Relaxing and Taxing

Greetings from Vietnam! I am sorry I have not written in awhile, but life (as life goes) has been busy and full of up swings and down turns. This blog is beginning to sound like my diary. The beginning of many diary entries start out “Sorry I haven’t written in such a long time.” Now, I not only have diary guilt, but blog guilt! Ah, the 21st century!

Michael arrived October 1st and since then we have been organizing the apartment, moving furniture, cooking rice, reading books and taking long walks. This part of my life falls in the “up swing” category. Having Michael here makes me relax, smile and feel as if I am “home.” We write stories together, eat good food and he reads to me at night. He is a wonderful person. If you haven’t met him yet, I hope you will. We are planning on visiting my parents this summer and then road tripping it to visit his family on the east coast, so we have many adventures ahead, but I’ll tell you about our current adventures.

Beside the unity of our staff at SSIS, excellent students and engaging curriculum, we have many breaks. Breaks make travel dreams a reality. Vacation began on October 17th, so we planned to eat dinner with my friend Dyana and her boyfriend Paul on Saturday, fly to Nha Trang for three days, bus to a resort in Quy Nhon, and then fly home. Unfortunately, Michael started to feel ill on Sunday and by Sunday night he could not stop throwing up. We went to the emergency room at FV Hospital and stayed for two nights until he recovered. Side note about the FV Hospital: They took excellent care of us, I slept on a cot in Michael’s room to make sure he was safe and sound, and to top it off, they have delicious Pho. Instead of relaxing on the beach of Nha Trang, we spent our time in the FV Hospital. They thought Michael had food poisoning and so did I, but when he returned from the hospital on Tuesday, I started to feel ill. I was sick for two days, but determined to meditate, visualize and suppress the illness we named Andrew Jr. I was not going to vacation in my apartment, and I’m not sure if it was determination or stubbornness, I am both a Taurus and a Jones, but I recovered quickly enough to board the plane to Quy Nhon on Thursday.

At 7:45 am, after a gut churning plane ride, we arrived in Quy Nhon. The bus ride from Quy Nhon to the Life Resort was painted with water buffalo, ancient towers, rice fields and small town life. When the bus pulled into the driveway of the Life Resort, my mouth dropped open and my already large eyes grew even larger. The Life Resort is set on the yellow sand beach of Quy Nhon, encased by palm trees and flowers of all shapes and sizes. There is an open-air restaurant and bar, a pool looking over the ocean, and blue, yellow and orange fishing boats in the bay. We were truly in paradise.

Greeted with a warm welcome and chilled lemon-grass tea, we prepared to relax, and relax we did. Our three days at the Life Resort consisted of eating delicious food, playing scrabble, visiting the Spa for a four-hand massage, and sleeping in until 8 am. I think my favorite memory was walking on the yellow sand beach while crabs scuttled up and down the strip. I should have done a quick weather check before we left Saigon, but Andrew the First and Andrew Jr. took up most of my time. Because I did not check the weather, I did not know about the rainy season in South-Central Vietnam, and so it rained and poured. Most of our relaxing was done in doors where we were quite literally waited on hand and foot because we were two of four guests for the weekend!!! At one point I thought the hotel might be haunted because there were so few guests, and how could the most beautiful place in the world (prone to hyperbole) have only four guests?!? Needless to say, the hotel was free of ghosts, but still the most beautiful place in the world.

By the time Sunday arrived, I needed to relax from all the relaxing in Quy Nhon. Michael and I returned to the motorbike-madness of Saigon. I wish I could say that is where the adventure ended, but just as I was about to go to bed, I opened the refrigerator door and the glass water jug came flying out, shattering all over the floor. I jumped, in fear (high-pitched scream) and landed on a large chunk of glass. My blood leaked on to the floor, and I stood in the middle of the kitchen surrounded by glass. Michael quickly came to the rescue and cleaned and bandaged my foot. I told him he should have been a doctor. He said his mom told him the same thing.

With a bandaged foot, I hopped to school today. The nurse gave me a pair of crutches and cleaned my wound again. I am gaining a reputation for being the teacher prone to injury. I think it’s a little bit of bad luck paired with the fact that I am a “clumsy ballerina.” After being bandaged I can say I am quite well, but hoping for two things at the moment: a victory for Obama and good luck for at least a month.

Like every gal living in a foreign country, I appreciate your e-mails and communication. I hope all is well with you and your loved ones. Thanks for reading and write as often and as much as you can.

Love,
Karinna

Bursa Bursa

Last Monday I went to my first yoga class taught only in Vietnamese. Our instructor could place his legs in the lotus position, arch his back and head, throw his 'lotus legs' over his head, touching the tip of his nose. I like yoga. I do not attend yoga class as much as I should, but I enjoy the concept and the practice; however, this yoga class was the most intense and hot yoga class that I have ever attended. I tried my best to hold the headstand, placing unholy pressure on my elbows again and again and again.

Fast-forward to Wednesday's professional development meeting. All our staff, grades K-12, are sitting in the auditorium and my elbow begins to ache. I try to listen to the presentation and statistics, then the room begins to blur, so I stretch my right arm, left arm.... Wait!!! My left elbow is the size of a chicken egg. I am convinced that I have been bitten by a poisonous bug, which will cause immediate death. I think this because if there's one route my brain likes to take, it's the slippery slope: from A to Z. I quickly walk over to my vice principal holding up my inflated elbow. She takes me to the nurse who bandages my swelling, and I am rushed off to the nearest hospital. At the hospital, they stick and iv in me and tell me to calm down about ten times. "Calm down, miss. Calm down." I think I look pretty calm, but they keep telling me this, so I must have looked horrified. Truth be told, I was pretty nervous and when I'm nervous, all the color leaves my face. When I feel out of sorts, sick or nervous there's nothing I like more than a good story, so my v.p. told me stories of giving birth in the middle east: rushing, in the middle of the night to the king's hospital, covered and veiled. I laughed my way to the doctor coming in to detach me from the iv and tell me about elbow bursitis. My elbow bursts and was infected (who knows how), and now, she tells me, I will have liquid and pain to deal with for a bit. How long is a bit? She handed me a prescription for antibiotics and advil and sent me on my semi-crippled way. 

I'm in the healing process right now, which is a place between routine work and dreamland. I haven't photographed the whole experience, but I will forever remember my trips to FV hospital during my second month here. I guess the moral of the story is Vietnamese yoga is not for me, or at least not for my elbow! 

On a less serious side note, I still look like Drew Barrymore in Vietnam. I thought I would escape the curse of this observation in southeast asia, but no, no, not even close. "Ms. Jones, do you know Drew Barrymore?" "Well, not personally." "You look like her." "Uh, huh." Drat!!!!

Da Lat: How many languages do you speak?

I knew I didn't want to stay in Phu My Hung or Saigon for my holiday, but was not sure what I wanted to do. My friends Dyana and Audrey told me about a trip they booked to Da Lat, so I

 tagged along on the tourtastic journey. 

The bus ride from Saigon to Da Lat is an eight hour trip, so I spent a total of sixteen hours listening to music, reading and trying to grade papers on a bus this weekend. The other two days were a mix of seeing, walking and catching up on sleep. Since Da Lat is located in Central Vietnam and in a mountainous region, it is much cooler during the days and nights--I was able to wear pants and a hoodie and Audrey was able to run for hours without stopping. Upon arrival we ate and slept, but when we woke up at 7:00  we boarded the bus for a taste of Vietnamese tourism. Our first stop was at a waterfall where rode on the back of Ba, the elephant. Poor guy, he carried all three of us! After the elephant ride we visited a Buddhist Monastery, and a flower garden. I was all touristed out, so I took a nap while Dyana and Audrey completed the tour. There was some spa time after the two gals returned, then we watched a minority dance and music group perform at a nearby motel and finally finished off the night with a three hour walk. 

The next day, Monday, salvaged my experience on Sunday. Although I enjoyed some of the sights, I'm not a Disneyland gal or a pseudodisneyland gal, so I found myself slightly annoyed with the number of tourists. On Monday we went on a hike for four hours, and we quite literally ran up the hill. Audrey, the gazelle, was bounding up the mountain, but Dyana and I trudged. The view was beautiful and there was enough time for us to spend on the mountain by ourselves thinking and meditating.

After our hike Dyana and Audrey left to take a motorbike trip around Da Lat while I graded papers at "Friends Cafe".  I ordered a coffee, set my stack of papers on the table, graded one, then I met what was to become my newest friend, Sinh. Sinh, maybe you've met him if you've been to Vietnam, works for Easy Riders, a group of older guys who give motorbike trips from Da Lat to major destinations in Vietnam. Sinh sat down at the cafe and started to chat me up. His firs question: How many languages do you speak? One, was my sheepish reply. He laughed, I speak four. This fifty-sixty something year old guy talked to me about the war, travels, his family, Obama, and on and on until I decided to take a ride on his motorbike. For an hour and a half, Sinh showed me the back side of Da Lat, and I teared up a little when riding because I was so happy to be out of the city, experiencing a little slice of Vietnam that I had not seen before. Sinh dropped me off at my motel for dinner and Audrey, Dyana and I sat down to talk about our motorbike adventures while eating passion fruit. 
We walked around Da Lat for our final night, stopped at a lake side restaurant for some tea and sang to bad "oh so good" 1980's pop songs. I think we put on a show for some locals! The trip home today was a long one, and I'm still staring at a stack of papers, but the adventure and memories were worth the headache I'll have tomorrow. 

I hope this note finds you in good spirits. 

Much Love, Karinna

I'm in Vietnam!

I haven't written in awhile because my days consist of waking up and skyping with Michael, biking to school, teaching, biking home and working for a few more hours. This is the reason why all of the teacher shows get canceled: there are moments of inspiration and connection, but mostly a lot of reading student work. The reality show of teaching is about as lack luster as a reality show about accounting--a stack of papers doesn't lend to drama. 

Sometimes I have to pinch my skin to remind myself of the fact that I'm living in Vietnam. Most often, I feel as if I landed a gig in Florida: palm trees, motor bikes, restaurants and stores on every block. Yesterday, my friend Dyana and I went to visit Katie and Audrey (the student teachers) in the dorms. The dorms are about a mile away from my apartment and house visiting teachers. The benefit of living in the dorms is full access to an outdoor swimming pool and tennis courts, and I have access because I've befriended the student teachers. I've been trying to swim 25 laps every day to keep in shape. I start at about 5 pm and then pretend I'm on a water ballet team at about 6 pm. In Vietnam the sun rises at 5:30 am and sets at 6 pm, so when my water ballet show begins, a frantic flurry of bats dive from the sky, skimming the water. I'm in awe of the bats. I watch their graceful water show for a few minutes, then exit the pool convinced that I've been bat bitten. I love the daily grind of school, but am thankful for the time I am able to spend under water.

Speaking of R and R, on Saturday I am leaving for the  land of "eternal spring," Da Lat. The bus ride is a total of 16 hours, eight there and eight back. I should have pictures of waterfalls, hikes, elephant ride, and hopefully a book or two read when I return next Wednesday. Which reminds me, I need to start packing!

Tomorrow, marks a month of living in Saigon. One month! When I travel or live in a new place, time slows. Like a child, I discover new people, new places, new ideas. The progress of life is delayed, and I am able to watch and explore rather than wake up wondering where all of the days have gone. Time doesn't fly here, it glides, which is one reason I decided to explore the opportunity of teaching abroad. I wish I could put all of you in my pocket and take you on daily adventures with me!!! I hope all is well in your world. 

Much Love,

Karinna

Bike Trip Part II

After buying my bike with a few teacher friends a week ago, I went on another adventure to help three more teacher friends purchase their bikes. Biking form Phu My Hung to District 1 is not that mind-blowing when you consider the surrounding motorbikes are only moving at 25 mph, but the busses and SUVs rule the road here like a giant crushing trees in his path, so the trip is not necessarily mind-blowing, but there are moments where you question your sanity. And really, what kind of fun would this be without a little adrenaline adventure? I plan on getting a helmet to appease my boyfriend, Michael (and I'm sure my parents), but no one else bikes with a helmet on (how's that for an argument)!!!

I once read a story about a man who did not know he was the god of rain, but everywhere he traveled the rain followed. At the end of the story he puts two and two together and ta-da, he learns how to control the weather and the sun appears. I, have not yet learned to control the weather, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I have something to do with the amount of rain we've been experiencing. It has rained non-stop for two days, and it's not the Aberdeen drizzle I know so well, but large, pounding, bone soaking rain. If it doesn't stop soon, I think we may be in for a large flood, and believe me, the last thing I want here is a flood. Luckily, my classroom is on the fourth floor, but others are not as lucky. I can't believe I brought a constant flow of rain to Saigon. I know, you're thinking "egomaniac," but you would feel this way too if you grew up next to a rainforest and twenty minutes from the ocean! 

Thanks for listening to my Monday rant. Enjoy the pictures and thanks for all the communication. I appreciate hearing from all of you. 

Binh Thanh

Today is my first Saturday off in two weeks--time for an adventure! Dyana, a kindergarden teacher from Canada, and I took the 102 bus to District 1. Our mission was to book a trip with a local travel agent to Da Lat for the long holiday. The long holiday is September 1st and 2nd, and it seems that most of the teachers take off for the long weekend. The bus dropped us off in District 1 and we walked down to the travel agency in the backpackers district--many westerners. No luck! I needed the original paper ticket to change the reservations (long story), but the most exciting part of the adventure began when we ducked into a small Vietnamese restaurant, ate a bowl of Pad Thai, talked to a dude from Ireland and then, it began to rain. Rats ran for shelter, children ran barefoot in the streets, bikers covered themselves with ponchos, and I sat and observed. Mesmerized by the children laughing and stomping in the rain and the mud, I must have watched for a good twenty minutes. After watching rain, the size of marbles, I looked up. As you can see in one of the pictures below, there are about 100 electric wires bunched up in the same place. I didn't notice this fact at first, but when I did, I started to laugh. Laughing because I see something surreal everyday. 

After the rain stopped, we walked to the Binh Thanh market. This was my second visit to the Binh Thanh market, so this time I knew how to navigate my way through the women "madame, madame  a shirt, a hat..." I made my way back to the food market to browse through the seafood, fruits, beans, rice, coffee. I love looking at all the different colors and shapes, colors and shapes I have not seen before. Today I saw a basket of frogs, water snakes, women getting a pedicure on the street, and weasel coffee. If you have been to Saigon before, I'm sure you know the sounds and the smells but if not, look at the pictures below and imagine walking through crowded rows of goods to be purchased.