Daily Life
My Tho, Vietnam - Hafiz Miraly, pediatrician: Walking to and from the hospital each day, the streets are a busy maze of motorbikes. The motorbikes often carry families of four, including babies. Crossing the street is an adventure. We’ve quickly learned that the key is to walk at a steady pace, without slowing down or speeding up, and the bikes will avoid us. The city comes to life at about 5 AM daily as everyone comes out for their morning exercise. The markets open and the city is abuzz with activity throughout the sweltering heat of the day and late into night. The people are friendly and always smile as we pass by. The city is actually one of the cleanest I have ever seen in a developing country. As we come to the hospital, many of us will buy a café sua da (ice coffee) from the street vendors to start our day. Then off to see the patients and take them to the O.R. Thus far, this has been an incredible experience and I look forward to more such trips in the future.