Service Learning: Public, Private, and Physical Space

Similar to Gerard's readings on public and private space, I can see how the notions of public and private are not only visible through the streets of Vietnam but also through the interactions of the children and the staff of Thanh Xuan Peace Village. For example, while this is really embarrassing, I totally walked by the boy's bathroom and saw more than I wanted to see. As in any place, I was so freakin shocked. haha. I know this happens a lot but it bothered me for two things. One, I was the only one that freaked out when me and that kid made eye contact. Whether its because people don't care here as much (hence, people peeing randomly out on the streets) or if these kids don't understand social cues such as that, I'm not too sure. But what bothers me the most is that the only reason why I did see that student was because one of the bathrooms is literally wide open for all to see. There's no real door to allow the students to do their business. And it makes me wonder if its because there's a lack of funding or whether they would even prioritize such matters. I mean, a bathroom is just a place to pee right? Not a whole private room for you to chill? There's definitely something about the way we prioritize a nice closed space for peeing in the U.S. while may possibly don't. Or is it because they expect the students at Thanh Xuan to not care that much. Not too sure but I might be taking this example really far.

Secondly, there's definitely some interesting interactions that I typically would not consider appropriate in front of others but occur all the time in the exercise room. For instance, during the therapists' dead time, the male therapist begins massaging the female therapist. It was really interesting because he started massaging her butt cheeks as she would kind of start squealing in pain because he was being too aggressive. The students didn't notice anything while me and Peter were slightly weirded out. This instance was really telling of what sort of environment we were in. First off, to do that in front of Peter and I says a lot about our presence. Maybe it means they barely notice us around or it means that they really don't think a massage like this should be a private matter. Secondly, it could mean that they are taking advantage of the children's disabilities by realizing that these students would never really say anything because they don't have the cues to see it as abnormal. But then again, who am I to say that its abnormal? The ideas that I have about what is "normal" and "abnormal" is completely different and I can not project my own ideas onto Thanh Xuan.

In many ways, I am trying to humble myself and remain critical of my own views and the views of others. However, the bathroom and massage incident teeter on the line of straight up awkwardness and being culturally sensitive. I will definitely have to see.