Notre Dame nursing students arrive in Vietnam

COUNTRY: Vietnam
PROGRAM: UniBreak Groups
PROJECT: Notre Dame Nursing Placement
WRITTEN BY: Isabel Cullen, Notre Dame University

We've finally made it!

After 6 months of preparation we've finally started what will probably be the most amazing clinical placement we do as students!
Firstly, I'll introduce us; there's Rachel, Rhiannon, Jacinta, Adam, Manuja, Georgia, Hannah, Tenyka, Renee, me (Isabel) and our supervisors/lecturers Kylie and Darren.
We left Perth 3 days ago, catching our flight at 2.30am we all attempted to get some sleep on the flights, with limited success (except maybe for kylie who managed to get 3 seats to herself!) and some of the worst plane food I have eaten (my lunch looked like vomit), but that's all in the fun of the journey isn't it!

We arrived in Hanoi all in one piece excited for the adventure we were about to embark on and to get out of the airport, but that didn't quite happen... We were missing 13 bags of our luggage! Well done Malaysian Airlines! 12 of those were the soaps, toothpastes, etc all the donations and the other was Renee's backpack, oh no! So we waited, and we spoke to lost & found, and we waited some more, but they didn't even know where the bags were, the assumption was that they were probably in KL.. So we left it to them and headed out into Vietnam, we'd finally arrived! Met our guide Thaung at the airport and headed to our hotel and wow is it fancy! Very flash with a bathtub and everything! Not quite what we were expecting, but the roughing-it starts tomorrow!

My first impression of Vietnam is that you're definitely in South-East Asia, it's got that same vibe and atmosphere as Thailand and Bali, but with a Vietnamese twist! There's that beautiful all-surrounding chaos, that for some reason seems functional and you know that most-likely the scooter wont hit you as you're crossing the road so you stop worrying about it as everything moves around you. I've found it cleaner than I expected and not as smelly as it could be, mostly fumes, but nothing too nasty, but it is nearly winter so you never know what it's like in summer! Also the weather has been perfect! Can't always see the sun through the pollution, but it's definitely there! I also love the fact that the Vietnamese actually wear those straw hats!

Our first evening we all went out to dinner together, had some delicious food for less than $5 each, and I have discovered that juices/smoothies here are heavenly!!! After dinner we decided to go for dessert at Fanny's, the famous ice-cream shop! Off we went, excited, with Kylie leading the way. An hour later we still hadn't found it and it really started to seem we were walking around in circles, but we were determined now and all had a thirst for ice-cream! Eventually we stumbled upon it and delved into it's deliciousness. I thought I'd try something different so ordered 1 scoop of 'soursop' flavour (apparently it's a fruit...), 1 of 'young rice' and 1 banana... Interesting combination, but very yummy!

Our next day Jacinta and I got up early (6am) to do Tai Chi at the lake. Realistically we got up at 6.30 and missed it, but had a great walk around the lake and saw some really interesting things. One of our favourites was a spiral of people massaging the person in front of them! We wanted to join in, but they were just finishing up so we joined in what was a group of women dancing/doing aerobics. We did two dances which included a lot of hitting different parts of your body and then turned to head off, buuuuut then I heard the familiar tune of the Macarena and we just had to stay for one more dance! I can now say I have done the Macarena, in a public square in Hanoi, Vietnam style (which includes a whole lot of shaking legs and spinning as well!) it was great!

Our day then went on to include the Museum of Ethnology and a Lam Anh Traser which is like a cycle rickshaw with but they cycle from the back. Lunch was at KOTO (Know One Teach One) which is an organisation that employs and trains street kids. We had the afternoon off and everyone chilled out and wandered around, a few of us getting a massage with some pretty intense neck cracking!!

This morning we visited the Prison and then after lunch Bach Mai Hospital. Now things are really starting, after all it is a nursing prac, not a holiday... Bach Mai Hospital was very interesting and a definite eye opener. It really made us realise the amazing quality of health care we have in Australia and those basic principles that make up nursing. Sometimes it takes seeing a situation where the basics are not there to really realise how important they are. But it's also important for us to remember that this is their culture and it is not our job to tell them they are doing it wrong. All we can do is lead by example and maybe show them another way of doing things, just because something is different does not make it bad and we can all learn from each other.

We've been in Hanoi now for 3 days and tomorrow we head to Mai Chau (I can't remember how to spell it) tomorrow. I can't wait to get out there and start doing things and really learning. We're constantly learning anyway, as you do being in a new culture, though I'm not sure how well my Vietnamese is going... So far I can only say hello (sin chau- obviously i've spelt that wrong...) and thank you which is kind of like 'come on!' But all you can do is try!

We've really only just started, and barely at that. The next 2 weeks will really be what this trip is all about and I can't wait!!
Oh P.S. Renee got her luggage back and all the other bags, yay!