My sister calls to talk to me quite regularly. That’s how I know she loves me. She also updates me on life in the U.S.- Obama won over Clinton; my brother was delayed in starting his motorcycle trip down to visit me; she is spending the summer working in a doctor’s office. Like all the other Truongs, she’s a bit of a go-getta and is currently job shadowing in a medical practice to ready herself for a career in medicine. I think it’s always a great idea to really get your hands dirty to decide if you would really like the work, and not just the work, but the other aspects of the job. Can you really make it? Will you really like it? Better to find out with a quick shadowing experience than to wait and make the dive only to find out you hate it.
I just recently had my very own job shadowers here in Samaipata. Never did I think that at such an early stage in life- I would call it a career, but I can’t really say I have a career anymore- did I think I would have job shadowers. But lo and behold, people are interested in the Peace Corps, and a few weeks ago my first job shadowers arrived. Thuc Truong and Le Nguyen, better known to me as Mom & Dad. (They tried to disguise it as a vacation but I know better).
True, I have never heard my dad sound more disappointed in me that when I told him I was quitting P&G. P&G, who gave me a car and a cell phone. P&G, where I was on the fast track to a great career. P&G, who paid me more in a month than I now make in a year.
But I understand. My dad is an engineer. It is his job to worry about failures, about all the things that could potentially go wrong. I believe worrying gives me a big headache. So I take life as it comes and think about all the great things that could be. At any rate, my dad is a worrier but not close-minded. He spun a 180 and went from hating the fact that I was joining Peace Corps to declaring to my mom, “I’m going to join Peace Corps when I retire.” And her response? “Ok then, let’s do it!”
So here’s the countdown: Two years til my Pops retires, 1.5 yrs til I get back, 1 year for the application process… I’d say we’ll have a good 6 month overlap.
I went to Peace Corps to get a better understanding of what life must have been like for my parents going to a country where they did not know the language or underst
and the culture. My parents want to go to Peace Corps to help out, but also to see what my life must be like jumping out of the world I grew up in to get lost in one where all was foreign. Talk about role reversal. But what more can you ask for in a family? Parents who inspire their children, children who (somehow) inspire their parents. A great quote from my dad after I left for Peace Corps and after my brother started his motorcycle trip though the Americas to come visit me: “I could not stop them from going, so now I just have to cheer them on.”
For a little change of pace, I will let you read about their vacation and job-shadowing in their own words. Just keep in mind, even with everything they saw, my parents are convinced they still want to do Peace Corps. [Borat Voice] Great Success. [/Borat Voice].
Livin' on the Wild SideBy: Thuc Truong, Guest Columnist
We arrived at Viru Viru airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia in the morning of Friday May 23. We were anxious to see Tammy, but had to go thru the in-process. We had to wait to obtain visas to visit Bolivia and it took a while, then picked up the luggage and went thru customs.
We were the last passengers leaving the air port and saw Tammy waiting outside. We were so happy to see her, but because of the
long wait she thought maybe she had come to pick us up on the wrong day. We were tired and sleepy, but very happy to see Tammy so we tried to stay awake to talk and see the country and the people.
It took 3 and a half hours to travel from the airport to Samaipata. We felt like we were traveling in Vietnam, especially when the car traveled on the mountain pass. The pass reminds me a lot of the Bao Loc, Prenn, Ngoan Muc, and Dran passes that lead to Dalat city in Vietnam. And Samaipata is very much like my home town Don Duong.
Samaipata weather and scenery are very similar to my hometown, so we had no problem adjusting to it. The town people are friendly, and the town atmosphere is very laid-back.
We are happy that Tammy’s home is clean and roomy for one person to live in.
Tammy’s dog, Mia, was not in good shape. So we made soup to feed her hoping that she could become healthy again. She improved, but she could not make it. She died and we buried her in Bella Vista on a rai
ny, foggy morning just before we had to hike out on the hilly, muddy, slippery road to the highway.
While we were in Samaipata, we hiked to El Fuerte to see the Incan ruins. It is a great place to see, and the steep-winding dirt road up and down the mountain is fun to walk.
We also hiked in a trail in Bella Vista. It’s steep both down and up the mountains, but it was beautiful, and fun to explore. It took 6 hours to complete this hike, and we planned to hike another four hours the next day, but it rained hard that night. So the hike on the next day was cancelled, and the SUV scheduled to come to pick us up could not come in because of the slippery, muddy dirt road. We did not want to miss our flight, so we decided to hike 20 km to the highway to return to Samaipata.
That was a 6 long hours of
walking on up and down the mountains on very slippery muddy road, and we had to cross streams resulting from the rain. This is the same road Tammy had to travel about four months earlier after a week of rain, landslides, mud-filled river beds that she and her friend had to walk out after getting stuck for one week in Bella Vista.
We had a great time seeing Tammy, and seeing the places where she lives and works. We are happy that she is safe and healthy, but were sad when it was time for us to go home.
We took the taxi to go back to Santa Cruz to get ready to return home and got back safely just in time to see our oldest son, My, getting ready for his motorcycle trip on the Pan-American high ways to Bolivia to see Tammy.
We wish Tammy and her Peace Corps volunteer friends a safe and rewarding time while serving in Bolivia, and great future when they are back in the U.S. resuming their professional careers.
Bolivia: Cold Showers and No Blowdryers
By: Le Nguyen, Guest Columnist
My husband Thuc and I decided to visit Bolivia, a country in South America to see our daughter Minh-Tam who works there as a P
eace Corp volunteer. We also wanted to have some knowledge of this country. The trip was quite an adventure. It was a memorable “vacation” to spend time with one of our children as well as other Peace Corps volunteers.
These young Americans possess a variety of backgrounds in education, culture, and skills are there willing to help other people in need. My husband and I really admire these folks for what they are doing, living in the areas where material things are no big deal to them. Staying in the rural sites of Bolivia, I appreciate more what we have while living in America where resources are abundant.
We arrived in Bolivia after a total of 12 hours of flights from Miami, Florida. Tam greeted us at the gate after a long wait due to flight delays. It was a warm and humid day. The weather, airport facility, the scenery with tropical flowers, banana trees, old model used cars, dusty roads, all kept reminding me a lot of Vietnam. If not for the Spanish language, I could believe that I was in Vietnam.
After a long 3 hours by taxi cab, a used car fueled with natural gas- standard Bolivia operational vehicle- the three of us got to Samaipata. Traveling on dusty, winding highways, a warm sunny day without air conditioning in a car, Tammy explains that the cab we are in is carefully selected. She had tried to have one that was nicer so we would not be overwhelmed. Since most taxi cabs there are operated to serve the needs for transportation and not for leisure, so either having a radio, air conditioner, or a clock is a luxury. Overall what Tam wanted was a newer cab that wouldn’t give us carsickness or back pain.
The car brought us safely to her place. The cab driver who drove the two lane divided mountain pass at speeds of 45 miles per hour or less was passing other taxi cabs, buses, motorcycles , animals and even pedestrians. Not all the mountain roads are paved. Some of them are rough, full of rocks because of land slides a couple of months ago. They are tough to travel but to Bolivians it is nothing. It seems there are no safety standards there, traveling here and there is at your own risk. It reminds me of traveling in Vietnam in the 1970’s. I guess it could be the standard of traveling in third world countries.
From the airport, we went through Santa Cruz city in mid-afternoon, passing by open markets crowded with people, honking vehicles, cattle on the street, and our taxi cab was trying to go through this maze. My heart kept going up & down at sudden stops or when people crossed in front of moving vehicles
. Such things do not bother them. I just prayed that there was no accident so we could get to Tam’s home as early as possible. I enjoyed looking out the car windows and seeing beautiful rows of mountains, cliffs of waterfalls, and bright nectarine and orange trees. Along the hills were gorgeous colorful wild flowers as the villagers’ strolled down the dirt roads avoiding huge spots of horse manure. In contrast to Vietnam, Bolivia lands are huge and uncultivated with less population. The country is peaceful and in no rush.
We got to Tam’s home late in the afternoon. Tam’s little cottage is homey. Greeting us was her neighbor’s dog, Timmy. This fellow is Tam’s guard. He follows Tam anywhere she goes. We also tended to Tam’s puppy, Mia. She was very sick. Tam took really good care of the puppy with many nights getting up to feed and take Mia outside to the bathroom. Unfortunately, Mia is no longer with us on this earth.
After a long rest the next day, we visited the town and the people. It is a small community. Surrounding business areas are mom and pop stores, a market, a museum and a central park.
The park is the main center where festival events are held and townspeople hang out. People are friendly, greeting each other as they pass by. Life is simple and laid back. Business hours are different. It varies from 8 am to 12 am and from 3 pm to 6 pm. Business activities are suspended from 12 pm to 3 pm because of nap time. Bolivians do not work on holidays or Sunday. We were in Samaipata while its anniversary date was celebrated. We could not get anything done since stores and markets were closed. Tam commented that time is irrelevant there. Business people do not keep appointments to clients as arranged. An appointment change without advance notice is not new. Tam warns us not to get uptight when the taxi cab driver is not there on time.
Tam had invited three of Peace Corps friends who were working near Samaipata to her home for dinner. These folks were hungry for any dishes except the Bolivian ones. Per Tam’s request, I made some authentic Vietnamese dishes. They enjoyed PHO, which is chicken noodle soup
garnished with cilantro, fresh basil and lime juice. They also liked the shredded cabbage salad, mixed with shredded boiled chicken and crushed toasted peanuts. But most of all these folks enjoyed spring rolls served with mixed hoisin sauce and peanuts. They had fun wrapping a piece of pork, shrimp, and shredded lettuce with thin rice wrapper. [Editors note: My mother must be hallucinating. There is no shrimp to be found here.]
While having dinner with these fellows, they shared with us their assignments in these country areas. Britta‘s project is helping the villagers to set up ponds to raise fish. Kilo’s is teaching English. And Yolanda is helping the town people become aware of environmental issues such as trash on the roads and animal waste on the streets. Tam is guiding the local small businesses in marketing ideas, such as how to set up products to appeal to buyers, and to make a recent profit after fixed cost is incurred. To us the projects that the volunteers are working on are not new but the town people actually have no knowledge of these areas.
Just want to share with you about the living quarter of Britta, one of the volunteers. We had a
chance to visit her place. The hills where she lives are surrounded by mountains and winding dirt roads. These paths are muddy because of landslides or rains. There are no street lights, no hot water, no kitchen or washing facility in the house. It seems like she is living the life of Americans in the pioneer days of “Little House on the Prairie”. I asked Britta how she takes a shower or washes her clothes. She just said she just has a cold shower and washes clothes by hand. She mentioned that she just has a warm shower when visiting Tam’s place. What a good adjustment she has made!!
While in town, we took a hike to El Fuerte. From Samaipata, we walked up and down steep-
winding mountain paths to El Fuerte to see the Incan ruins. It took us about 6 hours of hiking to visit such a historical place. Mountain after mountain, surrounding views are gorgeous. Passing steep hills and little creeks we came to examine the towns and tombs ruled by the Incans hundred years ago. As we were heading back to Samaipata, we were coincidently accompanied by a local tour guide. His family members, the founders, had set up the tourist site at El Fuerte. He shared with us the history of sites and traveling seasons. The man stopped us in the middle of the hike pointing to the mountain up high. There were human faces carved on them. Without this gentleman, I am sure that we missed such unbelievable carvings.
Mountain Side- Take a good look
"Incan Face"- In case you couldn't see it
We had another day of adventure in Bella Vista. This is the site where Tam works as a co-op touris
t planner. The roads to this area are rocky, narrow and curving to mountains, but the SUVs made it through. Guiding our adventures was the local tour guide. We hiked in Bella Vista trails of the Amazon. Winding through mountain tracks, passing several eco systems, we were up to the mountain tops of over 1000 meters high, and down to the flowing rivers exploring the greatness of nature as well as the devastation of landslides. It was sunny and cool. The winter of the southern atmosphere was approaching. We could feel the chill of it. At mid-day, we rested at one of the waterfalls for lunch while listening to the sounds of running water, wild life and looking at different kinds of wild flowers and giant old trees around. We completed this hike in about 6 hours and looked forward to another one of the following day. At sunset, we stopped at Tam’s host family to chat and eat evening snacks. It was dark as we headed to the hostel. There was no light, nobody around except
three of us and the tour guide couple. We felt the silence of the night and desert mountains. Rain and rain, it poured all night long and continued the next day. We canceled the hike and decided to go get out of the hostel. From Tam’s experience, because of bad weather and landslides, the roads would be blocked for several days. There is no means of transportation to get in or out of Bella Vista except walking. Stepping in and out of slippery muddy mountain roads, sliding down the hills, crossing the mud filled river beds, the three of us were exhausted as we arrived at the highway. It was a memorable six hours of wandering along the mountain paths. Though our shoes and clothes were soaked with mud and water, we still had moments of enjoying the marvelous views of rows of mountains. We indeed made another hike of 20 km to the highway to return to Samaipata.
Finally, we left Samaipata to Santa Cruz, getting ready for flights back to U.S. Here we met Tam’s other Peace Corps friends for dinner. These volunteers shared with us their ups and downs trying to get their projects to a satisfactory stage. Their living conditions are tough as well as traveling. It is very exhausting to get from one place to another and is either by bus or by taxi. Though coping with unpleasant conditions, these young ones still dedicate a part of their life to help the people of Bolivia. They are willing to live and work in an effort to make a difference in the life of the people in need. It is an admirable sacrifice.
All my life I have been acutely aware of the fact that though I am American, I am Asian- American. Vietnamese- American, to be exact. I’ve always realized that my cultural background has certainly had a strong influence. After all, how American American could I be? I attended the #1 party school and never drank one beer. Never played beer pong or flip cup or bonged a beer. Not that it makes you American or not, but I also didn’t like hotdogs, hated mustard, and I don’t play cards. I don’t like watching football or baseball or basketball. Guess I don’t fall into the stereotype. Up until now, I had never even noticed. After all, I am Asian-American. That’s my excuse.
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