EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD, Sunday. Jan. 21. 1962 Page 7A
Vietnamese
War Doesn't
Alter Siesta
By MALCOLM W. BROWNE
Of the AuocUted Preii
SAIGON I The grinding,
cruel war gripping South Viet
Nam has changed many features
of life in the republic but it
has scarcely touched the mid
day siesta.
Soldiers still put down their
arms for a snooze, farmers lay
aside their watering pots, mer
chants close and streets are al
most deserted as the nation goes
to sleep more completely even
than most Latin American coun
tries. The Communist Viet Cong it
self apparently still believes in I
the healthful value of mid-day :
sleep. j
A recent intelligence report:
on training activities of Unit
company operating in the Me
kong River delta showed, for
example, that the rebels there
turn in for a nap at 12:30 p.m.
Even Reds Rest
Austere in its training, the
Communist unit takes only an
hour for its siesta, and returns
to work with a rousing half hour
round of Communist songs. But
the siesta itself is fundamental.
Essential services in Saigon
and the other big towns con
tinue, of course, and fighting
men never completely relax.
But between noon and 3 p. m.
most of the nation is in sus
pended animation.
Part of the persistence of the
siesta pattern here results from
South Viet Nam's enervating,
tropical climate.
This month, while most of the
northern hemisphere was shiver
ing under an unusually severe
and general cold wave, midday
temperatures in Saigon remain
ed in the 80s and a blazing sun
continued to blister the skins
of the unwary.
But the siesta also is a matter
of national tradition here, and
almost as immutable as the coni
cal straw hats worn in the fields
here for centuries.
Often Annoyed
Newly-arrived foreigners, mili
tary men, government officials,
businessmen, and tourists are
often annoyed to find they can
accomplish virtually nothing
during siesta. Many complain
that a valuable part of the work
ing day is wasted.
A Vietnamese government
worker said: "Work is Impos
sible in the heat of the day. We
work at other times. Besides,
none of us would have energy
to work in the afternoon with
out the refreshing siesta first.
This is something your Western
influence can never change nor
should it."
Most citizens take to their
beds, but when beds are not
available, anything will do. Taxi
and cycle drivers curl up on
the seats of their vehicles, street
peddlers stretch out on door
steps, children sleep in their
sleeping mothers' arms, and
some citizens even sleep draped
over the seats of their parked
motor scooters. The sidewalks
themselves are strewn with
sleeping forms.
Even the most energetic for
eigners who live and work in
air conditioned rooms eventual
ly give up fighting the big lull.
Most admit they have grown to
like the custom. A career diplo
mat from one of ttie bustling,
cold weather countries put it
this way:
"I used to hate this siesta
thing myself, and resented the
idea of working hard while i
everyone else was sleeping. Iti
seemed especially pointless in a !
nation at war. But I learned !
that there are reasons for it,!
and I stopped carping. Then I
got to like it. Frankly, I don't
like the idea of having to give
it up when I return home." j
UO Faculty Plans
Portland Concerts j
Faculty members of the Uni-1
versity of Oregon School of
Music will present a series of
four concerts in Portland in :
February and March.
The Faculty Artist Series is
being sponsored by the Univer-j
sity of Oregon and the Portland
Center of the State System of!
Higher Education's General Ex-!
tension Division.
The Portland programs will .
be given in the Lloyd Center!
auditorium at 4 p.m. on Febru
ary 11 and 25 and March 11 and
25.
Among the university faculty
members to be featured in the
series are harpsichordist John
Hamilton and violinist Lawrence
Maves.
Both musicians play with the
Woodwind Baroque Players, the
group presenting the Feb. 11
performance. Maves is also a
member of the University Trio
which performs on Feb. 25 and
March 25. Hamilton is scheduled
to handle the March 11 per
formance. Further Information on the
aeries may be obtained from
the Portland Center's informa
tion office, 1633 S W. Park Portland.
Register-Guard Want Ada
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