Lelo Nxumalo: Vietnam: Summer 2013!

The last time I fought back tears at an airport was when I first left my home country, Zimbabwe, a decade ago. In a very short space of time (2 months), Vietnam had become a home away from home (away from home) for me. As such, it was difficult bidding farewell to the many friendly people I had met. In this post I pay tribute to them as well as reflect on what I learned while doing my internship at the Fulbright Economics Teaching Program in Saigon.

My first days were difficult as I was not only fighting jet-lag but also wondered what I had just thrown myself into. (An international internship is a requirement for graduation in my program at the Harvard Kennedy School). I have already blogged about why I chose Vietnam.

It became apparent to me that I would stand out the day I arrived in Saigon. Outside Tan Son Nhat International Airport I was greeted by curious faces, many of whom probably had never seen a black man before. I shuffled through the inquisitive crowd to find Mr. Minh, who was there to pick me up. In English that was far more coherent than my Vietnamese many asked if I was a football player while others just stared.

On the ride to my place I recall being amazed by the vibrancy of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) with the hustle and bustle of the motorcycle and the cease-less honking thereof. I would ask Mr. Minh as much as I could about the many things we drove past as if I had one day in Vietnam. Luckily for me, Minh was accommodating and patient. He told me about his family including his son who is studying at the University of California San Diego. Mr. Minh has worked with the Fulbright School since its founding and is a repository of information not just about the school but about HCMC. The city, home to just under 7 million people is the largest in Vietnam. Under the name Saigon, it was the capital of the independent republic of South Vietnam from 1955–75.

When we arrived at what would be my home for about 2 nights I was greeted by a familiar face. Rodrigo (or Sanchez as he would grow to be known by colleagues) had arrived the previous day.

On day 1 at the office.

I am yet to tell him how refreshing it was to see a fellow MPAID in a new country. After a brief chat and tour of the place our landlord, Rusty, took us out for street-food in the neighborhood. Afterward we sat up on the roof deck and attempted, with no success at all, to plan our program for the next 8 weeks. Instead we observed the city's nascent sky scrappers, which though not plentiful foretell a towering future for the country - in my opinion. Take the Bitexco Financial Tower, for example. Officially inaugurated in October 2010, it was the tallest building in Vietnam for only 3 months when Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower topped out on 24 January 2011. The multitude of construction projects under way confirm Vietnam as a prime destination for foreign direct investment (FDI).

Rodrigo and I later moved to a place much closer to work. 232/2A Vo Thi Sau in district 3 holds a lot of meaning for me not only because it was a stone-throw to my office but also because of the moments we shared with colleagues from FETP. The place was also fully furnished and came with air-conditioning and cleaning service all for $350/month each (to put things in perspective, my one bedroom apartment in Cambridge costs $1,500, excluding utilities!).

Our internship coincided with the Master's Thesis Defense Series, a core requirement in the MPP program at FETP. In order to graduate, students have to complete a thesis and defend it successfully in front of a committee consisting of five faculty members. I attended a couple of these at the invitation of two of the students–Nguyen Thi Nhung (or Ms. Nhung) and Thu Trân Liên (or Ms. Trân). Because the defenses were in Vietnamese we sat in the back of the room and tried to make out what was being said from the graphs :) on the slides.
We would later chat with the students about their topics. At the end of each day of presentations (the defense series stretched over two weeks) it was custom for the students to go out and celebrate each other and typically this involved some karaoke. I sang Hotel California, and luckily for you there is no video proof of this.

Karaoke fun!

Our interactions with the students made our office work enjoyable as their own work informed our research. For example, Ms. Trân did research on improving shrimp exports from her home in Bac Lieu, a coastal province situated in the Mekong Delta region of the southern part of the country. We would later travel to the Mekong Delta and other parts of the country in subsequent weekends. In fact we only stayed in Saigon for three weekends. One of those weekends I tried to learn how to ride a motorcycle after we had dinner with the lovely, Ms. Lan Hoang. All I can say is I owe her a new bike. Sorry Lan.

Finally, on my last night in Vietnam, a friend (em Linh) asked me what I would miss most about her country. Well, below are images that represent everything I will miss about Vietnam. They are arranged in no particular order but the food is to die for, especially if it is prepared by Ms. Mai :) I had the most fun in Nha Trang beach and Hoi An with Terri and Rodrigo. By the way, I finally learned how to ride a motorcycle thanks to Terri. I was underwhelmed by Halong Bay but I think this may have been because of where in the bay the tour company decided to take us. I am still deciding if I like Hanoi better than Saigon (ps:// I did not sense the cultural differences I had been told about between northerners and southerners). I love Karaoke! I enjoyed meeting fellow travelers from as far as Germany, Singapore, Australia, Austria, France, China, and Japan. Above all, it was the students and fellow interns who made the whole experience worthwhile and I would do it again!

Thank you Vietnam!