last night in Hanoi

It is my last night in Hanoi before I go to Ho Chi Minh City to go on a three week journey with Thich Nhat Hanh- a famous Vietnamese Zen Monk whom is in exile from Vietnam (Because he supported ending the war). I will be in Saigon, Dalat and then hopefully Bao Loc depending on when I can change my flight out till. I will be blogging this trip on my other blog at
http://interbeinginvietnam.blogspot.com/ since it will have mostly to do with reflections on Buddhist stuff.
Been catching up with the few true friends I've made in Vietnam and spending time doing last minute shopping. My mother's partner Anthony whom is white South African has had to hide when we go into shops so they won't put the prices up. Hanoi during Tet is amazingly different most of the shops are closed and on the second day people come out in their best clothes to visit people.
I'm sad I'm leaving Hanoi and the residency is almost over. But it's been a productive time and I've gained a lot from the residency- as well as the two publications I already mentioned Griffith Review is interested in seeing a piece from me as well after I sent them a proposal.
It has planted the seeds in my imagination for more work to come, and given me more grist for the mill for my theatre project Silence. Actualising my Buddhist beliefs into practice has also been a turning point for me.

happy new year of the pig

A good start to the new year- returned to Hanoi and received notification that an on line journal Arabesques has published an article I wrote on Thich Nhat Hanh
http://www.arabesquespress.org/journal/war-and-poetry-the-work-of-thich-nhat-hanh-by-hoa-pham-1354202
for the link. So if the Chinese superstition holds true I will travel and publish this year.
Last night went to the fireworks in Hue and ate ice cream by the river. Durian ice cream is not as potent as its namesake but I won't seek it out much I'm afraid. Also had buon bo hue in Hue (beef noodle soup) which of course was not as good as my grandmother's. It is the fourth time i've been to Hue (my father comes from there) and it's very relaxing compared to Hanoi. It is surrounded by mountains and the ruins of the Citadel (partly restored) and the tombs are very evocative and atmospheric even though it was bloody hot (yes it's winter and even the locals don't know what the weather is doing!)
Hoi An was a blur of shopping and ancient wooden houses- bought far too many dresses and Buddhas- the Marble Mountains and Hue are best for Buddha statues and other relic like objects- Hoi An turned out to be more expensive than Hue to get stuff tailored. The food though was excellent had cao lau (noodles with spicy sauce and pork) white rose (dumplings) and banh xeo (Vietnamese pancake) very cheaply- my uncle whom lives in Nha Trang and travels with us is a master at the one dollar meal.

markets

Went to Dong Xuan market today and ate buon (rice vermicelli noodles) and fried prawn cakes very cheaply indeed. A glass of tea was 1000 dong (ten cents) and buon was 5000 dong. This was way off the tourist track and we were the only foreigners there sitting on little plastic seats. Tomorrow am off to Hue and Hoi An where web access may be limited- so blogging may wait until I return to Hanoi. It is exciting being here in the lead up to new year, lots of xe oms carrying peach blossom trees and persimmon trees, and people in a mad rush to buy hampers and New Year cards. Last night was kitchen god day so lots of burning votive offerings and people releasing fish into the water for luck (and sometimes the plastic bags that the fish came in).

impressions of sapa

mountain ranges shadowed by the mist, girls in indigo skirts large silver hoop earrings and bracelets hassling you to buy from them, terraced rice fields, water pumps pounding rice, colorful costumes, incredible scenic poverty.

I was very conscious of being a tourist here- we found out that each woman only got one outfit a year- at Tet which is incredible. Our tour guide learnt English from tourists and was the only one whom graduated from high school in his village. He is getting married and he has to pay for 4 water buffalo and 2000 litres of rice wine for a three day feast- and pay a dowry of 600,000 dong. If he doesn't pay the dowry he has to work for his in laws until the debt is paid off! However my family has pumped lots of money into the local economy- by buying lots of clothes.

more ma

Had dinner last night with Andrea Kauser a german anthropologist investigating spirituality in Hanoi and Doug Jardine an American academic teaching at Hanoi university. Andrea had some interesting things to say about ghosts and beliefs in spirits- she finds my belief that ghosts can appear during the 49 day transition period interesting- and she asked me if I had considered talking to my deceased grandparents by spirit medium. My first reaction was it was spooky, then that I hadn't thought of it- followed by my skepticism that mediums actually communicate with spirits. Andrea does not believe that a medium would speak to her in German from her grandfather- and she wonders whether spirits can travel over water. I personally think that ghosts and spirits do exist, that the chance encounters that people do have has built up a series of complex beliefs in when spirits materialise- and some of it is true and some of it is wishful thinking.
Andrea thinks for herself that it is more important for her as an anthropologist to investigate how these practices form community and spiritual economy.

another Vietnamese author

Just met with another established Vietnamese author whom was quite honest with me about what is allowed and what isn't allowed for writers to write about. In Vietnam you cannot write against the government, incite violence, have too much sex in your story and something about you cannot write against the unity of ethnic diversity (huh???) I think he means against ethnic minorities. He has waited six years for a book to be published- a very patient man methinks. He also commented that the literature conference I went to was not a very intellectual one which concurs with my American colleagues conclusions about it. His opinion of the Vietnamese writing scene is that many writers write for themselves rather than for the audience.
Here is a picture of people exercising near Hoan Kiem Lake I have on the occassion been awake and about to see this early in the morning- around 6 am.

Natalie Goldberg

Just picked up Writing Down the Bones again- and the little tidbits I read started me thinking. First of all what I took away from my re reading was that I have the write to write badly. This helps me let go of the censor and the expectations of my work. The second thing which I have been mulling over is that both she and Julia Cameron say that writing is therepeutic but not therapy. I can see where they are coming from- yet narrative therapy is about people recognising their own narrattives and rewriting them to a degree. Being able to transform yourself from victim to survivor in your own story is a most powerful therapy. Natalie goes on to say that writing transforms bitter experiences into something sweeter to be savoured (I'm paraphrasing badly again). That art can transform life experiences. I think that life is chaotic and random, we humans create story and narrattive to make sense of it all. What I like about what Natalie says is that we can take our writing into our wider lives- a bit like taking mindfulness into your wider life.