Saigon Ultimate

Besides Regionals 2009 and Chicago Invite 2010, I think yesterday was my favorite time playing ultimate in the rain. I took a cab because I had no idea where the fields were located, but apparently the driver didn't know where it was either, despite his look of certainty when I showed him the address. He dropped me off about a mile away from the fields, which were part of the RMIT International University. I just kept showing people in front of shops the address, and they kept pointing me further down the road. It started drizzling, but I had come so far and was only a half an hour late at this point, so I was determined to find it. Finally, I saw giant "RMIT" letters on a huge building. I asked the security guard at the entrance where the football fields were, and he pointed me further in the same direction. Even though I had to walk another mile or so within the campus and the rain was falling harder, flying discs were eventually in sight and Justin Bieber's "Eenie Meenie Miny Mo Lover" was in earshot.

As I approached the fields, I couldn't help the ear-to-ear smile that came over my face. It was raining and still sweltering hot, but I felt the most comfortable and content that I've felt since I arrived in Vietnam. I started talking to a couple people on the sidelines, who were super friendly and proceeded to tell me to lace up my cleats because I'll be playing on their team for the evening. We played mixed (men and women) for the first 45 minutes or so that I was there. There were enough for three teams, so we played games to two. The winning team would stay and play another game, and the losing team would take a break while the previously idle team would come face the victor. After a while, Lien, the best girl there called for the women to start our own game. We played five on five with one sub until one girl pulled her quad or something. I was really impressed with a few of the girls, and they all were super sweet and welcoming. It was fun listening to them speak in Vietnamese but then hear "handler" or "swing" every so often.

The Saigon Ultimate Club started at RMIT University when someone did a clinic there. A handful of the students started playing often, and now most of the people that play are RMIT alum. Of course there are a handful of foreigners, too, like Chris from the US and Tibo from Hungary. Because most of them went to the international university, they speak English exceptionally well, which made the whole experience that much more comforting.

Although I hadn't played or really run in a while, I couldn't have been more antsy to touch the disc and sprint across the open field. I think it means I played alright if some of them asked me how long I've played for :)

I found someone who lived in my district, but I didn't have a helmet to ride with him on his motor bike. Quyen & Lien are cousins and said I could drive back to their place with Lien's dad to borrow a helmet, and then ride with Vu, Lien's boyfriend back to my district. Since both legs of the trip were pretty lengthy, we stopped at Quyen & Lien's house for a little while. It's just the two of them in this gorgeous house, but apparently more of their family stays with them every weekend. Lien's dad plays ultimate but lives in one of the far provinces, so he and other members of the extended family come into District 1 for the weekends. It was fun to just hang out for a while and see what their family interactions were like and to just see the interior of a house other than the guesthouse I live at.

The motorbike ride was super fun, and Vu and I had a good time talking about ultimate in the region. I knew that Singapore had a good team, but he said that they probably don't have any fun. "Robotic ultimate" is how he described their method of play. Vietnam is hosting a hat tournament in December for all of Southeast Asia, and Bangkok is hosting one in February. I'm hoping to be able to go to both, and I'm probably going with them to play some beach ultimate a couple of hours away this weekend. They're all pretty laid back and just enjoy playing the game.

I'm excited to play and hang out with all of them and to have a smaller community here in general. I never doubted finding ultimate here, but I'm so happy now that I've actually found it!

Motorbikes, Mid-Autumn Festival, & Much, Much More

This week was incredible, and I'm finally at the point of really liking it here. I have met so many more people that speak English and are willing to help me out, show me around, and just hang out. Here's a little breakdown...

Motorbikes
I finally got the opportunity to ride on one of them! Motorbikes are a form of taxi, but we were told not to accept the drivers' offers. It seems kind of sketchy anyways. There are about four people that we see that work for ELI here and are our main contacts. They help us figure out out where we are supposed to go, how to get there, and answer any other questions we have. One of the girls drove me on her motorbike to the hospital I'll be volunteering at on Wednesday and Friday afternoons. It was a little scary, but pretty exhilarating as well.
Traffic here in general is absolutely nuts. Controlled intersections aren't always actually controlled, and people basically just drive in whatever direction and where ever they so desire. Since crosswalks are treated as merely arbitrary white lines on the street, I've learned that you dodge the taxis and trucks and the motorbikes dodge you. You have to just start crossing the street, despite the perpetual stampedes of motorbikes, gauge which bikes will go in front of you and behind you, and hope it all works out. Again, it's pretty humorous that the motorbike drivers (which is most of the population) bundle up when it's sunny here in the same way that Minnesotans do in October. Although it's breezy while driving, I still can't fathom wearing that much clothing in this heat and humidity.

Mid-Autumn Festival
...is a huge celebration for kids here, and it was my first afternoon at the hospital. Normally I will be playing with the kids that are staying there while receiving chemotherapy, which is what I did on Friday afternoon. However, since Wednesday night was the festival, Bob, the other Vietnamese volunteers, and I helped set up the auditorium for the big celebration the hospital was putting on. There was one girl, probably about six or seven, that looked at me funny, then smiled and said, "hello," right as Bob and I walked in. That seems to be the routine when little kids that may or may not have seen a Caucasian person before see us. She followed us into the auditorium where we began coloring little bunny ears for all the kids. The volunteer next to me struck up a conversation, which made the decorating more enjoyable. Long and Linh were the friendliest, and they spoke English really well. They are freshmen at an international university in which all their classes are in English, and they aren't allowed to speak anything other than English throughout the day. Linh taught me the colors in Vietnamese, so when I practiced at the orphanage the following morning, the kids were impressed. However, I still have a long way to go with my Vietnamese.

Since we had some time in between set-up and the start of the celebration, Long, Linh, and two other Vietnamese volunteers took Bob and I to "Pho 24," the fast food-ish chain that has the traditional Vietnamese noodle, pho. Although it is sold at little shops and carts all over, Long said that they definitely have a meatless option at Pho 24. When my pho arrived, Linh told me which vegetables, sprouts, and sauces to add. The people here love their food spicy, so hot sauce is a necessary addition. As I began eating the noodles with chopsticks with intermittent spoonfuls of the broth, Long interrupted and told me that you have to eat the noodles and broth together! He showed me that I had to hold my chopsticks in my right hand and the soup spoon in my left and take bites with both at the same time. I don't think I had realized before that dining experience that I'm definitely not ambidextrous when it comes to eating. I struggled with the spoon in my left hand, so my bites were far from graceful.
When we got back to the hospital, the auditorium was filled with families, lanterns, and other decorations. The clown that emceed the show was super animated, and the kids seemed to have the time of their lives. There were a couple dance performances, a singing performance by a famous singer here who also apparently got second in the Vietnamese "Dancing With the Stars," an appearance by the famous Moon Princess, a kids' fashion show, a dragon dance and more excitement. It was great to see the kids so happy despite their grim prognoses. At one point, the emcee had all the kids with September birthdays come up to the stage to make birthday wishes and blow out candles on cakes. When asked what he wished for, one of the kids said, "That cancer will be killed and everyone here will fully recover."
Long was nice enough to translate basically the whole show for me, but it was plenty audio-visually entertaining without knowing every word being said. When I thanked him for being my translator, he thanked me because he got to practice his English. All in all, it was an amazing night, and I was glad to have made a couple new Vietnamese friends :)


Much, Much More
The past few days at orphanage have been eventful, and I have developed strong relationships with these kids at this point. Wednesday, Phuong, who is four but looks like she's two, was in the best mood I had seen her in all week. Traci said that the nuns at the orphanage call her "Evil Baby" because she looks evil, but she's actually a sweetheart. The only sounds that come out of her mouth are cries, an occasional grunt, and an even more rare laugh. However, she couldn't stop smiling and laughing the other day, and consequently, I couldn't pull my self away from her. She can barely walk when someone holds her arms, and she crawls very minimally. I had fun, though, holding a ball, making her crawl to me, then running to the opposite end of the room and forcing her to crawl some more in order to get the ball. At one point, I was holding her up while I was laying on my back. Without planning on it, I realized I was working her stabilization muscles. As she stepped on my chest, it was as if my boobs were mini bosu balls which she had to stay balanced on.

One thing that is incredible to see with these kids is the affection and care they show towards each other. One girl's mother came to visit and brought her a little mooncake (a seasonal treat during the mid-autumn festival). After taking a couple bites, she ripped off piece after piece and shared it with everyone in the physical therapy room. Although they get into sporadic tiffs, the kids are usually supportive of one another. The other day Traci was dancing with one of the boys, and once everyone's attention was drawn to them, Phuong motioned to join in and just embraced the boy while he reciprocated. It's awesome to see them each play to their own strengths and help one another where weaknesses lie.

On Thursday, one of the nurses called me in the little procedure room to help with a sinus drain she and another nurse needed to perform on one of the kids with a lung disease. At first, I thought the kids that I was working with couldn't do a whole lot for themselves. However, I went upstairs for the first time and discovered a room of about 30 kids that were either sitting in high-chair-like chairs or lying on cots, just blankly staring at the white walls and ceiling, making an occasional grunt or moan while drooling onto their bibs. Three of them have this lung disease, which the nurse couldn't completely explain to me because she doesn't speak that much English, and I obviously don't speak that much Vietnamese. If you don't want to read about the details of the sinus drain, skip the next two paragraphs...

As I walked into the procedure room, the nurse told me to hold down the girl's arms and legs while she inserted a suction tube into her mouth. The other nurse, standing at the head of the bed, plugged one of the girls nostrils with one of her fingers, put the water-filled syringe into the other nostril, and began the rinse. Almost immediately, the girl began squirming and wailing. It was hard to keep her still as she tried with all her might to escape the discomfort. After about four 12-mL syringe-fulls of water, we turned the girl over, and the nurse hit her back like an exaggerated burping of a baby for a couple minutes. Then we would do it all again three or four more times. Although it was devastating to hear her cry and watch the tears fall down the side of her cheeks, the rinse actually went smoother when she screamed because the nurse could get the suction tube further in her mouth. All I could do to calm her was to stroke the back of her hands with her thumbs as I held her firmly in my grip.

Before I even stepped foot in the physical therapy room at the orphanage on Friday, the main nurse motioned me to get the same lung-diseased girl from upstairs. As I carried her in my arms, I tried to say calming things, although I knew she couldn't understand a single English word I said. Furthermore, it was clear that she knew what was coming, and she began to squirm in my arms. I placed her on the bed in the procedure room, and the nurse turned on the suction. However, the second nurse wasn't in the room. The main nurse put the full syringe in my hand and motioned me to go to the head of the bed. I had to do the rinse. It was emotionally painful knowing I was causing the poor girl so much physical discomfort. I didn't have a choice in the matter, though, so I continued to perform the rinse. After bringing her back upstairs, the nun up there motioned for me to take another kid down. I did the same thing with two other kids with the same lung disease. I thought it would get easier each time I pushed the fluid out of the syringe, but the last girl was not having it. As a result, she unintentionally sprayed my face and arms with the watery snot that would project out of her nose every time she coughed, hiccuped, or resisted in any way. I missed playing with the kids in physical therapy that day, but it was definitely a day I won't forget. You can imagine how good that mid-day shower felt.

In addition to pho, I also tried a couple other Vietnamese foods. I had a little piece of a banana-coconut mooncake the other day at the hospital. It was delicious even though I thought I didn't like coconut. I also tried my first dragon fruit, which definitely looks better than it tastes. It's about the size of a softball, only more of an oval than a circle. It's bright pink with green leaf-like projections that you peel to reveal the edible part inside, which is white speckled with black seeds. The consistency is like an airier honeydew, and it's way more bland than I expected. I still have to try durian, the fruit that smells rancid but apparently tastes wonderful. I don't know exactly how that can work out, but I guess I'll have to see for myself.

On Thursday, Dao, the main ELI person here, put me in contact with a woman named Thanh who works for UNESCO. She asked me, and I agreed, to teach English at a language school out in one of the provinces. The gig is teaching four 45-minute classes every other Thursday night. As teachers of every sort have experienced, stepping into a classroom for the first time is intimidating. However, the kids were so cute and well-behaved. The teachers were super welcoming as well, which made for a truly enjoyable experience. It was fun to hear them say "Miss Shira" after I introduced myself, and even more adorable to hear the English names that they introduced themselves as. I was given the workbooks for each class, so I just went through the activities in the book. When I was about to play the CD for the dialogue part in one of the classes, a few of the kids said, "No, we want you to read it!" In the last class, they took up the first 20 minutes or so asking me every question from where I'm from to if I have a boyfriend. The kids stand up when the teacher enters the room, yet in another sense, the classroom is run in a more informal manner than those in the US. It was about an hour drive to and from the school, but Tanh had a driver take me there and back. Moreover, I had such a great time even though the kids laughed at a lot of what I said and did. I'm pretty sure the giggles were more out of excitement from listening to a native English speaker than actually making fun of me. At least I hope that was the case...

Last night, Traci and I just walked around the Ben Tanh Market area and had dinner at one of the stands. They were more than willing to prepare a dish without meat for me, and I finally tried the local beer. Beer here is cheaper than juice or tea at about 80 cents! The city was filled with energy, and the park was filled with couples cuddling on motorbikes.

I've gained a higher level of comfort and confidence here, and I'm excited for the full weeks and weekends to come. This weekend I'm just relaxing; I've been finishing my PA application essays and putting this together at coffee shops all day. Tomorrow I might go to one or two of the museums with Bob. I'm going to pick-up ultimate tomorrow afternoon, and I can't wait to run around. Next weekend Traci and I are planning on going to the white, sandy beaches and sand dunes in Mui Ne, which we're pretty excited about. We're also planning on taking a three-day trip to Cambodia in the coming weeks.

It's great hearing from so many of you! Remember, I can't get onto facebook, but e-mail is definitely open (shira.klane@gmail.com). I'm halfway around the globe, so any gossip is pretty safe with me :)

Xin Chao

Xin Chao, pronounced sin jow, is the more common Vietnamese greeting, and pretty much the only phrase I can say with confidence. I was more comfortable at the orphanage today, and thus it was more enjoyable. I worked with Thien again, encouraging her to walk within the parallel bars, as well as another boy who was doing the same thing. Although the boy has a more difficult time putting one foot in front of the other, he is significantly more enthusiastic about physical therapy than Thien. For him, I would kick a small volleyball-sized ball to him and he would dribble or punt it in front of him. He seemed to enjoy chasing after the ball more than just walking back and forth. For Thien, I put my remaining two silly bands on the ends of the parallel bars, which she raced across the bars to grab. However, I would pull them off the bars just as she was reaching for them, and run to put them on the other side. Sounds cruel, I know, but it got her running (sort of) and laughing.

Another girl I played with can walk and run okay, but her left side is significantly weaker than her right side. There are a couple other kids in the same boat, so I wonder if it is a right brain developmental disorder or something of the like. With her, I held a small ball, and later a bigger exercise ball, between my hands. She loved hitting it out of my hands, and doing that over and over again. Most of the time, though, I made her use only her left arm, and she complied. I also have a great time with her because she knows how to count to 10 in English. It's hard not knowing even basic words to communicate with the kids, but facial expressions are unquestionably universal. Funny faces I make gets them laughing, and I can tell when they are uncomfortable. Although their teeth are in terrible condition, they are absolutely adorable when they smile.

Bastian is a French guy who is working at the orphanage, too. He's in Vietnam for a year to do missionary work, and it's great having someone else to do all of this with. The nuns that run the orphanage speak enough English to converse with me minimally, and Basitan's English isn't all that advanced either. However, it is a generally supportive environment as everyone is trying to help the kids as much as they can.

After returning from the orphanage, I thoroughly enjoyed my mid-day shower. I think I'll be taking at least 3 showers a day here because in addition to the constant sweat that covers my body, there is a layer of filth that seems to accumulate from just walking around. Ho Chi Minh City, like most metropolises, is a city of dichotomies; while the curbs are usually dirty and filled with trash, people will sweep right outside their storefronts. There is an incredibly gorgeous building next to the coffee shop I was at last night, though, that was actually cleaning their sidewalks with a Rug Doctor-type appliance. Beautiful structures are side by side ramshackle houses. There are people wearing torn pants and worn-out shoes, and there are people all done up at every hour of the day. There definitely is money here, but the city itself seems far from well-off.

It was super hot and sunny again today, but you would never know it by what people were wearing. Apparently lighter skin is more desirable here because if you are dark, it means that you do manual labor and work a lot. As a result of the stigma placed on darker skinned people, everyone bundles up when the sun is out. Most people wear hospital masks over their noses and mouths, but usually cotton and with various patterns and designs, all the time. In addition, everyone was wearing pants and zip-ups today. Not even light-weight long sleeved shirts; they were closer to sweatshirts than blouses! I even saw a bunch of people on motor bikes with soft gloves to protect their hands from the sun, while I was sweating profusely in my running shorts & tank top.

The coffee shops here love Backstreet Boys, Mariah Carey, and Celine Dion. It's refreshing to just hear English lyrics for a couple hours- and get a nice blast from the past- because the constant Vietnamese chatter and yelling can often be overwhelming. The coffee shop I'm at now is another touristy one in District 1, and they've been playing some soothing Jack Johnson, Norah Jones, Death Cab for Cutie :)

If you have Skype, sign in whenever you're on your computer! I would love to talk to friends because I miss all of you. Shoot me an e-mail with what time you wake up in the morning because the afternoon (12 hours ahead) is most convenient for me, but I don't want to wake you. I think I'll grow to like Vietnam more as the time goes by and as I do more. For now, I'm just trying to push through and get the most out of every day.

First Day at the Orphanage

I've gotten into an early morning routine: the rooster in my neighborhood wakes me up with it's cock-a-doodle-dooing at about 4am, I go back to sleep, I wake up again starting at about 5 because the sun lights up my room despite the existence of drapes on my windows, I attempt to go back to sleep, and by 6 I just suck it up & get out of bed.

I left the house with my roommates at about 7:15am, and the streets were already crammed full with motorbikes and an occasional taxi. Bob went to go work at a clinic, while Traci & I took the buses to the orphanage. Although it's been difficult trying to order food without meat in it, the walk to the bus has solidified my vegetarianism. There are tons of food stands on the side of the road, & the fresh fruits & vegetables look amazing. However, I have also seen all sorts of meat at all stages of butchery. For example, I saw live chickens being sold by one woman, then dead ones, then skinned ones hanging by wire around their necks, then ones literally on the chopping block, then marinated, seasoned, & cooked ones ready to be eaten. I won't even go into detail about the dog meat I saw...

Anyways, when I walked through the gates of the orphanage, I was given a warm welcome filled with "Xien tao's" (Hello's) as well as getting my silly bands ripped off my wrists. At Thien Phouc, Traci & I play with the kids & help feed them, & we also help with physical therapy. PT is hard because they don't have that much equipment to work with & the kids aren't that motivated. We put some of them in Forrest Gump-type leg braces, & other ones on body boards with velcro straps to engage their muscles used to stand up. A lot of them can't walk at all by themselves, so we also have to carry them to & from their walkers. Today was super hot, so it got harder as the temperature increased & the sweat accumulated on my face & back. I spent most of the PT hour helping a girl, Tien, walk back & forth along two parallel bars. There was a metal divider on the floor in which she would walk with one foot on each side. She used her upper body strength to prop herself up on the bars, but the point was for her to use her lower body as much as possible. It was hard to keep her engaged for the whole time, but she seemed to think it was hysterical when I would puff up my cheeks & cross my eyes at the same time. Only then would she run the length of the parallel bars.

While most of the kids there are pretty cute, one 16-year old boy was especially charming. He is in a wheelchair, but he's mostly there mentally. In his wheelchair, he carries around a little notebook, pen, & "Learning English" book. Apparently he's been teaching himself English, & speaks it beautifully. Just as I find Vietnamese sounds nearly impossible to vocalize, I'm sure the people here think similarly about English. Thus, I was super impressed with this kid's clarity & level of understanding. I could probably write a paragraph about each of the kids there, but I thought I would just highlight a couple. Kids are kids, & the kids at this orphanage are so eager for love & attention. I'm glad I can give them some affection & move their muscles a bit during PT because something is better than nothing. Nevertheless, this experience is going to be just as difficult as it will be rewarding.

After Traci & I arrived back at our house around noon, we showered & hung out for a couple hours. We met up with a Vietnamese girl (20 years old) for a late lunch at a cute restaurant called "Country House." This girl has been a contact for the past few ELI volunteers after randomly meeting one a couple months ago. Her English is amazing, & she's super sweet. It'll be great to have her around to help translate & show us cool things to see & fun places to go. After lunch, the three of us took a taxi to the airport to retrieve my found luggage! I was thrilled to have it back in my possession because that means I now have my underwear, tennis shoes, Keens (which would've been great for the rain today), bug spray, and Cliff bars. I have been struggling walking as much as I have been in only my Teva flip flops. Plus, I'll finally get some protein in me even when a restaurant or food stand doesn't have tofu :) I really am going to attempt to try as much cool food as I can, but I'm pretty turned off by the meat, fish, & anything else that was once running around when I'm paralyzed by the stench of all those things raw every time I step outside.

The Taxi driver waited for me at the airport, & his meter rang up a drastically lower fee than the company we usually take. Dieu & Traci were talking to him throughout the ride & said that the bigger companies usually take the longer ways & over-charge. He seemed super friendly & was trying to say some words like "airport" in English. Then, he proceeded to talk about his who kids. He said his 10-year old son is learning English in school & that he would love to talk to us. I know this may sound kind of sketchy, but I can assure you, it was safe. The people here aren't out to "get" or scam each other, nor are they trying to take advantage of foreigners. The driver asked us if we wanted to go anywhere else tonight, so he waited on the main street off our alley as I dropped off my bag. Then he took us to the Westernized/touristy coffee shop, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, in District 1. I like coming here because there are is always a variety of people here. Yesterday, I talked to a guy from London whose grandparents moved from India to Uganda & then moved to the UK after Idi Amin kicked them out. It was cool to hear about his travels as well. Driving all around the city with this particular driver basically ended up being far cheaper than the other cab company would have been. I think Traci & I now have a set, trustworthy driver. He said he drives every other day & lives kind of near us, so we might help him & his son learn English while they teach us Vietnamese on his off-days! I am definitely planning on committing myself to learning at least some of the language because it's way too hard to get around- & order vegetarian- without knowing any Vietnamese.

I almost forgot- there are frozen yogurt places on every corner, so I WILL be able to survive here. While it doesn't compare to the actual Fro Yo or Pinkberry, I think the frozen yogurt here will suffice.

Mekong Delta Tour

Yesterday, Traci, Bob and I left our house at about 6:30 to head to the Delta Adventures place in District 1, which is the touristy part of the city. We took a two-hour bus ride South down the crazy Highway 1, which stretches all the way from Hanoi (in the North) to the Delta region. It was a bumpy ride, but the guide was pretty entertaining. The bus drivers just honks their horns & all the people on motorbikes have to move. We took a break at a cafe along the way where there were a bunch of plastic tables & chairs & hammocks strung in between all the support pillars. It seems as if that is the standard lay out of street-side cafes & restaurants.

Once we arrived at the departure port, about 20 of us hopped in one of the rickety old boats. First, we went to Unicorn Island, & walked around. The people were super poor, and their houses were all dilapidated. Furthermore, the faces of the older men and women were so weathered, you could tell that they have worked hard their entire lives. Once a year, it rains there so much that the water levels reach about meter high, and the local people can barely get around the island. However, they have a lot of little mar
kets with mass-produced souvenirs and clothes, so they aren't dirt poor. The local people served us some delicious fruit, including plantains, papaya, pineapple, and a really pretty spikey one that I can't pronounce but tastes like lychee.

Next, we went to Coconut Island, where one family's coconut candy-making business reigns supreme. It was really cool watching the entire process being carried out, & the candy was pretty tasty! We stopped at a restaurant for some delicious vegetables, rice, & tofu, which I think is going to be my go-to meal here. In order to get back to the main boat, we were taken in little gondola-type canoes by the local people. Like the crowded streets in HCMC, the canals were packed full with canoes going in both directions.

After returning to the port, we hopped back on a bus, which was actually super comfortable. Traci & I reclined in our seats & attempted to nap. I had a difficult time, though, because of the roller-coaster feel of the ride & all the honking. However, it was entertaining to see what these people can cram onto the backs of their motor bikes and bicycles. There are families of four on a single motor bike, and I even saw a guy with three crates filled with about 50 live, honking ducks. I'd like to think that it is better for the environment to have almost no cars on the road, but there isn't an inch of pavement without a motorbike. The carbon emissions may actually be about the same as streets packed with cars.

Traci & I took the bus home from the town center once we got back into HCMC. There have been few times in my life that I was looking forward to showering more, so I was happy to get home. However, there is no actual shower stall in my bathroom. It's just a shower head on the wall, and the water is a little cooler than lukewarm. I wasn't complaining, though, because I would not have wanted a shower in this kind of heat anyways. We then stopped at the little food stand where we get free food at (for being ELI volunteers) & headed to the coffee shop across the street. I am disappointed I don't have internet at my house, but there is no shortage of coffee shops with internet.

The hardest parts so far are the language barrier, the filth of the streets, & the accompanying stench of the city. I'm going to make a valiant effort to learn some Vietnamese because without Traci, it would be way too hard to get around by myself. In terms of the smell, I think I will just have to get better at breathing through my mouth!

Whew

It has been a whirlwind of a few days to say the least. Two days of traveling and going on a day trip my first day here has been a bit overwhelming.

I left Wednesday night, flew to Chicago, flew 14.5 hours to Seoul, South Korea, stayed in the Seoul airport for 14 more hours, then made the 5 hour flight down to Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). I actually ran into a guy from St. Louis Park as I was getting off the plane in Seoul. I knew him from Herzl & had a class with him at Wisconsin! Turns out, he was going to China to teach English for a year and also had a long layover. Although he was only there for 5 hours as compared to my 14, it was still great to have someone else to talk to and eat with for any time at all. The flight attendants for Asiana Airlines, which I took for the last two legs, all looked like porcelain dolls. There is no way any of them were over 30, and both their skin and outfits were completely wrinkle-free. I wish I could have experienced their wonderful service, but I slept nearly the entire 19 hours I was flying on Asiana. They did, however, lose one of my bags, which I have yet to get back. I have most of my clothes in the bag that I do have, but most of my shoes, all my underwear, and a few other things are somewhere between Minneapolis and HCMC. The time difference is exactly 12 hours, so it literally is the opposite side of the globe.

One of my roommates is an American-born Vietnamese girl, and she has been here for almost three weeks. Even though this is her first time in Vietnam, she knows a bunch of conversational Vietnamese and is pretty acclimated to the area, so she's been super helpful. She booked a one-day tour of the Mekong Delta for the two of us and our other roommate, Bob, for today. It was pretty jarring jumping right into a tour the first day, but I'm glad I did it. I'll post more about the tour tomorrow, but I am about to fall asleep at the coffee shop where we get internet.

Hope all is well with all of you, and Shana Tovah!

Here I Go!

Hey everyone!

I can't believe that I'm actually going to Vietnam the day after tomorrow. I leave Wednesday night at about 8pm and arrive in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) at about 10pm Friday night. I've been in touch via e-mail with an girl from Arizona that I'll be living with, so I'll definitely have internet and be able to stay in touch.

For those of you who I haven't talked to recently, I will be volunteering in a pediatric oncology unit of a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City for the next three months, and then I'll be heading up to the northern highlands of Vietnam to volunteer in an orphanage. I'm planning on volunteering about 25 hours a week, but the program advisor said the hours are flexible. Although I am going for the health care experience, I am definitely planning on getting a good amount of traveling in as well!

The program I am volunteering through is called Experiential Learning International, and I decided on going through them after doing some research on volunteer programs and talking to the coordinator at ELI. My roommate there is doing the same work, so it will be reassuring to have another American to share the initial culture shock with.

I don't know much Vietnamese yet, nor do they speak all that much English from what I hear. However, there is ultimate frisbee in the city, and that is definitely a language I'll be able to communicate with the Vietnamese people in! According to the Saigon Ultimate website, it seems like it is well-developed, and the Sunday pick-up is only about two miles from where I will be living. I couldn't be more excited to get back into playing and to see what ultimate is like across the globe!

I would love to hear from all of you over e-mail (shira.klane@gmail.com), but I'm not sure yet if facebook is accessible there. Of course I will take hundreds if not thousands of pictures and update this blog as often as I can. I will miss you all dearly, and I would love to hear about what is going on in your lives! Also, please let me know if you or anyone you know has been to Southeast Asia and has any travel, food, or sight-seeing suggestions.

Can chen (cheers) for now,
Shira