Lisa o dau?

Winter Holiday train Adventures!

2011-02-18T18:32:00.000-08:00

For our 3-week winter holiday Jonathan and I decided to take a train trip...then entire length of Vietnam! We started in Saigon and traveled on an overnight train to DaNang, where we stayed on the beach near Marble Mountain for a couple of days. We got to catch up with friends, venture into the woods of Son Tra reserve, and wander the old city of HoiAn.
Getting tucked in on the train.
J on the train.
Beautiful tree root in Son Tra.
One of the many Buddhas inside the cave system at Marble Mountain.
View from the top of Marble Mountain.

From there, we took the train over Hai Van pass to Hanoi, where we again caught up with friends, got to experience the cooler hazier weather of the north, and do lots of walking.
Possibly one of the most beautiful roads in Vietnam..Hai Van Pass, from the train.
More of Hai Van Pass.
...and yet again...
The train crossing a bridge somewhere on the way to Hue.
Rice paddies and mountainous terrain somewhere between DaNang and Hue.
We had booked a trip to Sapa through a travel group called Handspan. What a great time we had! Again, another overnight train ride up to the frigid north where we did some trekking into the valley, did a homestay for Christmas eve, returned to the town of Sapa for Chirstmas, and then a long bus-ride out to the largest market in the north. We made a quick stop-over at the Vietnam-China border before making our way back to Hanoi by overnight train.
The view of the mountains and clouds in the valley below Sapa in the early morning.
Hiking in the valley.
Some of the Hmong children at a refreshment stand along the hike. The young girl on the left is carrying a baby under the blanket.
Terraced hillsides along the valley.
Hiking through the muddy hills. The woman with me was one of three who accompanied us on the hike, holding my hand anytime the trail became too slippery. Once we arrived at our destination they unloaded lots of embroidered handicrafts from their baskets that were available for purchase.
Our "room" at the homestay in the valley. The room was big enough to sleep at least 10 people!
Setting up for dessert on Christmas Eve-getting ready for cake, red wine, and fruit.

The river in the valley on our hike the next morning.
An image from the market the following day.
From Hanoi, we flew to Laos and spent a week with friends in beautiful Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage site. Laos is beautiful and quiet, a wonderful respite from the bustling honking streets of Hanoi or Saigon. We enjoyed catching up with good friends and spending time in lovely places in a more "local" way.
Jonathan crossing the bamboo bridge that we had to cross every day to get to the old town of Luang Prabang. It was dry season so the bridge is there. In the wet season the river gets high enough and strong enough to wipe the bridge out!
Wats and tuk-tuks. What's not to love about Luang Prabang?
A boy playing in the river at the bridge.
Monks out for their daily collection of food from the citizens of LP. Serving in a monastery for at least 10 days is mandatory for all males. The monks only eat what they collect in the town each day. It makes you wonder how the mandatory service would affect the population-any difference if it were mandatory military service?

Sunset on the Mekong river in Luang Prabang.

Angkor Wat Half Marathon, Take 3

2011-02-10T03:38:00.000-08:00

This December, Jonathan and I, and several teachers from my school traveled to Siem Reap for another go at the Angkor Wat half marathon. Jonathan traveled with our friends and colleagues in the conservation world and ran the 10k in the gibbon costume. This year I trained with some teacher friends and ran the 1/2 marathon! What a fantastic event! We left shortly after sunrise-if you ever make the trek to Angkor Wat, be sure to catch a sunrise at the main temples-it's breath-taking! During the first 10k I had the sound of chanting floating in on the fog from the forest. During the second 10k several Khmer families lined up along the road and cheered us on with words of encouragement and high-fives. My friend and inspiration, Karen, met me for the last couple of kilometers. Not only did she run the half, but then she ran back at least 2 other times to meet us and run us in to the finish. I managed to find the energy to "sprint" to the finish...then to the massage tent where I deliriously tried to pay for a massage that was free..it was good fun!
Getting ready before the run.
Runnin' runnin' runnin'..round 15k in..
Running towards the gate.
Drummers set up outside of Bayon temple.
Stacey, Jonathan, and Lisa after the run!

November- Wedding in Hanoi

2011-02-04T17:34:00.001-08:00

Our friend, Ha, invited us to attend his wedding. We got to be a part of the pre-banquet events, where a convoy begins at the groom's house, goes to the house of the bride where tea and some snacks are shared and the fathers talk about the union of the 2 families before the bride-groom go to pray at the family altar.

At a pre-determined time, the couple leaves the bride's home to go to the groom's home to do it all over again before the convoy goes to the banquet-a big event where lots of food and drink flow and everyone is toasting each other and the new couple. What a beautiful event!
The convoy walking down the alleyway to the bride's house.
Photos at the house of the bride.
Praying at the family altar in the bride's home.
Leaving the bride's house.
Arriving at the house of the groom's family.
Praying at the family altar of the groom.
Groom's brother, sister-in-law, and nephew.
Photos at the groom's house.
More family photos: bride with nieces and nephew.
The wedding banquet.

Fall Break Part 2-MuiNe

2011-02-03T18:02:00.000-08:00

Once we returned to Saigon, we booked a train to MuiNe, where we stayed and relaxed for a few days. Such a great place!
Our room at the Full Moon..our old favorite hotel was sold and is now La Plage.
Morning coffee from the balcony. Ahh. I love MuiNe.
Playing with some shells.
Beach dogs. They actually live at the hotel. Mom is in the back with 2 of her pups. The brown one was shorter, stouter, and friendlier but the white one was my favorite.

Singapore zoo

2011-02-03T17:45:00.000-08:00

Jonathan and the Proboscis monkey tree.
He's checkin' us out.
Us at the zoo. I like the light in this photo.
Here we are with the orangutans.
Fruit bats are awesome! AKA flying fox. Within this enclosure the bats, birds, lemurs and sloth were all cruising around-you could pet them, and people tried..obviously not a good idea but how could you NOT want to pet him!

Fall Break Part 1- Singapore

2011-02-03T17:26:00.000-08:00

Little India Market.
This was great! He has a tray with little holes in it in a design. The tray is full of flour. He is tapping the tray on the floor to make the cool designs you see around him.
Ganesha.
City scene. Veg and non-veg food. Cool.

In mid-October I attended a conference in Singapore. Jonathan came and met me for a couple of days. We visited Little India and the amazing Singapore Zoo and Night Safari! Wow!

Vietnam International Triathlon

2011-02-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

Lanterns for sale in HoiAn.
I love markets!

Lantern shops at night after the rain.

Upon our return from DaLat, J was getting ready for a trip to Kyoto for a primate conference while I was preparing for my triathlon. A few teachers had been training and traveled to HoiAn for the event. One teacher had an apendicidis and could not compete, and I managed to catch Jonathan's fun fever-thing and was not functioning at 100% so I participated in most of the tri..but still felt pretty tired. Here are some photos of HoiAn.

September- a national holiday in DaLat

2011-02-03T16:35:00.000-08:00

Our first holiday, early September, was spent in DaLat. Jonathan had been here with Fulbright and really enjoyed the hotel: big-people-sized bathtubs and terry robes..OH WOW! So we took a bus- I from Saigon, picking Jonathan up at Tan Phu along the way. I had purchased two tickets for the whole trip and was adamant about my seat being saved for Jonathan, who was working in the forest and then taking a motorbike out to the junction to meet me. If I haven't mentioned it already, I must say that some of my favorite folks here are the motorbike drivers. They take on any adventure with a willing and convincing "OK!" J's driver waited with him, looking out for the BIG ORANGE BUS coming from Saigon, flagging it down for J when we arrived.
On our ride in Jonathan began to get the sweats, which continued all weekend long- he was laid up in the hotel with a fever that wiped all his energy.
The ubiquitous market shot. The Market in DaLat is super fun!
At school, we were getting ready to do an activity with popcorn and our 5 senses. The only kind of popcorn I'd ever seen in HCMC is microwave popcorn-not very effective for the activity. So I decided to go searching for some at the market while visiting DaLat. The woman in the brown with the conical hat, she was my "guide" leading me to a shop that sold popcorn! Mission accomplished!
Jonathan's going to hate me for this one, but here we are on our only outing-going for pizza. NOT feeling well here, but it was the best he'd felt since we arrived.
Down the road from our hotel, which was out and away from the downtown area, I found a wee market and this wonderful woman who was making up some banh xeo-a tasty crepe-like thing filled with pork, shrimp and bean sprouts. We usually get them with no meat and they are super-delicious. I got take-away from her a couple of times! YUM!!

FINALLY! AN UPDATE!

2011-02-03T16:29:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone! Sorry I have been so very lazy and busy (but mostly lazy) and haven't posted anything since May! Yikes! We are both relaxing right now- it is Tet and the city is pretty quiet..almost disturbingly so (but you won't hear me complain about it!) We both have been a bit tired as we battle chest colds-oh how I love to cough uncontrollably!
I'll post some photos, hopefully in the order that they occurred, mostly of our travels. School and research are going well, but we are looking forward to returning this summer!

Big Goofy Foreigner or My Commute

2010-05-14T17:23:00.000-07:00

Friday, 15 May 2010

The commute from my apartment in Trung Son to school is about 2.5 miles. When I arrived I found a fleet of xe-om drivers to use. Mr. Hung is my regular- he's 46 and single and has an extra little nubbin on his left thumb. That may be how I came to recognize him. He's quiet, which at times can be an extra special quality of xe-om drivers, especially when I am tired and not really in the mood to chat in a second language that I only speak so-so. He also knows exactly where I need to go, most of the time, so it's easy. He gave me his phone number so I can just call him anytime I need a ride. This is one of the most humorous parts of the xe-om experience, and something that Jonathan and I handle differently, especially when it comes to Mr. Hung.

Quite often when I call Mr. Hung, I am making a plan to go somewhere in the not-too-distant future. It usually goes something like this:
Hung: A-lo? (sleepy, like you-just-woke-me-up sleepy..doesn't matter what time of day it is)
Lisa: Hi Mr. Hung. It's Lisa. Can you come meet me at 6:30 and go to Phu My Hung?
Hung: OK! OK! OK! OK! (Has to be said in a gruff "monster" voice cuz that's how Hung says it)

Jonathan, on the other hand, calls Hung right when he is needed and Hung shows up a moment or 2 later. Because I usually give Hung a time, his question is always- when?

My commute leaves our "quiet" neighborhood, goes up to a BIG 10-lane highway, across the inlet on a big red bridge, and into Phu My Hung. The highway doesn't have much traffic on it most of the time. It does, however, have vendors along the sides of the road selling EVERYTHING you might possibly need, like:
*Fresh live crabs for dinner (or Kindergarten science exploration)
*A new pair of jeans (why you would need jeans in the tropics is still one I can't figure out)
*A new motorcycle helmet (in case yours fell off and broke or you are taking on a new passenger)
*Your morning newspaper, coffee/coconut, and bun (noodle) breakfast (all for take-away),
*Guinea pigs or bunnies (pet or dinner?)
*Fresh fruit!

It was this last one that stopped me on my way home Thursday afternoon. A truck was stopped on the side of the road. When I looked to see what they had, I saw durian (an acquired taste, let's say). No thanks. But then I saw the mangosteens. If you have never had these, you owe it to yourself to try them sometime. They are delicious! They are little round purple fruit about the size of a raquetball ball. The purple is actually just the peel or skin. It is about 1/4 inch thick. The delicious edible part is a small white juicy segmented fruit that sometimes has a seed in it. (or maybe it always does and sometimes they are so small or chewy that I end up eating them!)

On this particular day I was riding my bike. I always wear my helmet, so I look stranger than normal since no one on a bike wears a helmet. I pulled off the road and cruised over to the truck. The vendor, a young man, looked at me with a bit of trepidation on his face. (uh-oh. Foreigner..What does she want? How will I be able to help her?)
When he looked over, I asked (in Vietnamese): "Fruit mangosteen- how much?"
He smiled. (whew! She speaks Vietnamese! or maybe it was because my Vietnamese was so terrible!) "25,000 for 1 kilo." (a great price for mangosteens!! They must be in season!)
Lisa: "Oh, good price. I want 1 kilo."
(Vendor yells to the woman in the truck to get 1 kilo of the delectable fruit. Yum!)

Meanwhile, he has a big goofy grin on his face that probably mirrors my big goofy grin. We go on to chat about how delicious mangosteens are and how these are the most delicious mangosteens, right? Then, when I pull out my money and find that I don't have 25,ooo exactly but rather 50,000, I ask for not 1 but 2 kilos! She continues gathering the fruit into a bag, he continues grinning, I continue grinning (I'm getting mangosteens! I love mangosteens!). We finish the transaction and I ride away feeling like I'm on cloud 9.

I get down the road a bit and bust out laughing. What they must think of foreigners. Silly foreigners- they don't argue that the price is too much- we're going to take them to the cleaners! Silly foreigners, they don't pick out their own fruit! The vendor-lady probably gave me all the worst ones and here I am thinking "I am so lucky and I am so cool. I'm buying mangosteens!" Well, even if they ARE all the worst ones, I paid.. $2.50 for 2 kilos of their wonderfulness. That, and those silly foreigners always have the goofiest, wide-eyed, tooth-filled grins on their faces. I can't even begin to figure out what they might be thinking about that.

Guess what, she didn't give me the lame ones and, yes, they WERE wonderful!!

Oh, I forgot to mention..It had rained so there was a lot of nasty puddles and road grime. I had run to school and, in order to avoid all the nastiness of the road, had to put on my smelly running clothes to ride home in..Not only did I look like an alien in my biking garb, but I was standing there reeking in my 8-hour old sweat and nasty funk from the morning..maybe it wasn't a grin at all but an Oh-my-god-you-stink-so-bad-my-eyes-are-tearing-and-I'm-gonna-puke grimace. Hmm.

Spring Break

2010-03-27T19:18:00.000-07:00

28 March 2010
Being a teacher in Southeast Asia has its ups and downs. One of the perks is Spring Break. While Spring Break is a fantastic concept wherever you are, in Southeast Asia it's kind of fun- there are so many amazing places that are an easy flight away! Lucky for us, that is so.

Our initial plan was to go to Manila for the break. 3 days before our departure, I discovered that the tickets I thought we had secured already were merely reservations that would expire..oops! did expire. When we tried in vain to find the same affordable tix, they were gone. So we came up with a Plan B- Thailand.

We left Saturday evening along with a few other teachers from my school. First, I must say that I don't think I like evening flights. I guess when you stop to think about the convenience of a quick weekend jaunt to Thailand, leaving Friday after school and returning Sunday evening before school is back on Monday, the idea is pretty nice. But for a longer trip, evening flights are a bit frustrating. You know that you are leaving, and sometimes it feels like I am just trying to fill the day with things I need to do when my mind is already on the future and where I will be..

Anyway, we arrived 25 minutes early! I've never heard of a flight being THAT early. I was not really feeling well and so the flight was kind of miserable. Immigration in Thailand took what seemed like an eternity..but again, I think that was aggravated by the constant threat of vomiting- I was acutely aware of the location of the bathrooms and how long the line was and how slowly it was moving.

We made it to our hotel with no problems, and woke up to a lovely beach with no waves. We went for a long walk and I think we were both kind of expecting something different, like white sand and clear blue water. Later that day, as the sun made its way up the sky, the water did become a beautiful blue and the sand: soft, fine, and lovely white. Our hotel was a bit north of the main town, which made it a lot more peaceful. There were still lots of other tourists, but nothing like a few weeks ago when it was high season, according to some of the "local" Bhutanese or Nepalese tailors. (Oddity- this town, Kamala, had oodles of tailors, most of whom came from either Bhutan, Nepal, or India..none actually from Thailand!)

We spent a lot of time hanging at the beach, but we also did some exploring. One tour that we did was a guided bike trip on one of the nearby islands. Amazing! The riding was fun, albeit hot, and we got to visit a great little island. Another excursion was to a different island where we did some snorkeling. We also rented a motorbike and drove around the southern part of Phuket..we got lost, and managed to find the Butterfly and Insect Garden, which was not even on our list of must-sees, but a good thing to do!
View of the beach at low tide our first morning there. Hmmm.
I have no idea what this says! It was on a sign in front of a school and I just liked it!
A gate to the schoolyard.
The beach where we stayed. During the day it looks so vivid and more like what I envision when I think of Thailand.
Sunset at almost the same spot where the morning long-tail photo was taken. It was common for us to go for a "sundowner" each evening at a hut/bar on the beach where this was the view.

Professional Development

2010-03-13T15:43:00.000-08:00

14 March 2010
One of the coolest things about living in Vietnam, being a teacher in Vietnam, is the network of teachers in the entire Southeast Asian region. These networks (there are several) make for some pretty amazing opportunities for professional development...in some pretty incredible places! Last weekend I accompanied 3 teammates and our assistant principal to (get this) Singapore! for a workshop on the Reggio Emilia approach to teaching. Not only was the workshop phenomenal, but the location was fantastic!

Singapore. When I think of it, Johnny Depp's pirate voice comes to mind: "Clearly you've never been to Singapore." I can imagine that the Singapore of old was quite a spectacle. The Singapore of today is a modern, clean (hyper-clean), orderly city with loads of high-rise buildings, wide streets, CARS, and shopping. We did lots of walking and shopping. It's hard not to! Everywhere you turn there is another giant shopping center! We had lots of tasty food and yummy non-lager beer (wheat beers, stouts, IPAs, the list goes on- not quite as long as Boulder's list of frothy deliciousness, but it's definitely longer than the meager one provided by most locales in Saigon: Tiger, 333, Saigon, Zorok...all essentially the same. But honestly, it IS the tropics! I can't even fathom a heavy, full-bodied brew most days!)

I chose to take our last morning in to visit a lil place you might have heard of..The Singapore Zoo. We have heard amazing things about the zoo. It is second to none! It's beautiful with large, enriching enclosures for the animals. They are a bit on the showy side with presentations of animals who appear to be trained to come from their platforms in the trees to come eat and pose for photos with visitors, but it is really quite an amazing place. I HIGHLY recommend it if you are ever in the area!

Clarke Quay (pronounced "key") is a cool little waterfront shopping/eating place that feels kind of like Disneyland. Each restaurant has a different theme: Mexican, Spanish, Irish, hospital. Yes, it is true, one restaurant has wheelchairs painted gold sitting at tables, stainless steel stools at tables of the same where you can enjoy a tasty beverage presented as an IV.
Check this out! These 2 old buildings behind the Cricket pitch (British colony), with this modern building in the background that looks just like a UFO!
Wide, clean boulevards where people drive on the left side of the road. Always interesting when you are trained to cross the street in a right-side world.
This waterfront strip was kind of cool. The buildings are reminiscent of the Chinese influence in Singapore.
Just a bunch of primates hangin' around!

School Lunch

2010-03-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

1 March 2010
Every day my kids come in from recess at 12:00, wash their hands, and sit down to lunch. Not unusual for a full-day kindergarten class. Some kids bring lunch from home, while others order a school lunch. Also not unusual. Around 11:45, there is a wave of adults, usually women, who bring freshly made lunches for the kids. These women are usually kids' moms or housekeepers/nannies and this is not a phenomenon that happens only for kindergarten kiddos. One day I decided to take a photo of the lunches my kids eat. Bon appetit!
Kids have a choice of Asian or Western food from school. Above is the Asian entree, and below is the Western entree. These little blue trays are not just for schools! All over town restaurants advertise Office Lunches for very cheap. Around 11:30, it is not uncommon to see motorbikes piled high with these trays- Delivery Service!

These little lunch boxes are so cool! They come with a thermos for rice, and then 2 containers. This student always brings some kind of soup and a meat that he scoops into the rice one bite at a time!
This is the lunch that started this whole wave of photos. Isn't this cute! A closer look is below!

Tet in The Big City

2010-02-18T22:16:00.000-08:00

20 February 2010
New Year's Eve- daytime
Tet is the Vietnamese equivalent of Chinese New Year. It happens on the new moon of the first month of the lunar new year. That happened to be 14 February this year. (Valentine's Day!) New Year's Eve was on Saturday and I had heard a lot about New Year's Eve and the Tet celebrations, so I had to find out for myself.

On Saturday morning I went into the city to check out the scene. I went to the Backpacker area and a market that is lots of fun. The market was packed and the traffic was crazy! Loads of impromptu stalls set up selling flowers, Tet charms, and fruit especially for the big celebrations were everywhere!

New Year's Eve-nighttime
At about 11:30, I decided that I was awake and curious enough to check out the BIG Tet festivities downtown. I had heard that there would be fireworks and flowers and displays. Would I be able to find them? Are you kidding? I took a taxi from the house over to District 1 and got as close as I could to the river, where the fireworks would be set off. I say "as close as" because I could only get about 6 blocks away..the roads were packed solid! I got out and walked the rest of the way towards a road that goes right up to the river.

Following the fireworks, I decided to stick around for a bit and see what the decorations and stuff were. On LeLoi street there were tons of beautiful lights and displays. Down on Nguyen Hue street there were amazing flower displays, but I stopped a little ways down once I realized I had lost my small camera case. Bummer.

New Year's Day
I woke up kind of early on Sunday and went for my usual bike ride. The traffic was thin, even for Sunday at 6 a.m. I did a couple of laps around the Industrial park, which sounds much worse than it is, and then made my way through District 4 and into District 1. I stopped at the flowers display on Nguyen Hue, and then rode through the traffic circle at Ben Thanh (woohoo!) over to Sozo for breakfast. It was a great way to spend my first morning of the Year of the Tiger! Grrr!

Tet in the Forest

2010-02-18T21:11:00.000-08:00

20 February 2010
Food for Thought
I just got back from spending a few days in Cat Tien with Jonathan. It makes me sad to admit this, but until this week, I hadn't been back to Cat Tien since May!! I was due for a visit! I took the big orange bus to Tan Phu, where Jonathan picked me up on his motorbike. We had a great ride back to the river, where we caught the boat across to the park. With it being Tet, there were lots of tourists visiting (myself included!). I was starving so we went to the restaurant for some lunch, where we got invited to join in lunchtime Tet toasts. 3-4 shots of rice wine later and I was ready for a nap! When we awoke, we stopped by to visit the bears, and had a nice dinner at the Bamboo Cantina with Silvia and Carla.

In Ho Chi Minh City I end up eating lots of strange, non-Vietnamese foods, like salad. In preparation for almost any trip, our conversation inevitably revolves around foods that we will get to enjoy. This was no different. I was excited to eat the homemade chips, the stir-fried noodles with tofu, and the egg sandwiches. When in Cat Tien, my question to Jonathan is always: "When is our next meal?" I think it is mostly out of boredom rather than an insatiable appetite for so-so foods I never choose to fix for myself.

The oddity in this whole scenario is how our roles are reversed in the city. When Jonathan comes in for a visit, he can't go an hour without a meal. "What do you want to have for lunch?" "Are you hungry yet?" "Do you want a snack?" My answer is usually "no" or "I don't know". In the same way that I eat everything in sight (which isn't very much in the forest since pickin's are slim) Jonathan does the same- pizza, gnocchi, sandwiches, cheesecake, and the list goes on. I am so glad that he is also excited about eating salad when he comes for a visit!
The Nam Cat Tien Market..we were late and it was during Tet. It's usually pretty hopping around 6:00 a.m.

A Refreshing Hike
Aside from seeing how the new Forest Floor Lodge is coming, and catching up with friends, one of the highlights was our morning hike on Wednesday. We woke up early- about 6, so that we could hear the gibbons singing. They usually begin around 6:30. We made coffee and I was in my usual spot out at the stone table watching the sun and listening when we decided to go for a walk. Coffee in hand, we headed out the trail that Jonathan takes every morning to get to his "research site". This was the first time I had gone into the forest and wasn't covered head-to-toe with my REI Field Gear, Leech Socks, and Hat.

One thing I have discovered about myself is that I have a cautious love of the outdoors. While I enjoy going for a hike, it is the moments when I "get naked" so to speak when I have one of those earth-shattering moments of true love- not just for the outdoors, but for myself and my silliness and bravery. I wear all the gear to create a false sense of safety and separation. It's like sleeping in a tent. That thin piece of nylon is like a security blanket: bear-proof, insect-proof, sleep-inducing...but in reality it's just a thin piece of material.

Just strolling, coffee in hand, long-sleeve shirt but no bra, sequinned Fit-flops on feet...I had the best time hiking and listening to WILD gibbons sing. Yes, we could hear the gibbons at the rescue center, but we could distinguish those from the ones up on the Birdhouse/hill trails a few kilometers away. I had some realizations: of bravery, of "oh my gosh you are so silly", and of WE'RE "TRACKING WILD GIBBONS!!
Coming across the river..

Ready, Set, Shoot
As we sat at the Bamboo Cantina working on syncing our calendars for the upcoming months, a Vietnamese family came up to a table nearby. We looked over and noticed that the son had a pellet gun! He was shooting it at the squirrel eating the jackfruit in a tree not 2 meters from me! There were some macaques moving about in the bamboo just past the jackfruit tree and the family noticed them. The son got up to get a closer look/shot at them. WHAT??! Are you kidding me??! I politely told him that he needed to stop. He did. But then his dad came over and was about to start. Jonathan and I both were shaking with rage. In our shattered and stuttering Vietnamese (I am shaking now as I type this..) we told him that he was in a national park and that the animals were protected. He stopped. No one ever said anything to us. I am not sure if anyone would. We spent the next day and a half analyzing our actions. Should we have said something? Was that someone important? Did we offend someone? Any time something like this happens in Vietnam, or in other parts of the world ,but especially in Vietnam, our question is always WWBD: What would Bert do? Bert is Jonathan's advisor and the coolest cucumber in the salad. He always seems to do the right thing with a calm, level head that would only bring people together rather than alienate.

After all the brooding, I kind of decided that despite the fact that I was shaking on the inside, my voice was calm, and I don't care if he was someone important (even bigger shame on him- he should know better!). If the situation were to happen again, I would act the same way. WWBD? Hmm. Don't really know. I do know that I have to do what I deem is right and trust myself with that choice.

Teaching Kindergarten

2010-02-18T20:41:00.000-08:00

20 February 2010
I have been teaching Kindergarten for 6 months now and every day is an adventure! I have 21 students and one assistant, along with a "unique aide" who is there to help keep one student on track. It's lots of fun, sometimes stressful, a learning experience, an exercise is patience, and just plain silly some days. Although I have taught preschool and worked with young children, most of my teaching experience has been with older students and in small group. So being THE classroom teacher was new to me. I have really learned a lot about myself and about working with kiddos. I have a few mantras that keep me going when the stress is higher than normal or something really zany happens...
(when they are off-task) What's the task?
They're only 5.
It's Kindergarten.
Breathe.
If at first you don't succeed, try, and try, and try again.
And when those don't work..a pause, a deep breath, a big-belly laugh, and the Tooty-Ta.
Here are some photos of my students. Enjoy!Making Reading Bugs for Reading Week.
Reading books to our Reading Bugs.
Holiday concert. Ms. Nhi made a great fireplace. The kids wore nice clothes and their Holiday Non La hats that they made in Art.
Singing at the Holiday Concert.
Our field trip to Dam Sen Park and the Ice Castle for our Weather unit. We had to wear these coats because it was SOOO cold! The kids are standing on an ice sculpture of the 1-Pillar Pagoda in Hanoi.

Angkor Wat 1/2 Marathon, Take 2

2010-02-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

6 December 2009
Following the whirlwind tour to MuiNe and to Cat Tien (I could not go with the family to CTNP- had to get back to my students..but I heard it was great fun!!) we put my family on a plane and took them to Siem Reap, Cambodia for a weekend of AMAZING ruins and a fun run..one of the most fun, in fact.

The ruins were beautiful, as always. It was odd being a 2nd time visitor-lots of things had changed since our visit last year. Mostly it was at one of the ruins where things have been left in its natural state..they are having to close off certain parts of the complex, rerouting visitors down different paths, and renovating other areas due to safety.

The run was good fun! Jonathan ran as the gibbon again and my brother ran as the gaur. I might someday run in a costume, but I just have fun running support for the animals! My friends, Amina and Gianmarco, ran the half-marathon! So did my friend, Karen. I think, in all, the overwhelming opinion of Cambodia is: We love it!
Our guesthouse where we stayed:

Here's one of our tuk-tuks. My parents loved the driver..and for the life of me, I can't remember his name! Ha-Ha! His name was Sook-Ti. It was painted on the side of his Tuk-tuk!
Ta-dah!!
Peek-a-boo! It's Sher!
Here we are trying to avoid the heat at one of the ruins.
That's very thoughtful. Thank you.
Dave, this is for you.
Sunday morning. Sunrise as we get ready for the race.
J, a la Gibbon, after the race.
J getting interviewed by a radio station in Phnom Penh.
The whole family. Dave (a.k.a. the Gaur) was really as tired as he looks here.
The whole animal gang with the amazing Pisei.
Karen and the Gibbon-Gaur duo after the run. So, the gaur costume managed to rub Dave's nose raw within the first kilometer. At one point he took of the head and there was blood everywhere.

NOTICE FAMILY VISITING*

2010-02-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving weekend my parents, sister, and brother flew in to Ho Chi Minh City. The first stop, after the hotel, was to the Zoom Bar in the backpacker district. We enjoyed catching up over a beer...and getting them prepared for the upcoming events: next morning: train ride to MuiNe.

In MuiNe we had a great time just resting. My family was really excited to try some local fare, so we ate a lot of Vietnamese food next to our hotel, and brought home some tasty and not-so-tasty fruits to try. We bought a durian and tried that..banana-garlic-feet is how my brother described it. No one was a fan..

Here is my sister at Joe's. Hi Sher!!
My bro, Dave, and my mom.
Jackie Mama and P-Ray! Behind them is Joe. He was dealing with a bee problem: a bunch of bees had nested inside one of the speakers so he was in the process of replacing it.
Fishing boats at sunrise. I love this scene..
An octopus we found on the beach. So I picked the blurriest photo of it. oops.

Weekend in Hong Kong

2010-01-01T00:27:00.002-08:00

In mid-November, my teammate, her son, and I flew to Hong Kong for a weekend at Hong Kong Disney. My friend, Amina, found a great deal on tickets! She and her son Gianmarco were goingto go for a belated birthday celebration and invited me to come too. It was an invitation I could not pass up, seeing as how I am a HUGE Disney fan!

We flew out on Friday night and arrived really late (it was round midnight by the time we made it to our hotel). Hong Kong Disney is very different from Disney World in Orlando. In Orlando there are literally hundreds of hotels on and near Disney property. At Hong Kong Disney there are 2 options, and they are both very nice hotels done in the Over-The-Top way that Disney does everything.

We all were feeling a bit under the weather to begin with, and then arrived to chilly, Hong Kong autumn weekend. We took the bus from our hotel to the park. It was great seeing signs in both Chinese and English. The whole park was empty compared to my previous Disney experiences. I must say, though, that one of the funniest experiences was Cinderella's castle. The entire way in I was looking at the tops of the trees to see any signs of Disney: a castle spire, the peak of Space Mountain..I didn't see anything. Wow, it must be kind of tucked back from the road...I thought. We walked through the entry, past the All Aboard the Disney Train, up Main Street U.S.A. and, LO! There was the castle! Not exactly what I had imagined, but fun nonetheless. Can you say wee? How cute!

I spent the better part of the day at the park until I couldn't take the chills and feverish aches any longer. I went back to the hot tub (outside) to try and force my flu out of my body. Oh, this weekend was in the wake of the H1N1 insanity that hit everywhere, but Hong Kong is especially concerned with cleanliness..we were afraid they would send us back to Vietnam because we were coughing! Phew! I am glad that didn't happen!

On Sunday morning I took the train into the city and wandered around a bit. Hong Kong is a place I would love to return to and explore further! A weekend didn't do it justice!
The festive lobby of the Disney Resort Hotel in Hong Kong. This was my first taste of Christmas!
The gate to Hong Kong Disney. Brrr! Cold!
Main Street U.S.A. and way off in the distance (it's not that far, it's just that wee) is Cinderella's Castle.
Capt. Jack Sparrow made an appearance and I couldn't resist sneaking a kiss. I loves me a pirate. RRR!
These were cool! Guys with brooms and dustpans were painting Disney characters on the street using water!

October Break

2010-01-01T00:27:00.001-08:00

Howdy friends!
I love to teach! It's lots of work, but it's also lots of fun. Our first break, Fall Break, was back in October. Jonathan and I decided to spend most of it in MuiNe, Vietnam. It was Jonathan's first trip to this lovely beach paradise. We had the best time just hanging out, walking the beach day after day, sampling the tasty foods, and just being together.

Here are some photos from our time there!
Here we are updating our status and drinking a Saigon Do at Joe's..our hotel wasn't ready yet so we enjoyed lunch after our train ride.
Jonathan tried a little surfing..and did pretty ok! I guess it was tiring, though.
Here we are on the beach at sunrise.
Up the beach is a fishing village where folks use these boats to catch all sorts of things. These people are going through the nets to see what they caught.
Here is a boat that just came in from fishing. This is at sunrise. The boats go out at night and come in sunrise. At night, the horizon is littered with the lights from the boats out fishing.

Blogger Slacker..

2009-12-31T23:03:00.000-08:00

1 January 2010
Happy New Year!!!

First, well no, second (since first was to wish everyone a Happy New Year) let me say that things have been insanely busy and so I've fallen off the bloggin wagon..so sorry. So much has happened!
I have been very busy with teaching, which I love. I am a classroom teacher for Kindergarten, and I feel like it is my first year of teaching all over again! Most days I do what I can just to stay on top of things! I'll write more about teaching in a subsequent entry, though.

Some of the big things that have happened this semester are:
*I participated in an olympic distance triathlon in late August,
*We spent our Fall Break (in October) in MuiNe, Vietnam,
*In November I went to Hong Kong Disney with my friend and her son,
*My family (mom, dad, sister, brother) arrived Thanksgiving weekend! We've had loads of fun traveling and hanging out.

So, I'm going to try and recap some of these things, in individual entries. I am committed to writing and posting more often..so I can keep you all up to date with the going-ons about Vietnam!

Back in Vietnam

2009-08-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

2 August, 2009
3:05 a.m.

After a month of family and friends in the U.S., we returned to our home in Vietnam. The flights were smooth and easy, with a free upgrade to Economy Plus (traveling on your birthday isn't all bad). I tried taking a homeopathic medicine for jetlag, Jetzone, and it seemed to help. I have more energy, am not tired or foggy during the day, and feel like my body is getting back onto a schedule, of some sort. But then again, the weather here is mild and cooler than what I remember it being in the past, and I've been waking up at 2 in the morning..hmm

Coming home to our apartment in the tropics after being away for a month was interesting. I half expected critters to have moved in, ransacked the food in the cabinets, and generally left a BIG mess. Fortunately we only had wee ants and mold/mildew, and some scat that could be mouse or gecko.

Saturday, our first day back, we went out for a late breakfast. We had our hearts set on the baguette and egg sandwiches that Ms. Hieu makes at her cart near the tennis club. When we arrived, much to our sadness, she told us that the bread was "het", or gone. Bummer. (We ended up getting up early enough to enjoy them on Sunday morning!) On our way back to the house, one of my regular moto drivers, Mr. Hong, came by. Before we left I told him we would be gone for a month or so..I wonder if he drove by every day to see if we'd returned? I wonder if he tried calling my cell to see if I was going in to school? Hmm. What happens when you are not there, I wonder?

School won't start for another 1 1/2 weeks, but the teachers are back, sort of. The new staff had to report on Sunday afternoon for the beginning of orientation. The returning teachers will not be at school until Wednesday. I am very excited and very nervous about the upcoming year. I feel like I have so much to do to get ready! I'll just need to breathe and remind myself that I'll do my best, and if it doesn't get done, then it doesn't get done!

New Apartment

2009-06-16T05:24:00.000-07:00

25 May, 2009
When I returned from MuiNe, I spent my very first night in my new apartment! It is a wonderfully comfortable place with 2 bedrooms, a large kitchen, washing machine, 2 bathrooms, and a veranda. My landlord, Mr. Dan, is fantastic! Right now he is staying downstairs, which makes both Jonathan and me feel safer. I am on the 3rd floor in a 4-story home. All the apartments are identical, with some slight variations in decor.

Well, safer..that's kind of funny. I rarely, if EVER, feel unsafe in Vietnam. My most anxious moments are in traffic. People talk about being robbed and the like, but I feel pretty safe here. I guess we just like that Mr. Dan is so attentive and helpful. He helped us order bottled water, and helped to show me the nearest market, and is very responsive if there is ever a problem or concern.
This is the front of the house. Number 60, street number 3.
This is the living room. The veranda overlooks the street and Singapore International School right across the street. In the mornings, older folks play badminton. In the evenings, young men play football (soccer).
The breakfast bar. It is actually the first thing you see when you walk in the door!
The superfantastic kitchen! Look at the microwave way down on the ground! Kind of a funny place to put it, considering that almost all microwaves in the US are above the stove or sitting on countertops.
The guest bathroom..and George the Giraffe from DaLat. Expect to see more of him soon!
The guest bedroom.
The hallway from the kitchen to the master bedroom. The guest bath and bedroom are on the left.
The master bedroom. I just added a couple of small bookshelves to the room, not in the picture..
The master bathroom. The bidet is so bizarre...and brand new...and just at the right level to be a foot bath!
The veranda. The orange tree was put there by Mr. Dan.

Can-do Attitude

2009-05-09T07:26:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2009
One of the reasons why I love Vietnam is because everyone has a can-do attitude...except when they don't. I know that doesn't seem to make much sense, so I'll explain. I would have to say that most people make magic happen. If you want something done, people respond with an enthusiastic "OK! OK!" It could be the most bizarre request imaginable and they will help you get it done. Like:

"Hey! We're stuck in a traffic jam! Can you bring us a beverage?"
"Sure! What do you want?"

I have to run 3 errands. Can you take me here, wait 5 minutes, take me there, wait another minute, then drop me off here?"
"Yeah."

"Do you know where a market is?"
"Um, yes. But it is too difficult to explain. I will take you there, and then drop you off wherever you need to go."
"Really? That is too much. I cannot ask you to do that."
"No problem. I have free time now."

When people are not like that, it is the polar opposite...
"Um, I..am..looking for Ms. Mai...I rent the apartment there (pointing downstairs)..and I want..to give..her.. money.."
"No." (with the ubiquitous hand-wave that means "no" or "not possible" or "I don't understand")

Relationships
Another thing I love, and find very interesting, are relationships. Not like couple-relationships, but business ones. I realize that I am not a business, but I do help provide an income for motorbike drivers. Right now I am living in District one and commuting every morning to school...in District 7. This takes about 30 minutes (even though it's only about 3 miles as the crow flies).

I have a couple of motorbike drivers that I use regularly: Mr. Cai and Mr. Hiep. Mr. Cai has taken me to the nearby market, which is near the gym. He also took me to run my errands (mentioned above). Mr. Hiep has been my commuting buddy. One day I asked Mr. Cai if he could meet me the next day to take me to school for an afternoon meeting. He said that I should ask Mr. Hiep, since he was the one that always takes me. Typically, when a relationship hasn't been established, motorbike drivers will do whatever possible to get your business.

Bargaining
Bargaining is still one of my favorite things, and I have enjoyed it even more as I learn more of the language. I was looking at belts today. Here's how our conversation went:
"How much for this one?"
"200,000"
"Really?! That's too much! How about this one?"
"Same price."
"And this one?"
"That's 150,000."
"So expensive! Hmm. How much for these 2?"
"For those 2? 250,000."
"Would you take 200,000?"
"I can't. 250,00."
"Are you sure you can't take 200,000?"
"No. 250,000 is a good price. You are my friend. You speak Vietnamese."
"No special price for your friend?" (wink. nudge)
"OK. 200,000."

It's always so playful and fun. I probably pay too much for stuff and don't bargain hard enough, but it's all good fun, and I don't want to insult anyone by offering too little.

Market Day
The 5th grade students with whom I work just had their market day, the culmination of an Economics unit. It was so funny watching the kids decide whether to go shopping or to stay and man their "shop". It was also really funny to see how the kids marketed things. Some kids gave away free candy with the purchase of their items. Others made colorful signs or pamphlets to tell people about how cool their items were. And still others yelled. I was standing in one classroom when the first "shopper" came it. All the students began to yell the child's name. "Hey BOB!! Come over HERE! You want to buy this!" When a shopper went near one "shop" all the nearby "shop owners" would yell and try to encourage the shopper to buy from them as well. Frequently, kids would bargain on their prices. I did see some kids lowering their prices as a strategy to sell more- like a sale, but more often than not bargaining was the strategy they used to get someone to buy their item.

I have to say that I am absolutely LOVING being back in the classroom. The transition from public to private school presents interesting challenges and ways of thinking..it's new and eye-opening, and a part of my learning process.

Living in The City

2009-04-15T06:07:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Happy Tax Day! That's only so funny right now, since we have just filed-one of the most complicated years ever...after putting my parents through a ton of FUN!!!! Thanks, Mom and Dad! You are truly the BEST!!)

I am sitting in the "living room" of the house that I am subleasing from a friend in the area of Ho Chi Minh City known as "Little Tokyo" watching one of my favorite shows on TV...Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations..He's in Japan for this episode. Phew! Commercial break, now I can type!

So, living in the city is really zany fun! I have been studying Vietnamese 3 evenings a week and really enjoy it! My teacher is really helpful when it comes to everything, but I love the way she corrects my pronunciation, because I NEED the work! I am in class with 3 other people, who are all from Korea! It's so much fun!

At the moment, I am not very busy with organized stuff, and it's hard for me to deal with that! I am trying to just be (ohm)...Anthony is back on, wandering the streets of Osaka eating wonderful street food, and it makes me think about all the street food in Asia..In China the fast food served on the street, xiao chu, was OUT OF THIS WORLD! Here, in Vietnam, the food on the street is also wonderful. I can't wait to go out for banh xeo again! Last night as I left the gym, I walked by the Ben Thanh Market. This is one of the most famous markets in Ho Chi Minh City. When cruise ships come to port they bus guests to the market. During the day the colonial style building is filled with stalls selling everything from lovely hand-made pottery and lacquer to raw meat and fresh vegetables.

...So what IS the thing with Karaoke, anyway?!

Some Beach Photos

2009-04-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

Even in Vietnam, or maybe especially in Vietnam, kids love to get their picture taken! This little guy was with his family where we had coffee.
Vietnamese iced coffee, or "ca phe sua da" is served this way. The grounds are placed in the metal press, and then hot water is added. The coffee slowly drips down to the cup below. The white goo at the bottom of the cup is sweetened condensed milk. Once the coffee has dripped, you stir it up together. If you want it iced, you then pour it over ice! Yum! Very sweet and intense.
A wee little crab made this design! It must have spent hours making little sand balls and then moving them around to make this. The rocky beach where people were fishing was covered with these designs.
This fisherman is watching the water, looking for fish. In his right hand he holds a rock, and in his left, a net. He will through the rock at the school of fish to scare them into his net.
A starfish we saw on the beach.

Vung Tau

2009-04-02T17:44:00.000-07:00

March 27, 2009
Today Sherri and I took a trip to Vung Tau, a small community and local beach resort. This is a popular beach destination for many Vietnamese tourists, and some foreign tourists, too. The draw is not only that it is a lovely beach, but that it is so close to Ho Chi Minh City..only 1 1/2 hours by hydrofoil!

We left at 8 a.m. and arrived by 9:30. We had some coffee at a little restaurant across the street from the ferry station, and then walked the 2 km to Back Beach. On our way we walked along the rocky Front Beach, where many people were fishing. We saw wee crabs pushing their balls of sand, a starfish, and even some goats in the park! Before arriving in VT, I had been warned about: a) the crowds, b) the trash, and c) the vendors who come up to you every 5 minutes and sell you all sorts of things from food to little plastic necklaces and guns. To my surprise, it was beautiful! Peaceful, quiet, empty, and hardly any vendors..

There are makeshift shacks along the beach that might be used as houses, or for storage of chairs and other things people rent to visitors. In front of the shacks are lines of lounge chairs and umbrellas. You can rent a chair for 15,000 Vietnamese Dong (VND, less than $1 US) and an umbrella for 20,000 VND; $1= about 17,000 VND). You can buy drinks, so we had some soda, and when you get hungry you can buy food..A woman walked by selling noodles. We both decided that we were hungry and wanted some, but when we tried to flag her down to get some, she didn't see us. We got some spring rolls from the next woman who walked by.

We sat on the beach relaxing, then did some swimming and exploring. We saw some little squid and some shells. When we decided to work our way back to our 5 p.m. ferry, we walked up the beach a bit further and watched some fishermen pulling in their net. We also so a BUNCH of jellyfish washed up onshore.

We decided to take motorbikes back to the ferry, but we both had wrap-around sarongs on...so we chose to ride on the bikes SIDE-SADDLE. Vietnamese women are skilled at this! They perch on the back of the motorbike and sit so gracefully in their beautiful skirts and high-heels. I was not very good at it-I was off-balance the whole way back (up-hill and around on curvy roads...fortunately there was hardly any traffic!). When we arrived, the drivers were guffawing..I can only guess that this is what they were saying:
How's your drive?
Not good, foreign lady can't ride side-saddle!
Yeah! Mine either! She kept squirming..I thought she was gonna throw us to the ground!
Oh, yeah!
She was so bad she had to hang on..wrapped her arms 'round my waist..I'm still trying to get a full breath of air!
Hehe.

Kuala Lumpur

2009-03-22T17:56:00.000-07:00

March 17, 2009
Jonathan and I just returned from a visit/conference in Kuala Lumpur. Kuala Lumpur, or KL, is the capital of Malaysia. It is a very sparkling, modern city famous for the Petronas Towers. During our time there we stayed in the KLCC, or KL City Center. It was pretty fascinating spending time in a city with ultra-modern shopping. As the plane landed, one of the first things I noticed, aside from all of the palm oil plantations, was that the traffic was on the left side of the road. Although I have flown through London, this was really the first time I had ever spent any time walking around with the traffic flow being opposite of what I am used to! How strange and fun! In Vietnam I am now used to negotiating the traffic: it is literally EVERYWHERE! I am in more danger of getting run over by a motorbike while walking ON the sidewalk than I am crossing the street. I am so comfortable with the traffic, I have taken to doing my runs along the roads! After my visit to Phnom Penh in February I really got into the obstacle course nature of running in traffic. It's actually kind of fun, unless you are looking for a situation where you want to really open it up and get into a groove...In KL, though, I had to constantly look to see where the cars were coming from. They were not on the sidewalk, but I am trained to look left, right, and left again..and I had to look RIGHT more often than not. (I just had to talk myself through that..because I couldn't actually remember what traffic in the US looks like! HaHa.)

Kuala Lumpur is absolutely fascinating for so many reasons. Maybe my intrigue is heightened because I have been in Vietnam for 7 months now and am very used to this situation and while the population is not homogenous, it is definitely not as diverse as the United States. After our time in China, one of the most amazing experiences was flying into LAX, the international airport in Los Angeles. Before this moment, I really didn't like LAX, but I gained a whole new appreciation for the airport, and for the US after this experience. As we walked through the concourse, I was amazed and intrigued by the diversity of people around me. In Mianyang, China everyone mostly looks the same: black hair, my height or shorter, slim. In LAX there were people of all shapes, sizes, and skin color. It was beautiful! I remember feeling very happy and proud as I noticed this. I am an American and we are a diverse population, a population of immigrants, of an attitude and dream not a "look".
KL had a similar diversity, but again, something I had never really witnessed. The population of KL is composed of 3 major groups of people: Chinese, Muslim, and Hindu. In the city there are neighborhoods where these three groups congregated and moved in together. One of the best things to do in KL is to walk through these neighborhoods. Chinatown, Little India, and Kampong Baru are interesting in their cultural influence and variation from one other. Outside of Chinatown I wandered around an old cemetery in search of a temple. I never found the temple but had a wonderful time looking out over the rolling hills of graves as the city rose up in the background. One day we visited Kampong Baru, where there is a strong Muslim influence. The market was fascinating as people yelled out the prices of fruits to passersby. Many women wore hijabs, or scarves, on their heads. In all honesty I had never been around so many Muslims. It was wonderful to see the women exercising in their hijabs, hearing the call to prayer, and seeing the beautiful mosques. I am curious to learn more about the Muslim culture from Muslims. All we hear about is what is told to us in our own culture of fear. I imagine that the message and concept of the muslim culture is very different from what we hear about in the news..In the same way that American culture is not really anything like what people see and hear about in soap operas like Dynasty or in the news. Little India was also fun: different smells, different things being sold, different clothing. How incredible that in some parts of the world groups cannot live together, but in Malaysia there is harmony.

Why is it that we hold so strongly to our beliefs that we become intolerant, to the point of violence, towards others who believe something different? Religion is a funny one. We do not really KNOW how our world was created or what happens when we die. We have been told something, read about it, various people have shared what they believe with others, but in reality no one knows for sure. We just have ideas. How can one idea be wrong? I guess if it is not based in any kind of scientific evidence then perhaps it could be considered "wrong". But then again, isn't that just my "idea" speaking? My understanding of the world and how it works is based on my 5 senses: what I can see, feel, taste, smell, and hear. People talk about ghosts, for example. For some, these are very real. Because I have never seen, smelled, tasted, heard, or felt a ghost, does that mean that it does not exist? Maybe I am such a product of my world that I have trained my body to NOT "see" something that someone else can..like a ghost. Other people could be very attuned to something that my body cannot fathom, cannot even register. What about light that I cannot see? or a sound that is outside the range of my ears? Dog whistles are a perfect example: I cannot hear it, so does that mean that it doesn't make a sound? Someone else, some THING else (like a dog) can hear it. Should I start fighting with someone who hears a whistle when I don't?

Sustainable Development

2009-03-04T18:27:00.000-08:00

February 25, 2009

One of the reasons why I chose to stay in Cambodia for a few days longer than the conference was so that I could visit Chrark Teak, a small, rural community about 2 hours from Phnom Penh. In all honesty, I know very little about this place, except for the fact that a woman from Ft. Collins, Colorado has invested a great deal of time and money over the last few years to improve this community by building a school.

In November of 2007 I attended an IB meeting in Denver with some fellow teachers. The most impressive part of the meeting was the guest speakers. An author and Cambodian-American, Luong Ung, spoke about her books: First they Killed my Father, and Lucky Child, both books were written about her experiences of growing up during the time of the Khmer Rouge. The second person to speak was Kari Grossman. Her son, Grady, was adopted from Cambodia. She also wrote a book, Bones that Float, that tells of her experiences in finding Grady's birth-mother, who was still living in Cambodia. In finding her, she learned about where her son would have grown up if he had stayed in Cambodia- he would have lived in Chrark Teak. Kari decided to essentially adopt the community, build a school, and is currently working to guide the community to improve their standard of living by engaging in sustainable development activities. Until I visited the community, I really had no idea what that actually meant.

Driving north from Phnom Penh, we go through several small communities: The land is flat, except for the old capital Phnom Oudong. The land is green, with rice paddies and farmland. Scattered throughout are tall palm trees that look like they could be found in a Dr. Seuss book. Huts and houses are on either side of the road..some very lavish with a car or two parked underneath, while others look like they would fall down in a pile of rubble if you just approached them.

We cross a river and I notice a sign that reads: Phnom Aural Wildlife Sanctuary. I look around the sign and it is the same thing: houses, rice paddies, and random trees. Ox carts, trucks, and cars are loaded down with large tree trunks: trees cut down from the nearby forest. These will be used to make charcoal, the widely used fuel of not just rural households but most restaurants and homes in Phnom Penh. About 15 minutes later we arrive at the school, a typical single-story, pale yellow building amid a field of dust and grass.

There are many things about this area that reveal itself after a few hours of conversation. One is that it is illegal to go into the forest and cut down trees. The sad part about this is that every year more and more trees are taken out of the forest and used for charcoal. The forest once extended to the sign that I saw on the way in to the school. That was less than 10 years ago! Most of the community didn't even really exist. People have moved in from other places because they have been kicked off their land and out of their homes by people who are wealthier and more powerful. Even if it is illegal, lines of carts, like the ones in the photo here, go into the forest and cut down trees.

Theirs is a life from one day to the next: what do I need TODAY? When outsiders have tried to convince people not to log the forest, because the forest won't last forever and animals live there, it doesn't matter. That is TOMORROW. Their needs are real and they are immediate.

While in Chrark Teak, I sat in on 2 community meetings. I didn't really understand the importance of these meetings until I had sat through one and was half-way through the second. You may think nothing of them. community meetings..they happen all the time. But that's the trick of it! In Cambodia they don't! Here is a group of representatives from the larger community. They have come together to discuss problems and upcoming projects. They are writing a proposal for an agricultural area that they intend to build. AS A COMMUNITY they are doing this. Again, you may think: "so!?" Keep reading.

This year is the 30-year anniversary of the Khmer Rouge being removed from power: 1979. The worst of their rule was the 4 years preceding this: 1975-1979. During this time people were forced to leave the cities and flee to the countryside. The leaders of the Khmer Rouge wanted to return the country to a simpler time. They idealized the lives of the poor farmers and forced city-dwellers, people who were educated professionals living in nice houses, wearing nice clothes and jewelry, to leave their lives and go to re-education camps in the countryside. Here they would learn about farming.

Perhaps that was the intention, but that is not what happened. People fled and were forced to hide or be killed. Fancy clothes were taken and in their place people were given all-black pants and shirts. People worked day and night. Their only personal property was their bowl and their spoon. Food was rationed, until it was no longer provided. People starved. People did what they could to protect themselves and their families...and then they did what they had to to protect themselves. Everyone was watched, no one was trusted. Spirits were broken.

Thirty years later, people still have scars. Some are visible, but the invisible ones are the ones that are hardest to overcome. In a land where people worry only about TODAY, a person will do whatever is necessary in order to provide for his family and make it another day. It is in this environment, under these conditions, that in a small community outside of Phnom Penh, people are gathering to talk about how they can work TOGETHER, TRUST EACH OTHER, and LOOK TOWARD THE FUTURE in order to make their lives more livable and give their children better opportunities than they had.

It was an honor for me to be a part of these meetings, and to hear these people, some men and some women, talk about what they needed from each other and from outsiders. It was on honor to hear that 3 of the 4 women who spoke had never spoken at a meeting before. Thank you for trusting me and trusting each other enough to take a risk and share your ideas. It means more to me than you know and I honor you for that.

Back in Phnom Penh

2009-02-19T16:11:00.000-08:00

Friday, February 20, 2009
It is 7:00 a.m. and I am sitting in my hotel room in Phnom Penh. I decided that having internet in my room was important so I sought a room that would be affordable and comfortable. I am here attending the CamTESOL conference, a conference on the teaching of English in Cambodia. Today we will go on a field trip and the meetings will begin on Saturday morning. I am looking forward to it. Some folks that I met up in Hanoi will also be attending. I am very excited to learn about teaching methods and ideas here in Southeast Asia, as well as networking with fellow educators.

On Tuesday, I went to visit Phnom Tamao Rescue Center and Zoo. This is an incredible place! Animals that have been confiscated from illegal animal trade or other situations have been given large enclosures to be wild and mostly free. There were some elephants, a couple of tigers, some gibbons, various birds, and more than 100 bears! The bear center is incredible! They have at least 5 large enclosures and an education center that is really done nicely. They have several sun bears, and a nursery with a few sun bear cubs. They were adorable!

Another Planet

2009-02-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

February 9, 2009
I began this entry thinking that I was going to write about our visit to District 7, under the same title: Another Planet. But then I got to thinking about it, and there are several moments when I feel like I'm on another planet. It is fun to watch myself in these situations and see what my reactions are. One day I may laugh, the next I may get upset. Most of the time I just go with it and smile.

Every day is like an adventure here. I don't know why I don't see the world that way at home..it seems easier to release control when I am not at home, in the U.S. I tend to think of the moments of discomfort and stress as moments for growing. "O.K. You are upset. That's fine. What can you learn from this?" Again, I am not so good at doing this at home...

Some of our "other-worldly" adventures have included:

The Com Chay: 'Com chay' means vegetarian restaurant. Vegetarianism is not rare in Asia, but it is unusual. Our friends call us "not normal". Around Hanoi or HCMC you can find vegetarian restaurants. They are interesting. The cooks, who are truly masters, take tofu and manipulate it into shapes with flavors and textures that so closely resemble meat, I frequently have to ask, "is this vegetarian?" The menus at restaurants like these list the items like you'd see them on a regular menu: Bun Bo Hue, a famous noodle dish from Hue, in central Vietnam, is one such example. The dish arrives and it looks just like meat. When I taste it I am freaked out a little bit. When our omnivorous friends eat it, they KNOW it is not meat.

We ordered "vegetable beer" there, assuming that it would be beer made of vegetables. OK. When it arrived we learned that it was really "near beer". Maybe everything in a com chay is fake?

The Market: The markets are always my favorite! I love learning the language there-informal and quick, and how people buy things. Every market experience is an opportunity to learn. I typically try to ask how to say something (what is this called?). That never seems to work- a woman yesterday wouldn't listen to my question. She thought I was asking the price. I had to give her an explanation: "This is a banana, what is this?"

It is funny how the mind works. People get a bit nervous dealing with foreigners. They see us and categorize us as non-speakers, so they don't listen. People who work with us often have gotten used to our way of pronouncing things and saying them grammatically incorrect. They listen and gather what they can from what we are saying. At times like the one in the market, my reflection is: I need to start studying again so I can be understood. But then I think that it might not make a difference- even if I spoke the most perfect Vietnamese, they would not hear me, at first.

Development Zones: District 7: We took a city bus out to District 7 yesterday. The main roads are wide, divided highways with very little traffic. There are tall apartment buildings that look like they've been beamed to Vietnam from New York or any other city in the U.S. or Europe. There are wide sidewalks in front of cafes, and cars outnumber the motorbikes. That's not saying much since there is very little traffic on the roads. We were walking along and didn't feel like we were in Vietnam anymore.

It is disturbing: it is too quiet.
I am walking on the sidewalk and getting run over by motorbikes.
The roads are wide, and empty
The vehicles are not swervinig wildly out of their lanes.
There are big cars- SUVs, Mercedes, and Hummers
It is too quiet.

As we walk back out to the main road, a motorbike drives up on the sidewalk. As I get to the end of the walk, I notice that the transition from sidewalk to street is sharp, vertical..the driver still managed to get his bike up onto the sidewalk. I smile. I am still in Vietnam.

These 2 photos are of the wide, empty streets of District 7, in the southern part of HCMC. Most of Vietnam doesn't look like this.

Conservation Work

2009-02-04T18:12:00.000-08:00

February 2, 2009
Coming back into the city, I rode with some friends who work with Free the Bears. They, and Wildlife at Risk (WAR), frequently get reports of animals that have been confiscated and need a place to live. They also get reports of places that keep animals illegally. For a couple of days I went with these guys to investigate these rumors.

I have mentioned previously the belief in Southeast Asia of the medicinal value of bear bile. Thousands of bears are kept in tiny cages and are milked for their bile. The law in Vietnam states that people may keep bears, but it is illegal to milk the bears. We spent some time visiting locations that are rumored to have bears and may be milking them.

We also got to visit the Cu Chi rescue center, a place where confiscated animals are taken and given a better living situation. Unfortunately, many of these animals are either unhealthy or have been near humans for too long. It would be unsafe, for them and for people, to release them back into the wild, meaning that they will spend their lives in cages. The hope is that they, like the bears in Cat Tien, can have a chance to spend some time in larger, more stimulating enclosures than the tiny metal cages they are usually kept in as pets or as "milking bears".

3 bears were out behind a gas station out of Cu Chi, heading towards Cambodia. They were big, and beautiful- gentle and friendly.

Crocodiles..tons of them, in three tanks right next to the bears. A restaurant next to the gas station serves croc.

The facilities at the Cu Chi rescue center. It's small but well-kept and good for the animals. Some animals will stay here while others, like the bears, will only stay until they can be taken to another center.

There are 6 otters at the Cu Chi center. Isn't he cute?

Some Photos of Tet

2009-02-04T17:30:00.000-08:00

Mid-January, 2009
In mid-January I spent a few days in Hanoi. I attended an English Language teaching conference sponsored by the British Council. The conference was great fun and a fantastic way to get my brain back into teaching, as well as meet other people interested in teaching. I got to meander through the streets of the old quarter around Hoan Kiem Lake and see some of the preparations for Tet.

This temple is next to Hoan Kiem Lake. Usually the gates are closed, but one afternoon I walked by and the temple had just received a new coat of paint and it was open! These two photos are of the temple.

As part of the preparations for Tet, people clean their houses-like spring cleaning for us in the U.S. Buildings get a new coat of paint, old junk is discarded or sold, and tons of flowers are bought to make the house beautiful for all of the visitors. I understand this to represent the cleansing of the old year to welcome good luck for the new year. On the flight up to Hanoi, I read about a junk market that begins a week before Tet. On the morning of January 18th I headed through the streets of the old quarter and found the impromptu market and all of the shops along the street selling decorations for Tet. This is a family's "junk" laid out on the street to sell- cleaning for Tet and a way to make some money. Like Christmas for us, Tet can be very expensive and quite a strain on some families.

This shop is stocked with Tet decorations. Red and gold are the colors that represent good luck.

Getting ready for Tet

2009-01-15T04:39:00.001-08:00

January 15, 2009
Happy New Year! Although January 1st is a big new year celebration for many, the most celebrated holiday here in Vietnam is Tet, or the lunar new year. The date changes from year to year, because a lunar month is 30 days long...times 12 months...equals 360 days instead of the 366 days of the calendar we follow in the United States. Actually, people in both Vietnam and China follow BOTH calendars, which makes it very interesting and fun!

This summer, in our Vietnamese class, we read about Tet and how people in Vietnam prepare for and celebrate Tet. Now that I am here in the midst of the chaos and excitement, I am reminded of what we read and it's very fun! I remember reading that people clean and paint their houses...It's true! Many buildings have a fresh coat of paint and everywhere I look, especially in Cat Tien where I notice the changes a bit more, people ARE cleaning! Bunches of leaves and other plant matter are being burned, even in and around the cities...leaving a gray haze and the worrisome smell of fire.

We also read that people buy flowers. This is really cool: all over town there are little shops that sell seasonal things. For the mid-autumn festival we saw lots of moon-cakes and red boxes (red and gold or yellow signify good fortune-women used to wear red wedding dresses before the influence of the west and white wedding dresses became so popular...white is the color of mourning here-people wear white for a funeral). Right now all the little seasonal shops are selling cakes in red boxes, and tons of beautiful flowers: pink, yellow, and red. Remember the cleaning I just mentioned? Well, many people are riding around selling feather-dusters on long bamboo sticks and lots of other cleaning supplies. The ebb and flow of life is so fascinating and new!

People also buy new clothes. Can you guess what else we've seen? Lots of shops selling clothing! Along the highway between Ho Chi Minh City and Cat Tien there are lots more tents set up selling clothes. I wonder how many people are driving on their motorbikes and suddenly decide, "I need to buy a new shirt RIGHT NOW!" and pull off to get one?

Something else very interesting...we met up with a few scholars in the city last week. Jonathan and I were sitting down at an outdoor cafe. I looked at the shop next store and noticed a man ripping the leaves off of a tree. At first I thought maybe he was taking off the dead leaves, but he wasn't. He was ripping ALL the leaves off! I couldn't figure it out. Once he finished with that tree, he moved to another one and did the same thing! Another young man brought out a bonsai tree and did the same thing to it...When we got back to Cat Tien people were taking the leaves off of the trees on BOTH sides of the road! I stopped to ask:

What are you doing?
Taking the leaves off of the trees.
Why?
To get ready for Tet.
Why?
Flowers will grow.
Oh.

I felt like the 2-year old who has just learned the power of the question "why?"

Still a bit confused, I asked someone else the next day. Mr. Chinh said that flowers would grow...and he was right! On the tree outside our room, where once bunches of luscious green leaves once grew, little tiny yellow flowers are coming in! Hmm.

Oreos and Wasabi Peas

2008-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

December 30, 2008
6:00 a.m.-Jonathan's alarm goes off. I have already ignored mine that beeped at 5:40...too dark out..maybe I don't need to go to the market this morning.
6:05 a.m.- J gets out of bed and works his way to the kitchen to heat up water for some Nescafe. Rain taps lightly on the metal roof, making it sound much heavier than it really is.
6:30 a.m.-after sweeping the room and the front porch, I am sitting on the steps outside staring at the forest. I hear a crunching, grinding sound and look up to see 2 visitors rolling their suitcases toward reception and the boat that will take them across the river, away from this leg of their adventure and on to the next one.

I am tired. We have been in Vietnam for 4 months and 10 days. We have been in the field for 3 months and 15 days...but our longest stretch in the forest has been about 10 days. Maybe routines are overrated, but we definitely don't have one yet. I have seen many foreigners, but don't have the energy to chat. I think about the bears, our friends, traveling, research. My mind is like a pinball machine, but in slow motion-the caffeine hasn't kicked in yet.

I get up and continue sweeping. Outside our room is a covered patio with a big cement round table and benches. They weigh a ton so they are impossible to move. It is a shared space and everyone that stays in the rooms around us uses them. Sometimes they clean up after themselves, but usually there are spills and drink-rings, ashtrays full of spent butts, empty water bottles, orange peels...I find all sorts of things there.

I want to get back into an early morning routine, so I get the broom in one hand, my coffee in the other, and sweep the entire patio. When Berry was volunteering with Free the Bears she and I would run together at 6 a.m. I would wake up at 5:30, drink coffee and sweep, and then stretch a bit before our run. As I sweep a young man walks out of room E4, a towel tied around his waist. I smile and say hi, but inside I am thinking, "that's Berry's room."

Being a fixture within the park has its perks, but it is also very odd. We see the same people every day-park staff, reception, tour guides. We also see the influx of tourists, the volunteers for the bears or the gibbons, other researchers. Our life goes from being full of friends and social activities, to feeling isolated and alone. I don't think we are ever alone, but some days we definitely feel like hiding in our room, watching movies all day, eating oreos and wasabi peas.

As we walked to the forest this morning we talked about the strange feeling of engagement versus detachment that you must waver between. Being engaged in the research, detaching from the hunting and poaching, engaging in relationships with others, detaching from my opinions on how things are done, engaging in our friends' health, detaching from friends' health (our friend, a volunteer for Free the Bears, was in the hospital in HCMC. After a few days of blood tests, they determined that it wasn't Dengue fever or Malaria, but still don't know-he was taken to Bangkok...Needless to say we started taking our doxy meds again.)

In Vietnamese, there is a fun little phrase: Khong sau (pronounced home sow) . Literally, it means "no stars". Figuratively it means "NO PROBLEM!" It is one the best ways of coping with all the bizarreness and potential frustration: The beer is warm- khong sau; The bus was supposed to drop us off-khong sau; The spring rolls have meat in them-khong sau. My "khong sau" has been wavering lately..at times my patience is wavering. I need to find my "Khong sau".

Boxing Day

2008-12-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2008

Happy Boxing Day! Our day with friends was loads of fun! We began with a trip to the zoo! Jonathan and I had visited the zoo with my parents back in August, but it was so hot and humid, that we only got to see a part of it. It was cooler and overcast and we saw so much more! It was a Friday and tons of student groups were there as well. Here is one group imitating their teacher or guide.

There are a couple of primate islands. One with silvered langurs, and this one, with 3 gibbons! The female is the orangish one. She has 2 younger ones with her. A family was sitting across from the island throwing fruit to the gibbons. It was amazing how coordinated they were! From a couple of meters they could spot a small piece of fruit and catch it!

This animal, called a Gaur, lives in Cat Tien National Park! This is a favorite here in Vietnam. Many people have done research on the population in Cat Tien. He looks like a big cow with white socks!

At the elephant exhibit visitors can buy sugar cane and feed it to the elephants. It is fun having the elephants so close! It is also a bit frightening knowing that it wouldn't take much for them to get out of their enclosure, across the moat, and into the park!

This is a Sambar deer. They also live in Cat Tien. If you come to do night-spotting you will probably see them on the grassland. I think we also startle them as we walk in the forest.

Christmas Day

2008-12-28T20:35:00.000-08:00

December 25, 2008
Christmas in Vietnam was enjoyable. Our friends, Bert and Sherri, and their daughters Lauren and Ashley, arrived on Christmas Eve. They had spent a few days at Mui Ne, a beach resort south of Ho Chi Minh City. Downstairs in the kitchen we all sat chatting while we waited for pizza to arrive. Upstairs, a soccer game was being aired on TV: Vietnam v. Thailand in the Suzuki Cup. A roar from the city streets outside our windows indicated that Vietnam just did some thing amazing. We run up to check and discover that the team had just scored a goal. A few minutes later the only other goal was made, which led to Vietnam's 2-0 victory over Thailand. For the semi-final we witnessed people flying the Vietnam flag from the back of motorbikes, racing up and down the streets of the city. This victory was even more celebrated!

Christmas day was peaceful. We got a late start and spent the late morning at the Jade Pagoda. The pagoda is a gem in the rough, so to speak, located very close to the HCMC house. It is being renovated, but it is a well-used, well-loved temple with beautiful wooden carvings and colorful statues. The photos this entry are from the temple.

In the evening, our friends Duc, his wife Tao, and their son Beo stopped by for a bit to celebrate with us. I spent my time watching Tom and Jerry with Beo, who is 6 years old. We had a great time talking about what would happen next to silly old Tom and Jerry mixed and drank crazy potions in his mouse-hole in the wall.

I wish everyone a happy holiday!
Love,
Lisa

Christmas...

2008-12-23T16:16:00.001-08:00

December 24, 2008

"Chestnuts roasting over an open fire..Jack Frost nipping at your nose"

Standing in a high-end western grocery store along the Dong Nai River in Saigon, this familiar Christmas song begins. Without warning, I begin to cry. I am 12 years old again, at the "blue house" on 72nd Circle. Brown carpet, a fire in the stove, and the 20-foot tall tree extending from the family room up to the ceiling of the upstairs loft. I have no idea if the presents under the tree have been opened already or if we are about to open them. All I know is that I am with my family- my mom, my dad, my sister, and my brother. It is warm: warm air, warm lights, warm snuggly feeling in my heart.

On streetsides chestnuts are roasting in a wok full of sand over an open fire. They smell wonderful and remind me of China in the wintertime. In the afternoons carts would wait for the students outside the school gates. Jack Frost in nowhere to be found..Oh, he might be up in Cuc Phuong where we were quite chilly just a few weeks ago. But down here in the south, "cold" is not the word I would choose to describe the weather. The mornings in Cat Tien are cooler- I prefer a long-sleeve t-shirt then. The days are like warm spring days- savory and delicious, but you know it's going to get much hotter.

The city is spotted with decorations celebrating the season. On Dong Khoi street, just east of the main post office and the cathedral, a curtain of tiny white lights has been draped across the street. I am looking forward to wandering there tonight or tomorrow night to see what it looks like in all of its electric glory. Santa (usually playing a saxophone!) is everywhere: usually outside cute little houses with his reindeer and sleigh. Sparkly, styrofoam snowmen and snowflakes are almost as popular as Santa. Garland in the shape of pine trees, cut in half, are taped to the double-door entries of several small boutiques. Most of the larger, more elaborate displays are outside the larger department stores. As we walk by there is a gaggle of people peering through their cell phone cameras, taking pictures of their friends or family on this festive occasion.

Back to the Forest

2008-12-18T22:25:00.000-08:00

Friday, December 19, 2008
Wow! Christmas is less than a week away and it doesn't really feel like it! We are back in the forest-it's been our first full week here in more than a month! We began by walking the transects. The forest feels so different. It is amazing how much it changed in 2 weeks! Some of the deciduous trees have really started to change color and lose their leaves. I sat at reception earlier in the week and watched a huge Bang Lang tree drop all of its yellow leaves. There has been very little rain. It sprinkled one night and rained pretty good another night, but for the most part the skies are clear, the air is cooler and drier. As we walk in the forest it everything around me feels different. The underbrush feels thinner, and although walking is noisy as we crunch on dried leaves, the forest itself is very still. The sad part is that with the changing seasons, the monkeys have moved into a new routine and we haven't seen them. It's funny, because we see them on the transect when we aren't looking for them, but when we are trying to watch them, they don't appear.

Last week FPD and police showed up at the park to conduct a raid. They left very early to go into a village, and returned with 10 macaques, bags full of snakes, turtles, opossums, and the remains of forest pigs-all these animals had been taken from the forest. I realize that I understand so little about how things work here. Things are rather complicated with illegal animal trade, the use of forest lands, and the need for people to do things in order to provide for their families. Tet, the lunar New Year celebration, is coming soon and situations tend to become even more complicated. I guess in the U.S. our equivalent would be Christmas or Thanksgiving, when the expectations are so high for families to provide food, presents, and the like. People in regular, middle-class families feel the crunch, but the families that really struggle are the ones that have a hard time making ends meet on a daily basis. It is a situation that has to be dealt with when people talk about conservation. I am beginning to think that conservation is a luxury. Our national parks were created because of their beauty. They are spaces that can be visited, but not used, unless it is to help control populations (like limited hunting for deer or elk). Here in Vietnam the need of local people to continue using the forest has to be balanced with conserving rare and/or endangered species. I am learning that the approach to education has to be different as well.

Right now, our days are spent going into the forest in the morning. Jonathan frequently does this on his own while I go for a run and get things started for us. We will spend the day doing work (email, reading articles, studying Vietnamese, figuring out how to find the monkeys!!) During that time we sit in our "office", aka the Bamboo Cantina. Our friend, Matt, is also here working with the bears and the 3 of us can frequently be seen sitting there working. A jack-fruit tree is right near the cafe, and the fruits have been growing for the last few months. They must be ripe now because the macaques that come by nearly every afternoon at about 3:30 have been tearing at the fruit- 2 have been eaten already! Following our "office work", we sometimes go back into the forest for the afternoon. The monkeys are traditionally most active in the mornings and the evenings (sunrise and sunset) so we try to see them then.

The photos are of the forest, the raid, the "office", and the jack-fruit. Oh, and one of us sending hugs to everyone!!

Angkor Wat Half Marathon

2008-12-18T17:54:00.000-08:00

December 7, 2008
Today is the Angkor Wat half marathon. This is what we came to Cambodia for! We got up and traveled by tuk-tuk to the starting line, which is in the parking lot in front of Angkor Wat. We arrived a bit later than I had hoped, but we still got to see the sunrise behind the temples.

We first heard about this run during the Free the Bears Opening at Cat Tien. For the last four years Free the Bears has sponsored runners...who run in animal costumes! Jonathan's advisor, Bert, will be running the 10k with Jonathan. Bert's wife, Sherri, and I will run the 5k. She and I were running buddies last year, training to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. We were doing quite well at achieving this goal, until Sherri was diagnosed with Guillan-Barre Syndrome at the end of June. She spent more than a month in the hospital unable to move her arms and legs. The doctors are not sure how she got it-it could've been after she had been fighting a virus of some sort. The way I understand this syndrome is that your immune system gets confused and begins attacking your nervous system. This can be fatal if it is not caught and treated in time. Treatment can be tricky because everyone's body is different and the doctors have to find the right combination of medications to decrease pain and help to encourage the body to build myelin sheath in the nerves.

So, in July Sherri was in the hospital. She was determined to get better and worked very hard every day to improve. She had to re-train her body how to do everything! In August she began walking again. In October she began running again! I mentioned the run to her and she set it as a goal for herself. We both started running again with the intention of finishing the 5k.

Our run was good. We began the race strong and at a comfortable pace. We chatted and enjoyed the setting. We didn't stop to walk, although it was an option if we decided that we would need to in order to finish the run. We had set out to finish the race and I figured that our pace was slower than what I had been running, so we might finish in 32 or 33 minutes. As we came around the final turn into the chutes to the finish line I looked up and saw our time: 29:30. I couldn't believe it! We were running very comfortably- our first run together since the Earth Day 5k in April- and we were seconds away from not only finishing the run, but finishing it in under 30 minutes! In that instant we agreed to sprint and try for less than 30 minutes. We made it across the finish in 29:50! I was so excited! I felt strong and I was beside myself with glee. I was SO proud of Sherri! She is one of the strongest people I know. I admire her commitment and confidence.

After the race we walked back up the route to see Bert finish in 48 minutes. Jonathan came in a bit later. He, too, amazes me! He doesn't normally run, so, "off the couch" he got up and ran a 10k. At the last minute he chose to run the race in a gibbon costume! He came in to the finish line with a crowd of support as they cheered for the Monkey Man (NO! I'm a Gibbon!) Everyone wanted to take photos with him and try on the big gibbon head. He was cheerful and funny as people approached him for the next 2 hours! The rest of the crew for Free the Bears had run the 1/2 marathon and finished a couple of hours later. It was a great way to spend a morning-running for wildlife!

Angkor Wat

2008-12-13T17:31:00.000-08:00

On Saturday, December 6th, J and I got to visit Angkor Wat, the ruins for which Cambodia is so famous. We spent the day wandering through some of the frequently visited temples. In the area there are several temples. The most famous one is Angkor Wat. My favorites were the one with all the faces, which is called Bayon. I also really liked the one that was left in its natural state, with collapsed roofs and thick tree-roots. Here are some photos. If you want to see more pictures, click on the link at the bottom of this page. It will take you to my Picassa photo album!

A trip to Cambodia

2008-12-09T22:45:00.001-08:00

December 10, 2008
Last Thursday Jonathan and I got on a bus heading for Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The trip took about 7 hours and it was beautiful. The countryside is very flat- mostly rice paddies. I had a hard time trying to figure out if the land was supposed to be without trees or if extensive logging had taken place. I later found out that it was logging. It was interesting to see how the houses changed once we crossed the border into Cambodia. Most houses in Vietnam are low, long, and thin. In the countryside they are usually one story with a small front. In Cambodia most of the houses were on stilts. I am thinking that houses in Vietnam started out that way because most houses in the city use the ground floor for parking motor-bikes or for store-fronts if they are on the street. The place where people live seems to begin on the second floor.

Phnom Penh is beautiful! The architecture is amazing! It is a city so many of the buildings look like cement blocks, but many others are so ornate in their decor. We stayed with our friend, Pesei and had a great time meeting some of the Free the Bears crew, who were also going to Siem Reap to do the Angkor 1/2 marathon.

We took a tour bus up to Siem Reap on Friday. It was a double-decker bus, so from our seat we could see out over the countryside. After 6 hours of riding, we finally arrived at the bus station, where we took a tuk-tuk to our hotel. Tuk-tuks are motor-bikes with a covered cart attached to the back. It is a breezy, cool, dusty way to travel around. After getting situated at our hotel, we went on walk-about. People in Cambodia are so friendly! It was a pleasure wandering around. It was also a bit challenging emotionally. The places where tourists hang out is very polished and nice. The streets that cater to tourists are lined with fancy, almost elegant, restaurants with an abundance of food, drink, shopping, and money. Along the same streets, though, are the Khmer people, many of whom have very little in the way of clothing, food, and money. Some people have been the victims of landmines and are just trying to make a living any way they can. Many people speak English and it is very easy to have wonderful conversations with people. It was fun to chat with people, hear a new and different language, and NOT be able to read the signs, since the script of the Khmer language is similar to Thai- for my unfamiliar eyes it looks like a repetition of decorative squiggles.

We spent Saturday exploring the ruins of Angkor Wat. It was absolutely breath-taking! Each temple complex is unique in design and style. Two of my favorites were Bayon, with faces looking out in every direction, and Ta Phrom, which was left in the same state that it was found: caved in rooftops, trees growing up through the walls, and stacks of tumbled structures.

The run on Sunday was fantastic. Sherri and I did our first 5k since May, and had a great time! Jonathan and Bert did the 10k and both finished with great times. Jonathan decided to do the run dressed in a gibbon costume! Free the Bears has been organizing this for the past few years: some runners dress as a Sun Bear, an elephant, a tiger, or a gaur and run the whole race. The purpose is to raise money and awareness for conserving Cambodia's wildlife. J was a gibbon, and he was a hero!

After the run we returned to Phnom Penh, where we spent a day or so exploring the sights of the city. We sat on our hotel balcony and enjoyed a beautiful sunset over the National Museum as the bats came out for their evening flight...so incredible!

Van Long Nature Preserve

2008-12-03T06:15:00.000-08:00

November 29, 2008
This afternoon we visited a beautiful area called Van Long Nature Preserve. This area, and all around it, has several limestone mountains reminiscent of Ha Long Bay, except there is land all around the hills rather than ocean. The land surrounding the hills is mostly rice paddies and wetlands. On one of the larger karst hills within Van Long resides a rare species of primate, called the Delacour's Langur. These monkeys used to live within Cuc Phuong National Park and some of the surrounding areas, but now it is assumed that they only live on the hills within Van Long. They are one of 6 species of "Limestone Monkeys" in Vietnam, and one of the top five most critically endangered species of primates in the world. A colleague and friend of ours, Catherine, conducted her dissertation research here last year.

We arrived at Van Long on a series of mini-buses, unloaded, and headed to the water, where we boarded boats and were paddled out to the limestone. We searched for an hour for the monkeys on the limestone, but couldn't find them. They are really very beautiful, with mostly black bodies, except for their "white shorts". We enjoyed sitting on the peaceful water, staring at the mountain as the sun set over this beautiful land.

Cuc Phuong National Park

2008-12-03T00:19:00.000-08:00

November 25, 2008
Jonathan and I spent 4 days in Cuc Phuong National Park attending a symposium on primate conservation. A bus picked us all up at the Opera House in Hanoi. After arriving, we got settled into our rooms, had a marvelous time meeting new people, catching up with old friends, and going for a walk. Following a delicious dinner, we moved over to a lovely campfire where some of the residents of the minority village nearby shared some of their songs, dances, and homemade wine. The weather in the park was much cooler than in Hanoi, chilly, in fact, so the best place to sit was right by the fire.

The following morning we were awakened by the singing of gibbons in the Endangered Primate Rescue Center. The song of the gibbons is one of my favorite songs in the whole world. Here in Vietnam, it is the ringer on my phone! At dawn, gibbons sing to one another. It is a male-female pair song that is incredible, and varies depending on the region where they are from. Some research is being done (and we got to hear about it from the researchers themselves at the symposium) to learn more about gibbon behaviour.

Each morning the gibbons would sing. If I didn't walk over to the EPRC to listen to them, then I would run by them or into the national park. Unfortunately, the national park no longer has much to offer in the way of wildlife. Here in Cat Tien, I can see animals every day. I didn't see any animals besides the ones that live in the primate rescue center or in the small carnivore rescue center where a binturong and civets now live following confiscation from illegal animal trade. This is a BIG problem in Southeast Asia. Many animals are trapped, taken from the forest, and sold. Some animals, like lorises, snakes, pengalin, and even monkeys are used in wines or traditional medicines. Others, like gibbons, macaques, and lorises are kept as pets. Sometimes animals like macaques are taken and sold for use in labs that do animal testing. Many animals are eaten as special delicacies. Part of the work being done here is in education: talking to people about how special many of these animals are and how they shouldn't be hunted. It is very complicated, especially when people are just trying to feed their families. If you are interested in learning more, here is a link to some photos from Newsweek.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/117742

Visiting the North: Hanoi

2008-12-02T23:32:00.000-08:00

November 24, 2008
Jonathan and I just returned from a trip to Hanoi. A Primate Conservation Symposium was held in Cuc Phuong National Park. It was excellent to be in Hanoi! The weather was much cooler than the south. It felt so refreshing to be able to walk around town with my hair down and NOT sweating!

I love Hanoi and the Old Quarter. The streets are narrow and lined with tiny little shops. It is easy to wander the streets for hours...even days, and just get lost. Hanoi has many lakes. In the Old Quarter the main lake is called Hoan Kiem. In the middle is a lovely temple that you can visit, and a small pagoda that is on an island that can't be reached. In the mornings there are crowds of people doing their morning exercises: running, walking, dancing, practicing tai chi, or playing badmitton. Each morning we saw the same people doing the same activities. One of our favorites is a middle-aged man who runs sideways, does some bone-strengthening exercises, and then walks with his little dog. We began to recognize each other and say "Hi" as we passed one another. I am looking forward to returning in January to see if he will recognize me!

We met up with 2 of our friends and our teachers from our summer Vietnamese class. It was wonderful to catch up with everyone, and get laughed at for our "southern" accent! We also got to visit with our friends Ha, Hiep, and his wife Van. It is wonderful traveling to the north- so different from the south, so much slower.

The Beach of Hon Chong

2008-11-15T19:49:00.000-08:00

November 15, 2008
On Friday, my friend Becky and I took a taxi out to Hon Chong, a small, beach-front community where few tourists visit. The beach was small and secluded, with some souvenir shops, some small seafood restaurants, and a temple to Guanyin. We walked along the beach, swam, and watched the tiny little crabs digging wee holes as they moved balls of dirt around. We also found a place to rent kayaks, so we paddled out among the fishing boats and limestone islands before heading back to Rach Gia. It was a great way to spend an afternoon!

A trip to the Delta

2008-11-15T19:26:00.000-08:00

November 15, 2008
Jonathan, Bert, Sherri, and I made a short trip to a town in the Mekong Delta named Rach Gia. Fulbright hosted an enrichment gathering and it was a great place to visit! We took a prop plane down-it was only 30 minutes from Ho Chi Minh City-and spent 3 days there. Flying in over the delta was breath-taking! The landscape is very flat with water-logged rice-paddies, canals, and small houses. In the early morning light it was incredible!

Our hotel was in a new, mostly undeveloped part of town to the south of downtown. The wide, divided, palmtree-lined streets are reminiscent of western neighborhoods but they are empty as the area awaits a development and tourist boom that has yet to arrive. We stayed 3 blocks from the Bay of Thailand: the beach was rocky and not yet ready for sun-bathing tourists, but construction is underway to make winding beach-front boardwalks that meander from street-side cafes and relaxing hammock-lined parks.

We spent our time exploring the area. We ventured downtown where we visited a temple, had wonderful street food: banh xeo-a crepe filled with shrimp and bean sprouts, and enjoyed an accent different from HCMC.

Some Photos of the forest

2008-11-15T03:12:00.000-08:00

The post office in Nam Cat Tien, the town across the river from the national park.

Phu Lop, another small town near the park.

A rainbow that we could see from our home.

A photo of one of the monkeys. Look carefully. He is hard to see!

Daily Life in the Forest

2008-11-04T16:04:00.000-08:00

November 1, 2008

A typical day in the forest does not yet exist, but I am working on a routine! So far, this is what happens:

Transect days: We wake up around 5:30, get some coffee and get some things together for going into the forest. We then go to the restaurant and eat breakfast. When I am at home in the United States, I eat lots of different things for breakfast~sometimes I eat yogurt and berries or oatmeal at school. If it is a weekend, we like to make breakfast at home: we cook noodles or breakfast burritos. Here in the forest I eat the same thing every day: bread with an egg and coffee.

After breakfast, we go back to our room and get dressed to go in the forest. We then either hike or ride the motorbike to the area where we will be working. We take some bread, ramen noodles, and water with us and eat that for lunch. We work in the forest until we either finish the work we came to do, until we are too tired to go on, or until we lose the monkeys. Then we come back to headquarters, get de-leeched by making sure we have no leeches on our clothes, shoes, bags or bodies. We then take a shower and wash some clothes. We check our email, have a cool drink, and do some work or read until it is time to start working on dinner. The English class that Jonathan teaches is at 7 in the evening so we need to eat before then. After the English class, which is Monday thru Thursday, we have a rest, chat with each other about the class or chat with friends, and then go back to our room to get ready for bed. We usually go to bed around 9:00.

Habituation Days: When we go to the forest for habituation, we get up before 5:00 am. We get dressed and hike into the forest in order to find the monkeys and spend as much time as possible with them. Lately Jonathan has been doing this by himself-he seems to see more monkeys and is able to stay with them better when he is only one person crashing through the forest. He tries to find the monkeys by going to places where and when he has seen them in the past. When we hear crashing through the tops of the trees we stop and try to spot the animal that made the noise. In the area where we've been working there are not only doucs, but gibbons and macaques. When we see an animal, we try to watch it until it jumps away. Right now the monkeys don't like us very much so they jump away very quickly. The goal is to have the monkeys feel comfortable with us under them. That way they will continue doing what they normally do and we can watch them. When they move away, we try to follow them. We do this until we lose the monkeys. Then we come out of the forest.

I recently started running at about 6 in the morning, so when I return, I drink some coffee, go to the market, or do laundry. This is the best time to do laundry because then it can hang up outside in the morning sun and actually dry! My plan is to take care of all of these morning jobs, and then help Jonathan with his field work in the afternoons. This might mean going into the forest to try to find t he monkeys~ Jonathan has actually had better luck seeing them in the afternoons! It will be fantastic when we get the monkeys habituated and can spend many hours a day with them.

Election Day

2008-11-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

So, the poles are beginning to close in New York and I am so excited! We will be going to an Election Day Breakfast sponsored by the U.S. Consulate. We will be watching election coverage while enjoying a breakfast with other U.S. Citizens here in Vietnam.

We voted last week using FedEx's Express Your Vote program. This program allows citizens to send in absentee ballots for very cheap or free! It was sent 1-day so it was received very quickly, but then we had another form to send in so that our vote would actually COUNT! Well, it worked. We had to send the forms again last night at around midnight, but they got them!

Daily Life in Vietnam

2008-10-31T00:49:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 31, 2008

BOOOO! Happy Halloween!

Some of you may be wondering what a typical day is like here in Vietnam. Well, it kind of depends on whether I am in the city or in the park. When I am in the city, I usually have something to do, like voting, buying things for the field, or taking care of business. It is kind of the relaxing part of the time here. I get up around 6, get some coffee, and check email. This is the best time to chat with me since the internet connection is great where we stay (with our friends Bert and Sherri, who have a house here for the year). There is an excellent bakery about 2 blocks away, so I frequently go for a walk to the bakery to get some fresh bread for breakfast and lunch. When I return to the house, I eat and get ready to go. I then go wander around getting things done. I like to eat lunch at home, but if I am out wandering around, I will get some food out at a restaurant. I like to have a rest in the afternoon because it is very hot and humid, which makes me tired quickly.

After a rest (a cold shower, a cool drink, and an hour of reading), I like to go for a coffee, and then continue to get things done. The afternoon usually involves the market-either the supermarket or the open-air markets. I have made some acquaintances with the vendors at the market nearby, so I like to go by, say hello and chat. Afterwards, we usually cook or eat dinner out. Since our food choices are a bit limited in Cat Tien, we LOVE to get some different foods. Our favorites are: salads, PIZZA, and sandwiches!

Voting

2008-10-31T00:42:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Jonathan and I just voted! FedEx has this great program called Express your Vote. In most countries around the world, expats and US travelers can vote using an absentee ballot. Then they can 1-day it to the county in which they are registered for a very discounted rate. Here in Vietnam, sending the ballots was FREE! The woman at the FedEx office must have had several Americans coming in to vote because it was VERY easy for her to help us!

Be sure to VOTE, if you haven't already!

Da Co

2008-10-23T22:55:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2008

Once we came back to the forest, Jonathan and I got to work on re-establishing the last transect. It has taken about 3 days for each of the other transects, so we were expecting 3 days of work for the one in Da Co. We were pleasantly surprised to find most of the tree tags still in tact in Da Co. We spent about 3 hours working and got to tree #46! There are 108 trees in this 500-meter line of the forest so we were almost halfway done! As we hiked back out along the road to the motorbike, we heard some crashing in the trees. Doucs! A group of 6-7, with an adult male and an infant! The male climbed up into a tall tree near the road, stopped, and looked straight down at me! He was at least 50 meters away but our eyes met! I think he was probably telling me to go away. Shortly after that, the group moved off and we didn't see them again.

The next day we rode the motorbike back out to DaCo to finish the transect, or at least get as far as we could. We got out in the trees and were about to start working when a small group (2-3 individuals) started moving around in the trees. I didn't get to see them, but Jonathan said they stayed there, with us under them, for a few minutes. That is a good thing for the research! In order for us to watch what they are eating, we have to be able to sit under them and NOT have them scamper away. Wow, this might take a long time!

As we walked back to the motorbike along the road we saw a male gibbon! He was WAY up in the tallest trees swinging from branch to branch. That is how gibbons move, and it is called brachiating. He moved so quickly and quietly we ended up losing him. We DID get to see 2 groups of Doucs along the road, though! Both groups had about 6 individuals. Jonathan found the first one and I found the second one! It was amazing because i just saw the trees moving out of the corner of my eye, and then saw the douc. One group was in the forest about 25 meters off the road, but we could use our binoculars and see them clearly. They didn't threaten us by staring at us, and didn't run away! We watched a female eat for about 1 minute before she continued on into the forest. At this point it is really hard to get any photos. It's hard enough just to FIND them! I hope to have some photos of them soon, though. We will just have to be patient and persistent.

Oh, we did end up finishing the transect in 2 days!

Where we live

2008-10-23T22:50:00.000-07:00

October 20, 2008

On the day the bears were released, we got word that our kitchen and room were ready! Woohoo! That afternoon we moved in! It was a disaster for a few days, with all of our things in new places and neither one of us knew where! We spent a couple of days getting organized before heading in to Ho Chi Minh City to send off our friends, Bert and Sherri~ they were going back the the United States for a week or so and we wanted to hang out with them. Here are some pictures of our kitchen~ before and after the addition of the stove and fridge! Now that we have the stove we can actually cook! Now we will have to figure out how to get some fresh food from across the river! There is always something new to learn how to do!

Some Photos

2008-10-23T22:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of the bears...

The Final Countdown

2008-10-15T16:37:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 12, 2008

In an earlier note I think I wrote about the Free the Bears project that was happening here at Cat Tien. All throughout Southeast Asia Asiatic Black bears are captured and kept in wee cages. Some are taken as pets, but many are kept to extract their bile. Bear bile is used in traditional medicine~it supposedly reduces fevers and has reconstructive properties for the liver. This link will take you to Wikipedia to find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_bile

The Free the Bears organization helps by confiscating the bears from their wee cages, and building larger, more bear-friendly enclosures like the one at Cat Tien. Can you imagine being a big bear in a tiny little cage? I've never thought about it, until Jude, one of the volunteers for Free the Bears, explained what they were doing. Bears in the wild can climb up and down trees, eat almost anything, and have very good vision. Bears who have been in cages all their lives have to be taught some of these things. The folks working with the bears not only manage the construction of the new enclosure, but also train the bears~they have to learn about electric fences, and are given enrichment toys to explore, like logs, hammocks, balls, and a swimming pool to splash around in. All these things are in a smaller training enclosure, and also in the larger one.

Jonathan and I went into the forest early, so we offered our help in the afternoons, and Nev, the man in charge, took us up on the offer! We got to chop rattan, play with high voltage electric fences, and help make enrichment toys for the bears in their new 1 hectare enclosure. On Friday, October 10th, several people from Free the Bears and Wildlife at Risk arrived at Cat Tien to help and watch the release of the bears into the BIG, NEW enclosure. There was also a film crew from a show called Extinction Sucks, that will begin airing on the internet in February.

The release was good. They let out 3 females and one male. 2 of the females went out easily and stayed out all night! The other 2 bears went out, found the electric fence, and didn't want to go back out. It will take some time, but eventually the goal is to have a group of males out one day, and a group of females out the following day. All of the bears will need to come back in at night, though, so it won't be a permanent home for the moment.

The picture above is of 2 bears, Bouncer and Spike. This was the first time they had been in the training area together. They wrestled and played together for over an hour! If you'd like to learn more about Free the Bears, click on this link: http://www.freethebears.org.au/

Working in the Forest

2008-10-07T02:02:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Jonathan and I are both back in Cat Tien. We have had 3 productive days in the forest so far. We had 3 beautiful, clear days so the forest dried out a bit after the big storm on Thursday. We did some excellent work on re-establishing one transect and were very excited about getting the other 2 completed. We were ready to get out to Bau Sau again and get to work!

We now have a motorbike, but the road is usually pretty muddy, so we rented bikes to see how the road was. It took us 2 hours to get out to the lake- it should've only taken 1 but the crank on Jonathan's bike kept falling off. We arrived, ate some bread, then headed in to the transect.

The terrain here is much different than at Ben Cu. The ground is very muddy with lots of volcanic pumice stone. We hiked in about 2 km and began working. After a few hours of looking for trees that should've had tags on them and didn't, we were exhausted and ready to head back to headquarters. As we started hiking back it started to rain, and kept raining. The thunderstorm came and sat right over us. I was SO terrified! The lightning was so close I couldn't even count to 1-one-thousand! It was all around as we hiked down the trail, which had turned into a stream as all the rain flowed down the trail. When I made it out of the forest, with our bikes, I threw them and myself on the ground. I didn't care if I was covered in leeches, I just didn't want to get struck by lightning!!!

The storm finally passed over, we rode our bikes back through the mud and muck, and I just worked on calming myself down.

We've been back to that part of the forest a few times since then. At first I was really nervous, watching the clouds VERY closely through the canopy of trees. I've managed to calm down and like the forest again!

ChoLon

2008-09-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 27, 2008

We are here in Ho Chi Minh City. We arrived a few days ago. Jonathan gave a talk at the Center for Biodiversity. We've enjoyed hanging out here with Bert and Sherri. We've been wandering around town visiting markets and looking for chairs for the terrace at Bert and Sherri's house. Today we accomplished our mission of finding chairs!!

In the city, there are so many ways to travel. My favorite way to travel is by walking. It is nice to see the city at a slow pace and I have the opportunity to chat with people. If I get hot and tired I can take a rest and maybe have a soda or some water. The problem is that I can't go very far, though. If I need to get someplace quickly I can take a taxi, but taxis can be expensive. There are xe xiclos (bicycle taxi) and xe oms (motorcycles. OM actually means HUG). Sometimes they can be a bit scary, though with the traffic, but they will take you exactly where you need to go. The city buses are cheap- many people use them. The challenging part is that they have a route and you have to figure the route out. I love trying to figure out how to use the buses- how do I get on? How do I tell the driver I want to get off? When do I get off? There is just so much involved in riding the bus!! It's so fun and a true accomplishment when I can figure it out.

Well, Jonathan, Sherri, and I rode the bus down to Cholon!! That was kind of the easy part since the bus stopped right at the bus station in Cholon. We ventured out and got on a different bus coming home, and had no problems! WooHoo for us! :)

We visited the market there, where we bought some things for dinner, and got some chairs for the terrace. Here are some pictures of the market!!

Bau Sau

2008-09-27T18:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 22, 2008

Crocodile Lake

This morning I went with the botany class out to Bau Sau (Bo S0). We took a big truck out to the lake, and on the way saw a douc jump from one tree to another right on the side of the road! I need to have my camera out and ready for unexpected and amazing things like this!

Once we arrived at the trailhead, we got suited up and began our walk. The hike is 5k, or a bit more than 3 miles. We started out slowly, looking at the trees and collecting samples of the leaves. Then we had to pick up the pace- it would've taken us several hours to get there if we had continued poking along! About halfway there we came upon a BIG tree! Oh my gosh! I have never seen a tree so big! I love the idea of big trees- a living thing that has been on Earth for hundreds of years, maybe untouched, but standing strong through endless changes to the world around it. One thing I must do is go visit the Redwood Forest in California. I think I would be moved to tears there!

After the big, beautiful tree, we went pretty quickly out to the lake. Most of the trail was very wet and kind of slippery. There is a big boardwalk out to the ranger station, and a last little stretch of trail that has orange soil! I saw some deer tracks in the soil here, but those were the only signs of animals- no monkeys or gibbons.

Once we arrived at the ranger station, which overlooks the lake, we had lunch. It was incredible! The rain clouds came in over the lake, sprinkling a bit as we ate. Just before we left, some larger, darker clouds were coming, and they brought a great deal of rain as we nearly ran the 5k back to the road.

2008-09-24T17:35:00.000-07:00

Vat=leeches

2008-09-18T00:16:00.001-07:00

Friday, September 19, 2008

I slept in a bit this morning- I have been feeling like I have a cold or allergies. I hope it is just a cold because I don't want to be allergic to the forest! :) After breakfast we went into the forest to walk one of Jonathan's transects.

At first I was really confused about this, so I will explain it. Jonathan's transect is a straight line in the forest. It is 250 meters long and 8 meters wide (4 meters on each side of a center line). Last year Jonathan set up 3 transects- he marked off the line and put tags on any trees in the area that were bigger than 10 cm in circumference. We walked one of the transects to see if any of the tags needed to be replaced, and to see if we could find all of the trees. We will walk the transects 2 times each month to observe the trees: do they have leaves? Do they have flowers? Are there any fruits in the trees? This will be very useful when we start to observe the monkeys. We will follow them, watch what they are eating, and then try to gather samples. The monkeys, called Black-shanked doucs, are pretty shy, so it will take some time for them to get used to us.

It is the rainy season right now, which means that the forest is really muddy, and there are LOTS of leeches. At first I was afraid of them. All I knew of leeches came from watching Stand By Me-scary little things that stick to you and suck your blood. YIKES! But they are not that bad. I had one on my wrist the first day in the forest and I didn't even know it was there! They are pretty interesting and I am kind of curious about them. What do they do when it's not wet? What is a leech's life cycle like? When I have Google again I will have to investigate!! If you want to see some, check out the video below!

du lich= traveling

2008-09-13T01:27:00.000-07:00

So... I had this great idea for my next post- I wanted to put a map of Vietnam up with all the places we visited. The names would be links to some photos and cool information about each place...but it took me a while to just do the map, and I think the whole link-thing might be beyond my ablities at this point..so I will just put the map up, and then put some photos of each place. That way, you, my guests to my blog, will have something else to look at besides my "2 days to go" post.

We, Jonathan, Jackie-Mama, and P-ray, spent about 3 weeks traveling from Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam to Hanoi, in northern Vietnam. We mostly traveled by bus- sometimes short, comfortable trips; other times long, overnight, uncomfortable trips. We spent about 2 days in each place exploring the sights, sounds, smells, etc. There is a lot more I can say about each place, and I will, while you are enjoying photos of each location, in the order that we visited them. For right now, though, here's the map of where we went!

2008-08-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

Two more days...

2008-08-16T07:18:00.000-07:00

YIKES! It is Saturday, August 16th. It is raining and cold ( 50*F). The mountains here in Colorado are even getting SNOW already! Rumor has it that this is the coolest, dryest (only 96% humidity!) weather we will see for the next year, so I guess I better enjoy it while I can! Here are some questions we have been asked:

Are we ready?: Yes and no. We are ready to start the journey to Vietnam, but we still have so much to do.

Are we packed?: Um, I will let the photo answer that.

What are we taking?: The photo might help with that, but we have our clothes, cameras, a weather station, computers, PDAs, plant press, gps units, spotting scope, tripod, leech socks...

Where will we live?: We will be living in Cat Tien National Park, in southern Vietnam. We will not be "roughing it" as much as others who have gone into the field before us. We will be staying in what is essentially a hotel room at the park headquarters. I have never been here so I don't know for sure, but I will update you as I learn more about what it is we are doing!

What will you be doing?: My husband, Jonathan (pictured above) is doing his dissertation research on a monkey called the Black-shanked Douc. To find out more, check out the following sites:

http://www.colorado.edu/news/r/e6a85395b3b54a4c3545bdad8ba2c7cf.html

http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2008/aug/11/fulbright-scholar-cu-track-monkeys/