Final Week

(From Tammy Chin)

Our stay in Vietnam this weekend was eye-opening. Before we went, my supervisor was telling me about his stay in Ho Chih Minh for a conference. He told me how busy the streets were and how crossing the road takes audacity. When we got there, I could see exactly what he meant. Scooters occupied places where cars couldn't and stop lights were rarely seen. The cyclists had face masks to keep from breathing in the very polluted air. People buzzed by about five inches from the taxis, and the best way to cross roads, we learned, was to walk steadily and confidently, not stopping or running so that the vehicles could see us passing by. We couldn't believe that Ho Chih Minh was one of the more developed and modernized cities of Vietnam because its living conditions were not the best. The streets were more crowded, less clean, and construction went on in the middle of the roads. The place was definitely more local and had fewer tourists. I saw many cripples hobbling on the streets and the housing looked more cramped. It seemed that health care there needed to be greatly improved on. The people also frequently stared at us, not used to seeing tourists around, and when we went to the Cu Chi Tunnels where the Vietnamese troops hid during the Vietnamese War, we saw a very prejudiced video about "cruel" Americans. We definitely felt out of place. Mary and I did touristy things and visited historic buildings/tunnels. We also ate delectable Vietnamese food, of course: pho, Vietnamese pancakes, spring rolls, salad, sugar cane juice, etc. I definitely enjoyed my time there. Seeing the rural countryside on Sunday, the rice plantations, and the farmers with conical hats during the two-hour drive back to the airport really provoked a peace of mind, and it was a great end to our venture to Vietnam.

I am about to finish my work in the lab. My last day will be Tuesday. All the work that I've done will be presented to my colleagues and supervisors Monday morning during our biweekly lab meeting. I have slowly but surely learned much about researching in an infectious disease lab, and I have grasped the methods of basic lab procedures. Hopefully by Tuesday we will have two samples sequenced. This week, we were having trouble seeing the PCR products for all five fragments of the Dengue virus genome on the gels, but things are looking good now. A recently graduated Duke alumni, Joseph, came on Monday to replace me in the lab. He will be spending a year here before going to medical school. I am busy teaching/supervising Joseph and writing a protocol and template for all the work that I've done so that Joseph will have no problem sequencing the rest of the Dengue 2 viruses.

Outside of work, this week I tried stingray for the first time. It tastes a lot like fish. I also tried a uniquely Singaporean dish called Bak Kut Teh, a peppery soup with pork ribs, pig trotters, and a tropical fruit here called Rambutan. When you've finished your bowl of Bak Kut Teh, the waiters come by and pour you more, which I think is an amazing service. The look of rambutan is very strange. It's small, red, and has lots of spikes, but it tastes pretty good. It's very similar to lychee. Singapore's independence day is in the beginning of August, but people apparently begin preparing very early. Singaporean flags are draped all over the condos and tjavascript:void(0)he streets have been decorated with lights. It's very pretty here at night. Walking through another dorm on the way to/from work every day, I see students building these very elaborate wooden floats, and it's been fun seeing the progress done on them. Tomorrow, some Duke friends and I will be going up to the north of the island to wakeboard. It will be my first time wakeboarding! Later on, there will be a dinner for incoming and current Duke students that I'm attending. Hopefully I can make the incoming Dukees more excited to come in the fall!