Goodnight Vietnam

I am sitting here on my cluttered bed in Saigon as I take a short break from the seemingly impossible task of fitting 3 suitcases worth of luggage into 2.  Throw in a few delicate gifts from my students and you've got a very fragile game of Tetris.  All I can do is wish for my mom's help as I sit here pondering whether my clothes have indeed multiplied or my suitcase has amazingly shrunk.

As you can probably gather from my cheesy title, this is my last day in Vietnam.  Two months ago I greeted Vietnam with a smile and eyes wide with eagerness, but tonight, at 11:50pm, I will bid this nation adieu.  Two months ago I was eating Pho for the first time around a crowded table as we all awkwardly tried to get to know each other, but tonight I will go to the airport surrounded by the very good friends I have made in Vietnam.  Two months ago, I was just beginning my summer and could hardly even imagine getting to the end, but tonight I will reach the conclusion of my adventure.

We left Quang Tri in a flood of tears.  After the Culture Show on Sunday night, the waterworks had started.  Kids clung to us like barnacles, refusing to ever let go.  After spending about an hour telling our students how proud we are of them, especially Sang who overcome her shyness to perform a beautiful solo at the show, and our students reiterating how they will never forget us, it was time for us to say goodbye for the night.  The adorableness of these kids hit us all hard and I think I speak for most of us when I say we were struggling to hold back tears as well.

On Monday, we had a lot of prepping to do before we left Quang Tri, so we were running around like chickens with our heads cut off, but amid the commotion the students overran our guesthouse trying to say their last goodbyes.  I will always remember Nhuyuen's face as she asked me in the cutest broken English if I would be her brother, or Hien's rubbed-red eyes as she made me pinky swear to come back to Vietnam and see her.  Crying children is definitely one of the most heartbreaking things in the world.  As our bus pulled away, the best any of us could do was to not look, in fear of being pushed over the edge.

And saying goodbye by to our roommates was another event filled with lasting hugs and crying people.  The scene could have come straight from a movie as we stood on a train platform, saying goodbye as we waited for a night train to Saigon.  Many roommates gave us departing gifts.  Phuc gave me an awesome tie, Cash McCracken style, Khanh armed Bryn with engraved nunchucks, Hung surprised Justin with a 16ft fishing pole (collapsible of course), and Vui satisfied Corinne's love of peanut butter with home roasted peanuts.  For many of us "See you again" or "I will return to Vietnam" will be empty promises, but I think many of us will do the best we can to come back here now that we have made great, life long friendships.

So after 8 weeks of teaching English, building a fence, two playgrounds, and renovating three schools, all that is left to do is survive one last flight, finally taking me home.

So thats all I got.  As much as I would like to write more, my life in America is far less interesting than the past two months I have had here.  So thanks to everyone who has been keeping up with my blog this summer, and those who haven't, you are dead to me...  For anyone who is thinking about travelling to Vietnam in the future, I am now an expert on the country so please please please email me at ngbalk@gmail.com.  I have now traveled to most places in this country that tourists would go, and I have friends in most major cities who are extremely hospitable and, more importantly, good at English.

See you State-side,
Nick

Finishing Strong

the maw

Its been a while since my last blog post, and I know my peeps back home have been anxiously awaiting the next installment of my journey.  Compelled by a motherly email requesting more posts, I bring this one to you today.  My blog now officially has over 1300 page views, so if you subtract the 700 times I have refreshed my blog page to get my page count up and the 588 times my mom has nervously checked my blog to make sure I am still alive, I estimate that a total of 12 people have looked at my blog once, 6 people twice, or, what I think is the most likely scenario, my sister has checked it 12 times at which point she died of boredom going for the 13th.  So mom, I am still alive and well, and Sarah, you still owe me $45 from Christmas.  Lets proceed.

On Monday morning, about 4 days from now, I will be sitting on yet another 24 hour train ride Saigon bound, relegating the community in Quang Tri and all of the experiences here to my memory.  But I am not yet sad because I know that this last week will certainly be one of the best. DukeEngage is going to finish strong.

Now this is the Vietnam I see in the movies!

As my mom already knows from my short (but loving!) email to her, this weekend I saw probably the coolest thing I have ever seen and could probably imagine, other than Aven rocking two monacles.  This weekend we saw Phong Nha caves and Paradise Cave, one of the longest cave systems in the world that was featured on National Geographic.  In the Phong Nha caves, two loud and rickety motor boats escorted our group into the gaping maw of a mountain, opening up into the elaborate and spectacular cave system within.  The boats switched off the motors and we silently navigated the inner sanctum.  Flood lights illuminated various stalactites ("c" for ceiling!) and stalagmites ("g" for ground!).  Huge columns formed over thousands of years of what looked like melting rock astonishingly clung to the walls us as we drifted slowly below.  Thousands of daggers hung dangerously from the ceiling, setting the scene for a horrid Final Destination movie.The boats made two stops where we could get off and walk around, opening up into even more awe-inspiring sites.  Vietnam's general lack of, well, rules, made walking around a little harder than one might think as we slipped and slid on moist stone.  I wasn't too worried because the jagged stalagmites would probably break my fall... It was difficult to grasp the sheer beauty and power of the cave, even in person, so I hope these pictures and descriptions will inspire even a fraction of the impression I had.

We're going in!

Our next stop was another cave which, although less touristy, was even more mind blowing.  Recently opened to the public, this cave was concealed in a remote mountainous region.  After hiking a few kilometers through the jungle and up a mountainside, a narrow path led into the crack-like opening of the cave, revealing that this mountain was hollow, like the famous rebel city of Farthen Dur (Eragon for life).  As we entered this cracked egg, a narrow passage gave way to an enormous chamber filled with equally as beautiful stone chandeliers and fixtures.  A wooden pathway guided our way through what would have otherwise been a maze.  The cave opened up into an even bigger chamber, a chamber which was so tall, Justin and I could have sworn there was a misty haze, like a cloud, looming near the ceiling.  It was like a giant rock stadium, but way taller, like skyscraper tall.  Aside from its enormity, this cave strangely felt alive, like it was constantly growing and changing, perhaps even going through puberty.  The pitter patter of mineral-thick water droplets falling hundreds (maybe thousands?) of feet gave the chamber a natural rhythm.  You know how they say white kids don't got rhythm?  Well million year old caves sure as hell do. These drops, falling in the same spot for hundreds of years, deposit their sediment on the growing outcrops below (I caught one! which is apparently good luck...), creating these amazing feats of nature..  The shapes of these stalagmites tell very long stories; maybe the water hit, then splashed, then dripped, then shimmied, then back flipped or whatever, making these absurd shapes, like plants growing out of the ground.  The ground was also littered with the remains of fallen giants, stalagmites that had grown to heavy for their own support.  The chambers as a whole gave me an otherwordly impression.  The barren, sandy floor, the strange towers, the enormous passages, the untouched pools of water, the drip drop of water, alien-like natures of South Carolinians Eli and Caroline.  I felt like I was on Mars or something.  I swear, there has to be something equally as weird living in this strange habitat.  As we reached the end of the pathway, we could see that the cave went on and we had seen only a tiny piece of an enormous system.  I really wish all of you could have seen them in person, because pictures just cannot do them justice.  So multiply these pictures by a million, and that is how I felt.  Okay?

Natural decor

I think it is also important to note that the jungle surrounding this cave had legit vines.  Like George of the Jungle swing-from-tree-to-tree vines.  Did you know those are totally real?  Corinne tested it out and they are definitely strong enough to do some serious swings.  Thanks Corinne.

So this week is very exciting in Quang Tri because the Duke Engage Soccer Tournament begins.  Justin and Vu did a great job planning this tournament, so we have 18 teams and nearly 150 people participating!  The tournament is divided into a secondary school division and a high school division (although somehow that highschool division has a ringer team of 30 year old men...). The first day was a huge success and completely shattered our modest expectations for this tournament.  In addition to the teams, many more came just to watch.  The stadium was alive and buzzing with energy. Many people are saying this is the biggest soccer tournament ever held in Quang Tri, so the stakes are very high. Whether the players are motivated by supreme honor and glory or the prizes we are not sure, but the games are extremely competitive and quite rough indeed.  With Vu keeping the game under control at center referee and Justin and I trying our hand at linesman, we make up an unstoppable force of order and discipline that keeps the older games running smoothly.  I will say that being a linesman is harder than it looks and it took Justin and I a little getting used to.  "Point in the direction the ball is going" is a lot easier said then done, especially when shoeless legs are flailing simultaneously towards the ball.  The conditions in which these men play  would never fly under the almighty hammers of legendary yellow card wielding, striped shirt donning, whistle tooting Piedmont referees like Steve Schub and Alan Kneckley.  Shoeless, 1 shoe, socks, anything goes for these guys.  Regardless of their equipment, the older group plays at a very high skill level.  The quickness and ball control I see from some players rivals even some of the wettest in the BSAL.  Perhaps even the illustrious Nikolai Littleton.

This Vietnamese version of the "Dream Team" is taking our soccer tournament by storm.

We have a very awesome week planned for our last week of teaching.  Wednesday was a scavenger that went extremely well.  For 45 minutes, 5 teams of roughly 6 students scrambled around Quang Tri town trying to do things like take a picture with a cow, sing "Head Shoulder Knees and Toes" in the market, and spell out vocabulary words with their bodies.  My team heroically earned 2nd place behind An's unbelievable 1st place finish.  Other classes practiced songs and dances and a couple even came together to make ice cream Ms. Rohmer's-chemistry-class style.  Today we are having a final party with tons of fruit, drinks, and other treats.  We plan to give each of our students a picture of our class with our best wishes included.  I think its going to be an awesome day and our students are very excited.  Friday is a "Field Day" which Corinne has taken the reigns on.  With nearly 200 students, we will play American games such as Tug-of-War, Relay Race, and Capture the Flag.  I am confident everyone will have a great time and all will go well.

I may or may not have mentioned the "Culture Show", but on Sunday the CET- DukeEngage group will perform a 2 hour long show which we have been preparing every since we arrived in Quang Tri under the strict whips of Chandra Swanson, Trang and choreographer extraordinaire Divya Taneja.  So tonight we have rehearsal to get everything fine tuned (hopefully) and tomorrow we must perform a private show to the local censorship board or something like that.  Not sure if my pole dancing act is gonna fly, but we will soon find out.  Videos will be taken and posted, so hold tight and get ready for the show of a generation.  Vietnam's Got Talent should look no further because we are about to blow your face masks off.

See you in a week,
Nick

Hue, Baby

It's nearing that time of the week again where my fuel reserves are running low, my laundry pile is building up, clean underwear and socks are becoming scarcer and scarcer, and the weekend is right around the corner!  It's also that time of the week where I finally find time to update my blog and this time, after a short hiatus, I will include pictures!  So last weekend was totally sick, maybe one of the best weekends yet.  On Friday night, after scrambling to get packed after our post-teaching snack of Banh Tio, we hopped on a packed bus Hue-bound to GTFO.  These buses are insane.  For about 40,000 dong ($2!!!) you can take a van packed up to your noise with people and luggage on this 1 hour trip that would shame Mr. Toad.  Lanes and central dividers are merely suggestions, and very weak suggestions at that.  Oncoming traffic is no deterrent when valuable seconds could be saved by accelerating into the oncoming lane.  Finally we arrived in Hue and got ready for our night out.  Our resident Hue locals, Nhan and Triang, showed us to the coolest nightlife in Hue, this area full of backpackers, ex pats, and trendy bars with names like "DMZ", "Brown Eyes", and "Octopussy" (lost in translation hopefully...).  What we thought was going to be a chill night of sitting and talking quickly turned into jumping and dancing amid the sea of sweaty French and British people.  The people we were able to talk to all had very interesting stories.  Many were merely stopping through as they continued their motorcycle trip through Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam.  Others came to the see the sites.  Others came to see the women.  One friendly fellow hinted that Laos was the Amsterdam of South-East Asia.  Others told me I look like Jamal from "Slumdog Millionaire".  Everyone had something to say!

The next day we checked out various sites which I think the pictures can describe better than I can;  Citadel, Pagoda, Dragon Boat on the Perfume River.  While these were all awesome, the best was our stop for Italian food for dinner.  Oh how I missed you, Pizza.  We all inhaled our little tastes of the West and hoped that it would never have to go away, but alas, it did.  I salivate now as I think of that melted mystery cheese tickling my taste buds.  Why did you have to leave!!??!

Dream Team

Sunday had the beginnings of a classic lazy day, but at 3pm, it was all business.  In a match of the ages, the Duke Engage group took on the local village's competitive soccer team in an international battle that will surely premier in an ESPN Original Movie.  See Dad?  I told you I would be an international soccer star.  I finally made it!!!!  The community put together a whole shebang for this game.  Refs came and they even set up an announcers table with loudspeakers and everything.  It felt like the whole village was watching.With me holding down center back, Vu and Justin killing it in the midfield, and Hue star Hieu going strong up front, we were a killer force, but for most of the game, we were trailing: 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-1 etc, but in the second half, we came up stronger and pushed the game to a 4-4 tie.  And with a beautiful goal in the last few minutes, we took the win with a play that will certainly top Sportcenter's top 10 for weeks to come. Shoutout to Billy Burns for showing he has chum chums by dominating at fullback and Nguyen for showing tremendous hustle, ball control, and shooting ability up front.  Finally, Corinne Santoro channeled her inner Petr Cech by making unbelievable stops in goal.  Our 5-4 victory was not only a win for our insatiable egos, but also for our nation.  Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.

This week we made enormous progress on our projects and have actually, for the most part, finished both of the original projects.  The fence is completely erected and now all that is left to do is paint, and the playground is nearly completely laid.  Due to our sheer awesomeness, Alyce decided that we should take on some more projects.  Although at first we all may not have welcomed the notion of even more work, we realize that this is why Duke Engage is paying us to be here.  So we dutifully accepted our next two projects, painting the current elementary school and preschool and building another fence and playground for a neighboring preschool.  If all goes according to plan, in two more weeks we will have a renovated elementary school with a fence around it, a newly painted preschool fit with a small playground, fence, and garden area, and a fully tiled playground and mural for a different preschool.  Not bad for 7 weeks.  Everything seems to be coming together and we are all extremely excited to finally see our hard work come to fruition.

As I write this we our finishing our 36th day (if i counted correctly...) here in Vietnam.  With only two weeks left of work followed by some much deserved R and R in Saigon, the reality of this surrealistic experience is hitting us.  While I feel like I have been in Vietnam for ages, I am starting to understand that this awesome time does indeed have an expiration date, a date on which we will have to say goodbye to our roommates, goodbye to Alyce and Thao, goodbye to our students, goodbye to the contractors, goodbye to the nuoc mia and sinh to ladies, goodbye to the lunch lady, and goodbye to the community.  I think we are all still trying to come to grips with our bizarre and amazing lives everytime we stare out at the rice paddies and say to ourselves "Wow, am I really here?"  Soon enough, though, we won't be here, we will be somewhere else, and that incredulousness will only exist in our memories.

This weekend, Vu, Divya, Corinne, Justin, and I are taking advantage of our last free weekend by going to Hue tonight, the beach tomorrow, and the Eco-Tourism zone on Sunday to check out some monkeys.  We will stay at a guesthouse in Hue and gorge ourselves on some much needed hamburgers for dinner.  With hamburgers, the beach, and clean socks (I just did my laundry!), this weekend promises to be a memorable one.  And for all of those State-side, I must quote Justin in saying, "Have a good good time!"

Not counting down yet,
Nick

P.S.  Here are a bunch of awesome pictures.  Enjoy.

The canal outside our guest house

Mid morning swim

The famous Perfume River (not so perfumy in person...)

Vu relaxes in our luxurious guesthouse in Hue

Colorful view from our window

Breakfast at a French bakery in Hue

Hue's Truong Tien Bridge, designed by Gustave Eifel!  Can you see
the resemblance?

A busy street in Hue

Imperial City Gates in Hue

Our student "Suffering Wind's" 16th birthday party at a Karaoke bar!

Mid-Morning Laze...

Again, its a beautiful Friday morning here in Quang Tri, making it a perfect day to finally take a dip in the river outside of our guesthouse.  After a lazy morning at the worksite, we got back early and immediately decided it was time.  Chandra, Phuc, Corinne, Nhan and I (aka Super Awesome Action Adventure Team (SAAAT)) dove right in, so to speak, and immediately realized that this river is quite fast.  After trying to use the Bear Grills patented cork screw stroke to get out of the current (it didn't work) we swiftly floated down stream, soon accepting the strength of the water and becoming one with the flow.  Downstream there was a bridge where we simulated a few rescue missions, hence the Action Adventure (AA).  A most dopely awesome morning of lazing Myrtle style and it is almost time for lunch, but we have a big weekend planned!

This weekend we are going to the historically famous city of Hue.  While Saigon is the representative city of the South, and Hanoi of the North, Hue is the big city of the Central Region.  This actually used to be the ancient capital, so we are all very excited to see that Vietnamese version of the Forbidden City in Beijing and other cool historical stuff.  Hue is also famous for its night market, so we are all pretty pumped to check it out.  While we were supposed to go Saturday, some of us are headed over there today after class so we an spend an extra night and maybe do a little bar hopping...  I mean, its FRIDAY, right?  Chandra is graciously letting me use her camera so there will be pictures to accompany the next post.

4 more weeks-ly,
Nick

Da Nang Aftermath

Our trip to Da Nang was awesome!  I would definitely say that this was the best two days I have had throughout this whole trip, and I wouldn't be surprised if this trips stay atop the leaderboards for the remainder of our stay.  So at 5pm on Friday afternoon, 12 of us boarded a packed and sweaty van/bus Da Nang bound.  After about 3 hours of napping, Mafia, and Contact, we were greeted with bursts of thunder and lightning as we arrived in downtown Da Nang and made our way to the surprisingly luxurious guest house which, for only a few bucks per person, we were able to pack 12 people into two rooms for two nights.  You just can't get deals like that in the States.  Plus, sharing a bed with Andy Tran felt like more of an honor than a burden.  Waking up on Saturday, our awesome buddy Vu already had a action filled day planned for us, and oh did it live up to the expectations.  Breakfast consisted of a beautiful noodle (typical) dish across the street from the guest house which we all devoured and some of the boys (myself included) inhaled two like my sister with a jar of peanut butter.  Afterwards, Vu's amazingly accomodating uncle treated us all two a ca phe sua da (iced coffee) morning pick-me-up.  Vu's uncle, aunt, and cousins lived only a few houses down from our guesthouse, so we visited them regularly and used their house a sort of base camp for our various excursions.  To thank Vu's family, we purchased them a wonderful assortment of various fruit such as dragon fruit, apples, grapes, and mangos (sorry Eli, no chum chum).  Then, it was pagoda time! We all hopped into two taxis and drove up along the coast a few miles to the largest pagoda in Da Nang and probably one of the largest statues in the world!  This pagoda was quite a sight to be seen; nestled above a shore side cliff and overlooking the breathtaking Da Nang.  Outside of the pagoda was a huge, and I mean HUGE, statue of Buddha which is roughly the same height as the Duke Chapel!  Pretty awesome trip, thanks Vu.  Next, we made like Nicki Minaj and headed to the beach!  Vu picked out a local beach resort with perfect sand, clear water, and awesome thatch cabanas that we could rent out for the day.  With jars of peanut butter, bananas, bread, baguettes, cucumbers, chips, and a case of the local beer Biere Larue, we were set for the afternoon. We all showed our toughness by swimming out to various rocks and exploring the deep, but no one was a tough as Vu's little cousin Bien who dropped his trousers and peed right out on the sand for all to see.  That little boss practically owned the place.  I think I speak for everyone when  I say the beach hit the spot like MJ Dodds' "Special Waffles" on a Saturday morning.

After some quick showers, it was time to head to the internationally famous Hoi An.  This popular tourist destination has been preserved since colonial times and even before, making it a beautiful place to spend the day.  On the narrow streets of Hoi An, one can easily spot the mixture of Asian and French architecture in almost every building.  The sheer beauty of the city has attracted tourists from all over the world, so for the first time in a month, we saw foreigners! Many Australians, Germans, French, and of course, the Kiwis!   A quick side note about what it felt like to encounter tourists:  For some reason, and I think my fellow Duke Engagers can attest to this, seeing these tourists didn't arise any sense of patriotism, camaraderie, or any type of connection that I thought it might.  In fact, it kind of made me a little bit upset, the type of upset that one feels when a new kid joins your tightly knit sports team, pretending to be "in" with the group.  Not to say that I by any means am a local or even anything close to that, but I do feel that we have seen Vietnam in a way that tourists do not, and we have this sense of understanding of the substracture of people, culture, and personality that the touristy superstructure overshadows.  So to these tourists who probably won't speak a word of Vietnamese or leave these touristy areas while they are here, I just want to think how sad it is how limited their impressions of the country will be whereas we will have an unparalleled understanding of this place.  It was a strange feeling to view these people as outsiders, but also amazing to see how deeply we have been immersed in this country.  Alright, back to the story.  While some of us walked around and enjoyed the sites, others took advantage of the huge market and whipped out our Vietnamese bargaining skills.  I was particularly succesful in my ventures, getting  a 120,000 dong tank down to 70,000 and getting a 300,000 dong back pack down to 120,000 with a mixture of English and some canned Vietnamese phrases.  In a particuarly impressive example of ruthless bargaining, Divya bargained a piece of pineapple she had no interest in buying from 20,000 to 15,000, at which point she decided to instead buy a banana for 5,000.  A master at work.  After an overpriced, but good dinner, the sun set and the famous lanterns of Hoi An illuminated the street.  Along the river, the night was picture perfect with floating lanterns completing the scene.  After a little more shopping and some debating on whether or not to buy a lantern for my mom (which I ultimately didnt... sorry mama, it was a lot to carry), we headed back to Da Nang to get ready for our night on the town.

After some quick food, it was time to start getting ready for the night.  Vu and his cousin Tao planned for us to hit up a new and very popular club along the water.  When we got there it was already packed but Tao, being one of the coolest people ever, got us in no sweat.  The club was nuts.  The bass immediately hit me in the chest like Remy Orans's legendary quad kick.  We all had a great time chilling, dancing, and watching helplessly as creepy old men hit on the waitresses, but after paying a ridiculous bill, we followed Tao to her favorite bar, the Golden Pine Pub.  Once we got there the mood immediately changed as the lady friends in our group made their ways onto the bar top as "Call Me Maybe" came on.  I met a fat German engineer, two Kiwis, and lost in a game of pool, so obviously I was having a great night.  The bar was still packed when we headed out around 2am.

Although I was too tired the next morning, the others took a bus ride out to Marble Mountain, a huge mountain outcrop right outside the city.  Although I cannot say from first had experience, I heard that these mountains looked like the floating mountains in Avatar, but not floating of course.   Wish I had the energy to go.

For lunch, Corinne, Chandra, Divya and I returned to the bar to see if we could get some bar food, aka burgers, and for about 5 bucks, I had a huge double cheeseburger.  Oh My God was it good.  Vietnamese food is great, but sometimes a burger can just hit the spot.  At around 2pm, we hopped back on the bus and returned to Quang Tri, refreshed, regenerated, and (another "re" word) for another week of work.

In the aftermath of Da Nang, we had a few losses, tragic losses.  First, my supposedly waterproof to 14 ft camera is apparently only waterproof to don't-get-this-thing-anywhere-near-water-or-it-will-break ft.  Pretty stupid.  I am going to have a word with Samsung when I get back to the States and have nothing better to do.  So I buried it in a bowl of dry rice to see if the phone cure all also applies to cameras.  So I'm crossing my fingers (but not actually because crossing your fingers in Vietnam = middle finger in the US).  So I hope y'all understand why this post is devoid of photos.

The other loss was the our very own baby Diego has been stolen!  Apparently some "friends" of the guesthouse owner came and loved Diego so much, just like everyone who encounters him, that they took him against her will!  Although stealing Diego is totally something I would have done, I cannot stand for someone else doing it so the Vietnamese and American students are rallying our respective governments in a joint full scale military operation to return Diego to his proper owners, us.

Thats all for this weekend, and we have another hard week ahead of us so I should definitely get some sleep.  Feels good that we are taking advantage of our time in Vietnam by doing all we can do.  Loving the experiences.

Happy Friday!

Its Friday... Its the WEEKEND!!! This is one of those times where it feels nice to be a full half day ahead of the rest of the world.  This is a quick post because I have my Hawaiian shirt on which could only mean one thing... THE BEACH!!!  This weekend, about half of our group is headed southbound along the coast to the famous beach city of Da Nang.  This place is renown for its beautiful beaches, blue water, great weather, and fun bars, clubs, and of course, karaoke!  We had a hard week of teaching and building, so its time to relax beach side on the other side of the Pacific (you think I can see Stinson from here?).  So without further to do, its time to enter vegetable beach bum mode as I slowly cook from the outside in on a Vietnamese beach.  I'll try my best to pretend that me being checked out constantly on the beach has nothing to do with the fact that I'm a weird looking foreigner and has all to do with the fact that I am extremely attractive.  That's all folks.  Quick shout out to Mr. Dodds for the nice comment.  Glad to hear y'all are enjoying the blog!
Beachbum-ly
Nicker

Baby Diego!

I think its about time I let the world know about maybe one of the best things about Vietnam/ the World.... BABY DIEGO!!!  If somebody asked me 2 weeks ago, "What is one thing that could improve your experience in Vietnam", I would most likely give my normal response, "more puppies, duh!"  Lo and behold, at our guesthouse in Quang Tri we have the cutest little brown puppy which us Americans named Diego.  We thought the name fit perfectly, but what we didn't realize is that Vietnamese people have a hard time pronouncing Mexican names.  Who woulda thunk?  But anyway, quick Diego update.  He is currently teething so he will chew on just about anything near him, including but not limited to the socks that have mysteriously disappeared from my room.  And apparently he is also entering puberty because he will hump just about any leg that gets near him.  Don't worry people, I'll keep you updated on the many happenings of baby Diego.

The baby.

So I have had a big past couple of days and an even bigger weekend.  Let me first start off with a quick progress report on the school fence project.  We have completely finished the foundation and have made some serious progress on brick laying.  We have placed the bricks for 1/3 of the wall, so does that mean we are 1/3 of the way done?  Perhaps.  Either way, our contractor expects us to be finished by the end of next week at the latest, which is a whopping 3 weeks ahead of schedule, so we are gonna have to find some other projects to work on, but there is a lot of need in this community so I don't think we will have to much of a problem with that.  

Teaching is going very well.  Yesterday we had a great class, a class so great that 4 students actually left another class to join ours!  If teaching was a sport, which I'm starting to feel like it is, we are definitely winning.  Don't worry, I'm just kidding.  (But seriously, we are winning).  Yesterday our class loved learning "Love Story" by Taylor Swift, marking the official beginning of our indoctrination of our students to be good ol' Americans (aka obsessed with love sick teenage girls with a southern twang).  Soon enough the Communist Party will be stemming the spread of "Bieber Fever" rather than political opposition.  In addition to slowly corrupting the nation's youth, we have been teaching a little bit of English grammar which has made me realized how seriously stupid English is!  People have always told me that with English, "The only rule is that there are no rules", but I have just now realized how ridiculously true that is!  Teaching English to people who don't speak English is like trying to catch grape flavored jello with chopsticks.  You know what I mean?

17th parallel

But this weekend we did some pretty damn cool stuff.  We took a bus tour around the region, going to various places that were very important during the war.  First we went to a bombed out high school which has been preserved as a "reminder" of the war.  To our surprise, the students at the school 40 years ago were having a reunion and rehashing memories of the war, so we got to talk to a bunch of these people.  Many had vivid memories of the nonstop bombings in the area and were very open to sharing them with us.  But mostly they just wanted to take pictures with us just as we wanted to take pictures with them, so many pictures were taken and some people (cough Corinne cough) got a little more attention...  We were very lucky to have such an experience without even planning it.  Later we went to visit the 17th  paralell, the line that divided North and South Vietnam.  We were able to cross the bridge that connected the two, a bridge that 40 years ago would have been of limits to even the Ho Chi Minh himself.  Amazing to see how things have changed.  We also visited the famous tunnel systems that were used to house and transport troops during bombing raids.  This place was amazing.  A seemingly innocent landscape of shrubbery and trees along the coast was actually home to many kilometers of tunnels deep below the surface.  These tunnels were equipped with weapon storage rooms, bed rooms, bathrooms, wells, and even maternity rooms for the forty something children who were actually born underground.  Walking through them was even more amazing.  The ground, walls, and ceilings were all completely dirt.  No fortifying concrete.  Just dirt.  I definitely wouldn't recommend this trip to claustrophobic people.  The ceilings were built for the Vietnamese soldiers and obviously not Americans, so they were uncomfortably short for my 5'11" self (5'10.5" if you're gonna be a jerk about it).  With only a handful of lanterns placed periodically along the way, it was very dark and disorienting and I could only imagine what it might be like to be packed down there with hundreds of other frightened soldiers as thousands of tons of bombs exploded on the ground above. 

The tunnels

What are you looking at?

Let's go to the beach, beach!

Finally, our day was topped off with a relaxing trip to the beach where we played in the water, relaxed on the sand, played soccer with locals on the beach, and ate a seafood feast in a seashore restaurant.  It was awesome to be in the Pacific at the other end, which I found to be warmer and saltier if you were wondering.  And, in the typical awesomeness that is our Duke Engage group, we pulled off the elusive 4 stack.  What is that you ask?  The widely sought after and seldom achieved stack of 4 people on eachothers shoulders in the water.  With Vui on top like a cake topping, Krista below her, me holding down the 3rd stop with my huge muscles, and Justin supporting us from the bottom like Atlas holding up the cosmos but significantly more impressive, we created a 4 stack that will go down in history.

Right now I am prepping for my class this afternoon which should be fun as usual, but this weekend we are planning a trip down the cost to Da Nang!  So get excited, because we are.

Does Charlie like swimming?

Love,

Nick

The Swing of Things

Its starting to feel natural here in Quang Tri!  Thousands of miles away from home, I feel very comfortable with my group and I think we have all gotten in a good rhythm.  The 4:45am wake up calls are starting to feel not so terrible, the 20 minute bike treks are becoming routine, and the 4.5 hours of construction are fun as hell!  And most importantly and, to be honest, surprisingly, teaching has become comfortable.  I was always very nervous about this portion of the trip.  I was worried if I would be able to command a class, gain their respect, create a comfortable environment, and have enough energy to teach for 2 straight hours.  After about a week, I think we all have it down. Lesson planning is becoming easier and easier.  2 hours seems like an eternity to fill when we first started, but now we have more experience of what works and what doesn't and it doesn't seem like such an insurmountable task.  Class time is becoming less and less of something to merely get through, and more and more of something that I can have fun during.

I think yesterday is a perfect example of how much fun class can be. Yesterday we spent about half an hour teaching American slang to the class.  We tough them how to have a conversation in slang and hilarity ensued.
"What's up Dude!"
"Not much dude, what's up with you?"
"Not much!"

It was absolutely "Awesome" (another word we taught them).  And I think everyone had a great time, us included.  After class we took the entire class out for ice cream which was an absolute blast.  For about 13 bucks total, we got icecream for 28 people and let our class get a lot closer to eachother.  I think I speak for Divya, Krista, and Phuc when I say that I love our class and they are gonna be a lot of fun for the next 6 weeks.

Today we are taking a tour up to the 17th parallel and going to the beach, so I'll let y'all know how all that goes.  Maybe I'll find Charlie there. 
Ta ta for now,
Nick

Public Enemy #1

Not a bad view from the train

Good news and bad news people.  I am going to start with the bad news as people usually do.  If you prefer good news first then I suggest you skip down a couple of lines and read backwards.  So I am pretty sure that my blog has been censored in Vietnam.  For those of you who are unfamiliar with censorship, Vietnam has a history of censoring media and most recently censoring bloggers.  I guess I pose a serious threat to the government because I can no longer access my blog to look at.  I could be wrong (and probably am), but don't be surprised if my next post comes from the depths of a Vietnamese jail cell.  Actually they would probably censor that too.  Damn.

The goods news is that the guest house that we are staying in had WiFi installed today!  And thanks to our boy genius Billy, we can all access it and its running smoothly.  So this means I can post more often, check and send email more often, and do facebook things too!  Now that I think of it, this may be bad news for some of you people out there, in which case you are a jerk and I am not sorry.

Surrounded by women... what else is new?

Today was our third day of working and teaching and made for quite an exciting day.  Today young Vietnamese students training for the military graced us with their presence.  About halfway through our lesson plan, nearly 100 Vietnamese students dressed in fatigues led by seasoned Vietnamese soldiers donning countless medals and stripes entered the school and stepped into our classes.  They seamlessly fit into our lessons and I think they really enjoyed it!  With about 30 minutes left all of the teachers brought the students into the auditorium for group activities which, although with varying levels of success, worked very well and everyone was laughing and cheering.  It felt good to be in charge of over 300 students!  After our activities, everyone stuck around to take pictures with us.  Not to brag but many a shy girl came up to take pictures with us good looking dudes.  At least thats what I tell myself.  All in all an awesome day.

Minds to be molded.  Muahahaha!

Today I finally felt like I knew why I was hear.  As we stood in front of 300 students eating up every word we say, cherishing every moment with us, and jumping on any opportunity to learn about us, I realized how unique and valuable of an opportunity this is for every single student we teach.  Native English speakers have so much to offer in English classes.  These kids are used to learning from Vietnamese people who have learned English from Vietnamese people who have learned from Vietnamese and so on.  And thus there accents, intonations, and general grasp of the language can be quite skewed.  But to speak with a native speaker can give insight into how the language is supposed to be spoken.  And these kids know that.  I am writing this right after finishing up our lesson plan for tomorrow, and what yesterday felt like work, today feels like fun.  I'm pumped.

While it is only our third day, I can already tell that our class is awesome.  We only have two boys, but both boys are very smart and love to participate. I think it might be a trend in Vietnam for girls to learn English more often than boys.  Maybe this is a trend in other countries too.  Our 18 or so girls are also awesome and full of personality, even the shyest ones!  It is great when you see the shy ones come out of their shells, even if it is just for a split second.  Can't wait to get to know everyone a little better.

Well its 9 o'clock here which means its past my bedtime.  You guys, 4:45am is really early.  And I am reminded of this every morning at 4:45am.  So I am gonna hit the sack.

I am a... teacher?

Hey All!  Sorry for the delayed response, but my last couple of days consisted of a 29 hour overnight train ride, many Vietnamese kids, and shovels.  No, I am not in Charlie Sheen's basement, but rather in Quang Tri!  Three days ago my group boarded a 29 hour overnight train (in a sleeper car, #trainswag) and went north along the coast to Quang Tri, a small province in central Vietnam.  The 17th paralell runs through this province, so there is a lot of history, especially war history, to learn about.  Once arriving, we got the run down of the projects we would be working on for the next 7 weeks.  In the mornings (and by morning I mean 4:45 am) we split into two groups, one group building a playground for a preschool and another group (my group!) building a fence around an elementary school to keep cattle and such out and, more importantly, the children in.  Our projects have gone very well but it is definitely hard work.  But also fun an interesting!  Yesterday while digging we dug up a grenade!  Yes, yes, this sounds like the makings of a very sad Sarah McLachlin video, but it was actual very cool and nobody lost any limbs.  Mom, I'll be careful! 

After bulding from 6am-11am, we have a nice Siesta until 2pm at which our group of 13 American and 12 Vietnamese college students is holding a summer english school for over 200 Vietnamese students from 6th to 12th grade! Our classes are so legit that the government has sent locally stationed soldiers to sit in on our classes to learn as well!  While i though the hours of digging, hauling, and mixing would tire me out, it is in fact teaching that takes the pep out of my step.  Teaching is HARD!!!! To all of my past teachers out there (even though I am pretty sure my mom and my dog are the only ones who read my blog), I am grateful and I totally respect the profession.  My class of 20 10th grade students can be a hand full and hard to entertain, but I think they are great, smart, exciting, and are going to make for a great summer of teaching.  More in the future on teaching.  And thanks Bianca for the teaching tips!  they are definitely working.

On a different note I have a pretty good story that you all might find interesting/ though provoking.  Remember when I said that for the most part the Vietnamese have gotten over the war?  Well the other day I found the example that breaks the rule.  I was shopping in a bizarre like market in Quang Tri when a group of drunken middle aged (maybe slightly older men) called me over for a drink.  They offered me a beer and we talked (with the help of my translating Vietnamese roommate Phuc, he rocks) and had a great time.  Many central Vietnamese have never seen Americans or spoken to them, so it was no surprise that they called us over.  Not to build myself up, but we are kind of celebrities here.  Seriously.  The conversation was going great and we were laughing when out of the blue he says in Vietnamese "do you think my legs are real?"  He went on to show me his prosthetic lower half.  This man had no legs. None.  I complimented him on his prosthetics, but his face was stone cold.  He says calmly, "These are the Consequences of War".  This immediately changed the air in the conversation and Phuc motioned for us to leave.  I didn't feel quite so much like a celebrity anymore.  Quite an intense moment that I won't forget anytime soon.

Thats about it.  I am at an internet cafe and paying by the minute so I have to cut this one short and without pictures, so sorry to the illiterates out there. 
Still haven't found Charlie,
NB

Chao Ban!! The Saigon Life (and other stuff too..)

Hey again!  I am writing this with my head spinning after just finishing my 3rd day of Vietnamese lessons! For the past 3 days my group has taken intensive "survival Vietnamese" classes for four hours each day, hence not updating my blog for a while.  Our first lesson of each day goes from 8am-10am with another lesson from 1pm-3pm.  Four hours a day of Vietnamese seems like nothing to anyone who has ever sat through Modern World History at PHS, but Vietnamese is a whole different story.  And I mean it.  Coming from someone who has taken 6 years of Chinese, I can confidently say that Vietnamese has got to be one of the hardest languages out there.  Luckily enough Vietnamese uses the Roman Alphabet, making it at least intelligible to beginners, but pronouncing the words is is beyond me.  A language in which "Nguyen" is pronounces "wing"?  I would take 中文 any day over that.  But nonetheless, twelve total class hours of Vietnamese as well as living in Saigon has made me a little more confident when walking around in the city.  Maybe with a few more weeks I could perhaps have a very elementary conversation with a Vietnamese person, but since we only have two more class sessions left before we head off to Quang Tri, my depth in conversation probably won't go much deeper than "what is your favorite color?" (Ban thich mau gi?.... I think....).

my bubbly Vietnamese instructor.

Outside of our Vietnamese class time, I feel that nearly a week in Vietnam has given me a very quick yet surprisingly comprehensive view of Vietnamese culture and where my group of foreigners, and more importantly American, fit in.  And part of this cultural immersion is thanks to Alyce and the organizers of CET and Duke Engage who have put together great lessons, programs, and experiences where we are exposed to a multitude of perspectives.  Just one example is the 2 hour cultural, political, and economic lessons/discussions that Alyce leads every afternoon.  These lessons have ranged from basic Vietnamese history to stuff as important and heavy as discussion our ethical position, especially as Americans, in Vietnam.  What sort of stigma to Americans have in Vietnam considering our unfortunate shared history?  And how can we, as ethnic and cultural foreigners, justify spending tens of thousands of dollars to "help" people from our Western perspective?  These sorts of things we discuss to become aware of and at the forefront of our minds and attitudes as we actually do these projects.

One aspect of the Vietnamese that I have found very interesting and totally surprising is that there is no lasting hatred of the United States left over from our full scale military invasion of their country.  Seriously, none.  Zip. In fact, they love Americans here.  Despite annihilating many Vietnamese and leaving the biologically devastating legacy of Agent Orange, most of the Vietnamese have simply gotten over it for two main reasons.  One, 60% of the Vietnamese population were born after the war and therefore its just a part of history.  Secondly, America is at the center of Vietnam's economic growth.  As I walk around Saigon, it is rare that I see a billboard advertising a brand that is NOT American, and I see that American companies dominate the skyline of Saigon.  And thus American pop culture is just as pop as anywhere else!  At a live music bar we all went to the other night (don't tell my parents!), the bands strictly played American songs: The Beatles, Bryan Adams, Tom Petty, ZZ Top, and even Greenday!

more awesome

awesome

That being said, as an American I cannot simply write off the atrocities of our past simply because "they" aren't mad about it anymore.  We still did some messed up stuff.  And that HAS to be recognized.  Nothing showed this better than our trip two days ago to the War Remnants Museum (previously known as the "The House of Displaying the War Crimes of American Imperialism and the Puppet Government of South Vietnam").  This museum displayed relics of old tanks, Howitzers, helicopters, bombs, and war planes from the war which I found to be really really cool despite their less than cool history.  What was more troubling was the exhibits displaying the lasting affects of Agent Orange as well as the US internment camps for political prisoners.  It's hard to believe the things that our nation did during this regretful time.

Getting my hair did

Infamous Tiger Cages used to torture
North Vietnamese political prisoners.
Truly awful stuff.

There is a lot to be learned in Vietnam, but on a lighter note, I will give a very brief recap of some cool things I have done in the past couple of days because I am currently sitting outside and mosquitoes are eating me alive.  The other day we went to the US Consulate and talked about the US-Vietnam relationship which is quite interesting and I will definitely try to touch on in a later post.  Last night my group had the great idea of going to a very popular club called Lush!  And since it was recommended by our Vietnamese teacher, we knew it was good.  Tuesday was ladies night so it was pretty packed and everyone had a great time.  For any Dukies out there, we almost felt like we were back in Durham for a good ol' night of Shooters dancing, without the bull of course and with many, many more Vietnamese people.  But our exhausting hours of Vietnamese lessons have not stopped us from going out almost every night.  The other night we went to an area called the "backpacker district" which is full of smelly vagabond Europeans looking for a good time, popular bars and clubs, and stealthy prostitutes.  All of the makings of a very interesting night on the town, but only photos could probably do this place justice.  And today I very proudly got my haircut!  My locks were getting pretty long so I got myself a three dollar cut, shave, and gel.  Some liken me to a Vietnamese Ryan Gosling.  The barbers were quite amused, and rightfully so, with my bumbling Vietnamese and intent interest on their favorite colors.    And I was glad to have my friends Divya and Krista with me to help me butcher my way through various phrases.  

Backpacking District

Don't think I've ever had this
legendary SF ice cream...

Nothing like a night at a seedy dive bar in Saigon

I am having an absolutely great time over here in Saigon, definitely one of the most stimulating places I've ever been to.  The strange feeling of being totally out of my comfort zone and what I am used to while feeling totally at home and comfortable with my great Duke Engage group.  But as for y'all back in the States, would love to hear from ya.  This post took me all of 16 minutes so I'd like to see some reciprocation people.  But for now I'll be willing Derek Fisher to his 26th championship ring and hoping his 3 balls fall like my life expectancy when I wear 100% deet.

The group at lunch with the internationally famous "Lunch Lady"!

Gap Lai,

Nick George

The Eagle has Landed: Pho, Clinton, and the Opera!

My nearly 24 hours of travel time finally ended last night as my Japan Airlines flight landed in Ho Chi Minh City.  I have now decided that Al Nippon Air is officially my favorite airline.  Despite being crammed into tiny economy seats, the beautiful Japanese flight attendants served us an amazing teriyaki beef dish with hot tea, miso soup, and noodles.  Never before in my life had a finished my plate of airplane food wanting seconds.  Well done ANA.  Well done.

Next level dining.

The wait at baggage claim was an excruciating experience.  I had very little faith that my bag had travelled the distance from SFO to HCMC. Staring at that loading belt to the baggage carousel was like opening gift after gift at Christmas hoping for a Nintendo 64 only to find books and clothes beneath the wrapping paper.  Except Nintendo 64s usually aren't full of life saving malaria medication.  Luckily I got a Nintendo 64 for Christmas and my green rolly suitcase did indeed make it to Vietnam, but two of my trip mates were not so lucky.  They got socks for Christmas.  Their luggage which was apparently stuck in Chicago will hopefully be arriving tonight.  Good luck to them both.

Finally, after leaving the airport and making it to our guesthouse in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City, we were all ready to pass out in a comatose-like sleep, but, of course, not before getting to meet our program director Alyce Van.  Alyce has been living in Vietnam for five years, but is originally from Orange County, CA.  After  studying at Yale, she spent 5 years running the CET Academic Programs in Vietnam, so we are definitely in good hands. We were also introduced to her assistant, Kai.  Kai is a second year Vietnamese college student attending one of the most prestigious international business schools in the country.  His English is very good and he has been super helpful at helping us all settle in.  Although it was great meeting Alyce and Kai, I was miles past absolute exhaustion so it was certainly bed time.  Too exhausted to throw a fit when Alyce told us breakfast was at 7:00am.  I can get cranky when I'm tired.

I was assigned to the luxurious room 124, complete with two beds, A/C, and a fully functioning bathroom!  Hold on, let me quickly clarify "fully functioning".  We have a toilet, a sink, a mirror, and an shower open spout that pours directly onto the bathroom floor.  At least its hot water.  Nonetheless, the rooms are comfortable and one really can't complain.  Have yet to spot any spiders in this country, so my arachnophobic self is as happy as a clam.  A spider free country?  That's something I could get used to.

Once I hit my bed I almost immediately passed out, falling into a beautiful Jet Lag induced sleep.  But Jet Lag giveth, and Jet Lag taketh away.  Around 4:30am I woke up, fully alert, and not in the least bit tired.  All I could do was will myself back to sleep for the remaining 2.5 hours before breakfast.  But on the bright side, I have never been so awake at 7am in my life!  Maybe that has something to do with why I am nearly falling asleeeeeep as I wrtie tihs.........

For breakfast we went on a short walk around the corner to an alley market where I was finally introduced to the wonderful world of Pho.  I wasn't sure what the Vietnamese eat for breakfast, so I asked Kai, to which he responded "Vietnamese food!"  Of course I asked him what they eat for lunch and dinner, to which he again responded "Vietnamese food!"  Looks like I will be eating a lot of Pho.  This was also where I realized how dirt cheap everything in this country is!  A big bowl of Pho with a bottle of water? 35,000 Dong!!  Sounds a lot cheaper when you covert that to about $1.50!  All in all a great breakfast and a great way to start the day.

After a quick orientation with Alyce in which we were given 800,000 dong (about 40 bucks) in spending money, we went for a 2 hour walking tour through downtown Ho Chi Minh City.  ***A quick note on the difference between Ho Chi Minh City and Saigon.  Saigon was the name of this city up until 1975 when the North Vietnamese captured South Vietnam and as the US dipped out of the war, creating the unified nation we know today as Vietnam.  To rub the victory in the world's face, Ho Chi Minh, the leader of the north, renamed the city in his honor.  Despite the city being officially known as HCMC, Vietnamese Americans who fled South Vietnam during the war like to honor the history of the city by calling it by its "true" name.   Most Vietnamese tend to prefer Saigon merely because its a complete pain in the ass to keep saying Ho Chi Minh City all the time.***  Now back to the story.  So our walking tour was amazing!  Within the first five minutes me and few other guys broke down and bought a Vietnamese sandwich for no more than 50 cents.  Pure deliciousness.  Of course I quickly calculated that my weekly stipend can buy me about 80 of these.  Don't temp me street venders...

On this tour we all got a cash course in crossing the street in Vietnam.  The streets here are ridiculous!  absolutely full of motorbikes, cars, busses, and the occasional rickshaw.  To the inexperienced traveler (me about an hour ago), crossing the street would seem just as easy as crossing a lava flow assuming you don't want to end up like Anakin Skywalker (first Star Wars reference!).  Alyce told us the key is to walk steadily and consisently across the street, letting everyone else avoid you, but "you have to dodge the busses and cars, they will just hit you".  With that sobering advice, we took to traffic like Patches O'houlihan.

Along our walking tour we walked by the American Embassy which was guarded by soldiers donning AK-47s while the Spanish Embassy guard dudes were chilling drinking ice tea or something.  Why so serious US?  Along the way we found that a very nice Vietnamese policeman was following us, making good use of his whistle as he kept us safe by direction traffic around us an keeping an eye out for possible pick pocketers.  He was nice.  I like to call him Tom.  After about 5 minutes he left though.  And now I'm sad.

One of the highlights of the day was eating at a very famous restaurant called Pho 2000: Pho For the President.  According to photographic evidence, President Bill Clinton actually ate here in 2000!  The food was pretty good so I see why.  I decided to go all out and try the allegedly very good Avacado Smoothie.  I was surprised to find that it was actually delicious and amazingly refreshing in the humidity.


On the way back, in a typical South-East Asia fashion, it starting pooring rain so we took shelter in the famous opera house downtown.  We then realized that for 9 dollars we could see an opera tonight at 5pm, apparently a very good opera called "The Spirit of Vietnam".  So tonight, in Saigon, I am going to the opera!  I knew I should have packed my furs....  Per my dads request, after the Opera we plan to get a drink General Westmoreland style at the famous Saigon Saigon lounge atop the historical Caravelle Hotel.  This will definitely make for a sweet first night in Vietnam.  Until then, I gotta freshen up for my big night on the town.
Still looking for Charlie (whoever that is),
Nicky B