Ben Tre adventures

Hello all, and welcome back to Jefferson’s Vietnam adventures!

Well in the last few weeks we’ve had expeditions to Tien Giang and Dong Thap, so why not have some fun in Bến Tre this week?

The weekend started with a party on Thursday thrown by my students. Our sparkling performance had won first place, and so the students of one of my second year classes threw a big party.

I showed up at the house and cooking was already in full swing. I helped fry some spring rolls, to the great amusement of my students, and watched the unfolding chaos. Normally, I am not allowed back in the kitchens. As a man, it is my job to sit in the front and drink tea with the other men in the family while the women go into the back and help with the cooking.

However, this time there were no other men in the house, and it was a much less formal gathering, so I was invited/ordered back into the kitchen to help out. It was a lot of fun to be involved with the cooking of the meal, and something I’m a lot more comfortable with than just sitting around the house and doing nothing.

Frying spring rolls 

Grinning with my co-chefs

Fried spring rolls

It also continually amazes me what level of skill is expected in Vietnam when it comes to cooking. For instance, when you buy a cut of meat at the market, they will just give you a big chunk of meat. Fat, bones, tendons and all. Buy a fish and you will get a whole fish. Buy an octopus and you get a whole octopus. It is simply expected that you (or your wife/girlfriend/mother if you are a man) will know how to butcher the meat properly.

My students were in the back, expertly dismembering octopi and butchering chunks of meat like it was nothing, laughing and chatting the whole time. Meanwhile I’m standing there, bewildered and overwhelmed. I know how to use a knife but I have no idea what the hell I am doing.

Thoa and Thuy skinning an octopus

The always charming Mr. Vu showed up! Just look at that glamor shot

Dung and Tien with the spring rolls

Nhien and Nhi cleaning vegetables 

Truc poses with food part 1

Thoa cuts up an octopus

Truc poses with food part II 

Eventually it was decided that I was at least qualified to cut the watermelon.

Hard at work

(Apparently) baffled

I'm hard at work, but Mr. Vu knows when a camera is nearby! 

Truc poses with food part III

The party!

After the party I went back to teach English Club, and then went right back to sing Karaoke! I sang the three Vietnamese songs I knew, and laughed and heckled along with the rest of my students. Finally we all got dessert and called it a night. 

 

I was coerced into singing

Pho, Mr. Vu, myself, Truc and Ngan 

Checking the song selection. Zero songs in English. Wonderful.  

Truc and Pho sing

Mr. Vu expresses his approval of the night

On Friday we had no class, as it was the holiday of the Hung Kings. The Hung Kings were the first kings to unite Vietnam, and they have reached semi-mythical status in the country.

That morning I was invited to a party at a teacher’s house, and basically every male teacher in the school showed up. What followed was an entire morning of drinking, eating and laughing. A fantastic time, and aside from a brief scare (I thought I had eaten dog meat) it was quite a good way to kick off the weekend. 

At the party 

With Mr. Man and Mr. Hoa

On Saturday morning I departed for a tour of Giồng Trôm and Ba Tri district. Our first stop was the temple to Nguyễn Thị Định. Nguyễn Thị Định was a female communist general who fought against the French, the Americans and the South Vietnamese. 

A founding member of the National Liberation Front, she was one of the most ardent communists who lead insurgencies in both 1945 and 1960. She was born in Ben Tre province and a new complex was built to her ten years ago. 

As with all monuments to North Vietnamese forces, it is very strange seeing and paying respects to former enemies of the United States. 

Entrance to Nguyễn Thị Định's temple

The courtyard

The shrine

With Mr. Luan

Signing the guestbook

Nguyễn Thị Định with Fidel Castro. So, clearly some people knew about her back then. 

Then we went to visit a factory where bánh phồng, or thin rice cakes, are made. We got to see the entire process, from the pounding of the flour to the mixing into cakes, the drying and cutting bananas into thin slices. 

The ingredients: sticky rice, water and flour

The rice is pounded into flour

Then the dough is pressed thin

And cut into cakes

The mats of cakes are carried outside

And dried in the sun

Then bananas are sliced into thin slices, and coat the entire cake

Cutting the bananas

A cake covered in bananas. Then the cake and bananas are sent out to dry again

Final result. Half-eaten because I was really hungry, and these are delicious.

In Part II of Jefferson Gets Shown Up by Vietnamese Women re: Knife Skills, I tried my hand at cutting up a banana for one of the cakes. The women’s ability to slice an entire banana into wafer-thin slices with ease left me entirely baffled.

Mr. Day gives me some advice

Cutting the banana

Finished product...eh. Could have been worse. 

Next on our tour was the tomb of Nguyễn Đình Chiều. We got to tour the complex and hear about his history. 

Entrance to Nguyễn Đình Chiều's temple

The courtyard of the temple

One of Vietnam’s most famous poets, Nguyễn Đình Chiều was born in Gia Định (the location of modern Ho Chi Minh City) in 1822. He studied in Huế at the imperial university, but as he was finishing his studies he learned of his mother’s death. On his journey home, according to legend, he wept so many tears that he was blinded.

Shrine to Nguyễn Đình Chiều

The camera crew that followed us around. No idea why.

The blind Nguyễn Đình Chiều set up a school in Gia Định and a small medical practice. Then the French came.

During the early 1860s, late 1850s, France became to truly get involved in Vietnamese politics. French involvement in Vietnam had began as early as the 17^th century, and a French priest had helped the first Nguyễn emperor win back his throne and unite Vietnam in 1802. However the French presence mostly consisted of trade and arms supplies.

The existence of French Catholic missionaries and churches was also a continual source of concern for the French government. Tensions between French Catholics and the imperial government would eventually rise to a breaking point.

The graves of Nguyễn Đình Chiều, his wife and one of his daughters

At the graves

In 1858 the French attacked Da Nang, then in 1859 they attacked Saigon. In 1862 the emperor Tự Dức signed the Treaty of Saigon, ceding the southern provinces of Biên Hòa, Định Tường and Gia Định to the French. Nguyễn Đình Chiều fled south out of Gia Định, settling in Bến Tre.

Another view of the temple

The anticolonial Trương Định led a bitter guerrilla fight against the French, declaring the emperor’s treaty null and void, but Nguyễn Đình Chiều was unable to fight due to his blindness. Instead he wrote poetry praising the rebels. He also wrote one of the most famous Vietnamese pieces of Vietnamese literature, the epic Lục Vân Tiên. He is celebrated as the poet laureate of south Vietnam, and he remains very popular here. Many streets and schools are named after him in Vietnam.

Some of the works of Nguyễn Đình Chiều, written in the nôm script.

Signing the guestbook

With Mr. Luan, the owner's daughter, who was a wonderful translator, the owner, and the tour guide (a student at Bến Tre college!)

Outside the temple

Our next stop was the Phu Le Communal house. There really wasn’t much to see here, but it was pretty striking to see all the work that has to go into restoring an old house. The 19^th century house had some pretty obvious signs of wear and tear, and that was with a whole army of young men cleaning up the place.

We stopped for lunch

The courtyard of the house

Inside

The shrines

Old faded wall carvings

A newly painted dragon in the house

New carved phoenixes with an ancient chest

A carving in nôm script

The old shrine

Outside the gate

Finally we swung by Vam Ho Bird Conservatory. Unfortunately, due to fears of bird flu we weren’t able to visit. Then it was time for us to head back to school, exhausted after a full day of tourist activities.  

The gate to Vam Ho bird park

Sunday was a relaxing day, getting coffee with Mr. Tuan, then coffee with Xuyen, Tram and Minh, then dinner with Xuyen, Trinh and Trinh’s friend Khanh. It was quite a fun weekend, and it left me feeling quite happy.

Now this weekend is another weekend, this one a five-day weekend! That’s right, no class on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday because it is the week of May 1(Labor day is a big deal in communist countries)! So, I will be going to Ho Chi Minh City to play frisbee and hang out, then will be heading back to Ben Tre for more adventures. But don’t worry, I’ll keep you all posted!

Peace,

Jefferson