As the Buddhists Say:

"No way to happiness, happiness is the way."

Our first lecture on the culture and history of the Mekong Delta taught us this proverb, as well as a slough of other interesting facts about Vietnamese beliefs, culture and identity.(the lesson also included a rousing rendition of Oh My Darling by our professor) Almost as exiting as the lecture were the 20 or 30 students who showed up to watch us learn, and talk to us afterward. They were all extremely enthusiastic, and there was much name writing and phone number exchanging. They insisted that we join them after our language class for some sugar cane juice and Che Boui (which is apparently a pudding made from some kind of bean, dried grapefruit husk, and coconut innards boiled together). Both were delicious, and the company was certainly lively.

I had fried chicken for lunch today, it was very fancy and very expensive ( about $2.50), but it was worth it. We had chicken again for dinner at a karaoke club place that was blaring euro-pop and backstreet boys for the entire meal.

I towed my roomate to class this morning with a bedsheet tied to our respective bikes, and only almost crashed and died once. His bike has now been fixed, and all 6 of our bikes are back in working order, though I still need a lock. My quest for an electric razor is ongoing, and may never be completed, so don't be surprised when I come back looking like Jonathan Frakes on season two of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

View of Hai Ba Trung, the street on which our guesthouse is located.

Laundry. We made a makeshift plug using a cup and a can of beer (333-vietnam brew)
Duy and Khoa, with bowls of Che Buoi.
Most of the group and our Dai Hoc Can Tho entourage.

Happiness to Everybody

View from our balcony at the guesthouse. The other side of the river, mostly fishing-family houses.

Another view from our balcony. That's the Mekong River, btw.

Quite possibly the most flattering picture taken of me this trip. Featuring "Comrade Repsol", my bike.
"Glorious Feats. Waste Basket. Happiness to Everybody"


Today was our first full day in Can Tho, and the beginning of classes for the next 6 weeks. We've bought bikes, helmets, cell phones, SIM cards and some other long-term items for our stay. Three of us had bike troubles, myself included, though my mishap was a bit less serious than the others. It appears that the people who sold me my bike didn't tighten the pedal bar to the bike very well, so it came loose (and off) while I was biking in the middle of the road. Luckily we were traveling with an envoy of Tien's (the program assistant) pals on motorbikes, who were able to locate a guy on the street who could fix it. It cost 3,000 dong (about 17 cents american) for him to put a new nut on the pedal bar (which he got our of a coffee can filled with a variety of nuts and nut like pieces). Best of all was his hat, an old old white and red Michigan hat! This whole process, from breakage to fixage took less than 5 minutes, which is one of the many reasons I'm beginning to love this city. Unfortunately, one of my groupmates had a less fortunate accident, when his chain broke clean off his bike, and he had to be towed to the guesthouse by tying his chain to the back of another bike and holding it while on his own bike. His hand is still recovering.
I had bread for the first time in almost a week, a small pastry at the University cafe; it cost about 6000 dong (40 cents).
Yesterday we went to a public pool on bike-back, and made a LOT of friends. Us westerners are quite the spectacle, expecially to the younger generation, who are less timid and always want to practice thier english. We had a blast, though I did loose my bike lock keys, which meant breaking the lock with a hammer. No big deal, I guess.
Today: saw Vodka for sale: One Liter = 14,000 dong ( 60 cents)
Pictures of Can Tho tomorrow.

Vietnam-"Can Tho" Attitude

A post of some photos this time, as I am too tired to be coherent. I am in Can Tho now, and will stay here for 6 weeks, studying and immersing. More on that next post.




Hot Pot, Elsa, and Tien (our Program Assistant)
Aflack, Afack, Aflack,Aflack. Ducks on the ferry across the Mekong.
I bought a rice mold from these women in the market in HCMC.
I bought some dates from her.
Tomorrow's Post: Bike Buying, Pool Swimming, Menthol Water Drinking, and more..

Vietnam-One Hundred Percent

"Tram Phan Tram!", or literally one hundred percent (hundred per hundred) is the traditional vietnamese exclamation when downing your drink in one gulp. Tonight was our first free night, and the 6 of us chose to spend it at a bar. ended up at a place called "Allez Boo" in the backpacker district. It was not, as I expected, a French-Haunted House themed restuarant, but rather a touristy 3 story place with a hoard of very friendly, flanel wearing waitstaff, who were all too happy to intorduce themselves to you on the street and herd you into their establishment with shouts of "very good" and "happy hour." We did get a deal though (6 free shots of vodka brand vodka), and a great view on the third floor. Not a bad night all in all.

Statue at one of the peoplees committee buidings in HCMC. I'm pretty sure the round thing on the left is sputnik.
I'm heading to bed, chao nha.

Vietnam-If you pretend the motorycle isn't there, it won't hit you.

The title of this post sums up the basic strategy for anyone trying to cross a busy Vietnamese road (like those in Ho Chi Minh City, where I am now). As long as you walk out from the curb at a steady pace, the traffic will flow around you, anticipating your movement. It's a very Zen sort of pedestrian philosophy. Or it would be, if it weren't for the thousands of screaming motorbikes and busses flying past you at unspeakably un-safe speeds.

Pho - is delicious.


My first glimpse of Vietnam. The closer we got to HCMC the harder it became to see anything below the thin cloud cover. In fact, we reached a point where the clouds were completely covered by yellow smog, which, besides ruining the view for the rest of the flight, made the clouds look as if they were encased in amber, or floating in some sort of yellow tincture.
Hours Spent Sleeping / Hours since travel began = 4/45

Vietnam-time is an illusion

I knew something was wrong when the display on my 747-200 personal video screen read 28:31 as the local time in Hong Kong, our destination. Now I'm no five star general, but I'm pretty sure military time stops at 23:59 and resets at 0:00.
This strange occurrence pretty much sums up my temporal experience for the last 29 hours. The only connection I had to real time was my watch alarm going off, telling me to take my anti-malarial meds.
The sun is rising here in Hong Kong, and one of our group, Jens, is playing some sweet soft tunes on his travel-size guitar. I feel as though my day should be ending, but in 4 more hours, we'll be in Ho Chi Minh City, (supposedly) ready to start our first day of orientation.

The package reads: "Pasturized Process Cheese Food Swiss-Type Flavor"
Was this from the Hong Kong flight? Nope, the Detroit-L.A. flight.
More to come, after I change my clothes...

this is what happens when you're the last one to leave!

evening all, margaux here. as i am the last one to depart these united shores, and our dear tk is to depart tomorrow, i took it as my solemn duty to fool around on google maps for about forty-five minutes and try to come up with a map that will show our various locations relative to each other and our home base. enjoy my limited handiwork, complete with witty commentary on what we shall all be doing in our respective locations. cheers :)

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?hl=en&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=112208654847691010549.000461fa181090f77d990&ll=49.15297,-150.46875&spn=105.541001,315&z=2