The time has come, the Walrus said... (Addendum 3)

To talk of many things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing wax--
Of cabbages--and kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have wings.


The time has come for my last post on Vietnam and Cambodia.  It's going to be, more or less, a scrapbook of my favorite photos and experiences.  Aussie Sue asked me on my last day in Hanoi what my favorite experience had been.  I was at a loss.  There were so many things I saw and did and ate and felt, it feels impossible to pinpoint a trip highlight.  But I'll try to narrow it down to a basketful of personal picks.

Cambodia was incredible.  Angkor, breath-taking.  Ta Prohm left me in awe.  This temple is definitely my favorite from our Tet-cation.  Vietnam is more difficult.  Five weeks...I don't know if it's possible to choose just one thing that stands out above all the others.  My first xe om ride?  The chocolate buffet at the Metropole?  Visiting the Temple of Literature and buying calligraphy along one of its walls?  Discovering the Buddha Forest inside the Fine Arts Museum?  Figuring out the bus system for the first time?  Taking my walking tour of the Old Quarter?  Watching Little Britain with Kyle and Roman after dinner and over Bailey's?  Seeing The Maltese Falcon at the Cinematheque?  It's probably going to sound like a corny cop-out, but I think the best part of my trip was meeting and getting to know so many amazing people, whether local, tourist, or ex-pat.  I'll be forever grateful to my favorite paternal uncles for opening their home and their lives to me.  Thanks, choo.

Dear Hanoi, I miss you. Do you miss me? <3 Mary

Girl Time

I had the day off again (long story) and decided to spend it with me, myself, and I.  I wasn't feeling particularly well (I think I'm getting this five-week cold that everyone who comes here apparently gets), but I forced myself into the gym and afterwards decided to check out the highly acclaimed Women's Museum.  No one I've talked to has been there, but they've all been raving about it, so I thought I'd scope it out.  Let's take a nice, long xe om ride there, shall we?

Ah, the open road. Parental units, don't think about where my hands are while filming this.

Time for some seriously strategic maneuvering. Brace yourself for the part where we go perpendicular to the flow of traffic.

Wooh!  We made it.  Traffic's getting craaaaazy with Tet right around the corner.  Everyone's taking two-hour lunch breaks and returning loaded down with bags of gifts.  Drivers also seem more concerned with the impending festivities than with keeping themselves (or me) alive.  But decorations spill out of the stores and onto the streets, radiating from the shops' front doors, permeating the entire city and sneaking jubiliation into your subconscious.

From behind, it looks like the tree's driving the motorcycle. :D

The museum is elegantly designed and laid out very accessibly.  We start with marriage and the various rituals of the different tribes, depending on whether they are patrilineal or matrilineal.  The displays of wedding garments and gifts demonstrate the importance placed upon matrimonial rituals.  This exhibit is followed swiftly by one on childbearing...we're going to scoot right on through this one.

Wedding album.

Traditional wedding garments.

Bridal veil and headdress.

Bridal veiled headdress of the Black Thai.

"Master bedroom" of the Black Thai.

And then comes traditional women's roles within the family: cooking, weaving, pottery and teaching their children how to do the same.

Look at all those hoes!

Loom.

Weaving...stuff.

Next there was this really cool, slightly disturbing, somewhat awkward exhibit on women's roles during the American (Vietnam) War.  The women here took active roles in the military, on the homefront, and even as spies.  One of the latter was hailed in the exhibit for infiltrating enemy (American) ranks and praised for causing deaths within these.  It was odd to be put in this situation: impressed with the achievements of these women but slightly put off by the fact that their lauded actions killed Americans.  I felt like I was walking on eggshells through the whole exhibit, like I'd be caught behind enemy lines if I didn't tread carefully.  Despite these feelings, this was actually my favorite section of the museum.  It told the stories of heroic women, including some who'd been imprisoned in south Vietnamese camps in tiger cages, tortured with nails driven through their fingers, and still maintained hope for themselves and their political ideals.  There were also some really cool propaganda posters, many of which I've seen updated and posted around Hanoi during Vietnam's 11th Party Congress, which took place earlier this month.

This might be the scariest picture I've ever seen. But it's of political and technical training for clandestine missions, like those of the lady spies.

Brightly colored propaganda posters.

"Ever Vigilant."

I love this one! "Work well. Train well." These chicks are hardcore.

Of course, they had to put in a fashion section, and of course, I went gaga for it.  The clothes are so varied and lush, whether with complicated patterns or a simplicity that speaks of sophistication.

I'll take one of everything, thank you very much.

And then I hoofed it halfway (well, maybe more like fifthway) across the city back to the Temple of Literature to check out these amazing calligraphy scrolls, which appeared overnight and will be gone after Tet.  I'm dragging Roman along with me next time to act as translator, so I can load myself up.

I kind of really like these practice strokes on newspaper. Maybe next time I'll see if she'll just give them to me. :)

This guy was free-handing all those intricate works behind him.

This guy was awesome! He must have been a hundred and fifteen, and the coolest gentleman I've ever seen.

After my long solo day, it was wonderful to see some familiar faces.  The guys and I were invited to dinner with a lovely Australian couple (Aussie Sue and Aussie David) and their son and new Vietnamese daughter-in-law, who is terribly friendly and wears a mischievous grin when you catch her in just the right light.  Dinner was amazing and non-Vietnamese. :)  I'm greatly enjoying Vietnamese food, but I miss the variety and ease of accessibility found in the States.  At this point, I'm basically doing one Western-ish meal to every three or four Vietnamese meals.  I'm craving something homey at the moment, so I think I'm going to have to satisfy that need very shortly.

Today's highlight probably occurred during my long walk.  I realized that I distinctly recognized seventy five percent of my surroundings along the way.  It's nice to know that I'm beginning to familiarize myself with and recognize the different areas of the city.  Soon, I won't even need the giant map that glows like a neon sign reading "Yes, I'm an even bigger tourist than I might appear at first glance."

Cultured as a Pearl

The breakfast in our building cafe was not as expected.  Not bad, just not as expected.  I'm going back tomorrow in hopes that the fare changes every day.  On the flip side, work was better than expected.  Yesterday I was Mary Ward and today, after reading over my business card model, Dr. Rapoport reverted me back to my original identity.  Now I'm just me again, about which I'm perfectly happy.  He also finished writing up my job description, and I'm really excited about some of the projects he's offering me, including some opportunities to get creative with displays and advertising.  I also picked myself a helmet from Kyle and Roman's small collection to take motorcycle taxis (xe oms) around town today.  I'll let you be the judge, but I think it looks pretty rad.

I know--it's pretty badass.

This afternoon, I went back to the Temple of Literature.  It's located in a bustling area of Hanoi, and city noises penetrate the physical barriers around the complex, but one is still able to achieve a sense of calm and stillness amongst the fast pace of the metropolis.  Established in 1070 as a Confucian altar, it was opened as the Royal College, Vietnam's first university, in 1075 for those seeking to become mandarins, or government officials.  The complex is constructed around a series of gates, which represent the levels of study of attendees.  It's easiest and most eye-pleasing to tell the story of this temple through photos.  Also, here's a diagram of the temple to help with your mental geographic imaging: Temple of Literature Map.

The Great Portico and entrance to the gates and courtyards beyond.

First courtyard, called Entrance to the Way.

Entrance to the second courtyard, called the Great Middle Gate. The two carp atop the roof are making obeisance to a flask of heavenly nectar and represent the students.

Rather than going through the middle, I proceeded through this side, the Gate of Accomplished Virtue...hope it rubs off.

Pavilion of the Constellation of Literature on the way to the third courtyard (The Great Middle Courtyard).  It's also the symbol of the Hanoi. I opted to go through the side again, this time under the Gate of the Magnificence of Letters, in hope it might aid this blog. ;)

The Great Middle Courtyard is home to the Well of Heavenly Clarity and these stelae, stone slabs that list the names of those awarded doctor laureate degrees. Each represents one examination year and they number eighty two, back to 1442.

The stelae stand on the backs of turtles, which represent longevity. As far as I could tell, no two of these turtles were the same, although they were all pretty gnarly.

Gate of the Great Synthesis. I came back through the Gate of Jade Resonance...not sure what that means.

Looking through to the Court of the Sages.

Within this courtyard is the Great House of Ceremonies, where the king made his offerings to Confucius.

Confucius say...

And then my guidebook got a little confusing to understand, so I think this next series of photos is of the School for the Sons of the Nation, beyond the Courtyard of the Sages.

School of the Sons of the Nation??? Pretty awesome either way.

Ginormous drum!

Ginormous bell!

Graffiti inside bell! :(

And then I took myself across the street to the Vietnam Fine Arts Museum.  The entrance fee was double that of the Temple of Literature (so $1 instead of $.50) and worth every single dong.  It was really a very impressive collection.  I would highly recommend it to anyone who'll find him/herself in Hanoi for any period of time.  They even had quite a few artifacts, the style of many of which I recognized from 54 Traditions.  I don't particularly enjoy patronizing museums with companions, but I wish my travel buddies had been there with me to zig-zag back and forth and around in circles as my eyes tried to see everything at once and my mind stretched to absorb all the information and visual pleasure it was receiving.  Here are some highlights.

Fasting Buddha.

This is the first in a series (dating to 1794) of lacquered wood statues of Buddha's disciples. They were INCREDIBLY REALISTIC!

This one's eyes kept following me. I swear! I checked!

Look at his sleeves blowing in the breeze! How cool is that?!

How'd you like this guy as your guard dog?

This Buddha Amitabha statue, in addition to being a good ten feet tall, had an enormous presence. As soon as I set eyes on it, this wave of tranquility and balance washed over me. I just had to stand in awe until I got my bearings back.

There were also watercolors and silk prints, traditional ceramics and textiles, and a LOT of artwork depicting the American War (Vietnam War, for all you Westerners).  The last set of rooms I stumbled upon held a few temporary exhibits by a sensational artist named Nguyen Tuan.  He had three groups of terracotta figures, all representing Buddha but in vastly different ways.

"Buddha from Remote Areas."

Each was slightly different, but all completely serene.

"Meditation." The proportions are just fabulous.

Makes me want to follow suit.

Today's highlight is the third exhibit by this wildly talented young artist, entitled Buddha Forest.  Think about that for a second before you look at the plethora of pictures I'm posting below.  Close your eyes and picture the most peaceful place on Earth where you have no worries or fears or obligations to anything other than your own soul...Buddha Forest is even more ethereal than that.  In the hall outside the room, street noise seems to be amplified by the bare walls and tile floor, but stepping foot through the door to the exhibit is like stepping through a wall of fog that blocks out everything you've just left behind.  It was a truly epiphanous moment.  Enjoy these shallow shadows of the real thing I've attempted to capture for you.