Adjusting to Ha Noi

What a crazy first week this has been! A week ago today, I moved in with my lovely host family that consists of my mother, whom I refer to as me (Vietnamese for "mom") and my little sister Chau (who is twelve). My Vietnamese mom doesn't speak a word of English, but Chau speaks a little bit, so we are able to communicate some.  Sign Language is often very helpful.

Chau is so silly and sweet :)
On the left is Chau, and on the right is one of my cousins.  

 Chau, my mom, and I live in a small, modest apartment in downtown Ha Noi.

My mama and cousin cooking dinner.

I have a room and bed to myself (Chau and my mama sleep on the floor together). 

Notice the Chinese symbols on the walls.  I have another sister, who is twenty.  She is currently studying in Beijing.

Every morning I wake up around 5:30 am and eat breakfast with my mom and sisters.  Every morning breakfast is different.  Sometimes we eat simple bread and milk, other times eggs and rice, and occasionally we have noodles and vegetables.  I always drink a cup of trai (tea).  

I leave for school around 7 am.  This past week I have been taking a taxi and occasionally walking home, but this upcoming week I plan to ride my bicycle.  Navigating the streets is going to be treacherous.  Thankfully, my cousin, Nguyen, who is fifteen and speaks English very well, has agreed to ride his bicycle with me to school for the first few days to make sure I know how to avoid getting run over by a motorcycle.

Motorbikes everywhere!

School, so far, has been a bit chaotic, as is the first week of school anywhere. I very much enjoy the 14 other American students that I am studying with.  Everyone has something interesting to say and something unique to add to class discussions.  There is rarely a dull moment.  

This is one of the classrooms that SYA has rented out for our studies at the Viet Nam National University.  They are very nice, clean and air conditioned! We even have our own student lounge to take a break in between classes.

For lunch, we are given an allowance from SYA of 200,000 dong (roughly 10 dollars) a week to buy food.  We are free to venture around the campus and stop at any cafe or restaurant that we wish to buy our lunch.  I usually opt for a whopping bowl of rice, vegetables, peanuts, and a coke.  Total cost: $1.50.

After school, I often hang out with some friends for a bit before heading home.  Sometimes we stop on the side of the street for a fresh coconut.  The coconuts here are truly amazing, as is the rest of the tropical fruit.  I could eat it all day!

Dragon fruit! 

Delicious melons.

When I get home,  there are often family members there to greet me along with my mom and Chau.  Family is extremely important to the Vietnamese (this relates to their practice of Buddhism, which I will blog about later).  The entire family, including aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandma and grandpa all live within walking distance of our apartment.  They are all extremely friendly to me, smiling and laughing at my awful Vietnamese. 

My cousins Nghi (4) and Be (8).

At around 6 pm, Chau, my mom and I eat dinner.   My mama is a wonderful cook.  Vietnamese meals are always very well balanced.  There is always rice or noodles, some type of meat (most often pork), and vegetables with various types of sauces.  "An com, an com, Sarah!" my mama yells at me while I eat.  "Eat, eat, Sarah!"

Mmm, dinner.

After dinner, we always drink tea and eat fruit.  We often eat qua ngu ( I don't know what it's called in English!).  They are small round fruits with a brown peel.  Inside it is white, and there is a small pit.  I stuff my face with them; they taste incredible!

After dinner, I spend a little bit of time journaling, reading, and playing games with my sister and cousins, or whatever other family members may be there tonight.  I usually go to sleep around 9 pm.  I am absolutely exhausted!

It has been a challenging week.  There are so many things I am still trying to get used to. Simply living in a big city after living in small, quaint Charlottesville is such a big change! It's certainly much noisier and dirtier here than in my hometown.  And then there are small things, like adjusting to using chopsticks instead of forks.  It was a bit hard at first, but now I'm pretty much a pro.  I'm pretty sure I could catch a fly with my chopsticks, just like the Karate Kid. 

Well, that's all I have to say for now.  Hopefully this upcoming week will go a bit more smoothly.  The Mid-Autumn Festival (which is celebrating all over Viet Nam) is happening this week, so that should be really fun! Already vendors are selling toys and candy on the streets, and you can hear children singing and beating drums during the night.  My family has also gotten many gifts of moon cakes (traditional Vietnamese "cake" eaten during the Mid-Autumn Festival). 

If you want to see more pictures, look at my flickr! sarahfweiner@yahoo.com

Chao!