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