Life Is But A Dream 10.20.13

I am nudged awake by a flight attendant offering lunch. Hugh Masekala's lively trumpet in "Johannesburg" is playing. Still full from my eggplant parmesan and tomato tart, carrot, olive and hummus salad and fresh pressed carrot juice, I give the lunch back and look outside instead. A view of the Moroccan coast greets me and I am reminded that I will finally be able to swim in the ocean that I see. I am overwhelmed with how happy this revelation makes me. In my mind, I am already swimming. The sky is relatively clear, the sun blaring at me for the first time in 6 days. It was the most sunlight that I'd seen since I left my beloved California summer. Might I add that I am experiencing an endless summer, which is all I ever want in life. I get my first glimpses of Morocco and I love it. Square buildings are spaced out among trees, farmland, rivers and dirt. I can see minuscule cars and donkey-pulled carts. Tiny container ships are moving in all directions on the Atlantic and the beach is so much like a painting that it cant be real. But it is. Dang I missed the coast. We see slums in some parts and huge identical developments in other areas. All of a sudden the city comes into view. Just a sea of browns, reds, golds with sprinklings of green provided by the palm trees and other foliage. Such a nice color palette. Passport control is a breeze. Somehow I end up talking with my teacher, Paddy about how large my family is. He says its very Irish in its size, fervor for the holidays and the pride we have for our home. We wait for a long time in the baggage claim because several bags are missing-not mine though #blessed. I am further reminded of home when we finally step outside. Everyone is loving the dry heat, the manicured foliage and the white facade of the airport. The hotel (and the city) are surprisingly close to the airport. Our hotel is beautiful. Tiled patterns line the walls and the floor giving it an extremely comfortable feel. Didn't care for the cigarette smell but nothing is perfect. We quickly set our belongings in our cramped, four person room and head downstairs for lunch. Lunch is at the Center for Cross Cultural Learning. To get there, we walk no more than five minutes through the Medina-a 17th century gated neighborhood where we will all be home staying!! It's a giant maze, quiet and full of secrets. The CCCL is GORGEOUS. There are two floors, tiled patterns lining the floors and walls. The building is very open. There is a sun roof that lights the indoor courtyard in the middle of the building. The courtyard is surrounded by two floors of offices and classrooms, also tiled. There are columns at each corner and archways shaped like the top of mosques. Blues, greens, yellows, whites. Comfy chairs, lots of windows, natural lighting. HOW CAN THIS BE OUR SCHOOL!?!? We are all exclaiming, our breath taken away by the beauty of this place that we will call home for the next 28 days. It doesn't seem to be long enough. One girl is crying she is so happy. Most of us are close to tears or something. Maybe the two days of travel is getting to us. Maybe this is just culture shock. Maybe this is what true gratitude looks like when exercised in tandem by 30 people. Whatever it is, the energy is palpable, smiles all around. So much love. We walk upstairs and we smell lunch before we see it. The most tender beef ever, perfectly seasoned rice, Greek tomato and cucumber salad, banana, eggplant heaven, and the absolute best most tender and well seasoned zucchini ever encountered by man/woman/android/etc. I ate it all, profusely expressing my thanks and approval. I then downed four glasses of water, #parched. So satisfied, I wandered to the roof and my day got even better. There was an indoor glass lounge, an outdoor tented seating area and a deck overlooking the city. What seeing? Buildings on all sides, beach views, river views, boats, cats, roosters, surf boards, mosques, hanging laundry, palm trees, cemeteries. One of five daily prayers is blaring from mosques all around. Every few minutes we all stop to look at each other, smile and say wow one more time. We go back to the hotel to rest and prepare for the beach. 6 of us set out to swim, the closest beach a mere 5 minute walk. The whole time I am wondering how I ended up in such a beautiful place with such good friends, studying something that I love. I really could not imagine doing anything better. The Atlantic Ocean is fierce. Waves crash with a vengeance. There is a rock outcropping that considerably settles the waves down in one area. We chose this spot, Leah and I slightly nervous about being the only females on the beach. Can we wear bikinis? Can we even swim here? There is no one setting an example. We go for it, Matt joins us. The water seems cold at first touch but once you're in, it's perfect. There is some litter in the water but besides that it's great. The current is strong and pulls us closer and closer to the rocks. I am back in my element, in the water, sandy soil beneath my toes.   Surfing on my left, volleyball in front of me, fishing on my right. I want to be a part of this world. We play for a while and then get dressed to watch the sunset. We are literally standing in a postcard. We are situated on the rock outcropping. The beach is on our left, a lighthouse right on the coast. Big, powerful waves crash menacingly on the beach, seagulls fly, locals fish, the sun sets right in the middle of the scene and the biggest waves break right next to the lighthouse, spouting tall jets of water every few minutes. We walk home, musing at the crowded cemetery with coffins all pointing towards Mecca, overlooking the water. Shower and dinner follow to round off the night. The evening was a bit rough as I was essentially walking dead by then. So very tired. We walk through the market, clothes, shoes and accessories laid out on tarps on the ground. Some guys were pushing a motorcycle attached to a cart and they pushed it right into me as I tried to dodge it. I then was hit in the head by a volleyball further down the street. No day is perfect. I was too tired to eat much of the food, still full from lunch. I fell asleep at the table in between courses as did everyone else. We turned in around 10, wanting to be ready for our first day of classes in this wonderland. So grateful so thankful so happy so blessed so good

That's All Folks 10.18.13

It is finally time to move on to Morocco and I am so ready. We had our Vietnam evaluation and debrief in the morning then I and a few other students gave a presentation about Morocco that hyped everybody for life in Rabat. Our farewell dinner that night was a lot of fun. We made some spring rolls then had a delicious buffet. There was a bit of karaoke afterwards. I am still shocked that there is no Beyonce or Destiny's Child in any of the karaoke spots. I finished my essay afterwards and then went to club Lift with most of the students. We wanted to do it big for our last night. The club was on the 11th floor and most people were standing around tables or sitting on couches with drinks and fruit. I went there for one reason and one reason only, to dance. I didn't take a break for the full two hours that we were there. I broke my new overalls in nicely, dancing with my friends and the some of the Vietnamese girls that were there. Some of the students who weren't dancing met a young billionaire who took them to an after party at another club when Lift closed. I missed the cab though and ended up riding back to the hotel to walk around with Matt and John for a while. Then we headed up to our hotel balcony to watch the stars with Meron joining us later. It was the perfect way to end our month.

Notes/Observations/Reflections

Life in Hanoi is much different from Can Tho. It is a tourist city. Therefore, it is more expensive, there is more variety of food options, and there is plenty of shopping. I wasn't interested in buying much until I learned that we could have clothing made. I had a silk robe, night dress, pillowcase and linen overalls made. I've been getting some exercise, mainly from swimming. I also went running around the lake one morning. I miss my bike. We are all tired of Vietnamese food. Therefore, we go out for Western food as much as possible. My favorite restaurant is the Good Day Cafe. I always get a grilled vegetable sandwich with goat cheese and balsamic dressing, and a mixed vegetable soup. I also visit a grilled pizza place often and Matcha Paradise almost everyday. I either get a green tea or a mango smoothie. The trees are beautiful here. They look like an amalgamation of several thin trunks. Incredibly, they all belong to one tree. The branches hang all the way down to the ground. General Giap died last week. He was much loved by the people. So much so that locals queued up to pay their respects at his home the day before his funeral. It was the longest line any of us had ever seen. It stretched back several kilometers. The folks in the back had probably waited all day long to drop their flowers and send a prayer. I've been drinking a lot of water. Up to 7 liters on some days. I'm not sure why I am so thirsty but I feel great. We have plates full of fruits at every meal and only a couple of people have been sick so far. We had our first female lecturers of the entire program two days before leaving the country. The only women we hear from are translators. When there are multiple people who can translate, the men are always the first choice, even when it is clear that the women speak better English. 

Kinyani Returns to Her Elements 10.11.13-10.14.13

This weekend was by far the best in Vietnam. We spent Friday in Ha Long Bay, a world heritage site featuring about 2000 limestone islands. We took a boat around the islands for a few hours and had a delicious seafood lunch. The crab cakes were my favorite, they were baked in the shell. We took a break at a small floating village and kayaked into the surrounding lagoons. Of course we all got out of the kayaks and swam. We also visited a huge cave on one of the islands. This was the first time I'd seen colored lights inside of a cave. The next day, we had a lecture about the Hoa Binh Hydropower Dam and the problems that dams present in general. Vietnam has plans to build more and more dams, threatening the fish population and the extent of the delta. After the lecture, Laura and I took a cab to West Lake with the intention of sneaking into the Sheraton to swim. West Lake is much bigger than the Lake by our house. It is the wealthy part of the city and there are several resorts and modern homes on the water. We found a delicious French cafe. I had a chicken sandwich, a carrot, celery smoothie and pineapple upside cake. The food was so good that we brought some with us for dinner later. Getting into the Sheraton was a breeze. We swam for a little while then hung out poolside. Back at the hotel, we did some homework and then brought our dinner downstairs to warm up. We came down in our bathrobes because we only planned to use the microwave. The staff wasn't having that though. They stopped the dinner they were having, warmed up our food, served us and turned on music. It was great. My pot pie was delicious and I was so comfortable in my bathrobe and my slippers. I felt like my sister. John came downstairs mid-meal, laughed us and then joined us for a while. The next day, we headed out to spend one night out west, closer to the dam we had learned about. On our way, we stopped at an "authentic" village. The village is a popular stop for ecotourists. The people living there charge a fee for foreigners to witness them and their traditional lifestyle.  It was strange. They offered us tea, rice liquor, and the best bananas in the world. We talked to them about how they live their lives for show and if they were affected by the nearby dam at all. Next, we went to the place that we were stay for the night. We arrived in another village expecting to check into a hotel. Instead, we boarded a boat and went to a beautiful island. There were only about 10 other people on the island and two litters of puppies. We put our things in the large room that we were all to sleep in and explored a bit. There were all kinds of trees, huge spiders and a windmill with a brick base. We had a community building session in which we finally discussed the Vietnam War. We finished the afternoon with a boat ride, hike and swim at a small waterfall. I was happy to be swimming for the third day in a row. That evening we had a bonfire and drifted off to bed one by one. I lasted until about 11 o'clock but some stayed up to 4. We saw the dam in the morning. The experts there were convinced that hydropower is an absolute renewable energy. They also mentioned that nuclear power is the future of energy in Vietnam. We learned that the island we were living on was formally a mountain surrounded by a valley. The valley had been full of a thriving community of thousands of people who were all menially compensated to move out due to the dam construction. The electricity produced by the power plant hardly reaches those in the surrounding area because they cannot afford it. As I mentioned before, Vietnam and the surrounding countries plan to continue building dams upstream. Eventually this will lead to the dams downstream drying up. For this reason, the system does not have longevity. There was less opposition to this dam because Ho Chi Minh pushed for it personally. There is a large statue of him on a hill overlooking the plant. When it was built, the engineers put plans for future repairs into a time capsule that is to be opened on the 100th anniversary of the dam. This is also when the dam is expected to expire. The experts at the plant said they are not developing any strategy for addressing climate change or the effect of dams upstream. All of their hope is in the time capsule. This was unsettling to say the least.

From Can Tho to Hanoi 10.9.13

I am sad to leave our family in Can Tho. They were the greatest. So attentive, fun and gracious. However, I am hoping for less of a focus on farming in the North and am excited to finally learn something about energy. The good thing about living in a hotel is that we can spend our free time doing us rather than speaking broken English with our family. It was fun while it lasted though. They wanted to have a farewell breakfast at 6:15. I was not pleased to be up so early, but it was nice. We flew to Hanoi and arrived to a much more Western/Modern Metropolis. There's actually freeways here and murals and manicured foliage and unfortunately, tourists. They are basically all overweight and European. Most of the tourists ride around the city in these ridiculous carts hooked onto bicycles. They move slower then walking and constantly hold up traffic. So lazy. We were repeatedly told by everyone in Can Tho that it would be cold in Hanoi and that the flooding is worse there. I was surprised and immensely confused to experience 90+ degrees of dry heat. I thought I was home at the height of our Indian Summer for a moment. It isn't supposed to rain here for another week. Our hotel is upscale, but there are hardly any windows because all city buildings are connected to each other. Our room is spacious, there are complimentary bathrooms and slippers. It was yet another upgrade. By the time we settled in, it was about 3 pm. Breakfast was at 6:15 and I skipped the questionable airplane lunch so I was ravenous. Some of us walked to a Mexican restaurant and ate on a balcony overlooking an alleyway. The homemade chips and guacamole were on point but the burrito was pretty basic. We walked around the lake afterwards. It's situated one block from our hotel and is reminiscent of Boston Commons. There is a theater in the middle for water puppet shows. Laura and I want to go at some point. The lake is a well used public space. There is gym equipment at one spot that anyone can use. However, I did not see any females. I plan to return on one of the mornings to run. Laura and I did some work at the hotel afterwards and watched the Parent Trap on HBO. That night, we went to an Indian restaurant with Matt. It was a highly rated place and the food was delicious. We took another walk around the lake before bed and there were colored lights shining everywhere. It was great first day in Hanoi. 

Last Days in the South

10.4.13-10.6.13
We spent the weekend in An Giang. Initially, we were excited to get a break from the constant responsibilities of living in a homestay. However, the weekend wasn't my favorite. We started off driving in the opposite direction of our final destination. 3 hours later, we arrived at a shrimp farm in Soc Trang. It was a beautiful landscape but we couldn't even see the fish. Also, we were 15 km from the beach and the mangroves but didn't go. After 45 minutes, we turned around and drove another 6 or 7 hours to An Giang. The next day, we drove pretty far into a rural area to visit a snakehead farm and then even further to visit a catfish farm. Again, it was a lot of driving for not much information. I'm not doing anything with food for my research project so I didn't get too much out of it. The next day was fun though. We went to the Melaleuca Forest which is a preserved area close to the Cambodia border and the mountains. Melaleuca is the tree that's used to construct homes on the water. The roots of the tree are underground so the forest is like a lake full of floating trees. The tiny lime green leaves line the water creating a magical effect. There are birds everywhere of all different species. We took a boat to the middle of the preserve for lunch. There was a space with caged pythons, deer, tortoises and more. They had all been rescued and are being prepped to be released into the forest to restore the biodiversity. We walked up to a view point and could see the whole forest and the mountains. It was beautiful. It was raining the whole time so we were all in silly multi-colored ponchos. We planned to climb a mountain afterwards but we had government officials with us, making sure we didn't sneak in Cambodia and they did not let us go. We went straight back to Can Tho instead and Laura and I were so happy to be back with our family. They welcomed us back with another delicious dinner. We spent the night playing with our cousins again. 

10.7.13
Laura and I had two lunches today. We rode our bikes to market to finally get some Western food. I had tacos and she had pizza. The tacos were nothing like home but it was nice to not have rice or noodles or soy sauce. We did some shopping for loose pants and for the secret admirer game everyone is playing. Then we went back home for sweet potato chicken curry. In the evening, our host parents had a farewell BBQ for us and it was incredible. They made the pork fresh roll station that Laura and I are so fond of. The Thai student was there again and we had a lively conversation while the men drank a bunch of rice liquor. Their rule is one bowl of rice for every three shots. Our mom's extended family from the wedding was there too. I almost didn't recognize the bride without the excessive amount of white foundation missing from her face. After dinner, Ai asked me to pull up videos from my past performances. I should him my first Mande Dansa performance from freshman year. We all laughed at how exhausted I looked. They enjoyed seeing my hair in a different style. I also showed them my choir's performance of Oh Happy Day.

10.8.13
This afternoon was dedicated to self care. We had a morning class and then the rest of the day free. Laura and I took Leah and Meron to our favorite fresh roll restaurant. Leah and Meron don't have bikes so we tried to fit them on the back of ours. It did not go well. We struggled to get moving for about 10 minutes, falling down with every attempt. The University students watching got a kick out of it. Lunch was the best, as expected. Afterwards, Laura and I headed back to the spa. We ran into our teachers and our traveling fellow and had a great time together. I had a reflexology package including a foot, full body and scalp massage. It lasted almost 3 hours. Somehow, I felt even better afterwards than I did the first time. Laura and I went to the nail salon afterwards and ran into some of our classmates. That evening, we had a farewell dinner at the Asia Hotel with all of the students, teachers and homestay parents. There was an awkward bit of karaoke afterwards in which the boys did a lame version of "Bye Bye Bye" and the girls did a much better rendition of "Creep." Laura and I presented our family with their gifts once we got back home. Our mother absolutely loved the gold bangle I gave her. She ran upstairs and grabbed bracelets for us and well as a souvenir magnet. Our host dad placed the San Francisco Giants pin in a case on the wall with our knick knacks from former students. We also FaceTimed my family. The highlight of the conversation was when my host dad misunderstood my father's phrase "fish to fry." After the gift giving and conversation, we played with the kids one last time and packed our bags for Hanoi.

Some Observations

Riding our bikes to school in the morning is the best. In Hoa An, we played soccer and volleyball and danced but here the only exercise we get are bike rides. It’s too hot to do much else and we are always busy. It’s great to get our blood pumping in the morning and the breeze from the bikes is refreshing. We always pass our friends that have to walk on the way and it’s comforting to run into familiar faces. We are essentially the only Western people here so it’s easy to spot us tall Americans when we are around. We arrive at the same time as the Vietnamese students. It feels good to be a part of the mob of students heading to the parking lot.

Our homestay is top notch. Our family likes us a lot and is always eager to spend time with us. They always have breakfast prepared for us and they insist on us coming home for lunch and a nap between classes. All of the food is delicious and we have a good time conversing after dinner and playing with the kids every night.

Most everyone here is exceedingly soft spoken. They speak at a level just above a whisper. The only people I have met that speak at a normal decibel range are my host parents. I assume they picked up the habit from the other students they have hosted. They only speak to us and to each other at a higher volume.Their family members get the same soft spoken treatment.

No one ever wears shoes inside and in the rural villages, half don't wear shoes outside either. One of the university students was amazed and overjoyed when he saw that I could walk on the rocks barefoot as well.

Motorcycles are parked on the sidewalks, and there are hardly any vehicles parked on the streets. The butterflies are huge and they fly pretty close to humans. It's a bit frightening sometimes as they fly at alarmingly close ranges. I have trouble differentiating between butterflies and birds at night. I have not seen one caterpillar. Lizards line most walls. Whitening agents are in almost every facial soap. The exchange rate is 21,000 VND (Vietnam Dong-pronounced dom) therefore we are all millionaires. 

My favorite elderly man exists here. He led a guest lecture on Khmer musical culture. He had the kindest eyes and a perpetually smiling, prideful facial expression. He brought an amateur band with him and they played music for us and sang intermittently during his presentation. His translator was completely dolled up in formal wear and was very funny. I am convinced that this man is a real life wizard. In addition to playing a flute with his nose, he played loud, reverberating percussion simply by rapping his fingers against each other.

Treat Yourself 10.1.13

My body feels so good. After returning super early from a sub-par field trip to a tiny decentralized water treatment plant, some friends and I decided to get massages. It was blazing during our field trip and then it start to rain, right as we left for spa. There was a beautiful lobby in which we were served sugarcane juice with lime. I was not even aware that I had built up stress until it left my body all at once upon entering the building. Soothing music played as we chose our experiences. I went for a 60 minute Vietnamese massage. We ended up staying for two hours. We took showers, went in the steam room, went in the sauna, and then waded in a small lukewarm pool. I would have been perfectly with just that but there was even more to enjoy. The massage itself did not occur in real time or space. We laid in silence, giving the professionals full license to really press and release our tensions. Some quotes as facebooked messaged to Ode immediately afterwards:

“My face literally hurts from smiling so much

What a blessed day

And it only cost me $16

I gained so much for so little

I think I could levitate if I wanted to

I think I could ignite mars fire if I wanted to

I think I could transform into Beyonce if I wanted to

I am weightless

What is a body

What is tension

What is pain

I could do anything in this moment

And yet I am perfectly content with doing nothing

My heart is bursting

So much love for anything and everything and everyone”

The bliss continued even during our afternoon debriefs and class on climate change impacts in Vietnam. Our host dad and grandma were gone so the rest of the family went to a restaurant for dinner. It was a make-your-own fresh roll place. There were only four options on the menu. The rolls consisted of rice paper, barbecued pork sausage, tiny rice noodles, lettuce, mint, chives, pineapple, lemongrass, water chestnut (white carrot), carrot, and peanut sauce. We also had fried bean spring rolls. It was by far the best meal that I have eaten so far. Laura and I are determined to come back.

Let's Get Married 9.29.13

We woke up at five thirty for the wedding and headed out to the countryside at 6 am. The wedding was held in a rural village where my host mom grew up. The rural Mekong Delta is usually inhabited by small shack-like homes with farms in the back. Although the house for the wedding was small, it was very modern, especially for the countryside. There were at least four small homes on the extended family's grounds, with farmland in between and the river behind it all. We could hear music blaring from the main road. By the time we made it to the reception area, we could no longer hear each other speak because the music was so loud. There were more than 70 people sitting and eating from large platters of food. It was 7 am. Laura and I received several stares as we were the only non-Vietnamese people in attendance. We were also the only young people in traditional garb. The two of us, our host mom and the elders dressed all the way up while everyone else wore Western clothing. The ceremony took place in a sitting room in one of the houses, right next to the already active reception. The elders, Laura, Dung, myself and 4 random cousins watched the actual wedding. Everyone else continued with the meal. Were we intruding? Probably. Our host mom wanted us front and center to take pictures. She did not seem to notice the peculiarity of our positioning. The elder women sat on one side while the elder men sat on the other. An altar was set up in the middle against the wall, adorn with candles, flowers, buddhas are ornamentation. The color scheme was red and gold. The bride looked beautiful. She had on a traditional red and gold dress as well so yes we were wearing the same color scheme and design. Oops. It was clear that the goal of her facial makeup was to make her appear as white as possible. I wonder how vigorously she applied whitening cream in the months prior. The photo-shopped pictures hanging around the reception featured a whitened bride as well. She was very stoic and hardly smiled. Both she and the groom seemed as though they were just going through the motions of the ceremony for traditions sake. They did not seem to be enjoying themselves. The ceremony was not too long. There were several rituals of bowing, drinking from a communal cup of something, probably tea, that the elders had also sipped from, the fathers lighting candles on the altar, and more. There was an MC, not a religious figure although it was a Buddhist wedding. At one point, the groom placed jewelry on the bride: several bracelets, a necklace, earrings, a headband, and finally a ring. The bride reciprocated with a ring only. There was no kiss or jumping of a broom to signify the end. It was just over all of a sudden. We went out into the reception where the others were miraculously still working on their food. We received endless courses, each with a different meat featured. There was pork with salt, pepper, and lime, beef ragu, an entire chicken, noodles, bread, rice, spring rolls, fruit, etc. It was 8 am. We had a lengthy photo shoot after with the bride and groom although we were never introduced to them and they did not talk to us. I did some karaoke after. There were not any American songs so I sang acapella. I started with Monica’s Angel of Mine, then L.O.V.E. from The Parent Trap. They asked me to sing a song I could dance to and put the Vietnamese instrumentals back on. I was not interested in making up words to a random beat so I did some simple two-steps instead. Some old guy came up and danced with me, followed by a group of middle-aged women. Everyone was cheering, they seemed pretty excited to have me up there, so excited that they did not let me sit down for a while. I finally convinced them to let me sit and the women led me to their table, directly in front of the speakers. They kept yelling at me in Vietnamese. Even if I spoke the language I could not have responded because it was so loud. A younger guy came up and tried to translate by yelling directly into my ear. My ear drum began to vibrate. I decided to move. On our way to the back of the reception, we were offered tiny shots of “wine” by a group of young adults. We yelled the toast: “Mot Hai Ba Yo” (1, 2, 3 bottoms up) and discovered that it was rice liquor -_- and then reverted back to drinking 7UP. We went into our mom’s house, which was the separate from the reception. The music was at a more reasonable level here. We encountered two honks, Binh Minh and Binh Anh, ages 2 and 3. We found out that they usually live in the guest house back in Can Tho but had been in the countryside to help with the wedding. They were also planning on moving to Virginia, where their father worked once they got their visas back. We played with them until around 11 and then we headed back home. I was glad to leave because one of the older guys seemed to think I was interested in him. He had tried to dance with me earlier then he thought the kid’s suitcases were mine. He picked them up and tried to lead me to his house which was on the way to our driver’s car. He led me way in front of everyone else and every time I stopped to wait for them to catch up, he pushed me forward. Right before I’d made it to the car, he stopped in front of a hammock and gestured for me to sit there. I went to the car instead. He was still staring at me as we drove off. Gross. We arrived at home around high noon and had lunch. Then we went to Co-op Mart, a store similar to a Super Target, to get bread and more sauce and noodles for Italian night. We had not planned for the extended family to be there as well. Laura and I had a swell time cooking dinner. We didn’t have a regular oven so we used the chicken rotisserie oven to bake the vegetable casserole. We dipped the eggplant in egg then layered eggplant, spaghetti sauce, parmesan, shredded cheese, corn bread crumbs and zucchini in a pan. It just fit into the oven. We made garlic bread with melted butter and chopped garlic. The spaghetti was pre-seasoned, as you can’t buy basil or oregano here. We added salt, pepper, beef and corn. Dinner was so very good. Grandma was especially excited about the garlic bread. Binh Anh loved the noodles. She spent the entire meal trying to pick them up with chopsticks. The vegetable casserole was a hit too. From now on if I make spaghetti I’m going to stick to a baked vegetable sauce. It goes great on the noodles. After dinner, Laura and I decided to meet up with most of the other students at Karaoke Queen. Neither of us was particularly in the mood for karaoke but after two days, we missed our friends immensely and couldn’t bear to spend one more night without them. I’m so glad that we went. Brittany’s host dad owned the place and it was a classy joint. I knew it was going to be a good night when I saw that we had VIP room 4444. Basically everyone was there, including some random friends of someone’s host sister. Perhaps the greatest performance was the Spice Girls “Wannabe.” Brittany, Leah and I headed that show. We spent the night singing and debriefing each other about our weekends. There was so much love around the room. Time flew by then we had to hustle home before the guard dogs were let out.

Mom, Motorbike, Metro, Etc.

Ai prepared pho, a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup for breakfast. It was good but Laura and I ate around the meat. Soon after, our host mom, Dung (pronounced yong) arrived. Our host mom is incredible. She is a professor of fish pathology at the University of Can Tho. We talked to her for a while about who she is and what she does and she had plenty of questions for us as well. She expected us to cook for her and told us that her daughter loves Italian food. We decided to make spaghetti for dinner the next day. This required a trip to the grocery store. On the way there, I road on the back of Ai's motorcycle while Laura followed on a bike. Motorcycles have always frightened me and I wasn't too excited about riding one. I ended up having a great time. It wasn't as dangerous as riding in the states because no one exceeds 35 mph, typically riding between 20&25 mph. Also, most of the vehicles are motorbikes. I could see so much of the city on the motorbike and the breeze felt so good in the heat. We stopped at a couple small street markets to pick up a few things. Each market sold only a couple types of fruit or fish and at each market, Ai would ask if they had what he wanted. About half of the time they didn't so we just had to move on to the next storefront. The large grocery store we visited was called Metro. It's a warehouse type store similar to Cosco. "Say You Say Me" was playing when we walked through the doors. Lol. The music here is always very epic, sappy soundtrack music. We also heard "My Heart Will Go On" while shopping. Laura and I decided to make spaghetti with beef and corn, an eggplant, zucchini, corn Parmesan casserole and garlic bread. We wanted ground turkey instead of beef and a side of spinach but apparently you can't them in Vietnam. This time, I rode the bike and good Lord was that rough. Traffic in Vietnam is characterized by defense driving. There are stoplights at large intersections, but even so, motorbikes are driving in all directions at the same time. Changing lanes is immensely scary because everyone goes when they want to and you have to constantly watch traffic and respond accordingly. Being on a bike, I was not as fast as the motorcycles and I didn't have indicator lights-hand signals are not a thing here. I missed my first left turn because when I turned to see if the coast was clear, there were dozens of motorcycles coming to zoom past me. I later adopted a policy of not looking back when changing lanes. They will move, you just have to go for it. Ai turned back around to lead me again after I missed our turn, then he pulled over to show us dog meat being sold at a market. I didn't make it over once again due to the whole changing lanes thing. This time, Laura told me the key is to follow Ai super closely and don't look back. I did as she said and made it back home alright. Once I surrendered to the system it was pretty fun. We got home and Dung asked us to make soy milk with her. She had brought back a more complicated version of a magic bullet from Hanoi. The instructions were in English so

Laura and I were tasked with figuring out how it worked. We didn't do a very good job. The machine worked for a while then we burned it out and had to stop for two hours. There was a Vietnamese smoothie cookbook included with the machine. It had recipes for "wake up berry" and "good feeling health" smoothies and other funny drinks. Each recipe came with a description like "this smoothie has vitamins K, E and A. It will boost your confidence and ensure a good day." Very uplifting. Our host parents invited some of their students over for dinner. We spent hours cooking ban xeo-Vietnamese pancakes. It was the same meal that we had back in Hoa An. The girls didn't talk to us much as they didn't know English. However, there was a Thai phD student who was very lively and didn't speak Vietnamese. She kept calling grandma "Ama" and she always repeated verbs (ie: "cooking cooking"). Sometime that day, I asked if Laura and I should buy new outfits for the wedding. Our mom offered us some of her clothes instead. She brought them up after dinner. I was a given a beautiful red and gold dress/pants set. She said her clothes fit us because she wore them when she was pregnant. Lol. We wore the dresses downstairs for the students to see. They absolutely loved it. This was the first time they really payed attention to us. They kept commenting on how the dresses fit us better than they fit them because we have butts to fill in the shape of the dress. They could not get over it. We took a bunch of pictures and then Laura and I went to bed in preparation for the long day ahead. 

I Live In A Compound

Started from the bottom now I'm here. But Actually. I wasn't expecting anything spectacular from my homestay and yet our first hours have been spectacular in every way. My host dad is a short man who introduced himself to my roommate, Laura, and I while wearing a motorbike helmet and a golf shirt.We followed after him in a taxi and shortly arrived at an alley full of homes. We got out of the taxi with our bags and our host dad put Laura's giant suitcase on the back of his motorbike and we followed him down the alley. We stopped in front of a huge gate that blocking the view of the house. The gates opened to reveal a massive house/mansion/structure and a backyard of considerable size as well. The backyard is full of tall bamboo and palm trees, a pond, four fish tanks, a rooster, 3 guard dogs, 4 small dogs, several motorbikes, a few regular bikes, at least two guest homes, an outdoor table made out of slabs of rock, and the river directly behind everything. Dang. I still haven't been to all of the rooms inside the house so it's unclear how big it really is. There is a kangaroo fur from Australia on the wall and a thermostat pinned to a deer leg from Holland in the living room. There is also an Australian water filter. He says there is too much zinc and iron in the Mekong Delta water so he filters everything. This means that it is safe for us to drink as well, we hope. It's hard to know which food warnings to take seriously because we have been breaking half of the rules since we got here. Oops. There is also a hammock, which seems to be staple item here in Vietnam. Some cafes only have hammocks, no chairs. Eventually we learned that there are also 4 hamsters, more fish and at least 10 people living here. Every time we asked, our host dad mentioned more and more family members who share his home. He introduced us to his daughter, nephew and mother. His daughter is very quiet and shy. She watches Disney channel in English with Vietnamese subtitles. We found out that the Vietnamese count your birth as your first birthday. Therefore our host dad insisted his daughter was 14 while she indignantly insisted that she was 15. His nephew is kind of jumpy and addicted to video games. His mother is incredible. At the age of 85, she is less than five feet tall. She greeted us saying "Bonjour." As a young adult she studied in France and still remembers a bit of the language so we have had some communication in French. No English. She loves my hair and doesn't understand how it is how it is. She isn't the first person to express the same sentiments and touch my twists with wonder. Her hair is thinning and she is shriveled and very skinny. It seems as though she's lost a weight and now has an excess of skin. However, she is fully functional and doesn't seem to be sick or anything. She does everything with a kind smile, cooking, eating, cleaning, and playing with her favorite dog, Jerry the chihuahua. She walks without help and is extremely flexible. To be real, all of the elderly women we have met have been very active, fit, flexible, healthy and mobile. It must be the fact that they keep moving and working throughout life. They all eat with at least one foot off of the floor to stay flexible. This is true for the older women and everyone in the rural village, however I don't see the flexibility of the younger generation who live in the city. There was a man inside the house who helped us with our luggage and set up our room. There was also a woman who followed us from our hotel to the house and helped to cook. They weren't introduced and still haven't said one word to us. We assumed that they were the help for the longest time until we asked for clarification. They are actually more family members. They may not have been introduced to us because they are related on our host mom's side of the family. Either way it was weird. Our host mom is not here yet. She is coming home tomorrow from a business meeting in Hanoi. I'm excited for her to come because she is taking Laura and I to her niece's wedding on Sunday!!! We're so excited and can't believe we got placed with such an awesome family. We wanted to take the long drive to the each this weekend but a wedding is a much better option. Laura and I share a room on the second floor. We have a spiral staircase outside our door that leads straight to the entrance gates. Convenient. There is also a wrap around deck with a view of the river and the backyard. In the evening we could see the guard dogs that get let out at 10 pm. We will not be breaking curfew. They were barking something fierce during the night and I do not want to be the subject of their aggression. Our host dad is learning English. He does very well but needs help with pronunciation. He is very clearly the head of the house. Right when we got outside he got our schedule together and told us we had one hour to shower while he went to the market to get dinner supplies. Once he got back we helped cook. We made beef with carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, vermicelli noodles, and coconut water sauce. Delicious. We also had shrimp chips with salt, pepper and lime. So good. He had us taste boiled turtle eggs. That was sad. Aren't most turtles endangered? Apparently it is customary to have beer with dinner. He worked his way up from orange juice to wine to beer when asking us what we were allowed to drink. Every time we raised our glass he raised his and said either cheers or yo (bottoms up). His nephew, who ate quickly and returned to his PSP (Personal PlayStation) only had half a glass of Heineken because he says a full glass will knock him unconscious. Lol. After dinner we left everything on the table because a cleaning lady will come early in the morning to take care of it. Our host dad has family in France, Canada, San Jose, and Ohio but he has never been out West. He teaches geography at Can Tho University and was proud to know that Washington-Laura's home-was in the Northwest, Rhode Island is in the East and Obama is from Kenya. He remembered a whole lot from the letters we sent to our homestay families. He used these facts as starting points for conversation. He was especially interested in our pets. He says his mom lost 6 of her 9 siblings in the war and huge amount of Vietnamese people moved to America after the war. That is why his family is so spread out. Our evening was great and it felt so nice to finally feel settled again. I am looking forward to getting a massage tomorrow, meeting my host mom and hopefully going shopping for a wedding outfit.

Transitional Limbo

The next 36 hours were an exhausted blur. We left Hoa An in the morning and headed for a hotel in Can Tho City. We stayed in the hotel for one night and then moved in with our host families the next day. The Asia Hotel was beautiful.Unfortunately, my roommate, Laura, was sick so I spent my free time walking around Can Tho. Suddenly being in a loud city full of motorbikes and noise was a jarring change from the quiet forest life I had become accustomed for the previous four days. The classy hotel was the polar opposite of our shared dorm/mosquito infested bathroom situation. We also had our first class sessions in Vietnam at Can Tho University.

We went to the floating market at 5:30 am and saw boat life at it's finest. The market services those who want to stay on their boats while replenishing their stock. It is also for tourists who want condensed milk with super concentrated coffee or fresh fruit. Our boat guide gave us some very interesting info about Vietnamese culture and she even sang "You Don't Know You're Beautiful" by One Direction. We learned that women get married at 18 or 23 depending on whether they go to college. Every one in university must take an army class in their first year and wear a green jumpsuit uniform for the course. If you fail a certain entrance exam for college, you are forced to enter the army. The homes on the river are halfway on solid ground, halfway above the water. Fish boats have water in the bottom so that they can deliver and sell the fish live. A bamboo stick on each boat has one of each item the boat has to sell. If the boat is for sell, coconut leaves are tied to the stick. The market is from 5 am to 2 pm everyday.

That afternoon, we waited around for our host families. I was feeling extremely nervous/anxious/tired/displaced. All of my worries turned out to be unnecessary as my host family turned out to be incredible.

Nine. Two. Five. One. Three. ~ K'Day

I had one of the best birthdays of my life this year and I shared it with another student, Matt, who was turning 21 on the same day. It started off with a field trip to an organic farm. We loaded up on a small bus, practically sitting on top of each other with a few University students with us as well. They sang Happy Birthday to Matt and I on the bus and shortly after, we arrived at the river. We boarded wooden boats that sit low on the water. Mine had several leaks but we did not sink. The boat ride was very short. We arrived at the home and farm of a middle aged couple. We spent the morning harvesting morning glory and washing leafy greens. It didn't take long for most of us to go barefoot. The soil felt so good on our toes. Then we had a big, delicious lunch of tofu, chicken, rice, watermelon, and more. We headed back to the farm and prepared compost by layering soil with hay. There were huge grubs and beetles in the soil. Next we took completed compost and planted new beds of morning glory. My favorite part was playing with our feet in the mud. Also, my friend gave me a much needed birthday massage. We all wanted to stay for the entire day but that was all the work the woman had for us. The boat ride on the way back was even sketchier than the first. We were noticeably sinking and one of the guys was trying to stop the water from flooding in the boat first with his oar and then with his foot. While we were waiting for the groups behind us, we saw a man ride past with a crocodile head tied to a cooler on the back of his bike. One of the students from the university went and bought the head for us. We used it to scare the next groups. We walked back to the college but Meron, Lauren and I stopped to get a coconut first. Kalu, who had the best English of the university students, came with us. We also got freshly pressed sugarcane juice/water. It is actually the best thing that I. It was our last night at the College of Rural Development so we had a farewell/birthday feast with a lot of the university students. The meal was delicious of course and they even had a birthday cake for Matt and I. It was a white cake with chocolate and strawberry sauce and fruit on top. I just realized that I forgot to make a wish when I blew out the candles. Oh well. We had a talent show that evening. I performed a shortened version of "Cheetah Sisters" with 7 of my friends. I also performed a shortened combo of Wolosodon and Somonodon (West African dance) to a random song I had found on spotify five minutes before. The Vietnamese students performed the chicken dance again and "Gangnam Style" and one of the students did an engaging magic trick, making a red napkin disappear. Once again, Matt and I were sung too, however this time it was in Vietnamese. The university students presented us both with lucky coin talismans and a bracelet. I was overwhelmed by their kindness, especially since I hadn't even met the student who presented it to me. We had an after-party that lasted until a little after 12. It was a great night, but also bittersweet as I had already become attached to our home there.

What Did September 23-24

We cooked our dinner on our second night. We made crepes, pancakes and lettuce wraps. I learned later that this is popular, traditional meal but people don't have it often because it takes so long to prepare. First, we ground rice, water and turmeric together into a batter and chopped green onions for the batter. Next, we moved from the canteen into kitchen stocked with small clay fire pots. We put a layer of oil on metal pans using a brush made out of some sort of branch.Then, we scoop a dollop of batter onto the pan and swirl it around to make a thin layer. The pan is very hot at this point and I slightly burned my fingers. Next, we placed the pan on the stove and put bean sprouts, carrots, tofu  few other things inside. Once the crepe was cooked, we had to fold it while it was still over the fire. I don't know how the cooks do it because the smoke from the fire was overwhelming and stung my eyes. We also made tiny pancakes with the batter, coconut sauce and beans-these were my favorite. To top it off we had wraps with three different leafy greens, mint, the contents of the crepe and a special sweet sauce.

We talked with some university students after dinner. They are friendly, funny and extremely hospitable and giving. They are all studying English but most are at a beginner's level. They invited us to hang out in the dorms that evening. We asked where they lived and they pointed ambiguously at the forest. We couldn't find the right path around the forest so instead we walked towards the sound of music playing in the opposite direction. We walked for quite a while in the dark and crossed the street and the river when we thought the music was sounding closer. Still following the music, we walked through a random corridor with rooms on either side. It turned out to be a student dorm. Looking back, it was extremely rude/sketchy/imperialist/etc to just walk into a home on a whim without invitation/knocking/any prior knowledge of who lived there. Anyway, the students there spoke almost no English but were able to communicate that the music we heard was coming from far away, despite how loud it was and how far we had already walked. Sound must travel differently out here. It is a good thing that we didn't keep walking in the same direction because we found out the next day that the rice fields were exactly where we were about to walk through. We deliberated outside the dorm and decided to stay there. The students were really excited to meet us and they presented us with coconut candies. They were disgusting but the gesture was extremely kind considering the way we barged in. A few gestures later, they got the message that we wanted music. Somebody brought in speakers and a laptop and we danced. Naturally I was the life of the party. Their favorite song was "Gangnum Style." They also love "You Belong With Me"-Taylor Swift, "Set Fire to the Rain"-Adele, "Thriller," "The Chicken Dance," and "Call Me Maybe." They didn't recognize the Beyonce song I played. They took pictures and videos the whole time and there were two boys who could really dance well. They loved it when I flipped my hair. Once we were too hot and too sweaty, we decided to go home and back to bed. It was only 10 o'clock or so. Time doesn't exist here. We wake up around 7 am and it is pitch black by dinner time (6 pm) at the latest. We start our nights out around 7 pm and are in bed well before midnight save for the last night. The days feel incredibly long and we are able to fit several activities into each one.

The next day, we learned about the Women's Association, a group that has meetings and raises money for healthcare and loans for women who want to farm. It was nice to hear that the communities care about empowering women. We visited two households of female farmers and they both had received helped from the Women's Association to get started. The visit was really awkward though. The women had not been briefed about our visit and the University students kept answering questions for the women and the women kept asking us to compare their tiny homes to the homes we have back in the states. One of the women was scared to talk us because we were too beautiful. After the visit we played soccer in the dirt/mud with the University students. I've really lost my touch. I did help out defensively a few times though. I was all too happy to transfer over to the volleyball courts. I'm pretty good and it was a lot of fun. That night we hung out in the canteen with more University students. We had a bunch of fresh fruit and drinks and they taught us a traditional dance. The dance was basically walking around while moving our arms up and down in an alternating manner with our palms open. We taught them a traditional American dance, the hokey pokey.

this boy could move

Some Structural Logistical Info

Classes are informal. I generally have my shoes off and we can lounge in whatever position is most comfortable. Sessions are two hours with a break halfway through. Some weeks have four classes, others have one or to. We have reading assignments, 6 short essays and a research paper. Everyone is in a country committee and a student committee. I'm in the Morocco group and the Thank You Committee. We refer to our teachers by their first names and they ask for our honest opinions about what they say. We have three teachers: Paddy, Virginie, and Eddie. Paddy is from Ireland and takes a more conceptual, big-picture view of climate change. Virginie is from France and she is the youngest of the teachers. She specializes in disaster risk reduction, looking specifically into how people are affected based on their gender. Eddie is from Berkeley and teaches the history course. He's got an endearingly nervous/excited/jumpy personality and assigns long but interesting readings. He is half Chinese and I am grateful for his inclusion of racial perspectives in his courses. He is my adviser for my research project studying how class disparities determine awareness, access, accessibility, and affordability to resources and sustainable practices. I am most interested in looking into access to clean water within different classes. Having international teachers and a couple international students reinforces the comparative nature of the program.

It's empowering, humbling and terrifying to think about the fact that we are a part of a small group of people who are actually trying to do something about climate change. Back in California we visited several of the key organizations that are trying to make a difference. Because there is such a small following, all of the adults are taking us students very seriously and are offering us future internships and job opportunities. Our opinions and thoughts are all considered carefully and it is clear that they expect us to be a part of this movement well after the program is over. I am constantly fluctuating between overflowing with hope and excitement or having absolutely no hope at all. There is so much to be done and so many people-largely/only in America-that are trying to shut progress down. At the same time, I am inspired by those who have already done so much in their communities. In the end the determining factor is how much faith I'm currently feeling towards the good of humankind. Generally it's not much.

Jumbled Stream of Consciousness Thoughts on Vietnam

I don't have the time or patience to organize this. Sorry.

From the airplane window, rural forests of rice and scattered homes quickly transitioned into colorful city buildings cramped on top of and next to each other. We are welcomed by cloudy skies, heat and humidity when we leave the airport. The patterns of purples, reds and oranges on the seats and window curtains in out bus give the vehicle an inviting and lively vibe. Immediately, we drive one hour out of Ho Chi Minh City for lunch. It did not take long to get out of the city and into a rural region. Buses and cars were very clearly the minority on the streets. Motorbikes packed with up to four riders, puppies and even a refrigerator, rode around us the whole time. Street vendors were everywhere. The streets were paved in some parts and just muddy in others. Most of the pavement was crumbling and broken. Once out of the city, rice fields, cows with beautiful burnt siena coats, chickens, geese and ducks were dispersed amongst several rivers full of light brown water and small boats. Homes, colorful coffins and electric towers reach out of the swamp land surrounding the highway.

 The restaurant has an open feel as there is a roof but no walls in a series of gazebos with gardens and ponds flowing in between the eating spaces. We learned quickly that food served in Vietnam is typically faily style and each person uses chop sticks or a fork and spoon and a tiny bowl. The meals take much longer as the "family-sized" plates are rather small as well. Everyone receives a sample-sized portion and then waits five to ten minutes for the plate to be replenished. (I've found that I eat less this way as the process is much slower and my stomach has the time to tell me if I'm full or not. You also don't want to scarf your plate down because then you'll be waiting too long the next one.) Rice, chicken, duck, tiny shrimp, fried tofu, morning glory, shallots and bok choy are common dishes. As someone who is sensitive to dairy, it has been great that there hasn't been any except for the cheese we had with breakfast on the first day. Dessert, my favorite part, is generally fresh fruit-watermelon, mango, papaya, unripe guava-not the best, star fruit, and rambutan-sweet, jelly, good. All of the fruits are much more flavorful and delicious than what we have in the states.

The Can Tho University College of Rural Development is located 40 km outside of Can Tho-one of the largest cities in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam. Our dormitory is directly on top of a swamp full of catfish and other creatures. The small campus has the highway and a river on one side and the rainforest on the other side. The earthy smells, sounds of birds chirping and critters talking constantly remind us where we are. Other than the ferns and eucalyptus, the plant life was completely unfamiliar on the forest walk. The slippery trail was wide enough for two people to walk side by side on. Our exploration was interrupted by the relentless leeches that yearned to feed on our blood. I found two on my ankles and at least 12 more climbing up my shoes ni the short 30 minutes we spent in the forest. I think I had the most although I may not have been getting rid of them properly. I may have had some repeat offenders. Thankfully none of them were on me long enough to latch on. I did find one on my sock about 8 hours after our hike though. Gross. Some of my classmates were not so blessed. There were plenty of engorged leeches and spurts of blood on the ground where we emerged from the forest. 

We are all helplessly terrible at speaking the language. I can say hello, thank you very much, cheers, and the number two with confidence. However gesturing has come somewhat in handy. I was walking around with some friends to the new impressive campus the school is building on the other side of the forest. We said hello to a man standing outside the school. He pointed at something up above and down the path while making a circular shape with his hands. He then pointed to his ankle and made the number three with his fingers. Although the signals were undecipherable to us and he had a huge grin the entire time, we seemed to know that it was a warning. Sure enough, a few minutes later, one of my friends pointed out a giant hornets nest in one of the taller trees. We promptly turned around and walked back, passing a ripped up skull of some animal along the way.

There are eight of us in each dorm. The mosquito net on my bunk bed creates a comforting, canopy-like effect that makes me feel safe and juvenile in a good way, especially with the Mickey Mouse sheets on my mattress. The bathrooms are nothing to write home about. The small stalls have a shower head right next to the toilet which makes for an awkward space negotiation come bathing time. Also, all the bugs that keep trying to get into our dorm settle for hanging out in the bathroom. And yes I do have mosquito bites all over my butt as a result -_-

Four walls per building/room is really not a thing here. Indoor versus outdoor is entirely deconstructed. Most spaces have an open feel, letting in cool air whenever it is present. For instance, the canteen has one wall, shielding us from the kitchen, the rest is open space. We were served bread, cheese and jam for breakfast on our first morning. All of the Vietnamese patrons (and the gluten-intolerant student in our group) were served noodles with bean sprouts, vegetables and meat or tofu. Upon our request, we have been served noodles in the morning as well and they are delicious.

We have wifi here and will have it everywhere in Vietnam. However, I am keeping my connection at a minimum. I left my computer at home and will be hand writing all of my papers. I have my iphone but wifi does not seem to connect to it very well.

I realized that I know almost nothing about Vietnam. My only preexisting knowledge was of the war (referred to as the American War here). It is all too clear how terrible of a time an American soldier would have had fighting in the forests here. They are slippery, damp, and unlike anything we have in the states. This thought struck me when our group realized simultaneously that the leeches of the forest were out to get us. There are also pythons. I am eager to ask my homestay family what they think of the war. I am meeting them on Friday.

Pounding rain, amplified by the ceiling material, woke me up at 5 am. I went immediately back to sleep but the rain didn't stop for hours I was told. It comes back on and off throughout the day, everyday. It is always cloudy. I haven't seen the sun in 5 days. Back in Providence, lack of sunshine usually makes me sad but out here not so much. I guess I'm too busy having a great time.

I haven't talked much about academics. It's crazy to think of what we are doing as college. We mostly have field trips and there are only two actual class meetings each week. We all are passionate about we are learning and engaged in what we are doing. We are using climate change as a lens to view and address social issues around the world as they relate to environmental problems. I am pleased with how the courses have opened up my mind to the scope of issue. It is so helpful to be able to see and do the things we learned about in lecture the previous day. It is going to be hard returning to Brown. I think school should be like this all the time. The teacher/student relationship is incredibly blurred. Here in Hoa An, the teachers are rooming with us in the dorms and hanging out with us at night. Also the smallest age gap in between the students and teachers in only 2 years. Strange. I often forget that they are our teachers and not our contemporaries. 

I've been eating a lot of tofu. Even when given a meat option. Most of the reasoning is the fact that the tofu is so exceptionally good here. It is always seasoned and fried and sometimes stuffed as well. Also, since starting the program, I've felt myself wanting to downsize the amount of meat I consume. There's the health benefits and what not but on top of that we have been learning about what it takes to raise an animal for food production and the American system is exceedingly wasteful and disgusting. Also, from a conservation standpoint the amount of water saved from producing vegetables rather than meat is huge. I'm not a vegetarian, at least not yet.

Yesterday I met a student named Phuonj (pronounced foon). It made my day.

credit: Forest Jarvis