A parental perspective in Vietnam!!

Mom's journey blog entry- 4/8/06
After 9 planes, 12 buses, 5 boats. 1 train, 2 taxis, 1 tuk tuk, and an
elephant ride in 14 days later, we finally returned home. One of the
father's on the trip, Russell, said when he watched the boat leave the
harbor in Nassau, he thought to himself, "What have I just done? I just
sent my daughter off with 849 complete strangers on a boat for 100
days." This time we watched the boat leave going back down the Saigon
River out to sea and we all knew we were watching 680 Young American
Ambassadors head for China. (680 students plus staff-no-we didn't lose
150 people from the boat). After sharing their journey with them
through Vietnam and Cambodia, we all knew we were with some very
special students who had discovered themselves and found their voices
somewhere within those 100 days and many countries later. We as
parents were ready to take on our roles once more, "Have you been
eating right?", "Are you OK?" "Do you need anything?" But we only
heard, "Come on, we have many roads to go down yet, mom and dad." So!
Off we went.

Suffering from jetlag and heat shock, we arrived in Bangkok. We had
our first class in foreign language from our guide, Mae. "Sawadee-ca"
for women to say, and "Sawadee-crap" for the men meaning welcome,
hello, good-by, and thank-you." Bangkok has 4 seasons, as does
Minnesota: hot, hotter, hottest and wet. We only have one of the four,
and having had 20 inches of snow fall the week before we left, it was
quite the shock to arrive in over 100 degree heat and humidity and
being told this is the hotter season. Hottest starts in April! I
loved Bangkok, The City of Angels, but I refer to it as Buddaville. We
floated down the Chao Phraya River and through the Thornburi canals,
feeding the carp, eating lunch along the shore and watching the boys
swim in the water on our first day. We saw beautiful temples, the
Grand Palace, toured the Ayuthaya, the former capital, and visited the
"Summer Palace" which I found to be stunning. We saw Buddha: The
Golden Buddha, The Jade Buddha, The Laying Down Buddha, fat Buddha,
skinny Buddha, and meditating Buddha for our enlightenment. We
definitely want to return to Thailand and see more of the countryside
including Chiang Mai.

Vietnam was interesting for all of us but for many, we spent the first
day casting off our old images of Vietnam whether they were from a TV
screen, cover of Life Magazine, or because of a visit courtesy of Uncle
Sam. A thriving city, Ho Chi Minh was a bustling city along the Saigon
River. Our first lesson: how to cross the street. It is an exercise
in faith! Follow three rules: don't look, just start to cross; don't
change your pace; don't look back. It is the city of a million
scooters. Scooterville. I thought it was a special parade but no,
just everyone drives scooters. Women dressed as ninjas surprised me but
I was told the Vietnam women don't want to have any tan lines from the
sun. The 'whiter' the better and how they do not pass out in the heat
dressed in a total cover up including the face covered, long sleeved
gloves and hats and socks is beyond me. I first thought they wanted to
be more white as in Caucasian but I quickly learned the other reason:
the whiter the skin, the more education, which in turn meant more money
and not a job working in a rice patty. 60 % of the population in
Vietnam is under 25 years old so one girl I was with from the boat had
to find someone to interview about the war for her class assignment but
that was not as easy as I thought it would be with everyone so young.
Imagine how different the US would be if over half the population was
barely drinking age! The second day, we parents stood on the rooftop
of our hotel watching for the first sighting of the ship as it came up
the Saigon River at the crack of dawn. The ship was enormous sailing
by the Sampans, the Vietnamese fishing boats. Hardly able to contain
our excitement, we dashed to breakfast and boarded the bus to take us
to the pier. Grab your Kleenex! Tears of joy came out of our eyes as
our kids hung over the ship rails hanging signs of greetings to us.
Bursting out in song of Happy Birthday to Nicci's dad, and one girl
yelling, "Guess what Mom, I am pregnant!" (Just a little joke since
the ship is 2 girls for every boy.) Little did we know, the country
had its own greeting committee with 12 women dressed in traditional
Vietnam clothes holding their own personal greeting sign of welcome to
our country. Charlie was right: the Vietnamese were very warm and
welcoming to all of us. Vietnam was the capital of Tailors as most of
the students wanted clothes made so off we went to be outfitted after
we greeted the boat's arrival. As Charlie said, "It is just another day
for us at school", we hit the ground running once the students joined
us and after our lunch on board the ship meeting the fantastic crew, we
were off to Cambodia the second day.

Cambodia was by far the most interesting. It wasn't poverty we were
looking at. It was simply a country still in its infancy in terms of
development. As it said in one of our recommended reading materials,
"Cambodia is like a broken vase. The millions of little pieces have
been glued back together but it is not very strong." It was not the
Killing Fields with the skulls piled up, and clothes or bones still
sticking out of the ground that made one pause. It was the only place
in 14 days the sky tried but failed to open up on us. It was just the
tears of the many lost souls, falling on our faces from the sky as we
just stood there on the dusty dirt roads around Phnom Pehn. On our
second day in Cambodia, we were greeted with 110-degree temps and that
does not factor in the 90 percent humidity, as we stepped off the plane
headed for the city of Angkor. Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm, and Angkor Thom
were the highlights of this city.

After Cambodia, we were off to return to Vietnam and cruised the Mekong
Delta along the Mekong River sampling honey tea, exotic fruits and
another oriental buffet. We rejoined the group that went to Hanoi
instead and shared our different experiences with them. All too soon
it was time to wave good-by to our ambassadors. We proud parents stood
on the rooftop of our hotel to wave as the captain of the boat set sail
once again down the Saigon River headed for another stop, another
country, and another day of classes.

The highlights? The woman in the picture Charlie put at the beginning
of his Vietnam entry asked me if I wanted a Vietnam daughter-in-law
after meeting Charlie. Feeding the wild monkeys, riding the elephants,
meeting the wonderful parents of our young ambassadors, entrepreneur
Charlie selling frozen wet towelettes to the kids outside our bus,
watching Katie bargain for a cheaper taxi in H.C.M., Vince bargaining
down the price for his Congo drum, thawing out, gaining the true
understanding of the mission the Institute of Shipboard Education has
for students, Mike finding his soul mate in George for our
entertainment including the dance on stage the two did on our last
night, Charlie ordering two dinners at the French Restaurant
overlooking Saigon River before boarding the boat, and the education we
got in 3 Asian countries.

If I went back to Cambodia, it would be for a mission such as bringing
textbooks since they have very few if any teachers for the kids. I
will never forget the eyes in the little boy who clung to me at Angkor
Wat asking "Madame, One U.S.dollar, Madame". I can still hear him. I
had the great fortune of meeting General Colin Powell before Charlie
set sail and I now agree with him after I told him about Charlie's
semester at sea: We are relying on these 680 young voices to be our
next leaders and giving a voice to those who can not speak to us
directly for they have looked into the eyes of many people around the
world and listened to their messages. I think that is the ultimate
purpose of this journey for our children and I applaud their courage.
We parents are very proud of these students and know we cannot place a
dollar value on the wisdom they have gained.

Thank-you students, parents, guides and instructors for sharing your
journey with us. In three weeks, we will once again stand at the pier
with our welcome signs, Kleenex, and empty suitcases for all your
purchases and tailored made clothes and watch as the captain safely
brings in the ship into the harbor in San Diego. See you there!