off. They
hadn’t turned the machine on. They made us unload the bus and walk through a
machine that wasn’t even on. I was so frustrated and confused. Just another
example of how people are willing to pretend to go through the motions here but
don’t really understand the point of why they have to do things. It’s just very
strange. So many western conceptions that have taken root here but seem
completely pointless.
It’s
actually really interesting to watch Cambodians agree to do something a
different way than they want to and then not follow to it because they thing
it’s pointless. I think it’s a lot of the reason that oganizations have such a
hard time getting systemic change implemented in Cambodia, because they try to
do it the way they would in their country, and just get Cambodian’s to say yes,
but when the Cambodians don’t understand the rationale behind doing it a
certain way, they never will. You can tell that so often they think westerners
are so funny. Yesterday I was at the market trying to buy a fake northface bag
because I already have more stuff than I can get home. I was looking at the bag
and the zippers all said adidas. I was trying to show the lady that I wanted
one that looked more real and she was like, but this is a good zipper, way
better than the fake north face ones. You don’t want that. This is better good
quality. She looked at me like I was crazy when I told her I wanted it to match.
If it works, why does it matter what it looks like? I think it’s an important
thing we forget all too often.
We
made it to Vietnam by around 11am, found a guesthouse and went and got food.
Afterwards we walked around a bit. 2 in our group headed further north but the
rest of us stayed in Saigon.
I
got to visit the Independence/Reunification Palace. For anyone who has seen
pictures from the Vietnam war of the last American solider being taken off the
roof of the building by a helicopter, that’s the building where I went.
It
was amazing to learn about the war from the Vietnamese perspective. Where
Americans were painted as the evil aggressor, and Vietnam was triumphant in
uniting their country despite the horrific things done to their people by this
outside force. It was really hard to see pictures of American soldiers marching
small children to concentration camps and read some of the stories of what
Americans had done there. There have been so many times on this trip where it
has been so hard to be an American, to own up to the past mistakes committed,
to see the damage that has been done. American has a history of getting
involved in other countries early on, making a huge mess of things, and then
showing up later to try and implement all these policies on how the countries
should rebuild from the destruction that we caused. It’s terrifying to see it’s
after effects sometimes. I constantly find myself struggling to differentiate
between what things I need to accept about being here as different, but good
and unique, and what things are different but not ok and need to be changed.
Coming here and focusing on the legal aspect, and being in an office that deals
with children’s issues gets really really difficult at times. It’s hard to know
when to accept cultural differences and when to try and implement change. I
think one big difficulty the UN has had here is it doesn’t always find itself
on the right side of that line.
That
night we got to meet up with other USF students who are working in Vietnam this
summer. Some are living in Saigon but a couple other had flown down from Hanoi
for the weekend. It was fun to see them and hear about their experiences. They
are all working in big international corporate law firms, basically on the
exact opposite side of all issues as the rest of us. A lot of them defending
individuals accused of trafficking, rather than trying to combat it. It was
great to share experiences and stories and talk about different cultural things
we had experienced.
The
next morning we pretty much got up and were able to walk around and shop a bit
but then had to head on a bus back so we could work on Monday. It was amazing
how much more developed Saigon was than Phnom Penh. I found myself not knowing
how to walk in a normal city. In Phnom Penh you just have to go whenever you
can. No one will ever stop to let you through so you have to be aggressive and
trust that you won’t get hit. In Saigon people stop and wait for traffic lights
and let pedestrians cross, it was amazing. There were also a ton of western
restaurants in Saigon. We saw subway, pizza hut, KFC, and baskin robbins.
Amazing how no matter where Americans go you can always find pieces of home.
Vietnam
was similar to Cambodia in the abundance of delicious street foods. Everywhere
people set up makeshift restaurants out of carts and have plastic chairs they
set up around them so you can sit and eat. The food was amazing and I would
have just stayed there and continued eating for days. For everyone who thought
I would come back to the U.S. skinner, you thought wrong. You can get a hearty
meal of carbs and meat here for about $1... which means I pig out.
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