There were a few things that I experienced when I came here that were somewhat unpleasant. I'm going to mention all of them in one entry, but please don't think that life here is a series of hardships. It's anything but.
The humidity and heat, as I mentioned before, were quite different from what I had been experiencing in Southern Alberta in late October. The temperatures were hovering in the high 20's and low 30's. I don't know what the relative humidity was, but it took no time at all to be soaking wet with sweat. Even taking a shower was useless, because before I was dressed I found myself sweating profusely again. I soon learned to turn the air conditioner on to a very low temperature before my shower, partly just to dry myself.
And the mosquitoes! You can hardly see the little devils, but they sure take a chunk out of a person. My legs were a mess for weeks from bites. They seem to attack in droves and each one takes a big bite, and then of course they itch like crazy. It didn't help that I was taking the dog for walks in the early morning and evening, when they were most active.
In the area where I first lived, rats were very common. I saw many of them when I was walking the dog; so many in fact, that soon I didn't jump anymore when they scurried across the street in front of me. Since moving to this area I haven't seen very many at all.
Sadly, there is garbage piled along the streets everywhere here in the rural areas. It's so distressing, because this is such a beautiful country otherwise. The smell in this heat is truly awful; in fact, stench would be a better word. Some of it is household garbage, some is fast food containers, and sometimes in some areas one can even smell dead animals.People walk along the street and just drop their garbage without a second thought. I don't know why this is allowed to happen because many areas have garbage pick up, and Vietnam calls itself a prosperous country with zero unemployment. Surely someone could be picking up the garbage off the streets!
I can't mention garbage without mentioning cigarettes. Asia is far behind North America on smoking legislation. Many Asians are smokers, and they are permitted to light up almost anywhere. Smoking in restaurants is common, and there is no designated smoking section.
I arrived near the end of rainy season, and at about the same time every day we would get a violent downpour. One day I had gone for a swim after work, and it started raining while I was in the pool. I was about ready to get out anyway, so I got dressed and though I'd just wait out the rain as it was coming down hard and fast. Finally I decided to go home, rain or not. Good thing, otherwise I'd have been there well into the night!
Driving and being a pedestrian here is taking your life into your own hands. I drive a small motorbike, as do most people in the country. Most roads have a designated lane for motorbikes, but if a vehicle wants to make a right turn, it will pull over into the motorbike lane, often without signalling. Some drivers will go along for several kilometres in the motorbike lane, and suddenly pull into the correct lane again, often just about the time a motorbike driver decides to go around them to the left. I have seen a large number of motorbikes wrapped around the front of buses and trucks. Many people drive without using headlights even at night! And look out on the sidewalks, because you are just as likely to see people driving motorbikes there too, and often even on the wrong side. Then they have the nerve to beep at you to get out of their way! The noise of horns is constant. There are no stop signs, so I think I've figured out the main rule of the road: the one with the loudest horn has the right of way.
The biggest headache I've run into is bureaucracy and red tape. There are rules, rules, rules, many of which are ridiculous. For example, I live in a complex with 24 hour guards, which is common here. I have a permit to park my motorbike in the parking lot. Makes sense so far, right? Now here's the crazy part: when I take the bike out, no matter where I'm going, I have to leave my permit with the guard and pick it up when I return. Another paper I need to have is a resident permit.( To date I only have a temporary one, but that's a whole other can of worms. ) To receive this permit, my landlord must submit a form and my passport to the local police. It took nearly two weeks for me to get my passport back, not sure why. In the meantime the management company for my building had not paid their graft to the police. The police were at our door more than once to ask for our permits, which of course we didn't have. Fortunately we were always in bed when they arrived and didn't hear them at the door, otherwise they could have taken us to the local jail and detained us until our landlord, who was out of the country at the time, came to the jail and vouched for us.
These were all isolated things that proved to be annoying at the time, but taken in the balance were not big deals at all. Even with all of this I'm glad to be here.
No comments:
Post a Comment