A semblance of normalcy, and adventures in taking the bus

I haven't blogged as much recently because there hasn't been much to say.  After three weeks at E&C Center, I finally feel like I've started to gain a regular daily pattern. That doesn't mean I'm used to the terrifying traffic or the constant noise, but it doesn't phase me as much as it used to. This past week I finally started to make some real progress at work.  I submitted some initial inquiries for grant applications, and finished translating some documents into English. Today is my last day of work for two weeks because of the Tet holiday, but I still plan on doing a little bit of work while traveling.

The worst part of the day is taking the bus home.  In the morning I get off at a major bus stop where lots of people get off and more people get on, so I never have to worry about the bus not stopping.  However, coming home is a different story. First of all, I take Bus #201, but there are two #201s and only one of them goes to my street. So every day I have to ask the money collector if the bus goes to Tay Mo. Sometimes I get a definitive "yes," but other times the guy just sort of grunts or ignores the question altogether.  Those are the bus rides I hate, and I'm incredibly tense until I figure out whether or not it's going towards my stop.  Luckily I've always gotten on the correct #201, or I've realized early enough that I was on the wrong #201 and had time to get off and transfer buses.   I just figured out a few days ago how to tell the difference between them, so now that part will be easier.  But there's a second part to the bus ride home: making sure the bus actually stops at my stop.  I get off at the crossroads of a major highway and the small street my dorm is on.  There is no sign, the bus driver only stops if someone yells at him to stop. I tried yelling in English a few times, but he just completely ignores me. So now I try to make sure the money collector knows I need to get off at Tay Mo, and he will usually tell the bus driver to stop (and I use the word "stop" lightly...the bus doesn't actually come to a halt, it just slows down and you jump off). Then there's just the ten minute walk down our one-lane dirt road with no sidewalks and tons of trucks and motorbikes driving by in both directions, and I'm back at the dorm! It's always such a relief to walk to through the gates of Coma 6 alive and unharmed.

                   View of the road from the roof of Peace House

                                          Coma 6!

The challenges of working in a different culture. Or, Sometimes I want to tear my hair out.

Volunteering at the E&C Center is going pretty well so far.  I like the mission of the non-profit, and the people that work there well enough.  I also think I'll be able to make some real progress while I'm there which is great.  That being said, the challenges of working in a different culture are very real and often completely mind-boggling to me.  I could sit here for hours giving examples, but for now I'll just describe one major issue I've run into:

One of my main tasks at the E&C Center is to identify possible sources of funding from international donors, and then write and submit the proposals.  My first day there I asked if they had any potential leads, who their current donors were, etc. All I got was a few confused looks and multiple people pushing me towards the computer saying "you find funding, okay?"...or..."we have free internet here"...or..."you get us money and then we use it!"  And then they all went back to their skyping and facebooking and whatnot.  So I sat at my computer, and started researching (which went really well actually, and I found lots of good leads). That was last Wednesday.  Yesterday afternoon I was talking to Jenny (the other non-Vietnamese volunteer), and mentioned my research and she said, "Oh, well why don't you just pick up where the last VPV volunteer left off? She left us lots of materials."  To which I responded, "WHAT????" and stared at her dumbly. It turns out there was another VPV volunteer at E&C Center before me and she had done lots of research and even submitted one or two proposals.  And yet the employees completely failed to mention anything about all this existing research, even when I specifically asked them about it. 

Frustrating, no?  I felt like tearing my hair out.  

Somehow they don't make the connection that having me unnecessarily start from scratch is detrimental to the organization's progress.  At least now I have all the files from the previous volunteer, and I can pick up where she left off. But seriously, if Jenny wasn't there to clue me in I doubt if the Vietnamese employees would have ever mentioned the existing files!  That's some serious inefficiency right there! 

But, like we were told in our orientation, some things in Vietnam are just different and we have to work within their system. So that's what I'll do. Even though their system sucks.

NB: If anyone has any suggestions on how to deal with this, it would be much appreciated!