Speedos, Speedos, Everywhere

Yes, it´s true, the most popular style for lounging at the beach these days is the infamous speedo. It seems to be that the less you wear in Brazil, the more stylish you are. Despite the rather shocking display of body parts, I was glad to escape the city of Sao Paulo last weekend and head to the coast. Masha´s host parents own an apartment right on the sand (you can see the view from the windows in the pictures above) and they kindly lent it to a few of us for the weekend. We spent the entirety of two days lounging on the sand in beautiful sunny weather. It could not have been more perfect! The water was so warm, with few big waves, so floating in the ocean felt like sitting in a hot tub. At one point during low tide, Cate and I swam to the small island right off the shore. We didn´t explore too much for fear of poisonous tropical animals hungry for bare feet, but we did make friends with some helpful locals. We had to climb over rocks to reach the island´s shore, and they offered a helping hand in navigating the rougher patches. All in all, I didn´t want to leave! I can´t think of a better way to spend a weekend, plus, I couldn´t let myself leave Brazil without checking out the sandy beaches!

The Fourth and Final Destination

BRAZIL. I am finally on the last leg of my worldwide adventure. At first glance, Sao Paulo is more than overwhelming. With over 20 million inhabitants and a sprawling metropolis, the city puts New York to shame. In a short tourist video of the city, I learned that Sao Paulo has the biggest Lebanese population outside of Lebanon, the biggest Italian population outside of Italy, the biggest Japanese population outside of Japan, and many, many more immigrants. My case study this time will be focused on immigration, rights, and citizenship by focusing on the Bolivian population that has come to Brazil looking for economic opportunities.

During my rare moments of free time, I have tried to take in as much of the city as possible. We spent the first couple nights in a hotel until we met our host families. My host family is Argentine, so we speak Spanish throughout the day. This definitely complicates things when I´m simultaneously trying to learn Portuguese! However, I think I´m holding my ground pretty well and I find it easy to navigate the city. My host mom and sister took Julianna and I to the Museum of Portuguese Language last weekend. Unsurprisingly, everything was in Portuguese. But, it was wonderful to have them there to explain some of the more complicated aspects of the museum. Afterwards, we spent the afternoon at the Pinocoteca, an art museum in the city. My host sister is eighteen years old and goes to art school, so we accompanied her on a class assignment. In the Pinocoteca, I saw an extensive Andy Warhol exhibit as well as art exhibits of famous Brazilian artists. It was hilarious to watch my host mom posing with all the statues in the museum...she is a riot! In her younger days, she was an activist against the military dictatorship, but her most recent careers include being an artist, a Spanish professor, a translator, and an artist. We have been eating well here so far. It is nice to finally have more variety in our food that was so lacking in Vietnam. On the streets in Sao Paulo, you can buy a bowl of delicious corn for only 3 reais. My host mom is also a great cook. She especially loves fruits and has promised to take us to the fruit market on Friday morning!

In the photo above, I am at my laboratory at theBhutantan Institute. Our group traveled here on a group fieldtrip to learn about the ways snake venom is being used to create antidotes and other pharmaceuticals. Unfortunately, my camera malfunctioned right before I entered the venomous snake exist where HUGE pythons are kept. Thankfully, my camera is back to working like normal...

I have spent the rest of my free time exploring Avenida Paulista. Avenida Paulista is the most famous street in the city because of all it´s shopping! On Sunday, Cate, Julianna, and I found an antique market that was fun to explore. One night last weekend, all the IHPers were invited to Heather´s homestay. We climbed to the rooftop and just stared in awe at the 360 degree view of tall buildings and lights as far as the eye could see!

Of course, the reason I have so little free time is because I spent the majority of my day at school. I go to school at Santa Casa, a private medical school near the center of Sao Paulo. We are constantly asked whether or not we are med students because, here in Brazil, the education system is arranged so that you begin medical school at the age of 18 - exactly like college is to us! The best part about my experience in Brazil, as opposed to the other countries I have visited, is the opportunity to meet and befriend a ton of local students. On the first day of class, four third-year medical students (all 20 or 21 years old) kindly invited me to sit with them at lunch. It is great to build connections with peers all over the world!

Academically, the Brazil part of the program has been incredible. This week we have been focusing on maternal health, so we visited NGOs based on women´s rights and women´s health. Today we traveled to a maternity ward of a public hospital and saw first-hand how the health system has arranged for women to be coached on Kangaroo Care, breast-feeding, and natural births as opposed to Cesarean sections. The health system in Brazil is extremely unique and is incredible in so many ways. Everyone, no matter their ability to pay or their citizenship or their race or their gender, has access to universal health care in Brazil. I could even go in for a procedure or check-up and not pay a dime. There are still parts that need to be worked out and better arranged for implementation of equal access, but overall it is such an accomplishment. Tomorrow we begin our academic component on HIV/AIDS in Brazil. Brazil is one of the countries that is most applauded for how it has handled the HIV/AIDS crisis - by providing FREE anti-retroviral drugs to all patients. This starkly contrasts what I saw in South Africa and even the United States.

Now, I am about to head out for a soccer aka FUTBOL game! I don´t quite know what to expect...my host-grandma spends all hours of the day (and the wee hours of the morning) glued to the TV. If she is as obsessed with futbol as I think she is, I can only imagine what the crowd will be like tonight!

Edit: Now that I am back from the game, here are some photos! It was also exciting to find out that we were on TV!

Does the Easter Bunny come to Vietnam?

On Monday, all of IHP loaded into a bus and traveled to Mai Chau Valley. I had originally expected that we'd be divided into individual homestays, but when we arrived, it turned out that we'd all be living together in one large stilt house! The stilt houses are traditional for the White Thai minority tribe. We had one local family hosting us, but they lived in a home adjacent to the one where we were staying. Some good advice: when you are in a stilt house, don't look down! It is easy to look between the cracks in the straw floor and get a little nervous of heights...

All 34 of us slept on mats on the ground inside the one-roomed home. We ate our meals underneath the house and held class in a separate building elsewhere in the village. The classroom had the most beautiful view of the rice paddies in the valley and the mountains surrounding us. Many times, our group discussions would be interupted by the mooing of a cow or the heavy footsteps of a buffalo! Unfortunately, as our time in Vietnam comes to a close, our workload gets heavier and heavier. I spent more time that I would have wanted working on the many written assignments that were due. But, I was able to get out once and a while. I took walks around the mountains and even climbed up 1266 stairs (someone counted) to reach a cave at the top. I wish I had the appropriate gear to go splunking! Instead, I only explored the entrance of the cave, but I hear from other friends that it actually keeps going deeper and deeper. Some IHPers even had to turn back after a while because it just never ended!

My absolute favorite part of the week was when we rented bikes and explored the village and surrounding mountains. Cate, Masha, and I went all around town on our bikes. It was beautiful, warm, and sunny in Mai Chau the whole time. We followed the road until we had left the village, then we rode through more rice paddies until we came upon another, more isolated town. It was such an amazing ride!

The time I spent in Mai Chau Valley was incredible. I didn't want to leave! On our last night, a farewell party was thrown for us where we ate a large meal, drank traditional rice wine through bamboo straws, and talked around a bonfire. Now, I am back in Hanoi and beginning to figure out HOW I am going to pack for the flight to Brazil. There is a 40 pound weight limit for one bag - it's going to be a miracle if I can make that happen!

Last night, I attended another farewell dinner, this time with my host family. The dinner took place at a famous restaurant in Hanoi. The food was laid out in a buffet style and featured everything from Japanese sushi to traditional Vietnamese food to pizza and spaghetti. It was a great celebration!

After attending a lovely Easter mass this morning, I am getting ready to embark on the final leg of my trip! I'll be on a plane for 24 hours, not including a three hour layover in Paris, France. I think this means I technically will be on FIVE continents this semester...

Brazil, here I come!

On a Boat

Ha Long Bay is literally a natural wonder of the world. With over 600 rock islands piercing above the bay's surface, it's like a labyrinth just waiting to be explored. I spent last weekend viewing these giant formations from the deck of a boat! Life on a boat, as we all know from the infamous SNL song, is glamorous, and this was no exception! We were served delicious, 10-course meals and slept in sizeable rooms with our own private bathrooms. I am very excited to report that I tried every type of seafood that was served, including prawns, crab, squid, fish, oysters, and more! (This is not an April Fool's joke...).

While I was there, the weather was slightly foggy and cold, giving the scenery and extra sense of mystery. The water is a torquoise color, unlike I have ever seen before. One of the highlights of my abroad trip thus far was getting to kayak! Cate and I found our way into a cave on our kayak. The cave opened up unto a large cove. It was so peaceful inside, I have never seen anything so beautiful! I wish I had been brave enough to bring my camera on the kayaking excursion so I could have something to show. Basically, once on the other side of the cave-bridge and into the cove, it felt like you were completely enclosed on all sides by the sheer, towering rocks. A family of monkies played in the vines. I just wanted to sit in the middle of the water and let the sun shine down on us. After leaving this secret cove, we ventured out and about through the maze of islands. We found a small opening in one rock formation and we managed to manuever through it to the other side! Despite all of these water-filled adventures, we did manage to get on land. Our boat took us to a cave that reminded me a lot of Carlsbad Caverns. It wasn't quite as big or as well preserved, but the stalagtites and stalagmites inside the cavern were beautiful. It was a lot of fun to get out and do some hiking after being caught up in city life in Hanoi for so long.


Back on the boat, after our elaborate meals, I had the time of my life singing karaoke! Karaoke is a huge deal in Vietnam. There are karaoke bars on every street in Hanoi, but this was the only time we could find a place that had songs in English. Imagine how hard it would be to simultaneously make up a tune AND try to read in Vietnamese...

It seemed like we had to leave so soon after we arrived, but all of my classmates and I had to get to our next destination - our rural homestay in Mai Chau Valley!

(Go NESCACs! All the students in my program who go to a NESCAC school)

(Holding on for dear life!! )

Scenes of Sapa

After a delightful viewing of traditional Vietnamese theater on Thursday evening (including a scene called "Lion Giving Birth," as seen in the photo above), I was probably crazy for jumping on an overnight train for a ten-hour joyride from Hanoi to the mountain region of Sapa, near the Chinese border. Hadn't I learned my lesson about trains from South Africa? I guess not! But, a three-day weekend calls for exploration, so I braced myself for a sleepless night and constant pestering from fellow passengers. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see how comfortable the arrangement was, especially considering my recent terrifying experience with the Hanoi bus system.

On Thursday morning, I took bus 18 to school like usual. However, on this fateful day, as I was lost in a morning daze, I felt the bus jerking back and forth violently. When I was fully alert, I noticed that the bus driver was playing "cat and mouse" with a poor fellow on a motorbike. Even though the man on the bike was trying to move out of the bus' path, the bus would swerve closer to him, inches from collision, then jam on the breaks. Finally, the bus driver tricked the motorcyclist to move to the right side of the road. Then, the driver swung a wide turn to the right, trapping the biker against the curb and crashing into him! I was absolutely horrified at what had happened. I quickly exited the bus, thankful to see that the man on the motorbike was able to stand, with only a small limp. The driver pulled into the bus parking lot (right next to where the incident occured). As he got out of the bus for his five minute break at the end of the line, he was completely unphased by the fact that he nearly killed someone. A female passenger with us, who also exited the bus, began yelling at him in Vietnamese. I sure would have too had I known that kind of vocabulary! As the woman left, the injured biker walked up to the driver and they started yelling back and forth. Suddenly, the clearly unstable bus driver grabbed the biker's helmet and started beating him with it. Punches were thrown. People tried to pull them apart, but the bus driver got ahold of a broomstick and once again, began beating the motorbike driver. When things finally settled down, I was still shaken from the event. The most upsetting part of all of this is that the bus driver will not lose his job because of what happened. His supervisor saw what occured, yet the very same driver was allowed to continue driving the route to my school. I wisely decided to call a cab for the rest of the way. Anyhow, I was happy to put this unfortunate experience behind me and enjoy a more uplifting mode of transportation.

On the train to Sapa, I traveled with my friends, Cate, Winny, Marian, and Diane. We all shared a small sleeping compartment with six beds. Our only other companion was a man on his way home to China, which worked out really well since Winny speaks Mandarin. We ended up realizing that each of us spoke a different language and that, if need be, we could get around in Spanish, French, Haitian Creole, Mandarin, or German. Unfortunately, that great resume of skills does not include proficiency in Vietnamese...

On the top bunk, there was about a foot and a half between my bed and the ceiling. That's not a ton of breathing space! The bunks in the train are clearly not made for American-sized people, but I made it work and ended up sleeping rather comfortably, despite the sweltering heat due to a broken AC vent. At 4am, we arrived at Lao Cai. From there, we caught a shuttle for an hour-long winding drive to Sapa. When we finally arrived, we took a look around at the beautiful, misty mountain village. However, we were so tired that all five of us took a four hour nap in the hotel bed before moving on to our daily activities.

Once we woke up, we prepared for a six kilometer hike along the terraced mountains. The mountains are cut in this way so that agriculture is possible on the steep terrain. Our path linked several small villages where local minority people live, including the Black Hmong people and the Red Dao people. These minority groups still wear their traditional clothing. The women are famous for their handicrafts and sew incredibly beautiful, brightly-colored blankets and cloths. The men tend the crops and rice paddies, but some also make silver jewelry. As I hiked through the village, I saw three year old children carrying bamboo sticks on their backs from the nearby forest and many women followed us, hoping we'd buy some of their trinkets. Our fourteen year old tourguide, named Lala, showed us the ins and outs of her village, Lau Chai. We took a picture with her at the beginning of our hike! Here, children attend school until they are ten and work hard at home. Buffalo roam the hillsides and dogs are everywhere. Marriages are arranged by the parents and men must pay a bride price for their future wives. The women's earlobes are stretched from the many pieces of handmade silver jewelry in their ears and their teeth are blackened. They wear black cloth tops with wide sleeves and black skirts and pants. Red, blue, yellow, green, and white, thread is embroidered in patterns on their traditional clothing. Depending on their tribe, they wear either a small black cap or a larger red headress. Our hike was breathtaking in so many ways. I never expected I would have the opportunity to see this neglected part of the world, but at the same time, I never expected it to be this beautifully enchanting! I worry that tourism has a negative effect on the population, but Lala ensured me that the people in Sapa love the tourists because they generate their only form of income.

The next day, we went to the Saturday market where busy stalls and street vendors littered the town. My bargaining skills have sharpened since I've been living in Hanoi, so I knew exactly how to work the vendors for a desirable price. Besides browsing through skirts, blankets, bracelets and unusual musical instruments throughout the colorful marketplace, I decided to get a 45 minute foot massage for a total of four dollars. This was a comparative study - does a Vietnamese foot massage hurt more or less than a Chinese foot massage? Considering my history with Chinese foot massages, I expected it couldn't be worse. I still winced in pain a number of times (even though Cate didn't think it hurt at all), but overall it was pretty enjoyable. My conclusion is that it's not the foot massage, it's me.

I didn't spend nearly enough time in Sapa, in my opinion. But, by Saturday night, school work was calling my name. I hopped back on the overnight train and arrived in Hanoi at my host family's doorstep by 5am. I spent today lounging in the house, socializing with my host family, reading, and writing this blog. My roommate, Akinyi, spent the weekend in Ho Chi Minh City. Akinyi follows a strictly vegan diet, so while she was gone, my host family took every opportunity to serve me shocking cuisine. At lunch, I literally stared at a chicken foot, talons included, floating in my soup. In Vietnam, it is common for someone to uninvitedly drop food in your bowl. My host dad plopped the leg in right on top of my rice and told me, "This is Vietnamese chicken, not European chicken. It is high quality." I was not convinced. I managed to manuever around the leg for the rest of the meal. For dinner, guess what was served? Pig heart. I am not joking. But, because I had already had my fill of rice for the day, and I had chosen to neglect the chicket foot at lunch, I felt it was my duty to eat it. After a few nibbles, I was done, but the experience will last a lifetime. I guess I shouldn't be so shocked. In restaurants, there are frequently dishes like dog, pigeon, turtle, frog, ostrich, and eel on the menu. I have even heard stories from fellow IHPers that their host family served them a baby chick, eyeballs, beak, and all! So, I am thankful I only got pig heart.

I have one more week in Hanoi, I can't believe how time flies. Next week, I will be living in a rural homestay in the Mai Chau Valley region. More updates to come!

Leprechauns in Vietnam

IHP has a system called POD, Person of the Day. The POD rotation goes by alphabetical order of our last names so that each student is appointed five or six days out of the semester. The POD is responsible for morning announcements, introducing and thanking every guest speaker, and making sure the group stays on schedule throughout the day. And it just so happens that I was designated Person of the Day on the most extraordinary, joyous, and festive day of the year - St. Patrick's Day! I started the day by bringing chocolate gold coins to school in the morning and placing them on everyone's desk (a leprechaun visited the classroom, wink wink!). I had to search high and low to find it in the supermarket the day before, but it was absolutely worth the effort. I couldn't find anything Irish-themed, so instead, I had to settle for gold coins with Ho Chi Minh's face on them...but whatever works! After lunch, Casey and I decided to make March 17th a little extra special for the group. We performed a treble reel and then taught everyone how to do the traditional set, The St. Patrick's Day. It was so much fun bringing Irish festivities to Southeast Asia. We were likely the only people celebrating the occasion, but I didn't care. I decked myself out in all shades of green and had an extra kick in my step throughout the day. Other than these special events, my POD experience was not too strenuous. Later in the day, we split into groups and traveled to either the Reproductive Health clinic or the Obstetric Hospital. And, in complete failure of my POD duties, we accidentally left two students behind in the process...whoops!

At the clinic, the doctors served us tea and took us to a room with Ho Chi Minh's gold-encased bust sitting in the corner. We learned about the types of services provided there and the kinds of patients seen. Our group was particularly intrigued by the "two-child policy" in place in Hanoi. The limitations of the number of births has had interesting effects on the population. For instance, many people seek abortions when their second child is not male. This strong desire for a male child has made sex-selective abortions in Vietnam common and is extremely problematic for a number of reasons. We discussed the issues within our group after the site visit and it appears to me that the best way to fix this through public health is to slowly change the cultural mentality that leads parents to more highly value male children. This might be accomplished by providing microfinance opportunities to women, which would improve their economic power and perhaps adjust cultural norms. If women know that opportunities exist for their female children and that the child could one day provide for herself and the family, then it is my prediction that sex-selective abortions would decrease.

Classes continued as usual for the rest of the week. In Research Methods, we divided into our Vietnam case study groups. I will be looking at the differences in urban and rural health care and health-seeking behaviors. Traditional medicine is much more openly discussed and utilized by the people in Vietnam, as opposed to those in South Africa. My group has already met with members of the Ministry of Health and learned much about the failing health system in Vietnam, so it will be interesting to see where people go to receive care. As Vietnam transitions from a nearly universal healthcare system in the 1970s to a mixed public-private system starting in 1990, oversight and regulation is severely lacking. More money is going into the private care facilities, which are more commonly used by the wealthy populations, creating a skewed version of medical care. Wealthy patients also offer to pay a "hidden fee" that allows them better, higher quality care that is unaffordable for the poor. The system is stuck in a transition in Vietnam and because of it, health is suffering. Our group's working hypothesis for our case study is that high social capital in rural areas, as opposed to lower social capital in urban settings, will result in community healing methods in place of (or in addition to) biomedical care. When the biomedical sphere is failing for the rural poor, their next avenue of support is the networks provided by the community itself. In urban areas, the poor have limited social networks in a more isolated environment. For this reason, when the healthcare system is unable to support them, there will be no safety net in place for their wellbeing.

As our interviews and quantitative measurements come into play for the case study, I will keep you updated on what we discover!

Museums and Motorbikes, Oh My!

How do you know when you're completely immersing yourself in a new culture, living like the locals and becoming comfortable in a place so far away from home? In Hanoi, much of daily life is shaped by the hustle and bustle of the cityscape. In the city, people move to and from their destinations by motorbike. As both a foreigner and a pedestrian, motorbikes frequently appear in my worst nightmares. Every minute, hundreds of them rumble by in zigzag fashion, on the wrong side of the road, on the right side of the road, and sometimes, entirely off the road. But today was different. Today, I joined the masses and partook in a daily ritual of Hanoi culture. I rode a motorbike to school. I have not yet decided what is more frightening, being the pedestrian or the passenger, but I do know that nothing beats the feeling of wind in your face as you swiftly maneuver the streets.

It appears that a current fashion statement in Hanoi is to wear a mask while riding your motorbike through the city. I've seen colors and patterns of all kinds. I expected that the masks were worn as protection from the excessive amount of pollution in the city (from a recent guest lecture, I learned that Hanoi has dangerously high levels of sulfur and benzene in its polluted air). However, it turns out that, instead, people wear the masks to prevent their skin from tanning in the sun. This past week, my program has focused on environmental health. Besides air pollution, I have studied water sanitation, waste management (we visited the local landfill), and occupational health. Agent Orange has also been a prime topic of discussion. During wartime, the US sprayed over 20 million gallons of Agent Orange in Vietnam. A byproduct of Agent Orange is a chemical called dioxin. Dioxin can result from a variety of activities such as burning trash in your backyard (a common practice in rural areas all over the world), paper pulp bleaching, forest fires, and for herbicide purposes. The affect of dioxin on human health is debated, but clear connections have been drawn to birth defects, diabetes, risk for cancer, risk for heart disease, and so much more. Dioxin bioaccumulates in human fatty tissue, and as a result, the affects can be visible in future generations. Last night, my host mom took me to a small fundraiser near our house where singers performed traditional Vietnamese music. The singers were also victims of poisoning due to Agent Orange. It was an eye-opening experience to see the suffering right in front of me, but to also witness the efforts to raise awareness of the issue. The beauty of studying abroad is having the chance to blend daily life with academic life. By seeing the health affects of Agent Orange first-hand, I have more tools at my disposal to advocate for it in the future.

Other ways I have been learning about my new home include attending site visits (such as going to the National Hospital for Traditional Medicine) and exploring museums. On Saturday, I began my morning on an upbeat note. I decided to wait in line to see Ho Chi Minh's body at rest in his mausoleum. The line wrapped around the block. There were many eager visitors to the tomb, including myself. After passing through security checks galore, I finally shuffled inside the dark chamber. Surrounded by five guards dressed in crisp, white uniforms, Ho Chi Minh laid peacefully on an ornate bed in the center of the room. No visitors could take time to stop and stare. We were prodded along at a steady pace, but I was still able to see all I needed to see. The reverence people hold for Ho Chi Minh is apparent and it was a great educational, although somewhat dreary, experience to have while in Vietnam. After the mausoleum, I headed out to the Museum of Ethnology. This museum outlines anthropological details of the many minority groups in Vietnam. It was fascinating! I got a headstart in understanding my rural homestay family by reading about the White Thai people who live in the Mai Chau Valley region. I will be living there for a week later on in the program. After the ethnology museum, I ate a delicious lunch and watched a water puppet show. Water puppetry is uniquely Vietnamese. I will be attending a full show later on this week, but here is a glimpse of what it looks like. Before leaving the museum, I walked through a number of replica houses of the minority people. I was especially interested in this tall, stilt house that is traditionally used as a community meeting house. Inside, the floor is made of straw and you can see the ground many feet below you - it's a little scary to be so high up!After the museum of ethnology, I took a trip to the Hoa Lo Prison, more familiarly known as "The Hanoi Hilton." This prison was used to hold American POWs during the war, including Senator John McCain. Previously, the prison was used to brutally torture Vietnamese revolutionaries by the French colonial government. Most of the original prison is no longer in existence, but the remaining part has been turned into a museum. Some cells remain intact and there are a number of preserved artifacts, including a French guillotine. The most interesting part of this experience is seeing the different discourses used by the Vietnamese and the Americans to portray the recent war.
After a busy museum-going Saturday, I slept late the next morning (in attempt to recover from a recent cold). The most eventful part of my Sunday was attending my host sister's daughter's 1st birthday! I was introduced to my entire extended host family. It was a lot of fun! In the pictures below you'll find baby Hanh and her mom (my host sister) and my host parents in the far left of the bottom photo playing with their granddaughter.I am now feeling rested and rejuvenated to jump-start the rest of the week. I have a lot ahead of me, and I am in the process of planning for my three day weekend. I will likely go to a place called Sapa, a mountainous region at the northern border with China. Sapa is known for its beautiful views. Stay tuned for details!