Tour of Vinh City
On the 21st of July I went on a tour of the area
surrounding Vinh Vietnam. Unfortunately
our tour guides did not speak very much English and there were times I wasn’t
sure what I was looking at. However, I
still had a good time and learned more about Vietnam. Much of the tour focused on Ho Chi Min and
communism. Stops along the tour were Ho
Chi Min’s birthplace, the Ho Chi Min Museum, and the Soviet Museum. The Ho Chi Min Museum was gorgeous with
pagoda inspired buildings and tranquil gardens.
The museum included a jeep Ho Chi Min rode in, clothes Ho Chi Min wore, and
a memorial to Ho Chi Min. At the
memorial there was a special spot to leave flowers. I noticed many people looking as though they
were praying to the statue of Ho Chi Min.
I found this interesting as most people in Vietnam are atheist, but many
practice ancestor worship. Ho Chi Min
was everywhere, as a statue in the park to paintings for sale to plates to eat
off of. It became quite apparent that
the people of Vietnam have a great respect for Ho Chi Min and view him as a
hero.
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| Ho Chi Min Museum |
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| Ho Chi Min Museum |
At the Soviet Museum we had a tour guide. She wore a beautiful Ao Dia, a traditional
Vietnamese dress. As we discussed her
dress, she told me that I could pull off an Ao Dia myself and that several
places sold them in the city. I was very
tempted. Practicality won out in the end
and I did not purchase one…
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| Ho Chi Min Statue in the Soviet Museum |
The last stop of the day was a Temple. It was elaborately decorated on the inside
with gold while the smell of incense hung in the air. The temple set on top a mountain and offered
beautiful views of the Lam River below. It was a very peaceful, yet hot, environment.
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| View of the Lam River |
Surgery
On the 21st I had the opportunity to observe a
surgery on an inguinal hernia of a three-year-old girl. I did not have the opportunity to see much of
what was going on, as there were seven other people also trying to observe,
plus the three physicians doing the procedure.
The observers were Japanese and Vietnamese physicians and one medical
student. Since they are much more
likely to perform a surgery than I am, I tried to stay out of their way as much
as possible. I was able to observe the
teamwork between the three physicians as they worked to improve a little girl’s
life. During the surgery a drape was
placed, so only the area of the body being operated on was seen. That being said, I couldn’t forget the precious
face of the little girl as the surgeons were performing their operation. I hope she had a successful recovery from the
surgery!
I had the opportunity to see some of the patients as they
left the ship on the 24th before we began sailing to Cambodia. The patients looked so happy and waved as
they passed. It was nice to see the
faces of the inpatients that received some of the medications provided by the
pharmacy. Also leaving us on the 24th
was the Japanese Ship, Oosumi. The ship
had stayed by our side from Indonesia until the end the Vietnam. We went outside on the deck to wave goodbye
to our Japanese counterparts. I wish
they could have stayed with us throughout Cambodia too.
Fun and Games
On July 24th we held the Pharmacy Olympics. Games included pin the tail of the water
buffalo, pharmacy trivia, building the tallest tower out of boxes of
prednisolone acetate ophthalmic solution in 1 minute, and a scavenger hunt. We played in teams of two. Josie, an Austrialian pharmacist, and I
partnered up to form the Pharminators.
I’m not sure how Josie felt about being my team mate afterwards, but
let’s just say that pin the tail on the water buffalo just isn’t my game. However, we did redeem ourselves by winning
the tower building contest with a whopping 24 inch tall tower.
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| Pharmacy Olympics |
The ship provides activities to keep everyone
entertained. One night we had an ice
cream social. The navy band made it a
party with their excellent playing.
Another evening we watched Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol on the
flight deck. It was very windy and
everyone’s chairs and popcorn kept wanting to blow away. However, the weather did make the big
sandstorm in the movie much more realistic!
In addition, we had a licensed acupuncturist aboard. People could sign up for free, so I decided
to try it. I could not feel the needles
as all, although there was some tingling and warmth. I had needles in my ears, neck, lower back,
knees, and ankles. The overall
experience was very relaxing I would highly recommend it.
We left Vietnam and have been in Cambodia for the past couple of days days. Cambodia offers exciting sites through tours I have booked and MEDCAPs, as well as lots of rain (it is the rainy season right now).
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