It's actually somewhat funny how obsessed Vietnamese nationals are with their native fruits. Whenever I become good friends with a local, they insist on taking me to a fruit market. In my month here, I've become good friends with complete strangers (another blog post about that later in the week), and they will send me e-mails with links to the different fruits found in Vietnam. Some even call me, hoping to show me their favorite fruit market.
And on one such occasion, I obliged.
Ruby (my co-worker and "adopted sister") called me on Sunday, hoping to take me to her favorite fresh fruit market. She picked me up on her motorcycle and we drove for about 15 minutes until we reached her favorite market.
The market had just about every fruit you can imagine, plus some you probably can't. There were piles of fruits inside the store and out, in every size, shape and color known to man. I was told that the fruits at this market are 100% natural, grown in Vietnam and about 6 times more expensive than at any other market in the city. So in other words, this market was the Vietnamese version of "Whole Foods."
I purchased every single fruit that I didn't recognize, or hadn't yet tried (including: rambutans, durians, jackfruit, green mangos, longans, custard apple, yellow watermelons, dragon fruit and others.) We dropped the fruits off at Ruby's house - where we would return later in the evening - so that Ruby could show me some different areas of Ho Chi Minh City.
Our first stop - and my personal favorite - was Ho Chi Minh City University. With 20,000 students, just one academic building held more classrooms than each of the 5C schools combined. (Side note: the classrooms were really old-fashioned and looked terribly uncomfortable. Every class is taught in the Ho Chi Minh Method - pure memorization of facts, formulas, etc. - so most of the learning goes on outside of the classroom.) There are two class periods everyday - from 7:00am to 11:30 am and 1:00pm to 5:30pm - and class sizes are typically no smaller than 50. And if you thought that wasn't bad enough - check out student housing. That place makes Phillips look like The Four Seasons.
But not all is bad at Ho Chi Minh City University. HCMC University did have a nicer student center than CMC (so do most pre-schools) and most students get good jobs (by Vietnamese standards) upon graduation.
From HCMCU, Ruby took me to HCMC's sporting facilities, complete with soccer fields, swimming pools, and badminton/basketball courts. More on the sports facility in another blog post.
After our day's travel, Ruby took me back to her house where we enjoyed the fresh fruits with her family. (Side note: Vietnamese people put salt, pepper, salt and pepper and salt with jalapeños on their fruit. They also have stories passed down from generation to generation about each fruit... most stories are either about how the fruit was made, or how the fruit will help you grow strong.)
Ruby's family was extraordinarily hospitable - they had a cup of iced coffee ready for me when we returned because Ruby had told them I like iced coffee - and they were eager to answer any questions I had about Vietnamese life. With Ruby and her sister serving as translators, I learned about Mr. & Mrs. Lai's childhood, their opinions about the world, and their religion - Buddhism.
But of course, if I learned anything from the day, I learned that if you come to Vietnam, you must try the fruits.
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