Dodging the Breaststrokers

While I was in China last summer one of my favorite things to de-stress was to go swimming. I love to swim laps and I'm a pretty good swimmer. Most people don't know that I would be a professional swimming instructor for the rest of my life if I didn't have to look like a prune all day! Anyway, we all have those days where in some aspect in our lives we feel like we are drowning. I'll be honest I've been a little overwhelmed lately. So I decided to go swimming.

Behind the Reunification Palace in central Saigon is a 50 meter outdoor pool. I paid my 10,000 dong, (about $0.60) changed, and jumped into the pool. Ah. There is one lane line going half way down the pool and everyone swims around it in a circle. If you've ever gone swimming in Asia you know that all Asians do the breaststroke. However, this can be treacherous if you're trying to pass one or two or three of them because you can get some good swift kicks in the side. But I did my thing and felt the stress just starting to flow out of me. I didn't mind the dirt on the bottom of the pool. My goggles kept fogging up so I couldn't really see much anyway! I didn't mind the men smoking by the pool. I didn't mind the weird lady floating around with her floaties on. I just let the water take the stress away.

At the end of my swim I noticed that there was a swimming lesson going on! They had put floaties on all of the little children's arms and then proceeded to tell them to jump into the deep end! Shocking! Safety first? I think not. I was highly amused though and after most jumped sucessfully I started to rethink my theories of swimming lessons. Sometime I do just want to throw the buggers into the deep end!

Anyway back to my original thought... In a world where I can't speak the language very well (okay who am I kidding- I really can't speak the language), where I'm just trying to navigate my new job, and I'm learning how to provide for myself in a new Asian city, it was good to be able to do something familiar and something that I'm good at. In the future when someone asks me for advice about how to cope with a new situation I will tell them to do something that they are good at.

My friend Pam Davis had the best advice ever for living overseas for an extended amount of time. She said, "Be nice to yourself." This was said after her year in Guam and the Island of Chuke. She is my hero when it comes to living abroad!!

In other news I'll be in the US in a few days for my Christmas break. I can't wait to see my twin sister and everyone else!! Give me a call-- I'll have the same number.

Site Visits

One of the great things about being a fellow is that I can go out to the field with the technical staff to see different projects. Here are a few pictures!!

District 10 Outpatient Clinic (OPC). We went out to see if we could do a renovation (see other posts).

The staff from USAID invited me to go to a grand opening of another OPC. I'm glad I didn't have to make any speeches but I did have to stand up and be recognized as representing CDC. This is one of those moments that was a little sureal because I've always wanted to work overseas with CDC and here I am...

Then I went with Dr. Son, the care and treatment Project Officer to an AIDS hospital that used to be an 06 center. It was 5 hours away but well worth the trip. You can't see the bars in this picture but there were huge bars on each of the doors, a remnant of the 06 center that it used to be. It was interesting to see the progression of illness throughout each residence area. Some were still recovering drug addicts and some were dying of AIDS. Either way it is a sobering picture of what heroine does to people. Today I went to the closest 06 center to Ho Chi Minh City. The 06 centers were created as a sort of "rehab" place for IDU (injection drug users). I'm actually not sure how many are in Vietnam but most of them do not look like this. The residents are taken off the streets and put in these facilities for 2-5 years. Imagine putting a huge high risk group in a concentrated area-- according to the Project Officer the prevalence of HIV among these men is 40-60%. While I have a really hard time believing it is that high none the less it is significant si nce the prevelance in Vietnam is only 0.5%.

In the US when we think about HIV/AIDS we mostly think about Africa and/or associate the disease with risk groups such as MSM (men who have sex with men) , CSW (comercial sex workers), and other people who engage in risky sexual behaviours. Well here in Vietnam the largest at risk population is by far the IDU. But it's tricky... and I'll leave it at that for right now!

Pumpkin Soup

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I get to spend it will ALL of my family. When I decided to take the job in Vietnam the hardest part of my decision was being away for Thanksgiving. So I knew I had to do something special. So Kate, the fellow in Hanoi, and I decided to go to the beach. She was so gracious to fly down to Ho Chi Minh City and then we took a 4.5 hour bus to Mui Ne.

We were upgraded to a villa with a private swimming pool for the 3 nights and 4 days that we were there! It was super relaxing. When we woke up we heard the sound of the waves and not motorbikes! The air was sweet with oxygen, something I appreciated since I live in Saigon.

We actually did get to have some pumpkin soup on Thanksgiving, which was the closest thing to any traditional food that we found. But I enjoyed my veggies and noodles!!

I woke up early on Sunday to get a view of the sun rising over the Pacific Ocean. I think sunrises and sunsets remind me of God's generosity and creativity.


Some Vietnamese guys who found out we could speak a little Vietnamese. I think they are used to seeing a bunch of German tourists who can barely speak English let alone Vietnamese!!


This is the view from the spa where we got our 60 minute body massage. The sound of the ocean just makes it so relaxing!!

A good week with PEPFAR

Lately I've been up to my eyeballs in spreadsheets and budgets having extraordinary bonding times with my computer, which is safely tucked away in one of the most beautiful buildings in Ho Chi Minh City. But the numbers meant absolutely nothing to me.

It was an incredible experience this week to visit some of the sites that we (CDC/PEPFAR) supports. Dr. Son, the project officer for care and treatment, took me to 4 OPC (Outpatient clinics) where they have a variety of activities including VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing), OI/STD (Opportunistic Diseases/Sexually Transmitted Diseases) drug dispensing, PE (peer education), laboratory and finally ARV services (Antiretroviral-- the treatment for AIDS). One of the OPCs had 4 doctors and 4 nurses in the same small room seeing patients. Can you imagine getting your STD checked out in the same room as all of these other people or talking about your HIV status? This violates the basic principle of treatment of HIV-- confidentiality. Anyway as I've been going through the overall budget we've found quite a bit of extra money. What an incredible experience to see a need and be able to fill it will ease! I can't wait to go back in a few months and see each of rooms being used by only one doctor!

The next OPC was like a cooking oven. There was very little ventilation, which can be unnecessarily dangerous when Tuberculosis (TB) is in the picture. The OI and ARV drugs were being stored at room temperature, which makes them less effective. Anyway about the time we started talking about negative pressure ventilation and air-conditioning with the doctor and administrator the lab man came out and was practically begging for us to expand it to the lab where he said he is roasting (probably not in those words but...). Great! Let's do it... When there is a happy doctor and lab man you may find better treated patients!

At another OPC in the rural outskirts of Hi Chi Minh City we saw that the group counseling was being held on plastic stools in front of the clinic for all to see. Again no confidentiality! So they were requesting to build a group counseling room where more HIV/AIDS patients would feel comfortable. No problem!

There are a lot of challenges with PEPFAR but one thing is that it really can meet a big need! Dr. Son said that the best thing the president has done was fund PEPFAR. It has been the only sustainable program to address the HIV need in Vietnam.

It was a satisfying week. :)

The Market

Ben Thanh Market is the seat of all trade in Ho Chi Minh City!! One may find smelly, dried fish/seafood, live seafood, sparkly shoes, hair clips and my favorite... kapri clad German tourists!!

I find the shops around the market to be very exciting. There are many pearl and gem shops and salons for getting my nails done. It is also across the road from the bus station if I can ever figure out which one to take.

It's super crazy inside though. The walkways wind around like a labyrinth through the overstuffed booths. The only way to really know how to get back is to remember the stuff that you went by to get there. Ex) Pass 5 hair clips shops, turn left at the sandal isle pass 10 booths selling the exact same sandals, go through the smelly, dried fish, turn right at the buckets of live fish and squid and then you'll be outside!

It is truly an Asian experience and the advantage is that you will be taller than all of them so everyone will know where you are!

Paper clips, fax machines and video conferences!

Now I can watch The Office with sympathy! I work in one now. It's kinda weird because when I think about Siagon I think that I would at least get to ride to work on an elephant and pass all kinds of tropical trees, you know? But alas I have a motor bike driver come pick me up in the morning and everyday is an adventure in the dance of motorbikes for 10 minutes! I did buy a pink helmet, which makes me very happy!

But in general I'm getting use to working in an office. I have file folders, a password for my very own computer and a little cubicle with drawers to store my coffee and jasmine green tea! There is even a water cooler next to the conference room where we do indeed do the socializing. And even though it is 90 degrees outside I wear long sleeves to ward off the outta control air conditioning. But unlike Pam and Jim I have a great boss/mentor and wonderful coworkers. If you ever come visit me you'll see that the Vietnamese people are pretty much the nicest group of people in the world!!

I promise to keep writing on my blog. Just keep me on the ball!

Monsoons and plastic bags

I’ve never really appreciated city planners until a few days ago in Hanoi. I went to Hanoi for a few days for a quick orientation at the CDC with the other ASPH fellow, Kate. We were at a café getting some sandwiches and a monsoon (or what felt like a monsoon) came through and within the span of eating a sandwich the street was completely flooded with some sections waist deep. This is when the city drainage system should have kicked in! We were watching with some amusement as the taxi drivers, motorbikes and bicyclist did risk assessments before barging into the water. Some decided they were going for it and others tried to back up in the middle of the pile up. As we watched the rain fall and the water rise we also were watching the steps of the café disappear beneath the water. When we left I took off my shoes, rolled up my pants and wrapped plastic bags around my feet.

I thought I was a pretty smart but the bags quickly came off and I was quickly wadding in the water with plastic bags full of water. When we got to some higher land I tried to dry off my feet and put my tall, striped socks on with my shoes and walk back through the rain. Usually there are a ton of vendors with umbrellas, plastic sandals or ponchos on the streets. The only vendors open on the way home were the pots and pan vendors, which are just as helpful as those pesky plastic bags!!

Siagon- Day 3

First impressions of Siagon. It is not Chengdu, China. I am afraid that I’ve been making some comparisons and while it may seem natural since they are both in Asia I can’t say that it is completely fair. Siagon is so far from China in that it takes a good 14+ hour train/bus ride through the mountains to get up to China. That means that the majority of people here are completely unfamiliar with China and have therefore maintained a very different culture.

I am thoroughly impressed with the genuine niceness of people here. They will do anything to help. While most have very minimal working English, sign language and business cards usually do the trick to communicate.

On my first day here I was taken aback when I saw huge poster boards with what looks like 1940 German propaganda with Vietnamese people. The colors are bold red and blue and I can’t wait ‘til I can read it because I’m sure that will add to the amusement.

There is a huge Catholic Cathedral in the center of town actually right next to where I work. It is called Notre Dame after the cathedral in Paris. While I’ve never been to Paris what I can remember of pictures is that is isn’t a rounded style with red accents. I could be wrong though!!

For those of you who are wondering why I made a pit stop in Chicago here is the story: I had gotten to the airport in Chicago from Raleigh and was 2 hours away from boarding my flight to Hong Kong when I got a call about my visa. I looked at my visa and sure enough the active date wasn’t until Oct 1. I was supposed to get in on Sept 29. I would be sent back and at best I might be able to find a hotel in Hong Kong for a couple of days. Not my idea of a good time! United Airlines fortunately rebooked my flight for the 1st and I was to stay in Chicago for a few days. I was so thankful for my aunt’s friend, Barb, who picked me up from the airport and invited me into her home. It was such a blessing because it allowed me to get some much needed rest before flying again.

Vietnam

I've taken a fellowship with ASPH/CDC to spend a year in Vietnam. I hope to fill this blog with fun stories (not to funny though because those always tend to be the most embarrassing or dangerous)!

Travel includes 28 hours starting Sunday!! I'll be in one plane for 16 hours so that in and of itself should be a fun ride.

I do have sykpe and would love to keep in touch. Remember I am going to the other side of the world but I'm not dropping off the face of the world!