The Daily "Grind"- Eating/ Grocery Shopping in Vietnam

 June 18, 2024

Good Morning Friends and Family,

Thought that I'd share a few pictures of what it is like grocery shopping, food prep, eating over here in Hanoi.  It is vastly different than in Cambodia.  WinMart is the big grocery store chain over here.  It is owned by the VinGroup, which also owns VinFast (car maker), VinMec (medical center chain), and Vin University, just to identify a few of their holdings.  There are small WinMarts in the first floor of every building here in VinHomes Ocean Park, but there are also larger versions in the mall.  The two that I shop at are at the VinHomes Mega Mall about 1 1/2 miles from our apartment and then the one at AEON Mall, which is a 5 story mega-mega mall and has a 3 story WinMart grocery store that is more like a department store with food. AEON Mall is about 10 miles away and while there are more choices there, the crowds and the cost of the taxi ($12-14 each way) isn't appealing. 

Now, how is there a difference between grocery shopping in Hanoi and Phnom Penh?  Some of you have heard my long-standing story of how I can never find pickles in Cambodia and a friend actually mailed me packets of pickle relish, like you get at a convenience store selling hot dogs! LOL... Well, I wish we were here long enough for my friend to send me pickle relish and mustard!  I cannot find pickles nor mustard at any WinMart. Kewpie is the brand name for condiments over here and is owned by Japan.  I have purchased their mayo before but we are not here long, so I did bring packets of mayo with me as I am not cooking too much.  Mainly warming up carry out  (called "take aways") leftovers. Thought I packed mustard, but obviously not.  

Choices of salad dressings over here are sesame seed with wasbi or seasame seed with other seasonings or .... just sesasme seed. I did buy a bottle and doctored it up with a bit of honey and it works for a salad dressing.  Other things that you cannot find over here in stores are pancake syrup (but I have a bottle of marvelous honey!), and often finding pancake mix.  Of course I can make my own pancake mix and salad dressing but given the short time we are here and the lack of storage space (our apartment is maybe 400 sq. ft.), it is a fine dance between what you purchase- what you do without- what you come up with.  

So, the biggest difference I've noted is the lack of international foods here in Vietnam despite the evergrowing international population.  Vin University alone has faculty representing 6 different countries from Europe, the US, and Australia/ New Zealand. Then there are the faculty from other parts of Asia:  India, Pakistan, Singapore. 

The local WinMart has two aisles (both sides) dedicated to various ramen noodles!   Want squid flavored? Chicken or beef flavored? Crab flavored? The flavorings make for an interesting read.

While I love eating in-country foods, I learned a long time ago that having a taste of home is important as well.  It does not make you culturally insensitive or a cultural clod.  Just like understanding that you cannot get the same amount of daily work completed as you do at home.  Your brain is filtering so much sensory information, that there is a fatigue factor must be acknowledged.  Having a taste of home or taking a nap just helps keep you at your best. 

Want to share with you a picture of one of my morning breakfasts.  One picture is the banh mi that I recently ordered for lunch.  A bit thin on the meat, but I just pulled it all to one end of the baguette and ate just half. However, there is a young woman with a Banh Mi stand around the corner from our apartment and she sells banh mi kebab! Oh...my.... goodness.  Oh how I'll miss this place when we leave.

The savory, slowly roasted pork, generously piled into a cross between a flattened baguette (looks like pita bread with the fluffy baguette texture), shredded cabbage and topped with a spicy sauce and something like slaw dressing. She then presses it on a grill.  The cost?  $1.25.  And I just love the Thank You sign painted on the back wall of her little shop. 

Last week, when I orderd a banh mi for lunch, I thought I'd try a bag of chips that students seem to enjoy here.  They are very light and remind me a bit of Bugles, a triangle shaped corn chip that I used to eat in my childhood. A few were enough though. Now, normally, I do not drink sugared sodas and haven't for decades.  Over here, I make a once a week exception.... well, okay, a twice a week exception. Tropicana makes a soda over here called Orange Twister.  It is not like a Fanata orange nor like orange juice. It is a combination! It is a slightly carbonated orange juice, a touch of cloves, and probably a lot of water and sugar.  But good golly, when you are sweating up a storm, it tastes amazing. 

It's time that I get ready for work. I hold our third NCLEX Prep session today.  The second session was allll NGN style questions, which definitely was a challenge for the students; however, by the end, they were getting the hang of the matrix and the bow ties.  Today, I have just a couple of bow ties but then we are going to do a deep dive in straight up multiple choice questions on health promotion and public health.  Those subjects are carried out very differently over here than in the US, so it is important for the students to understand the structure of our public health care system as well as the role of the RN.  Tomorrow?  It will be all about medications and patient teaching.  So wish I had my UF Patho/ Pharm peeps over here to give me a hand with this topic!  

Peace to All,  Karen

A Walk in Wonder: Vietnamese Women's Museum

17 June 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

So much to write about!  I encourage you to circle back to this journal entry tomorrow for major additions.  Yesterday, Lee and I visited the Vietnamese Women's Museum.  This is one of two museums that I've longed to visit and it did not disappoint.  The curators have done a marvelous job of capturing the lives of Vietnamese women from the Northeast all the way to the Mekong Delta.  I was enraptured reading about their clothing, lives as wives and mothers, skill in embroidery, and daily work life. Across this and at least one other journal entry, I will share with you the pictures as well as the information posted by the museum.  

For now, I am simply posting some of the pictures that I took of the clothing styles which vary among the different ethnic groups which call this country home.  So, much more to come!

Spending the Day in the Old Quarter: Hanoi

 MUCH MUCH MORE to come
Here is a video of how to cross a street in Hanoi! We had a fabulous day riding a tour bus, going to the National Museum of Women, and eating lunch at an adorable hole-in-the-wall German restaurant!!  

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yTO-QzH6_CtUgwqe0rdRXP7qa7l7I852/view?usp=sharing_eil_se_dm&ts=666d982c 

 

The Daily "Grind"- Being a Foodie in 'Bodia

 11 June 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

This is one of those circling back entries describing my food experiences in Cambodia.  Lee and I are total foodies.  We will try anything once, welllll, that is not exactly true, though I have eaten a friend tarantula in Cambodia before. 

Though Cambodians average consuming 40 pounds of MSG/ year in their food, their food is fresh, organic, and non-GMO.  Don't get me wrong, I think producing drought resistant strains of crops can make the difference between widespread famine and adequate nutrition in some areas of the world.  Cambodia just doesn't have those issues.  The dirt is rich from plant breakdown and healthy doses of manure, from a variety of sources, and you do not want to ask the names of the sources! 

The fruits are plentiful and diverse. 

Mangosteen 

Durian- One SERIOUSLY stinky fruit.  I do not eat Durian.  Lee once bought a pack of durian chewing gum and just thought he was going to give me a kiss. NO WAY.  Most hotels will have signs prohibiting guests from bringing durian into the hotel.  Yep, they smell just that bad.  Okay, so this is gross, but it smells like vomit.  Not kidding.  But Cambodian love this fruit and in-season, there will be long lines of cars along the roadside with the trunk lid open and the car filled with durian for sale. 

Lychee- These and mangosteens are my favorites.  Though you do look like your sucking out an eyeball and then spitting out the pit. There is no "lady like" way of eating either. A PT at Shands Rehab once made a lychee cobbler.  Oh my goodness, it was out of this world. 

People set up stands early in the morning and then at 5PM when children leave school and families flood the sidewalks for their dinners. Now, on a sad note- the uptick in processed fast foods and sugary drinks has exploded over the past 10 years.  As a result, Cambodia is seeing an sharp rise 

in  hypertension, strokes, diabetes, and heart disease.  These are all chronic diseases which must have follow through and maintenance health care in order to avoid a worsening of the condition or premature death.  The Cambodian health care system is not prepare for this onslaught of conditions.  

Along those same lines, is the enormous consumption of sugary sodas and fresh sugar cane juice. The baby teeth of most children are  

completely rotten by the time they are age 5 or  6 due to the high intake of sugars. You would be amazed and the number of heart valve replacements are necessary by age 30 here because of the lack of dental care, professional and daily toothbrushing.

It is also obvious that over the past 15 years, the increase in cell phones/ iPads among young children in this country are a major contributing factor to the childhood obesity levels that are also on the rise. Children who once played outside, no matter how hot it is, are now often seen on the steps playing games or engrossed in a video. 

Getting off the public health band wagon, a snack that I have not tried are salted river snails.  This blue tarp began the day very early, covered in snails with salt and slices of very, very hot peppers on them. The sun and the salt kill the bacteria (in theory). The vendor takes a small rusty "soup can" and scoops up a can full for each sale.  Okay, so I admit that I won't try EVERYTHING one time. 

Cambodian love their sauces!  Sweet, savory, salty, pickled... there is a wide variety of this and that added to any ordered dish.  I personally love sweet chili sauce.  There are some women in Kep, at the fish market, who make and bottle their own sweet chili sauce.  It is too scrumptious for words.  

Now, when I said sauces of all types, I mean just that.  Note in this picture, the jar of snacks... I mean snakes, that have been pickled/ brined.  The pickling juice is added to one dish or another.  They also use snakes in fermented wines/ liquors. I'll stick to my merlot, thank you. :-) 

But something that I just love about Cambodia is the diversity of the international foods that they have here.  My favorite Greek restaurant is in Phnom Penh and run by a Scandinavian brother and sister!  A British pub near to my heart, and full of crusty characters, is Harry's in Phnom Penh.  They have THE BEST "Sunday Roast" you can imagine.  The popovers are light and airy and I always take the leftovers home for the next day.  Though, word to the wise.  If you are eating at a "local" restaurant, it is unwise to eat leftovers.  Even though you refrigerate them, the bacteria count abounds.  Let's just say I learned that one the hard way.  Thank goodness, not the worse case of food poisoning I ever had, but I would never call it the best but that was 11 years ago.

To the le/ below ftis a picture of a beef meat pie and "mash with veg" that I enjoyed at Harry's. I'll have to find and add the roast picture.  

So, there you go.  A bit about my food experience in Cambodia.  Time for class!

Peace to All,

Karen

Reunion Time at Vin University

 

10 June Monday

Dear Friends and Family,

First, it is a delight to once again have the capacity to upload pictures and resume with my writings.  Lee is now in Hanoi and figured out that my photo program had been corrupted, so he did his "magic" and I'm once again up and running.  So, the next few posts will be back and forth between what is happening now in Hanoi, and what all that occured during my second (last) week) in Cambodia.  It will be good to get you caught up on things. 

Today is my first day back at Vin University, which is a vastly different set up than what I experience in Cambodia.  There are very few nursing students attending the university with each cohort composted of only 7-12 students.  Nurses' wages here are very low and in many clinical settings, delivery of care is a challenge. For the most part, the students who attend Vin University wish to work abroad and obtain advanced nursing degrees so Vin University is competing with other high level universities across SE Asia. 

(View from my office.  The smog is rather dreadful today.)

The primary purpose of my time here is NCLEX Prep. The first nursing class graduates on June 29th and the goal is for them to fly to Taipei, Taiwan and take the NCLEX. They will be the first group of nursing graduates in the country to do so.  

My second project is conducting two preceptor workshops.  Faculty do not follow students into the hospital setting. 

So, I've been asked to conduct two 3-hour workshops for clinical preceptors on how to facilitate student learning in the clinical setting.  Then my final project is collaborating with the administrators and 

 nursing faculty on development of a graduate nursing program.  I was to also teach rehabilitation nursing and a community nursing course, but something had to fall off of the schedule as I also have a body of work with my College of Nursing. So, the College of Health Professions dean and the director of the Faculty of Nursing (that is what nursing programs are called throughout SE/ E Asia) decided that the triad described above would be the best use of my time. I got my activity board up and started, but it is bound to be jammed full by the time the six weeks are concluded. 

Here are a few pictures of the campus and the building that I am working in for six weeks.

Above:  The entrance to the main campus auditorium where graduation will be held.  Yep, I hauled my academic regalia over here with me as I've been invited to be in the faculty processional.

To the Left:  Vin Uni is all about Entrepreneurship and Creativity.  They have a large engineering program.  Young man working on software, moving the small vehicle about. 

Day 1 at Vin Uni, on my way home for shower #2 of the day (2-3/ day are necessary to keep from breaking out in a heat rash.  

I love the ariches and stonework on campus. 

       Baih Mi Station- AWESOME!         Canteen Area                        One of Many Student Lounges

  There are now two coffee shops in the Canteen here at Vin Uni.  The baked good options are very different than what you would find in the US.  I enjoy experimenting from time to time. 

There is a shared area at the Colleges of Health Professions and the Arts & Sciences for folks to store their refrigerated items and the cabinets are loaded with faculty's preferred coffees and teas.  FYI:  That counter refrigerator is shared space for about 25 people!  

  Artwork at the Canteen

 So, time to get back to it.  I have much more prep work to complete for tomorrow afternoon's first session.  But, allow me to say what a joy it has been reuniting with my Vin Uni nursing collegues.  There have already been mutliple hugs and over lunch, sharing what we have been up to and then walking back to the office, I saw Patience, one of the students from Nigeria who is studying nursing here.  She flew out of the study room and greeted me with the most beautiful smile and terrific hugs. It is nice to be able to quickly slip back into the routine here. 

Wishing you peace,

Karen

Airport Musings

 Monday, 10 June 2024

Dear Friends and Family,

Saturday, I stood at the arrival gate at Noi Bai International Hanoi Airport waiting for Lee to come through the arrival doors.  At least I was inside where there was air con, but we had been unable to connect by text as his phone was not set up with a sim card yet, and I felt a certain amount of tension that I would somehow miss him. So, I made sure I was at the arrival area before his flight even landed.

The arrival gate is as chaotic a place as can be with taxi drivers hustling for a fare, and gobs of people waiting on the first glimpse of their family and friends.  

It is customary here in Hanoi to present your arrivals with a big bouquet of live, fragrant flowers.  It matters not if someone is man or woman, young or old, and the bouquets are something to behold! 

Here are pics of just some of the bouquets.  I had to reach out and touch the petals of one as it was hard to believe they were even real!

There are metal railings to keep a central pathway open from the sliding doors at Customs so that people arriving can somewhat clearly navigate a path towards the exit doors.  However, people are easily 4 deep on either side with children pushing one another, toddling about, or cradled sleeping in the arms of a parent/ family member.  The little girls are dressed to the 9’s with fluffy organza dresses and bows galore.

I found myself tearing up as elderly men and women would exit the Customs area and be descended upon by loved ones.  Often there was crying and clasping of faces, forehead to forehead touching in greeting.  Then there was one reunion that I found particularly interesting and meaningful.  A man, probably mid- late- 40’s along with a cousin or brother of similar age, enthusiastically greeting a young man between age 18-21.  The one man, quite obviously the father, grabbed his son in both arms, giving him a crushing hug and the father patted his son’s face with both hands.  But the son did not reciprocate, looking somewhat embarrassed by the outpouring of emotion.  He tossed his bangs back with a rather practiced air and extricated himself from the embrace, pushing the trolley forward with his luggage towards the exit. The father was neither put out nor affronted, but rather he touched the back of his son’s stylish hair, looked at his brother- cousin and smiled, pointing as if to say, “He’s grown up and looks good. Doesn’t he?”  To which his brother/ cousin- smiling voraciously, nodded in agreement.  

Where had the son been?  Away at an international university?  Maybe a study abroad?  Obviously, he had been gone for a period of time given the exuberance of the greeting. While it would have been lovely to see the young man return his father’s affection, in pondering the moment, I realize that is often the way it is, particularly with children at this age.  They see themselves as quite grown up and beyond the boundaries to which they were once so closely tied to their parents.  Yet, for us parents, we seize these moments, not to bind our children to us but to attest our unfailing love for them, no matter where they go and no matter what they do.  Hopefully, the young man will come to realize this sooner rather than later. 

But for now?  My heart skipped a beat as the fedora wearing dude of my heart, with his linen jacket over one arm, came through those doors, looking exhausted but searching the sea of faces for me.  I suspect there were at least three TikTok videos made of our reunion as I rushed down the walkway to greet him. That first hug is always the best for wherever the two of us are together…. That is home.

Wishing you peace,

Karen