oh the streets they are changing

Many people here have commented on the rapid changes in Hanoi. Since I've only been here five weeks and have no "old Hanoi" to compare with the "new Hanoi," I must rely on what I hear to form my perspectives. So open your ears with me...

--Many people have commented on the traffic this year, that it is the worse they have ever seen. There are more cars on the streets (expensive ones at that), making traffic jams almost impassible. There are fewer and fewer bicycles (I am among the quiet pedalers). Drivers are more aggressive. When I ask people what they think of their city, they often complain about the traffic. And, let me say, i tru, es la verdad. Traffic accidents are a leading cause of death among the youth, which I can easily believe after seeing three accidents in one night! The government just passed a law that requires all motorists to wear a helmet in an attempt to decrease injuries and fatalities. We'll see if people actually wear them...

--Another change is the presence of imported goods. Today is the mid-Autumn festival, when children traditionally would make lanterns and other crafts and parade them proudly in the streets. Now, China has dominated the market with cheap plastic toys mimicking the traditional ones, so kids parade with battery-operated plastic lanterns instead. People who remember the "good ol' days" complain that, while they don't like this change, there's really not much they can do about it. People buy what's cheap and flashy, and those are goods from China. There's also a plethora of imported fruits from China, and people say that they have so many chemicals that a peach will stay ripe on your counter for weeks. Many avoid these "fresh" foods from China if they can afford to.

--Another major change is pollution, especially in the rivers. As people gain more wealth, there are more disposable goods that end up in the many lakes and rivers around Hanoi. Either people don't realize that this is a problem or they don't care. One of the projects that Action for the City is involved in is "PhotoVoice." From the Photovoice website (our inspiration): "At PhotoVoice we encourage the use of documentary photography by enabling those that have traditionally been the subject of such work to become its creator - to have control over how they are perceived by the rest of the world, while simultaneously learning a new skill which can enhance their lives." Basically we will train some youth to express themselves through photography, give them cameras, and have them take pictures of the rivers and surrounding communities. After a few months, we will gather the photos, edit them, and display them publicly to show the community what the problems are and what can be done about them.

Of course, along with these more negative changes, there are many new changes in Hanoi that people accept excitedly. Change is in the air, and even after five weeks here, I feel it...

(ps--As noted on the side of this blog, these posts tend to be more objective. If you'd like more personal updates, send me a note and I'll add you to my email list. :-) )

a trip to the market

I went to the local market this morning with my host mother and sister. It is outdoors, covered with tarps that hit my head because I'm a head taller than most people here, and about a five minute walk from my house. My host mom goes there every morning to buy the day's food. Here's some of what I saw:

--Live fish in shallow tanks of water. These fish are very alive--I saw one escapee flopping around on the path, perhaps mistaking itself for the Ariel the little mermaid
--Piles and baskets of fruit: green oranges (they're still called oranges, though it would be natural to call them "greens"), huge grapefruit (sometimes the size of my head), papaya, watermelon (dark green and oblong), apples, many different kinds of bananas, dragon fruit (pink with green spikes on the outside, white with black seeds on the inside--pictures to come!), and other fruits that I can't describe...
--Long stalks of sugar cane, waiting to be either peeled, cut up, and chewed, or put through a press to make sweet juice
--Women hacking at beef or pork meat, still on the bone, weighing exact amounts for customers. Pig's feet on the same counter.
--Baskets full of rice
--Piles of squid, tubs of swimming shrimp, other creatures which I could not identify and for which I cannot remember the Vietnamese word!
--Women wrapping up food in banana leaves. I never know what I'll find when I open a wrapped-up green package. Always a surprise...
--A basket full of little birds, ready for some dish (sorry Hope)
--Little shops with cloth and women working hard on their sewing machines inside
--Shops to buy oil and imported goods

And there is oh so much more. As much as I hate going to places like that with my camera, I'll give it a try sometime... But hopefully this has given you some idea of the wonders of a Vietnamese market.

When we came back, I made applesauce from some macs that we bought at the market. mm... the smell of cooking apples brings me right back to the applesauce production at home every fall!

on language

Rachel, Brent, and I have begun language lessons! On MWF mornings we head to Hanoi University for our "Pre-Elementary" class (this course is 100 hours total). We worked on pronunciation for the entire time the first day. Vietnamese is tricky! There are 12 vowels and some of those sounds have only previously been emitted from my mouth via grunts and "uh"s. Then there are six different tones--straight and high-pitched, falling, rising, down and up slowly, down and quickly up (like a check-mark), and low and short. If you say a word with the wrong tone, it means something completely different. For example, "ta" can mean we/us, flap, describe, be worn out, dozen, and 100 kg all depending on the tone. Most Vietnamese words are only one or two syllables, so getting the vowels and tones correct makes the difference between being understood and being a fool. I'm afraid most of my attempts make me the latter so far, but I'll get it with time. My language class often feels like a flute lesson, talking about tongue placement, mouth shape, etc. I remember some flute lessons in high school where we spent nearly an hour working on where to place the tongue for different notes and different attacks. Well, same thing here, except the result means a difference between thoi (stop) and toi (I/me). Language is a giant ear-training class. Except this is (mostly) fun. '-)

pictures

I finally have pictures up! For detailed captions, click a picture below to be directed to the Picasa web album.