Little Vietnam
I took a trip today to the area known in New Orleans as "Little Vietnam." I'd like to preface this post by saying that after I returned, I was fortunate enough to be able to talk to a coworker of mine(Quynh) that was born and raised in the Versailles apartment complex, in order to get a better picture of life in Little Vietnam.
One of the first things that I noticed as I entered the area was that the architecture was not as Oriental as I had expected. Most of the architecture looked no different that other parts of the city, except for some signs above stores written in Vietnamese and similar things. I didn't go inside any buildings there, but Quynh told me later that this is the case most of the time regarding the exteriors of buildings. The interiors are much more ethnic I was told. This points to the idea that most of these buildings were probably not built by the Vietnamese upon immigration, but were simply repurposed to fit the tastes of the immigrants.
I went by the Mary Queen of Vietnam church, which looked in good condition and fairly new as a building. The architecture was westernized and didn't show any traces of oriental influence. Quynh told me that this church was redone after Hurricane Katrina and in the end made it out stronger than it did before. The idea that the community and its buildings as a whole came out better after Katrina was somewhat of a recurring theme in our conversation. However, Quynh also told me about the difficulties that the community has faced since Hurricane Katrina. One, for instance, was that an influx in crime had appeared following the hurricane as well as increasing numbers of other minority groups such as Blacks and Hispanics in the Little Vietnam area.
Across the street from the church was a garden with a VEGGI Co-op sign in front of it. It wasn't bustling when I saw it, and Quynh said that she had never seen it busy either. But she did remember that her grandmother used to go in the early morning and come back with vegetables, so the hours must be in the early morning. Quynh also told me about how the large field that is adjacent to the Co-op was used after Katrina as a place to hold a large number of hurricane relief trailers that people stayed in until they had finished fixing their homes.
I passed by Dong Phuong Bakery as well. It's in a very regular, unassuming building like most of the others in the area. One half of the building is a bakery and the other half a restaurant with what I've heard are some delicious po-boys.
I went by the location of the farmer's market, which wasn't active, but I was surprised to see that it is run in front of a few small apartments and not in a big location like I had expected.
Quynh's family does have their own garden, as it is common, and she told me that some of the crops were things such as: lemons, limes, grapefruits, chili peppers, aloe vera, bananas, tangerines, cilantro, and other assorted herbs.
During the interview I asked Quynh some questions about the general attitude and spirit of the people that inhabit Little Vietnam. Regarding language usage, she told me that most people in the rough range of 40 years old and up will likely know very little English but can speak broken English, whereas younger people are the exact opposite, knowing little broken Vietnamese and mostly using English. Quynh said most young people can understand Vietnamese to a certain degree but don't speak it fluently. Anyone can obviously see that they are a hard-working and resilient people, but one thing that Quynh also emphasized to me was the willingness of the parents to make sacrifices for their children to have great lives. She said that they considered their children's success as their success, and that everything they did was to give their children the opportunity for a better life. The Vietnamese of New Orleans have definitely earned their place here and have created a truly unique and interesting community for themselves.
One of the first things that I noticed as I entered the area was that the architecture was not as Oriental as I had expected. Most of the architecture looked no different that other parts of the city, except for some signs above stores written in Vietnamese and similar things. I didn't go inside any buildings there, but Quynh told me later that this is the case most of the time regarding the exteriors of buildings. The interiors are much more ethnic I was told. This points to the idea that most of these buildings were probably not built by the Vietnamese upon immigration, but were simply repurposed to fit the tastes of the immigrants.
I went by the Mary Queen of Vietnam church, which looked in good condition and fairly new as a building. The architecture was westernized and didn't show any traces of oriental influence. Quynh told me that this church was redone after Hurricane Katrina and in the end made it out stronger than it did before. The idea that the community and its buildings as a whole came out better after Katrina was somewhat of a recurring theme in our conversation. However, Quynh also told me about the difficulties that the community has faced since Hurricane Katrina. One, for instance, was that an influx in crime had appeared following the hurricane as well as increasing numbers of other minority groups such as Blacks and Hispanics in the Little Vietnam area.
Across the street from the church was a garden with a VEGGI Co-op sign in front of it. It wasn't bustling when I saw it, and Quynh said that she had never seen it busy either. But she did remember that her grandmother used to go in the early morning and come back with vegetables, so the hours must be in the early morning. Quynh also told me about how the large field that is adjacent to the Co-op was used after Katrina as a place to hold a large number of hurricane relief trailers that people stayed in until they had finished fixing their homes.
I passed by Dong Phuong Bakery as well. It's in a very regular, unassuming building like most of the others in the area. One half of the building is a bakery and the other half a restaurant with what I've heard are some delicious po-boys.
I went by the location of the farmer's market, which wasn't active, but I was surprised to see that it is run in front of a few small apartments and not in a big location like I had expected.
Quynh's family does have their own garden, as it is common, and she told me that some of the crops were things such as: lemons, limes, grapefruits, chili peppers, aloe vera, bananas, tangerines, cilantro, and other assorted herbs.
During the interview I asked Quynh some questions about the general attitude and spirit of the people that inhabit Little Vietnam. Regarding language usage, she told me that most people in the rough range of 40 years old and up will likely know very little English but can speak broken English, whereas younger people are the exact opposite, knowing little broken Vietnamese and mostly using English. Quynh said most young people can understand Vietnamese to a certain degree but don't speak it fluently. Anyone can obviously see that they are a hard-working and resilient people, but one thing that Quynh also emphasized to me was the willingness of the parents to make sacrifices for their children to have great lives. She said that they considered their children's success as their success, and that everything they did was to give their children the opportunity for a better life. The Vietnamese of New Orleans have definitely earned their place here and have created a truly unique and interesting community for themselves.
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