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.

   

When I Say Jump...

Welcome to English 10, 11, and A.P. Language! I have sixteen desks set up in the infamous horse-shoe and depending on the day, eight to sixteen students fill the desks in five different classes--this is where the magic happens! 

In the picture above you can see my windows and if you look outside of my windows, this is what you will see... beautiful. 

My students are the most a-Mazing students and people I have ever met. Most of them speak three languages fluently and one language so-so. They come from all over the world, they are respectful, they listen, they laugh at appropriate times. Most importantly, they laugh at my dumb jokes. They are ready to learn every day, and they say goodbye and thank you when class is over. I think someone replaced my students with robots. Amazing robots! I am grateful to be teaching at this school, it is such a welcomed change. I have enough time to ask my students to write, to correct their papers, to engage in discussion, essentially, to teach. 

The photo to the left is of our atrium. This is where the kids hang out before/after school and at lunch. Our lunch is catered by Black Cat and is delicious. I could not eat the full meal they provide, but they do have Pho and smoothies, which I (as I previously hinted at) am addicted to.

The field and trees in this picture are located at the front of our school. I park my bike right outside this area and am able to enjoy the scenery before class begins. So, to sum it all up I am very content. And thank God for Imodium AD!

They're Afraid of Bugs Too!

Every year during the first week of school, I ask myself why I teach. I'm not sure I ever fully answer the question, but sometimes I think it is so I can laugh every day. This year is not an exception. My students are already making me laugh, and although I raise my left eyebrow with disapproval at inappropriate comments, I often find them funny. I don't have any pictures of my school, but I will take them tomorrow so you can see my classroom and the view from my classroom. 

After meeting my students and reviewing the rules and expectations I asked them what they fear the most. Oddly enough, most of the students, 15-17, fear bugs. I've been playing it cool since I arrived, "Oh, a rat, there's two cockroaches, and three more geckoes on my wall--that's cool." Inside I jump and when no one is looking I leap from one end of my apartment to the other, but I'm not alone. I'm not alone! My students are afraid of bugs also and they've lived here much longer than I. After school today I biked around Phu My Hung to see the sights. It was a beautiful day.