Exploration Da Nang

Today I learned something interesting about Vietnamese culture. People here seems to not like to communicate their plans or ask you for your opinion. For example, we found out today that the assistant at the hospital actually went to pick us up at the airport. That was never communicated to us. From the email to the local doctor to the phone calls to the attending, no such thing was communicated. And then, when we were discussing our rotation schedule, it was decided for us to go to Nephrology and Endocrinology. Once again, no discussion. Good thing my friend had the courage to say actually no, we want to see the ED and ICU. And then, the issue of Tet came up. Once again, this was not discussed in person and was communicated to us last minute. The plan is no where near set and the only thing that was said about it was "discuss it tomorrow." 

Perhaps it has to do with hierarchy. I suspect Vietnam is a country much like the rest of Asia where there is social hierarchy, and we, being resident physicians and also being female, are placed at a lower hierarchy than our attending. Also, the contributions that we are bringing is questionable, though I hope that we at least do not treat our visiting physicians this way, though now I think about it, I am extremely questionable. 

Having moved and gone through the "new person in town" scenario, I have always been more sympathetic and helpful to others. But this probably is not the standard, and I know many foreign exchange students really rely on the local international community for help for settling in. Unfortunately, I am questioning if such a thing exists here in Da Nang as there seems to be little to none industry and commercialization. 

Speaking of where to find things, we live very close to the Han Market, which is a somewhat large shopping area with a small two story building that sells everything from locks, produce, clothing and beddings. We were able to find a bed comforter, though the price was probably terribly raised up. 

There are also foreigners visiting here, but the sellers definitely don't speak much English. Trying to find a soft bed cover was definitely a trial, though we were able to find it on the second floor. The key to bargaining here is to walk away if you are not getting the price you want. The next stand will have something very similar. 

On to today's food adventure. We wandered around the Nguyen Chi Thahn and Tran Quoc Toan area a little to look for restaurants. This area and the area next to it on Tran Phu is fairly well used to  foreigners and had menus that catered. 

We came across An Thuc Ha Noi 58 by accident. I picked it because it looked clean, and there were quite a number of locals eating there. The staff didn't speak English, but the owner did. Once again, she decided on the menu items for us (probably because we were taking so long). 

This is Bun Cha, which is served with vermicelli on the side with a bowl of broth with various grilled meats in it. You place the bun and the vegetables in the broth and eat it. 35,000 each. It was quite flavorful and the meat in it was delicious. I also love the purple version of shiso, which I presume to be Vietnamese basil. 

This is Nem cua be, which is a square version of Vietnamese spring roll. It is fairly tasty, but it is just a tad greasy. 

For drinks, we tried the tomato water, which I suspect is tomato purée watered down (with bottled or boiled water I hope...). Once again, quite delicious. I may regret this some time later, but so far, GI sickness free.