On March 17, 2007, five Sacred Hearts (SHA) and four Punahou students (Lydia, Bess, Sarah, Romie, and Noella from SHA and Daniel, Drew, Andrew, and Brittany from Punahou), together with co-leaders Mimi and Vinh Dang, set out for a Spring Break trip to Viet Nam. We invited all who are interested to follow along and contribute comments to our blog site, which we have attempted to update daily: http://sha-punahouvietnam2007.blogspot.com.
On Friday, March 16, as we prepared to depart for our trip, our Sacred Hearts girls gathered in Mrs. White’s office for a few words of encouragement and to have Sr. Katherine send us off with a prayer. Clearly, the power of prayer and positive attitude impact us. Thus far, it is evidenced in a seamless, smooth-flowing journey. Parents and school administrators, alike, would be so proud of our students and the cohesiveness of this SHA-Punahou group. Already on this, our first day in Saigon, we have experienced so many eye-opening moments including yesterday’s trip to the Catholic girl's orphanage. We were extremely well received and the students did a great job of interacting with the kids through our chosen art project, the making of collages. The orphan girls, our students, and Vinh and I were all equally moved by the experience.
In the morning, we visited the old Presidential Palace, currently called the Unification Hall, where students received a glimpse into the past, echoes in the hallways of past President Diem greeting dignitaries and heads of state, the first lady holding luncheons for the better halves, rooms frozen in time, every detail in each room as it once was thirty-some years ago when at any moment a bomb could explode, sending Diem into his bomb shelter to his maps, pin pointing VC movement, and his ham radios keeping him in touch with his military forces. A war hero’s story told by our guide of a courageous young fighter, who defected from the south by first bombing the palace before flying north, reminded us that we were hearing history through another perspective. This perspective was not lost as we sorted through pictures from the Viet Nam war (or the American War as the current régime calls it) at the War Remnants museum. We were ready to shift gears and have lunch at the Lemongrass Café where we enjoyed an array of Vietnamese dishes. When it came time for dinner, we again chose a place that offered some unusual Vietnamese dishes, including Andrew’s infamous order of pig’s brain!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Already, our students know the drill: wakeup call at 6:30 AM, breakfast at 7 AM, in the lobby by 8 AM. Actually, on Monday, our first day, we let them sleep in until 7 AM due to our late Sunday night arrival (or perhaps I should say early Monday morning)! Each morning, breakfast tables were pulled together by hotel staff to enable our group to break bread and omelettes, waffles, fruits, fried rice, dumplings…together and discuss the plans for the day.
On this morning, the plan was to travel about 110 miles to the Temple of the Holy See and observe their special ceremony, which begins at 12 Noon. Leaving the hotel at 8:30 AM, one would think we would have amble time to arrive well ahead of the ceremony. However, due to a stop at a little snack shop where students picked up Vietnamese ham and pate sandwiches or other choices for lunch and due to the poor infrastructure here in Viet Nam, we arrived with barely minutes to spare. As one drives away from Saigon city, the roads soon become little country lanes. Our bus, therefore, had to maneuver around motorbikes, bicycles, buffalo-drawn carts (although not as many as in years past), and many pedestrians, making its way slowly to the temple.
We entered the temple and made our way slowing up the stair, along with bus loads of fellow tourists from all over the world, to a very crowded balcony where we, as outsiders, could observe the large, ornate temple and the ceremony beginning below as men and women in long flowing gowns filed in, lined up to face each other, and then turning to face the altar, they sat down and proceeded to chant. The most striking feature in the temple was a huge eye hanging over the altar, presumably representing the eye of one universal god. This religious sect adheres to the teachings of almost every major religion in the world and has about two million followers in this region. We thought our students might be interested in this unique experience, but within 15 or 20 minutes they had enough and were ready to backtrack to the Viet Cong (Cu Chi) tunnels, our next destination in today’s tour.
There was some thought with in the group that the several hours that it took to get to the temple had not been worth it, but all were fascinated with the tunnels and the sad American-Vietnamese history associated with them. We were all amazed at the complexity of the tunnel structure: hundreds of miles long with underground living facilities such as kitchens, hospitals, meeting rooms, uniform making rooms, artillery making rooms, bunks, classrooms. These people, the Viet Cong, lived in these underground conditions for the duration of the war. That this complex system was made within the 15-year span of the war leads me to ponder why this same sort of effort can’t be applied to the current road-system above ground! In answer to Jack’s question (were the tanks that we saw here T34’s?), we are not sure. No one thought to ask our guide, who’s English was limited at best. As we came to a display of horrific booby-traps, the question was asked by a member of our group, “Was any American killed here?” The guide looked at us, incredulously. I think the question spoke volumes: humanity! We are here today visiting this peace-loving society, witnessing the remnants of a history of only thirty-some years ago, still an all-too vivid memory in the minds of many Americans, and it is hard for our group to fathom “man’s inhumanity to man.” Daniel asked this poignant question and was hesitant to ask any further questions as the guide had so clearly dismissed the first question as having an obvious answer. Daniel feared the guide had little respect for him now, but minutes later, the guide turned to Daniel and asked to have his picture taken with him. Clearly, we are visiting a country that wishes to put the past behind and move forward into a brighter future.
We returned to Saigon late in the afternoon just in time to catch a heavy downpour, but that didn’t daunt the spirits of our students who were anxious to shop and/or to have facials before the evening meal.
In 1989, Vinh and Mimi had their honeymoon in Paris. Since then, we have made traveling is one of our top priorities in life. This year, we have chosen several countries in Europe to explore. This is going to be our first, but not last, with the Ligons.
Having fun on the bus :)
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Journal Entry by Mimi Dang
Monday, March 19, 2007
On March 17, 2007, five Sacred Hearts (SHA) and four Punahou students (Lydia, Bess, Sarah, Romie, and Noella from SHA and Daniel, Drew, Andrew, and Brittany from Punahou), together with co-leaders Mimi and Vinh Dang, set out for a Spring Break trip to Viet Nam. We invited all who are interested to follow along and contribute comments to our blog site, which we have attempted to update daily:
http://sha-punahouvietnam2007.blogspot.com.
On Friday, March 16, as we prepared to depart for our trip, our Sacred Hearts girls gathered in Mrs. White’s office for a few words of encouragement and to have Sr. Katherine send us off with a prayer. Clearly, the power of prayer and positive attitude impact us. Thus far, it is evidenced in a seamless, smooth-flowing journey. Parents and school administrators, alike, would be so proud of our students and the cohesiveness of this SHA-Punahou group. Already on this, our first day in Saigon, we have experienced so many eye-opening moments including yesterday’s trip to the Catholic girl's orphanage. We were extremely well received and the students did a great job of interacting with the kids through our chosen art project, the making of collages. The orphan girls, our students, and Vinh and I were all equally moved by the experience.
In the morning, we visited the old Presidential Palace, currently called the Unification Hall, where students received a glimpse into the past, echoes in the hallways of past President Diem greeting dignitaries and heads of state, the first lady holding luncheons for the better halves, rooms frozen in time, every detail in each room as it once was thirty-some years ago when at any moment a bomb could explode, sending Diem into his bomb shelter to his maps, pin pointing VC movement, and his ham radios keeping him in touch with his military forces. A war hero’s story told by our guide of a courageous young fighter, who defected from the south by first bombing the palace before flying north, reminded us that we were hearing history through another perspective. This perspective was not lost as we sorted through pictures from the Viet Nam war (or the American War as the current régime calls it) at the War Remnants museum. We were ready to shift gears and have lunch at the Lemongrass Café where we enjoyed an array of Vietnamese dishes. When it came time for dinner, we again chose a place that offered some unusual Vietnamese dishes, including Andrew’s infamous order of pig’s brain!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Already, our students know the drill: wakeup call at 6:30 AM, breakfast at 7 AM, in the lobby by 8 AM. Actually, on Monday, our first day, we let them sleep in until 7 AM due to our late Sunday night arrival (or perhaps I should say early Monday morning)! Each morning, breakfast tables were pulled together by hotel staff to enable our group to break bread and omelettes, waffles, fruits, fried rice, dumplings…together and discuss the plans for the day.
On this morning, the plan was to travel about 110 miles to the Temple of the Holy See and observe their special ceremony, which begins at 12 Noon. Leaving the hotel at 8:30 AM, one would think we would have amble time to arrive well ahead of the ceremony. However, due to a stop at a little snack shop where students picked up Vietnamese ham and pate sandwiches or other choices for lunch and due to the poor infrastructure here in Viet Nam, we arrived with barely minutes to spare. As one drives away from Saigon city, the roads soon become little country lanes. Our bus, therefore, had to maneuver around motorbikes, bicycles, buffalo-drawn carts (although not as many as in years past), and many pedestrians, making its way slowly to the temple.
We entered the temple and made our way slowing up the stair, along with bus loads of fellow tourists from all over the world, to a very crowded balcony where we, as outsiders, could observe the large, ornate temple and the ceremony beginning below as men and women in long flowing gowns filed in, lined up to face each other, and then turning to face the altar, they sat down and proceeded to chant. The most striking feature in the temple was a huge eye hanging over the altar, presumably representing the eye of one universal god. This religious sect adheres to the teachings of almost every major religion in the world and has about two million followers in this region. We thought our students might be interested in this unique experience, but within 15 or 20 minutes they had enough and were ready to backtrack to the Viet Cong (Cu Chi) tunnels, our next destination in today’s tour.
There was some thought with in the group that the several hours that it took to get to the temple had not been worth it, but all were fascinated with the tunnels and the sad American-Vietnamese history associated with them. We were all amazed at the complexity of the tunnel structure: hundreds of miles long with underground living facilities such as kitchens, hospitals, meeting rooms, uniform making rooms, artillery making rooms, bunks, classrooms. These people, the Viet Cong, lived in these underground conditions for the duration of the war. That this complex system was made within the 15-year span of the war leads me to ponder why this same sort of effort can’t be applied to the current road-system above ground! In answer to Jack’s question (were the tanks that we saw here T34’s?), we are not sure. No one thought to ask our guide, who’s English was limited at best. As we came to a display of horrific booby-traps, the question was asked by a member of our group, “Was any American killed here?” The guide looked at us, incredulously. I think the question spoke volumes: humanity! We are here today visiting this peace-loving society, witnessing the remnants of a history of only thirty-some years ago, still an all-too vivid memory in the minds of many Americans, and it is hard for our group to fathom “man’s inhumanity to man.” Daniel asked this poignant question and was hesitant to ask any further questions as the guide had so clearly dismissed the first question as having an obvious answer. Daniel feared the guide had little respect for him now, but minutes later, the guide turned to Daniel and asked to have his picture taken with him. Clearly, we are visiting a country that wishes to put the past behind and move forward into a brighter future.
We returned to Saigon late in the afternoon just in time to catch a heavy downpour, but that didn’t daunt the spirits of our students who were anxious to shop and/or to have facials before the evening meal.
Time now to join our group for breakfast! -Mimi
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