over the mountain

on day 13 of our trip we travelled by bus from nha trang to da lat....nha trang is a beautiful beach city, and da lat is located in the central highlands...travel by car or bus in viet nam is very different than here...there are not highways, so it's a little slow....a 100 mile trip, which might take us 2 hours, takes 3-4 hours in viet nam....

so, here we get on the bus early in the morning in nha trang to head to da lat....the trip would take about 4 hours, and we would have to go through the mountain pass to get there....it had rained during the night, and it was still a little cloudy, but there was no rain falling when we left....as we got into the mountains, our guide explained that the government was working on widening the road, so it was a little dug up, but the last trip he had, they couldn't take this road, so he was excited it was open again....

once we were pretty high up into the pass, the road became very muddy....very muddy....there were many other buses and cars on the road and with all the construction on it, it was very narrow....many times we had to stop to allow cars and buses coming from the opposite direction to pass....but as we got farther into the mountain and pass, the mud got worse and deeper....then one of the buses in front of us got stuck....

the people on the bus got off and pushed it out of the mud....however, it didn't stay unstuck for long...

 

our very skilled driver did a good job and stayed behind and did a great job driving us through the mud...we didn't get stuck, but we continued to watch the red bus in front of us get stuck....then we came to a hill tribe village....the people there were fascinated by all the cars and buses trying to get through the mud...

one of their houses...while we were travelling through this village the red bus got stuck once again...

as they got the bus moving again....our driver tried driving through a different part of the road, so we didn't meet the same fate....and our luck had been great so far, though we were already an hour behind schedule....but our luck soon ran out....as our driver and his helper were trying to get us through the village, the bus stopped moving....there we were, stuck....then the driver, our guide, and the helper all put their brains together to figure out how to get us out....

they made us all move to one side of the bus, thinking the extra weight would give us enough traction to get us moving...that didn't work....then they started to talk to the villagers....and asked for help....during this time, most of the village was out of their houses, watching us....

 

a few even took our pictures....eventually our driver and guide reached an agreement with the villagers about a price for their help....their original price was 1,000,000 vnd....they reached a compromise to 250,000vnd....the villagers then started pushing the bus....but the bus wouldn't move...so, they found some gravel from the construction and started using wheelbarrows of gravel under the wheels....the bus started to move...and we weren't stuck anymore!  the villagers however, upped the price to 500,000 vnd....and when the money wasn't crisp enough for them, they fought the driver and our guide about that....but eventually, they got their money and we continued on our way...

i am happy to report that we didn't get stuck again, and neither did anyone in front of us...we made it to da lat, about 2.5 hours late, but our group didn't mind...we were happy to be at our destination....

another semester gone by

tomorrow is friday of finals week, to end fall 2009....this semester was one for the books...and as i look back on it, i can't believe i made it to this point...

this semester i covered one of my CD's maternity leave...that meant for the first time in 5 years, i was doing RA one on one's and RA staff meetings....at first i wasn't sure i would know what to talk about with the staff or if i would even remember how to have RA one on one's, but it wasn't too bad....some of it came back to me quickly, some of it more slowly....i was extremely lucky to have a grad student who tracked their programming and just kept me informed of when they were fallen behind....so, that piece had support....the staff was extremely patient with me, as i tried to find my feet again in these meetings....it's funny how fast your supervision brain can change when you go from undergraduates to professionals...and it's hard to go back...

their staff meetings were also different....they were held in conjunction with the other RA staff in my area....the other CD, myself, and our grad ran them together....i am used to professionals getting a little cranky about things, or the ebbs and flows of their semesters...but i have forgotten how week to week the RA lives can be so different....these meetings were held on a day where i went into work at 8:30am and worked straight until midnight....i attended two area council meetings and RA staff meetings during the evening...it made for a long day....and most days i wasn't sure how i would get through...

as you know, i took a three week vacation through this all....it's true, during a 10 week maternity leave, i took 3 weeks off....the grad supervised the staff with lots of support from my other CD....everyone survived just fine....

we had a new conduct system put into place this semester....one that seemed like it would be okay for us- the area really didn't have a lot of conduct issues in the past....that didn't seem true this semester....our case load was heavier and with the new system, things were slowed down....i have been more involved with it than ever before....and if you know me, my dream job would have no student conduct responsibilities....i know it won't ever happen, but a girl can dream....

i asked to work 5 hours a week in our student affairs assessment office....i felt that i needed to learn more about assessment and expand my skills....if i want to be in charge someday, it's a skill i will need to have....these hours have been amazing and the amount i am learning and able to do has been great....i am excited to keep working in this office and continue to learn....i am working on a project right now that is really helping me to see all different sides of assessment and evaluation....i can't wait to see the end product....the other great thing about this experience has been working in a different office and seeing how other offices function on our campus...

safe zone continues to grow...this year i have been able to take on 2 collateral RD's to work 10 hours each week with it....this has given me the chance to get more groundwork completed and continue to get our name out there....our trainings have brought some new a different people to the safe zone....the conservative newspaper executive board came to a training.....the health and counseling centers were trained.....and a few others along the way...we've been able to create a train the trainer program, so starting in the spring new people can be trained to do training....a website has been started, though still needs lots of work....and an advertising program is on it's way, though we have no money to have posters printed....that's a task for the spring.

through all this, i still took one class....i started with two, but had to drop one because i had a sense of reality with my work load....i got through my one class, it was enjoyable....the professor was a little all over the place....but i made some new friends....and had the chance to write part of a strategic plan....something i have wanted to learn to do, and now i have the knowledge and skills to do it....

so, this fall has been a semester to remember....i look back at it and wonder how i made it to december, but here i am....i guess it's true life never gives you something you can't handle...

some random pictures of Viet Nam

now that the first snow has come and it's cold, it made me think of viet nam and the warm weather...i was telling someone at work how i would love to move there....so, here are some more pictures of my trip and the country that seems to have my heart right now.

the food

i was very nervous going to viet nam about eating....lesley had sent me an email right after i booked the trip to tell me the top 5 foods in viet nam- dog, snake, scorpions, and rats...then she asked me what i would try-my response was none of the above...as the months went by, she would send me other foods or drinks that we would find and what would i try....it included snake wine, sheep intestine wine, crickets, and advocado wine....so, my nerves about what we would be fed, grew as the trip came closer....

once we arrived in hanoi, our first meal was dinner....but first our arrival....we got to the hotel and our guide took us for a tour of the neighborhood, so we could feel more comfortable getting around...especially crossing the streets....as we walked through the neighborhood, i noticed lots of things that were very different than what i would see in the u.s.....the first was there were chickens and roosters just wandering around....the next was there were lots of dogs around....i was worried that these dogs were what they ate....

we went to dinner at a restaurant called, "the bannana flower"....there were 8 courses....well, 4 courses, but the entrees had 5 different things....in viet nam you eat family style, so our very long table for 16 was divided into groups of 4, which shared each dish as it arrived....our meals always included water and tea, but you could order beer, soda, or other drinks for a little money....and i do mean little...a can of coca-cola light cost 15,000 vnd (vietnamese dong)....that is less than $1.00....i got a hanoi beer with this dinner, it cost me 20,000 vnd....now onto the food..

our first course was banana flower salad...the salad was served in the banana flower and was delicious....it was a little sweet, was made from the inside of the flower...our next course was HaNoi fried spring rolls....we would eat alot of spring rolls over the next 19 days....once those two courses were over, the main meal started...there were three meat dishes, one vegetable, and rice...we had grilled skewer of pork, fried battered chicken with sweet and sour sauce, sauteed fish with five spices sauce, stir-fried vegetables, and steamed rice....there was not one thing that was put in front of me from this meal that i turned away.....even the fish....our dessert was a flambe banana...
now all our meals were many courses....all came with a variety of dipping sauces- most of which were fish sauce with different stuff in it....we were served alot of fish, most of which i ate...though anything that was too boney, i didn't eat....

one of our meals in Hoi An was a cooking class....our cook was very funny and really incorporated us alot....we first learned how to use banana leaves to cook meat, similar to how we would use tin foil...that night we cooked tuna in the leaves....then we learned to make spring rolls...each person in our group got up and got a chance to roll a roll...it was hysterical...another thing i really enjoyed eating in viet nam was the fruit....everything was sooo fresh, but especially the fruit...i don't eat much fruit here, but i couldn't get enough of it there....the markets were full of fresh fruit, including these dragon fruit...each morning for breakfast i would eat pho and fruit....it was like being in heaven for me....it is probably the meal i miss the most, the pho....one of our last meals was in the mekong delta...we ate elephant ear fish....it is called that because it looks like an elephant ear (an asian elephant, not african)....in the end my fear of the food was unwarrented....there were some different things i did try, those are for another time....i miss the food....it was one thing i couldn't get enough of....

the people

so, the people of viet nam are incredibly friendly....everywhere we went people said hello to us and asked us where we were from....now some of these people tried to sell us stuff, but overall, it is a friendly place....

there is a difference between the people in the north and the south...the northerns are a little more closed...when khanh was explaining it to me it sounded the way that new englanders are often described here...the people in the south were much more open and talkative....

the people of viet nam believe heavily in tradition and looking forward, not back....everything they do has a reason and they don't waste anything....they are hard working and don't have debt....if you live there you don't buy anything unless you have the money for it....your house doesn't get built until you have the money for it....they work many hours a day and on weekends...sunday is family day and people will travel far to spend time with their families....

it is an expectation of the oldest son to take care of the parents as they age....no child moves out of their parents house until they get married....people work until their children are able to support them or they get ill....if there is no son in the family, father will speak to the daughter's husband's family to see if they will allow their son to live with them....it made me think alot about how we treat our own parents as they age....or how some parents don't want to live with their children....

here are some pictures of the people i saw.....

these farmers are harvesting ricethis farmer is feeding his water buffalo

this is mrs. viet...she is showing us how to make rice paperthis is our host family for our home hosted meal in DaLatthis is an example of how much stuff they put on their motorbikes

Viet Nam

the trip of a lifetime has come and gone. i couldn't wait for it to come and when the time came to leave, i couldn't imagine what i would see or do....all i knew of viet nam was the war...well, i didn't really know the war, i just knew there was a war....a war that my father was a veteran of which he never spoke of....so, when it came time to board our first flight out of boston, i didn't know what would lie ahead...what if i couldn't eat the food? what if i couldn't figure out how to use the squat toliets? what if the hotels are scary and full of bugs and other things? it could be the longest 19 days of my life....

we spent over 27 hours in planes and airports....we left at 8am on a tuesday and arrived at 11:30pm on wednesday....the sun did not go down until we left tokyo, wednesday evening.... we lost a day travelling to asia...the time difference between boston and tokyo is 14 hours....between boston and bangkok (our final destination on wednesday) is 12hours....on wednesday our journey ended in bangkok for the night....we arrived at the hotel there after mindnight and had to be up and ready to go again by 7am....so, a short nap is what we had....

on thursday morning we met our group members....the other people we would be spending the next 14 days with....from the start it was obvious i was the youngest person on the trip....i would soon learn i was the only non-retired person on the trip.....we took another flight into viet nam and arrived in Ha Noi....our journey was about to begin....this is our group...



my trip to viet nam was an adventure...it was full of learning and discovery....i was able to do things and see things that i could have never seen if we did this trip on our own....i have been trying to decide the best way to write about the trip....i could do day by day, or by topic...i am going to attempt to do my blogging by topic....from the food to the education system to the war and everything in between.....i hope you will enjoy them....as much as i enjoyed experience every minute of it.

camping

labor day weekend a few of us decided to go camping....we searched out a site and decided on one in the adirondacks....it was called limekiln lake- not far from old forge....this was my second time camping this summer and i was happy to be in the woods and unavailable to the world....

so, we arrive on our campsite and the first thing the attendant explained to me was about black bears...she warned not to leave any food out on our site, in our car, or in the tent....all food needed to go into the food locker...or as i call it, the bear locker





the thought of bear walking onto our campsite to take our food caused me not to sleep all night out first night....but in the morning we had a nice visit from a different woodland creature, which made me feel better about the bears...





Overall, the weekend was relaxing and gave me lots of time to try out my new video camera before i head to vietnam with it....here are some pictures too...

our lakea campfire-my fava view from up above