Challenges

So for the most part, I have been focusing on the positive aspects over here in Vietnam. But there are some negative aspects of working over here, and ignoring those aspects while only ranting about the positive aspects here would give you a very skewed picture of my time over here. Vietnam is a wonderful place, and working here is fantastic, but there are also challenges, so here are a couple of said challenges.

1.

Dealing with Vietnamese bureaucracy is difficult at times. For the most part, this is not in relation to teaching. My classes have remained on time and on schedule and on curriculum this entire month. However, as a Fulbright ETA I am also expected to contribute to the college in "other" ways which are entirely defined by me and the college. For instance, I have helped to translate or write a few articles and grant proposals from the college, and I may end up working with the Young Creative Group on bird conservation in Ben Tre. Both these projects are fun and diverting, and they help to keep me busy, so in and of itself I have no problem with doing this work.

The problem is there is a pattern here of people expecting a lot from me and not telling me very much. Either one of these is annoying, but the combination of both is frankly enough to drive me over the edge sometimes. So, my boss at the Office of International Relations will send me an email saying he wants a given paper corrected. I do not know what it is for, I do not know when he wants it by, I don't know exactly what meaning he is trying to convey, who he is trying to send it to, or really honestly anything. When i ask him for clarification, his answers manage to be both vague in terms of information and shockingly urgent.

You try to remain patient and calm, but when everyone is running around very fast and telling you different things to do and that you have to do this AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, it's a little frustrating. Especially considering that often, you get no warning as to what you are expected to do until you are asked to do it.

People also magically manage to make these requests when I am at my most stressed with teaching as well, and they drop by during my one block of free time to ask me if I can do something extra for them. No. No I can't. I haven't slept well, I'm trying to plan two lessons for tomorrow and one for today and you just let me know fifteen minutes ago that you would be dropping by, and now you try and drop an extra two hours of work on me that has to be done RIGHT NOW? Nope. Not happening. I'll get to it later. Now leave me alone.

I'm trying to be patient, and it's the sort of thing that on a good day I just smile about, add to my inbox and work on when i have a little time. But on a bad day, having someone just show up and add another headache to my growing list, all with the demand that I do it right away...that does not put me in a good mood.

People here are so appreciative of my help, and the students are all really happy to see me. When I'm able to contribute my ideas to other departments or to help in other areas, people in those departments are invariably grateful for my unique contribution, and that does feel great. It is also great to feel needed and wanted in this college, and the fact that people want me to do a lot of things is very flattering. However, the scheduling is on occasion a bit of an issue.

2.

Living in a rural area is really different from an urban environment. As an example, let me illustrate
the typical day in Vietnam: I stumble out of bed at a "ridiculously late" hour by Vietnamese standards, at 7:00 am. On the days when I go to the gym early in the morning, I haul my exhausted carcass out of bed at 5:30 am, only to find the entire city awake and buzzing with life.

When I try to explain to my friends here that my ideal day at Chicago started at 10:00 am, they stare at me and laugh in disbelief. Similarly, when I explain that I used to stay up until 2:00 am, the general reaction is sheer incredulity.

I went drinking with Mr. Hoang last night, and I got back to the school at 11:00 pm. Back in Chicago, getting back at 11:00 pm on a Friday meant it was a quiet night, a night where everyone decided to take it easy. Here? By 11:00 pm the entire city is shut down. Everything is closed, nobody is on the street, and the guard at the college had to be roused to open the gates for this ridiculously hard partying American.

What I'm struggling with here is not so much the lack of a drinking/going-out culture (in my opinion, as awesome as drinking is, if you find yourself needing alcohol to function or have fun its time to stop) as the lack of a recognizable crew to go out, hang out, have fun with.

By a crew I mean a group of friends who can be reliably pulled together to socialize at any given time. In Chicago I had the SigEp crew, the ultimate frisbee crew and the theater crew. In Hanoi I had the Fulbright ETAs.

I have several very good friends over here: Mr. Hoang, Mr. Vu, Mr. Bao Duy, Mr. Tung, Mr. Tuan among the teachers, and Kim, Truc, Truc, and Quyen among the students, to name just a few.  Here, my friends don't necessarily hang out with each other that much, so while I have friends, I don't have a crew.

Hopefully this will change as I spend more time with my students, and Mr. Vu comes back from Ho Chi Minh City and he drinks a lot with Mr. Hoang, so hopefully I can join that group. It should be noted that my escapades on the weekend have also probably hampered my ability to bond with my fellow teachers and students from Ben Tre. Mr. Hoang chided me gently about always going to Ho Chi Minh City on the weekend, and he is right. It is hard to form bonds with people here when I'm gone for the weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to do more stuff around Ben Tre in the future.

For me, traveling and especially living abroad are exercises in being alone. You remove yourself from your social groups, go several thousand miles away from your nearest friends. Your social groups and comfort zones are now on the other side of the world, and you get to truly discover yourself in an unknown environment where there are no easy outs. No one has any preconceptions of you as an individual, nobody knows who you are, and it is up to you and you alone to make it through this strange world.

It has been a positive experience for me overall. I have made some great friends over here, people who have welcomed me into their homes and into their lives without a second's hesitation. I have adapted to the culture over here in ways that surprise me, and deliberately kept parts of American culture in ways that also surprise me.

I also feel very connected to my friends back home who try to stay in contact with me. I'm telling you right now, that time you randomly gchatted me or responded to my chat request in the middle of the night means a lot to me. Close friends who continue to try and stay in contact with me over here are worth their weight in gold. The people who follow my blog, email me to ask me how I'm doing, send me packages...I appreciate them a lot.

I have also had more time to myself, more time for me to process who I am and how I think about the world. I've been able to read and write more than I have in the past, and even this blog has proven to be much more challenging and rewarding than I had initially planned. It's a big, scary world, and when you're alone in it the world can seem like a truly daunting place.

But then you shrug, smile, kick back your feet in your hammock and relax, because this is Vietnam, life is short and while living in another country can seem like "sink or swim," most of the time its more about floating along and coasting on the waves wherever they take you.


Have a good weekend y'all,
Jefferson


   

Just another crazy weekend...

Hey all!

So this past weekend was a ton of fun, got to meet up with almost all my southern ETA homies (Trevor and Justin, why couldn't you come!) and spent the past week teaching and continuing to explore Ben Tre City. Also, this post marks one month that I have been in Ben Tre, and two months in Vietnam. Oh my. Time flies when you're in Vietnam...

The weekend started as soon as Vietnamese class stopped at 11. I leaped onto a bus and headed off into Ho Chi Minh City to meet up with my fellow Fulbrighters. Anna, Quan, Kate, Tyler, Jess, Claire and Lindsay had all taken the weekend off, nominally so we could attend a dinner at the Deputy Consulate General's house.

However, we were also looking forward to spending a lot of time with each other, as I hadn't seen Quan, Anna, Tyler or Claire in a month! So, we had a lot of catching up to do, and Quan had gone ahead and gotten a full eight bed room for us at a hostel so we all had plenty of space to chill and catch up.

Our hostel room

Friday evening we went to the house of Deputy Consul General Robert Ogburn for a dinner welcoming the Fulbright grantees to Vietnam. Mr. Ogburn's house was a very nice condo in a very nice suite of apartments, and the atmosphere was incredibly welcoming. It really felt like a normal dinner party at a friend's house as opposed to an official event, which made for a very casual and relaxed night. Mr. Ogburn and his wife greeted us all very warmly, and we were all soon chatting it up with guests at the party.

Besides us Fulbright ETAs, there were also several Fulbright grantees who would be doing research in Vietnam for the coming year. The Fulbright scholars were all older than us, with the youngest of them a Ph.D. student in her late twenties. Additionally, all of them were married, so they were at quite a different stage of life than us. However they were very friendly and I may end up seeing the ones who do research in Can Tho in the south. 

I also met a variety of Fulbright alumni and other State Department people, a whole host of very interesting and influential guests. I felt in rather distinguished company, which is always a good thing to feel. 

However, this night illustrated the necessity of getting my own business cards. While I was quite good at getting people's business cards, there were several occasions that other people asked me for my business card, and I had to explain that I didn't actually have one. You see, in college, the only students that have business cards are invariably incredibly annoying. However, now that I am a working professional (Oh God), I am expected to have a business card. Gaah. Real life...

It was a fantastic night at a wonderful residence, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself, so thank you to Mr. Ogburn for his gracious hospitality!

All the Fulbrighters with our host front and center with his dog

After the dinner we changed into less nice clothes and went out into the Ho Chi Minh City nightlife. We hadn't gone out as a crew since Hanoi, so some of us were looking to make up for lost time. We started out at a bia hoi place, then bounced around several bars. 

As the night progressed, some of the ETAs began to make excuses such as "It's late," "I'm tired," and "For God's sake guys it's 2 am! Can we please go to bed?" However, Claire, Anna and I would not be dissuaded, and the three of us hopped from bia hoi to bars and back while the city around us slowly went to bed. 

Our night finally ended at 5 am with Anna trying to fight an Australian man who was trying to fight me while said Australian man was simultaneously hitting on Claire. It was a slightly strange night, but a fun one. 

On Saturday, people spent the morning and afternoon running various arounds. For me, that meant seeing my family in Ho Chi Minh City. I had phoned my second cousin Mai Khanh earlier, and she planned to take me for lunch at her mother's house. 

It should come as no surprise to those of you reading this blog that lunch was delicious, and that there was far too much food there for anyone to realistically consume. My family was incredibly welcoming, and they spent the entire time fussing with me and asking me if everything was okay in Ben Tre. They also kept pressuring my littler cousins aged 8 or 9 years to practice their English with me. One of my cousins actually tried to speak some English with me, which was absolutely adorable to see. 

With the family

Mountains of delicious food

With my little cousin who was surprisingly willing to speak English

This dinner did not have as much linguistic difficulty as past dinners with my family for two reasons. First, Mai Khanh and her brother speak basically fluent English. So, I always had a translator to fall back on if necessary. 

Secondly, and I am very proud of this, I can understand and speak Vietnamese a lot better now. I would by no means have been able to carry on a conversation by myself, but I can understand a fair amount and I can articulate basic concepts. Once I showed that I could understand some Vietnamese, my relatives started to talk a lot more, not just to me but also to each other. 

Previously, my non-English speaking relatives had remained silent, or only talking in broken English so that I would not feel left out of the conversation. When they realized I could understand some Vietnamese, the conversation started to flow much more naturally. I by no means understood everything that was said, but I could get the general idea most of the time. Furthermore, I had Mai Khanh to fall back on, so if someone asked me a question I didn't understand I could always ask her to translate. So the lunch conversation flowed pretty well, I think.

For me, the highlight of lunch was at the very end, when Mai Khanh brought out Bánh Trung Thu, or mooncakes. These are only made around Tết Trung Thu, or the Mid-Autumn Festival. They are very dense cakes that either have a savory filling of mixed chinese sausage, sesame seeds, peanuts and winter melon, or a sweet filling made of mung bean paste. In either case, most mooncakes have a single salted egg in the middle. These are absolutely delicious, and all of you back home should run down to Chinatown right now and pick up a couple of these. 

Banh Trung Thu, or Mooncakes. These things are the best. 

After lunch, we relaxed and took a few photos before I headed back to the hostel. 

More pictures with the family

In the afternoon, we spent some time walking around Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh City has a very different feel from Hanoi, because Ho Chi Minh City is much more colonial. Saigon wasn't even really a city until the French colonial presence, so the core of the city is colonial French architecture in a way that the older Hanoi really isn't.

Ben Thanh Market on the left, with the modern skyline

The Notre Dame Cathedral of Saigon

The old post office

Inside the post office

Saturday night, I was convinced by Anna to do a Zombie Chase through Ho Chi Minh City. A Zombie Chase is a race where everyone starts out as either a survivor or a zombie. Survivors have to make it to several checkpoints across the city, while zombies try to chase down the survivors. If you are a survivor and you are tagged by a zombie, you become a zombie. So, the first few checkpoints are relatively easy, but by the time you reach the later stages and everyone else is a zombie, it gets really difficult. I had never done one before, but I had heard about them and some of my friends had done them before so I was definitely interested. 

It was so much fun. It was a lot of sprinting away from zombies, and a fair amount of strategy/sneaking around as well. I definitely thought of myself as a character from The Walking Dead the entire time as well. There were seven checkpoints, and I got caught heading for the seventh. So, I lasted for a while but I was eventually hunted down, it was a ton of fun!

That night we headed to a very fancy club in Ho Chi Minh City, and we had a fantastic night there.

At the club

The next day we went into Vung Tau, Jess's province. Vung Tau is a beach town about an hour and a half away from Ho Chi Minh City by ferry, and every weekend both locals and foreigners flock to Vung Tau for its gorgeous beaches.

Disembarking at Vung Tau

Of course, the one day we visit Vung Tau it is cold and rainy. Typical.

However, it wasn't a total loss. The other attraction in Vung Tau is a giant statue of Jesus, so we took a trip over there to check it out. Along the way we met up with Wali, Anna's friend, and two of Jess's students. While Jess's students didn't speak much English, and Jess doesn't speak much Vietnamese, the affection the students had for Jess was obvious and adorable. 

With one of Jess's students, I think her name was Thao

Driving in Vung Tau was much more relaxing than the typical day in Ho Chi Minh City or even Ben Tre. There are designated lanes for motorcycles and cars, and these lanes are even obeyed. There are relatively few vehicles on the street, and I think the effect of driving along the beach must have a salutary effect on one's mood, because the drivers in Vung Tau seemed much more sane than in Ben Tre.

We arrived at the statue of Jesus, and began a moderate 30 minute climb up steep staircases to reach the statue's base. It was incredibly humid, and so despite the relative ease of the hike I found myself drenched in sweat and drinking copious amounts of water. After finally reaching the top, this is what we saw. 

The Christ of Vung Tau is 105 feet tall, and if you count the platform the whole monument is 118 feet tall. In real life, the statue looks even bigger, a colossus that you gaze up at in pure amazement.

You can climb inside the Christ of Vung Tau, and upon reaching the top you are treated to spectacular views of Vung Tau.

It was an excellent trip, and I was very glad that Jess's students took us up the mountain to see the Christ of Vung Tau.

All of us

With the Vung Tau Jesus

After seeing the Vung Tau Christ, we swung by the beach for a brief swim in wonderfully warm water, then rushed over to the boat to make our ferry. Anna and I missed our boat, but thankfully there was another final boat and I was able to make it to Ben Tre with a minimum of headaches. So, overall a very fun and entertaining weekend!

As far as this week goes, teaching this week has actually been going fairly. I've started exploring Ben Tre more and spending more time with my students. Because most of my students are female and I'm about their age I had resisted spending too much time with them because I did not want to give anyone the wrong impression. 

However, this week I decided that I was being ridiculous and so in the last three days I have had coffee with one of my students, and then got lunch and coffee with another group of students. It's a lot of fun hanging out with them, they tend to alternate between teasing each other about me, being amazed at my Vietnamese skills and being disappointed at the low level of my Vietnamese. It's a lot of teasing and giggling, which is a nice change of pace from hanging out with my fellow teachers, who tend to be a bit more mature than me. 

With my students at lunch

A quick note about teaching. English Club is becoming my pride and joy, and the students who come to the club inevitably brighten my day. They are so enthusiastic and down for basically anything that I can pull out relatively complicated exercises and they will tackle them, perhaps not with perfect skills but always with a high level of energy and enthusiasm. There are relatively few students who come out to English Club (12-16 students) but I'm hoping that once class scheduling gets resolved, more students can come.

This week, our topic was "my ideal boyfriend/girlfriend" and so the skits they had to present involved going on a date. I gave each of them a date idea, and each of them a serious problem that had to happen at some point in the date. For instance, one of the dates was "go to a concert," and one of the problems was "someone spills a drink on your date." All of the skits were hysterical, but one in particular, when an ex-boyfriend showed up, had me rolling on the floor with laughter.  

Quyền and Ân fight it out over Thuyến

With my set of ballers at English Club. 

Front row: Ms. Y, Pho, Tiên, Quyền, Myself, Ân, Thuyến

Back row: Trúc, Kim, Nhiên, Thoa 

Photo Credit: Khanh

That's all I got for today, hope to get you another posting on Friday!

See y'all later,

Jefferson

cruisin' on a river

Hey guys!

So this past weekend was a lot of fun, and I have got a lot to update you on. Mekong adventures and Ho Chi Minh City travels, as well as some upcoming fun for this weekend!

But first, a few notes about teaching. 

After the first week of teaching was over, I sort of assumed that I would be better next week. And that was definitely true, but there were still some pretty rough patches. I am getting better at trusting my students and encouraging them to talk more, but there are still far too many times when I ask a question and get a blank stare in response. Also, lesson planning is really hard and I'm really bad at it. 

But overall I would say that my teaching is going pretty well.  

At English Club

3rd year students 

English Club for Teachers

One of the more entertaining meetings I had was with the Young Creative Group, who do youth outreach projects around Ben Tre College. They were very excited to have me at their meeting, and although the exact role they hope to have me fill is a little unclear, their enthusiasm was quite infectious. 

With the Young Creative Group

On Friday morning I left on the bus to Ho Chi Minh City. We were staying at the same hostel I stayed at two weekends ago, and so I was greeted by the same cheerful manager, who was incredibly happy to see me. I met Jess, and both of us went to the War Remnants Museum. 

I have been to Ho Chi Minh City several times in my life, but I have never been to the War Remnants Museum before. When I went with my family, my parents insisted the first time that I was too young, and then that my little brother was too young. Quite frankly, they were right. 

The War Remnants Museum does a fantastic job of documenting not only the history but also the daily struggle and the perception and media portrayal of the Vietnam War. Whereas most museums end up painting a sanitized and bloodless picture of war, where "conquests" and "victories" are heralded with little description of the carnage that accompanies war, the War Remnants Museum does its best to capture the daily bloodshed, deaths and moral complications of war. Furthermore, they do this with the Vietnam War, possibly the most atrocity-filled, morally complex and occasionally morally bankrupt conflict in American history. It's a powerful place, but not one that I would recommend for children.

The front yard of the War Remnants Museum is just a cool place, with authentic American military craft abandoned after the war displayed prominently. Thus in one yard you have Chinook helicopters, Abrams tanks, antiaircraft guns, tanks and heavily armed riverboats. 

Was seriously tempted to hijack this boat for our Mekong river tour

Standing next to an interceptor 

Next to an Abrams tank and a Chinook helicopter

Inside the museum, the first floor is also family friendly for the most part, as it is dedicated to all the organizations and people who protested the Vietnam War and pleaded for peace. Communist, capitalist,  Americans and foreigners, if they protested against the war at some point then they probably have a plaque somewhere in this museum. The other bonus of this museum that I should mention is that, unusually for Vietnam, all the exhibits have English plaques that are very well-translated. 

Inside the museum

The second floor is where things start to get grisly. The second floor includes an exhibit memorializing the Vietnamese who died in the Vietnam War. Extensive time is spent on the torture and brutality with which ARVN and American forces inflicted on suspected Viet Cong fighters. The My Lai massacre is extensively covered, as is the massacre of Vietnamese civilians that occurred in Thanh Phong, Ben Tre.  

A SEAL team allegedly slaughtered twenty Vietnamese at Thanh Phong, a hamlet in the southeast corner of Ben Tre. Those killed included several elderly men and women and several children. The SEAL team used knives, to avoid detection. All of this happened in my province, only 40 years ago. 

It's easy to forget sometimes in Vietnam that America fought a huge war over here, and the memorial to the victims at Thanh Phong brought that back to me in a big way. 

All these people were killed in my province. Jesus

There was also an extensive exhibit on the after-effects of Agent Orange. A deforesting agent that was sprayed over large swathes of Vietnam to deprive the Viet Cong of cover, Agent Orange has been proven to cause long-lasting damage to people exposed to the dioxin. Those afflicted suffer various neurological problems, and worst of all, Agent Orange also causes horrific birth defects in children born to parents who have been exposed to Agent Orange. 

I'm not going to show pictures or describe what I saw in too much detail for your sake, but I do urge you to google "Agent Orange" and learn some more about the issue.  

The War Remnants Museum also has one of the most fantastic exhibits I've ever seen. Called Requiem, this exhibit memorializes the photographers who died in the Vietnam War. The exhibits center around the fantastic photos these men and women took, sometimes the last pictures they took before they died. Many of the photos come with commentary from either the photographer, the subject or people who were nearby when the photo was taken.

The War Remnants Museum also has an extensive weaponry collection, and I think my reaction here was a bit telling. Now, I think in general weapons are the most interesting parts of most museums. I'm interested in military history so I have that interest, but plus weapons are just kind of cool, doesn't matter whether they are Medieval swords or World War II grenades. 

Normally I wander over to the weapons display, trying to see what I recognize and perhaps saying something about its historical role, for instance I might explain that the Roman use of the javelin was a huge part of their military success and the establishment of the Roman Empire. This time, the weapons display seemed more ominous than anything. Having seen the massive slaughter that each of these weapons took part in, for either side, it was hard to see these weapons as historical artifacts. They looked a lot like incredibly dangerous, murderous tools to hopefully never be touched. Maybe that's a better way to look at them. 

The War Remnants Museum ends on a hopeful note, as the final display focuses on Vietnam rebuilding. Side-by-side images are shown of various provinces immediately after the war ended, and then a picture of the province today. 

Ben Tre before rebuilding, Ben Tre after (the Rach Mieu bridge, which connects Ben Tre to the mainland)

After emerging from the War Remnants Museum, Jess and I implemented my favorite tourism strategy, which I call "Ooh, shiny." "Ooh, shiny" consists of Jefferson seeing something shiny/interesting/unusual, saying "Ooh, shiny (or something similar)!" and then walking that way. It's my favorite way to explore a new city, and you end up in some pretty random places.

Eventually, after much wandering, we ended up in the colonial district of Ho Chi Minh City. Here towering French villas adorn the streets, and you can easily imagine belles from Paris with powdered hair and pearl necklaces gazing out on us uncouth Americans through beautifully latticed windows and over a delicately carved iron fence.

Eventually we wandered by Reunification Palace, the old Presidential Palace in Saigon. The gates were closed, but we managed to snag a few pictures through the bars anyways.

That night we hit up the Ho Chi Minh city nightlife. Last time I was here we saw a bar called Le Pub that was absolutely packed with Vietnamese 20-somethings, barely a Westerner in sight. It was completely packed at 11:00, so when Jess and I wandered by at 9:00 and I saw an empty table I jumped at the possibility.

Le Pub serves pitchers of cocktails, so how could we resist. While the pitcher of Pina Colada was way too strong for us to finish (I think they made the Pina Colada by mixing equal parts pineapple juice and  rum, then adding ice and calling it a day) the atmosphere was fantastic. A bar that pumped in loud dance music without being too clubby, a young and hip crowd and a really cool atmosphere.

Jess with our pitcher of Pina Colada

The next morning Jess and I woke up, groggy and hungover at 6:00 am, bleh. At least the bus ride back to Tien Giang was comfortable and relaxing! Oh wait, the other thing. Cramped and bumpy. Yeah, that.

As a bonus, the bus rider who had previously ferried me from Ben Tre to Ho Chi Minh City and then immediately back to Ben Tre on my misadventure three weeks ago would be driving our bus. He immediately recognized me and began joking with me and giving me a hard time. He told my story to several of the other bus drivers gathered around, and we all had a good laugh over my past folly.

After we reached My Tho, we went to Tien Giang University, where Lindsay was staying. We saw her room, which I would say is nicer than my room but also smaller, and we got coffee at the school canteen while we chatted. Tien Giang University is much bigger than Ben Tre College, with much nicer facilities, so it was cool wandering around the University a bit. 

Then we took a taxi to the docks, where we met Annie, an Australian volunteer teacher from Tien Giang who is friends with Lindsay, Mr. Hoang and our tour guide, who led us onto our boat. 

Getting on the boat!

First we would be heading into Phoenix Island to try out some local honey tea. Along the way, we got to just sit back and enjoy the view. 

Floating restaurants

Along the way, our tour guide showed us some of the river vegetables

When we reached Phoenix Island, we stopped and got off the boat, then walked to the restaurant pavilion. There we saw a lush island with a thriving colony of bees. We strolled through the garden, finally reaching a bamboo pavilion. There we were served honey tea, fresh honey poured into a small cup and then mixed with jasmine tea, served with fresh fruit. It was absolutely delicious. While we drank honey tea a band of singers serenaded us with traditional Vietnamese songs about Ben Tre and the Mekong Delta. One of the more relaxing experiences I've had!

Annie with the honey tea and fruits

 Traditional Vietnamese singers

At one point our guide asked us if we would like to see some "honey beer." I enthusiastically agreed, despite the chiding from my friends that it was only 11:00. I countered that it was Saturday and I was playing tourist, then asked the guide to show us the "honey beer."

She beckoned over one of the waiters and a local boy came running up with something that was absolutely not beer. You see, I thought she was saying "honey beer." She was in fact saying "honey bees." Lol pronunciation. 

OH MY GOD BEES RUN!!! oh okay one picture, I'll just take one picture. THEN RUNNN!!!

After tea we went wandering through the village on Phoenix island. I have a lot of pictures from my tour of the island that are just random pictures of plants, the sort of photos that you look back at and say "What was I thinking? Why did I take a picture of this?"

I took so many of those photos because the vegetation is just all around you here. Everything green surrounds you, and you routinely pass coconut palms that are 30-40 feet high, chickens roam through the plants with little regard to what property they are supposed to be on. Houses seem to sporadically pop up along the road.

You are walking in a stretch of road so desolate and wild it seems that no one has lived here for decades, and then you turn the road and hear a child crying, a mom chiding and a father cursing in a giant ramshackle hut while a motorcycle with two rowdy teenagers wearing Chelsea and Bayern Munich jerseys roars past. People grow cacti-like plants here to serve as a natural barrier to any thieves, and dig moats to both protect their homes and store fish for future consumption. Taken all together, it is beautiful and overwhelming and mundane and drab at the same time.

However, viewed through a camera lens, its just a random picture of a tree.

So, I had to cull those pictures from my blog posting, and I submit to you the highlights from my camera.  

Lovely ladies

Look, I found a snake!

And old man was catching fish in a trap as we passed by...

And he showed us his catch! Apparently these fish are very commonly eaten around the delta

A family graveyard, easily the nicest construction we saw in the whole village

A nice house in the village

Next to a water coconut plant that was probably 20 feet tall

Our tour guide plucks a beautiful orchid 

PUPPY!

MONKEY!

PUPPY AND MONKEY!

After the tour of the island, we stopped for more honey tea and then jumped in a smaller boat to go through a small channel in the Mekong delta.

Heading into the river

Jess, handling the oar like a pro

As we cruised through the channel, all conversation slowly ceased. As the brown rivers of the Mekong parted before us, we just sat and listened to the soft breeze, the insects chirping and the drip of water from the coconut plants falling into the river. Our guide stopped telling us the names of different plants or local customs, falling silent as the Mekong showed us a hint of its tranquility and beauty. 

It was so relaxing in the channel, I was sad to round the corner onto an open stretch of river. Eventually, though, we had to turn out and head towards our larger boat. 

We got onto our boat and headed for Turtle Island, where we saw a coconut candy factory. Coconut candy is one of the main exports of Ben Tre province, so I was very excited to see it being made!

The coconut candy factory, with the candy dough right in front of me

The furnace, fueled by coconut shells

The women working to package the candies

They wrap and package the candies incredibly fast

It had been raining and would continue raining sporadically throughout the day, but on our boat ride to Turtle Island the rain really started coming down. The boat had a roof but the sides were uncovered, meaning we got soaked. More worryingly, the river started swelling and our tour guide insisted that we put on life jackets. Luckily, we reached Turtle Island without incident.

Jess demonstrates how not to wear a raincoat

After lunch at Turtle Island, we explored the Coconut Monk's sanctuary. Born Nguyen Thanh Nam, the highly-educated man from a wealthy family  founded his own religion in late 1960 in Turtle Island, part of Ben Tre province. He followed an ascetic lifestyle, eventually only eating coconuts and water, and he meditated for days at a time, with periodic vows of silence. The religion he founded borrowed elements from Buddhism and Christianity, and he had an estimated 3,000 followers at the zenith of his popularity. He preached a constant message of peace, and his temple was considered a safe zone during the Vietnam War by both North and South Vietnamese forces.

A fascinating man, and one who I don't know nearly enough about. Unfortunately our guide wasn't able to really communicate a lot to us, but it was enough that she showed us his religious sanctuary, because it is really stunning.

Entryway

Which is more colorful, this or Cao Dai? Can't really decide

Overlooking the coconut monk's sanctuary

The urn of the coconut monk

After that, we went back to My Tho and spent the rest of the evening hanging around the city with Lindsay and Jess. It was great to catch up with them, and I hopefully will be exploring My Tho more with them or showing them Ben Tre in the future!

Sunday through this week has been relatively uneventful. Teaching has gone better this week, and the major news was Chi Diu and Chi Nga from the Fulbright program coming to visit me, which was awesome!

Chi Nga and Chi Diu, so glad to see them!

So it was great to see them and great to introduce them to everyone in the school. I can't wait to see them at the Fulbright Gala on October 5th!

Also going to Ho Chi Minh City this weekend to see my family, go to a fancy dinner and explore the city and Vung Tau with ETA friends. Yay!

Currently writing this blog in my new favorite spot, Lang Van Cafe about a ten minute bike ride away from school. It's a fantastic open-air cafe, and a great space to work and blog. I had already decided I really like this place when I heard the dulcet tones of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" blast out of the speakers. New favorite cafe. Done.

Thanks for reading guys, as a gift for making it this far I present you with this photo:   

Not, one, but two kittens. You're welcome.

What's that? You want more cute animals? Sigh. Fine, but this is the last one. 

Here's a dog begging for some coconut. What else do you want from me?!?!

Anyways, thanks for reading and I'll keep you posted about this weekend!

Peace,
Jefferson