The Beach of Hon Chong

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!