Final Orphanage Tour and Good-byes

August 6, 2007

Back in HoChiMinh yesterday afternoon, we decided to do a little shopping while we were downtown since the hydrofoil ends at the city center and it would take a lot of time to battle the traffic back to Phillipe's to drop the luggage and then back into town again to shop. Aly had spied a little "outlet mall" before we left - 20 little boutiques with designer-name goods spilling into the central corridor in a "mall" all of 40 feet wide - stores about 15 feet deep on each side with a 10-foot walkway in the middle filled with 6 foot wide carts leaving 2 2-foot wide walking aisles. We intended to take our luggage into the mall (4 pieces + daypack) but after surveying the scene, I found there was not a place to sit at all, let alone with a pile of luggage. So I stayed outside on the front steps for 30 - 40 minutes while Aly hit every store I'm sure. Of course, I was quickly drawn away from my book (wonderful biography by Vietnamese-American writer, Andrew Pham, Catfish and Mandela), by the entertainment of the street vendors cooking their wares on little wood fire pits and tiny iron cookware right on the sidewalk. And of course just the people-watching!

Then it was dinner, cards for me and Aly and a late movie from Phillipe's mostly foreign film collection of DVD's, which he projects onto a 10 x 15 foot wall to make a very nice little "cinema!" We saw a French love story, based on an autobiographical novel, set in Vietnam in 1929. Very good history and culture lesson.

Today was our final day at the Orphanage with Mr. Chien. When we arrived, he embraced us warmly and glowingly offered us a DVD that had already been made from the first two days we spent with him. Tonight we will get to watch it - what a wonderful way to preserve the memories! In addition to playing with the smaller children again (Aly took a 9-month old in tow for most of the morning), we observed all of the elementary grades that included both normal and blind children. The teachers are paid by the government - not sure who selects them - and then there are two "specialists" who oversee the the teaching program and particularly the services to the blind. We never did observe the braille texts or machines that were evident in the 2000 video that Mr. Chien had sent. Apparently some of the footage was filmed at another site.

We then got to tour the Pagoda worship spaces, which we had not seen on the previous visits. We had thought they might be "off-limits" in some way, but in retrospect I think Mr. Chien thought we were there to see the children and the programs not the Pagoda so just hadn't toured us there. In any event, when we asked today, he was more than happy to take us up each of the 6 levels explaining the various symbolism and different Buddhas and other religious figures. All of this intricate design is within the lava-like mountain rocks that form the outer walls of the Pagoda (that you see from the outside) and of course all is open-air - there is no AC in the Pagoda and Children's Center. The towering Pagoda also sits over a 30-foot deep (and dark) cavern with other poured concrete flowers and vegetation that serve as the foundation. As we got up to the 4th level, Mr. Chien motioned to us to sit down to point out that with the 4 foot walls around us, you could not see any buildings of the city, just the Buddhas in all directions (maybe 12 or 15) and the huge trees surrounding the Pagoda. As we got to the 6th level where we sat under a blue pastel curved ceiling, Mr. Chien laughed that we were now in paradise!

We were then invited to another sumptuous vegan lunch - soup with a green zuccini squash type vegetable and onions, steamed green beans and bean sprouts, sauteed tofu and vegies with "much rice" and papayas, two kinds of applies and a great bright yellow watermelon (tasted just like red) for dessert!

Before saying our goodbyes, Mr. Chien gave us a little lesson in reincarnation and the life of spirits in the death and rebirth cycle - very interesting. A final joke - Aly was rubbing his head, which had become her show of affection for him, where the soft gray stubble had grown out since we had seen him 4 days earlier. Each time she did so, he laughed playfully, but this time he said: "Of course I will not forget you, no one in Vietnam may touch may head, only you!" Aly looked aghast for a split second realizing that she had violated both cultural and religious decorum, but Mr. Chien laughed and gave her a hug - always accepting of the intention behind the act.

We fly out tonight at 11:30PM - although the flights are slightly shorter, trade winds apparently going West to East, we have 4 hour layovers in both Tokyo and Dallas - ugh - so it's about 28 hours to get home - our own beds will feel GREAT tomorrow night!