Life Lens

Rave Wrists

Summer is a time for backyard bar-b-ques, picnics in the park and outdoor festivals.  Usually I try to make a new friend or two when I’m out mingling in the sunshine and what better way to part ways than to give them a brightly colored bracelet?  That’s why it’s important to stack them a dozen deep.  You never know how many cool people you’re going to meet so you’d better be prepared.  Get inspired by the African and Asian ladies that wear a bunch of neck rings, but take comfort in the fact that there will be no permanent body alterations.

Not only is it fun and cute to wear all these neon beauties, they’re fun to make too.  Pick up some neon kite string or thread and braid away.  You can also wrap hemp or thread around old bracelets that you can’t stand the sight of.  That’s what I did in the first picture with the thick band and the circle cuff.

On the morning of the second day, Saleem and I were waiting outside for our group to gather.  It was sunny and beautiful and we wanted a look at the scene from above.  Next door to the Summit Hotel was a construction site.  A new hotel was going up.  The cement foundation for all four floors was completed and now the workers were laying bricks to create the different rooms.  Saleem half jokingly asked if we should go up and of course I said yes, but we both continued to stand there.  After five minutes of boredom Saleem said, “If my dad was here he would be in there by now.”  So I said, “let’s go.”  We are both a little shy, but we walked to the entrance nodded at the guy sitting nearby and pointed to the top of the structure, he nodded his head yes, so we walked in.  It was probably one of the easiest things we’ve done thus far.  It didn’t even involve vocal communication.  Once inside we climbed the makeshift bamboo ladder to the second floor where we found several people mixing cement.  They nodded hello and smiled.  One of the men was really inviting and came over to pour us tea into the two little teacups that sat in the dirt.  We accepted and before I could try mine Saleem whispered, “it’s really bitter.”  It was indeed.  After we sipped on some tea the man asked with motions, sounds and facial expressions if we smoked.  We don’t, but we said yes, unsure where it would lead.  He took out a bag of tobacco and packed it into a bamboo water bong.  He lit it for Saleem and then for myself.  I warned Saleem not to inhale in case it was harsh, but I didn’t head my own warning.  I took the smoke into my lungs and let out a couple small coughs to which all the men laughed at.  I laughed right along with them.  I was so happy to be at a construction sight having an impromptu smoke with four middle-aged Vietnamese men I had just met.  The youngest worker smoked after I did and he coughed a few times as well then I didn’t feel so bad.  The man noticed I was done with my tea so he refilled my cup.  I gulped it down realizing it was soon time for the trek.  Saleem and I said thank you about a million times and made our way carefully down the bamboo ladder. 

Once outside the building we determined that was probably the best thing to happen to us since we came to Vietnam.  We agreed that we needed to take risks more often and reach out to people because every time we did it worked out well.  Every so often during our trek we decided we needed to go back and hang out with those guys.  We bought a kilo of tangerines at the market as a little thank you and once again climbed the bamboo ladder.  A lot of progress was made since we left.  The men had partially built up walls for two bedrooms and two bathrooms.  We found all of this out through hand motions while we all jabbered away in our native languages.  Saleem and I kept wavering between English and Thai even though the guys spoke Vietnamese.  At one point though we counted to ten in Thai with the most animated and inviting man.  He was the most excited to try and talk to us.  He also gave us more tea and another puff from his bamboo water bong.  We found out he has three kids and after a lot of convincing he understood that I have no babies and am not currently pregnant.  For a long while I simply sat there and watched them all work.  It was nice to see the way people in other countries constructed things.  I used to watch my dad do similar tasks during ‘take your daughter to work day’ when I was younger.  I remember the one time he was laying tile in a huge living room.  The entire day I watched as his partner Donny and he made chalk lines, spread grout and made sure everything was lined up properly.  These guys were doing the same only building walls with bricks.  The grout was mixed not in a bucket, but on the floor with a shovel, the bricks were brought up in a bucket with a pulley and lever form the ground floor, and each row was leveled by lining it up with a fishing line pulled taught above it.  While they worked I snapped photos and portraits and even took a couple videos.  This was a glimpse at real people living their daily lives, which is what I had come to Sapa in search of.  Even though I didn’t get to experience a genuine look at the villagers’ lives, I was able to be witness hard work by real men.  It was just as good or better because it wasn’t forced, it was friendly and I think it made a positive impact on their day and I know it made one on Saleem’s and mine. 

One of the hardest things about being away is not being able to come home under any circumstances.  It’s just not plausible.  I often think about the unspeakable things that might happen and how I think I would handle the different scenarios but then I try and snap back to the present.  What will be will be.  Unfortunately one of the scenarios has become a reality.   This past week a friend of mine passed away and I would have really liked to be there to share my memories, say goodbye and to support his brother who is also a good friend.  I sometimes think I understand how temporary life is, but then it flips me on my head again.  It moves quickly; it doesn’t stop for anyone or anything.  That was part of the reason I came here in the first place.  I thought, if I don’t go now, when would I go?  What am I waiting for?  Six months in the scheme of things is a blink of an eye.  It only feels like an eternity when you aren’t able to be around when you need others or vise-versa.  Being away really made me realize the powerful connections I have with my friends and family.  Those connections have made me feel emotions I haven’t ever felt in the past.  Deep sadness and longing when I’m not there for comfort and support, a weird form of excitement mixed with friendly jealousy when I know others are having the time of their lives without me and extreme happiness knowing how much I truly love those that understand me.  I know I’m going to be feeling that happiness/envious/jealousy mix of emotions over the holidays.  If you know my family, you know that every single individual is the bomb.  There’s no dud or brat or annoying one, every single person is awesome.  Usually when one Schu makes a friend that friend soon becomes friends with every member of the Schu family.  Anyway, I thought I knew how much I appreciated my family and friends before, but this trip gave me a whole new understanding of how much I love and need them.  I’m finding it really hard to explain right now, but there’s a feeling I get way down in my gut and my then heart feels like it’s overflowing and I can’t stop smiling when I think of them.  I’m serious.  If you’ve never felt this, go away for awhile, and if you still don’t feel it, find some new friends that are on your level.