Such a different world..

...I am actually on a corporate-call conference device right now with friends all over the country trying to plan a trip somewhere cool :) As a teacher, I didn't even realize that these things exist, services where you call a 1800 number, enter a code, and then are instantly put together with other people to talk over the phone. Wow. Cool. I need a job that has perks like this :) I am elated if I can actually make 50 copies without a paper jam, use the internet in the office without removing a 3 year-old from a game on it, or get my room sweeped (I am up to it being cleaned a total of 2 times this year).

In other news, Deepa ( a wonderful friend who I am lucky to have in my life) and I had a great talk today about traveling this summer through October. We feel that we have earned this right as we are so burned out by our current jobs and need to find the fun, exciting selves that we seem to have lost a bit of to teaching craziness. Tentatively we will be in Africa in July/August, India in September, Asia and Australia in October. Then on to get another job and make us some moola.

Things I am looking forward to:
--Visiting Vicks in April
--Skiing this weekend in Tahoe
--Potentially running a marathon in June
--Making cool things in pottery
--Getting things I ordered online in the mail
--Eating the homemade chowder my roommate is making right now!

yosemite

Hey...I want to go to Yosemite this weekend and go snowshoeing. Anyone interested? It will be fun and pretty!!!

haha

Pacific Northwest Holidays

Oh how I love Mount Rainier, friend, family, coffee shops galore, plenty of local brews, "mist" aka icky rain, flying fish, underground tours, people in hiking boots everywhere, the influx of Outbacks ( I swear you are not someone unless you drive one), bars with bulls in them, and more. The trip to Oregon and Washington was a hit. I got to see Gene, my cousin, her wonderful friends, Sarah B from HS and Bobby. Went to the Underground Tour in Seattle, the Seattle Museum of Art, Pike's Market, mosied in Downtown Portland, got back into swimming, and managed to eat 2 great Tday dinners.

Here are some highlight photos:

Joshua Tree!!!!

Iran and I had a great time in Joshua Tree this weekend :)
Highlights:
getting hissed and shaked at by a rattle snake that was less than a foot away
listening to coyotes howl all night
meeting weird people that live in the desert
seeing an actual road runner
hiking lots and lots

Dead dogs and all that jazz

So, while playing an icebreaker where students tried to find one thing they have done that no one else has done in the class, the following became the highlights:

"Have any of you ever picked up a dog thinking it was a stuffed animal, and then realized it was a dead dog. And then, when you realized it was a dead dog, you threw it at your sister."

This came in second to this:

"Well, have any of you ever banged on the bathroom door while your papi is in there going number 2, and he yells at you to stop, but you keep hitting the door and he keeps yelling. But, the yelling stops and you realize he is coming out to find you, and he is really mad. Well, then, have you put pillows in your bed to make it look like you are there while hiding from your mad papi under your bed and watched him hit the pillows on your bed?"

Seriously, these kids are hilarious. They may not be able to read and write well, but they certainly have some crazy life experiences.

Sidenote: Jenni, I should ask them if anyone has propositioned them with poo crayons. :P I suppose we all have our stories...as random as they may be....

hehe...

Check out www.postsecret.blogspot.com for more secrets...
Happy Labor Day! Thank you to all family and friends who have helped Andrea and her community out in Louisiana. You are phenomenal people.

British response

If you are interested, I suggest you read this article...it provides the responses of the British people who were in the Superdome and finally got back home recently. Warning: it is also upsetting to read about their experience as it casts Americans as pretty awful. Worth reading, though, to get an international point of view.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4212684.stm

Weird trees and bootlegging

My car has been enveloped in this weird, sticky, mini-drop mess. Apparently Berkeley and Oakland are plagued with "Yellow Leaking Sap Trees" or something awful like that, and they are attacking the poor, slow, defensless and now dirty Saturn. It is really quite exciting.
Sidenote: I just had some breadsticks and they were fabulous...and now I am going to watch "50 First Dates" - the non bootleg version**- and then sleep lots and lots.
**For those of you who have not watched proper bootleg DVD's (like from Chinatown in NYC), you can totally tell that someone videotaped what you are watching from the back of the theater - people actually get up and their shadows walk across the movie, sometimes they cough, and if you are lucky, they make ridiculous comments!

Durian, its nastiness, and the fam

During our exciting work training, Jessica announced today that she had the grossest candy ever last night: Durian Sucky Candy. Haha. Then we engaged in a conversation about just how disgusting durian is and debating if people can ever really like it, or if they are just confused.
Other news: My mom just sent me that picture and since I am becoming tech savvy, it is online here now. Say hello to the fam!
More other news: School starts in a few days and I really have no clue what I am doing yet....moreover I am not worried about it. What is up with that?

tech savvy and loving it

So I finally have gotten my pictures online from my travels, have begun online banking, got all the music Leslie and Vicky gave me into Itunes and have learned how to use a mac.
In other news, Joyce (my next door neighbor growing up) was out here for an interview and we went out for a wonderful sushi dinner. I've also been working the past 3 days at a program for our 7th graders and the kids are pretty tough....the year should be interesting! Lastlu, Ben came up and Leslie and Bryan met us for drinks which was great - I love where I live now! We walked all over and found a great little bar and cheap Mexican place for dinner. Today I am going into my classroom to set up. Exciting - I know you are all jealous :)

Saturns, Kayaks, and Hiking Boots

Jay, Vicky and I have been busy touring California and the unfortunate city of Reno. Conclusions:
Yosemite is goregous, but hiking up mountains poses challenges unmet in the Midwest.
The lack of humidity is loved by all (me escaping Asia, them escaping the Midwest)
Cold water or pop is the best thing after hiking.
More Europeans travel in our parks than US citizens.
It is really hard to Kayak on Tahoe. It is necessary to befriend rich people with boats (anyone....anyone???)
Good times were had by all. We toured around SF today and said hello to the Golden Gate, sea lions, Ghirardelli chocolate and vats of ice cream, the lovely Pacific Ocean and Redwoods, and the random crazies around the city. Tomorrow we are going to the great city of Sebastopol with Johanna and Ry to experience the greatness that is the apple festival.

Yosemite!

Today Jay, Vicky and I embark on our cross-California journey to the lovely Yosemite National Park. Things to look forward to:
good car snacks
ipods galore
weird company (my family isn't normal...me included...)
goregous views
The adventure begins soon - I have to shower and then we are off!

Faux Pas

Some of the funny things I didn't mention yet were as follows:
In Cambodia, it was necessary to educate people about condoms since the average family has 5 kids and 60% of the population is under 15. Volunteers educated village people about condoms by using bananas and, well, condoms. All of the people practiced, and it was certain that they were ready to use them accordingly. Well, what happened was that they thought they needed to put a condom on a banana to prevent pregnancy...they didn't realize the true use :) Needless to say, more than one lesson was given.
Secondly, a friend of mine was trying to buy tampons in Vietnam and couldn't really act it out (acting is a crucial skill for travelling to Asia...) so she showed one that was in a bright pink wrapper to a pharmacist. The pharmacist thought it was lipstick and acted out putting it on her lips. We all looked at her in a sort of weird manner cluing her in that she was wrong. Then she figured it out, screamed "oh...." looked at us in a horrified manner, and said "Oh....you won't be able to find them anywhere here....on no..." She was clearly horrified and it became quite clear that it was seen as a taboo to use such objects.
Now that I am home, culture shock has set in a bit. Johanna has been my princess in shining armour and is helping me get used to cars, sidewalks, no bikes, drinking water from taps, non-Aussie/European language, and all TV channels in English! Woo hooooooo! It is nice to be back :)

Bikes and Fortunes

Yesterday we all rented taxi motos and got a lovely tour of Hue - the Perfume River, rice fields, a monestary and nunnery for buddhists, a rice hat making home, and we got to have lunch - monk style - at a temple. The food was spectacular - all vegetarian and tons of it - tofu, won tons, veggies, fruit, juices, and they make you take a nap after! There were 2 novice monks (probably 6 years old) who were adorable with their mandated haircut that actually looks like a haircutting mistake - were making fun of one of the guys in our group who was snoring during the nap time. They kept pointing and laughing while trying to make snorting noises. The temple takes in orphans and takes care of them - it is nice that even though they have so many problems already, they still goof around and act like kids.

Then, we all went to the fortune teller who is dons a huge smile that shows her missing teeth, is no more than 4 feet tall, weighs about 60 pounds, and is older than time itself.
This woman predicted that I would be married by the time I am 28, will have 5 children, and will make a lot of money in the next 2 years. Watch out world, all of that sounds a little scary (aside from the money bit). Anyway, it was good fun and she really got some people's past right on the spot.

In other news: the women here are obsessed with my skin - they love that it is "white" and really wish their skin was so great. They also love that my eyes are not brown - I have been told I am beautiful for these reasons more times than I can count. I swear I have more wrinkles than 80 year olds, but it is the color they want! To protect their skin from the sun, women wear face masks, rice hats, bandannas all over their face, and long elegant gloves just to go to the market. If they only knew how much money there was in tanning products in our country...it reminds me of Dr. Seuss' Sneeches.

Today we are off to visit the citadel and then onto the night train to Halong Bay and then onto Hanoi. Only 4 days left - Viet Nam is a goregous country. You should all visit.

Pacific Love!

The Pacific Ocean is warm enough here for you to swim in and there are not millions of people on the beaches (unless you count the women in tons of clothing from head to food, donning rice hats, trying to sell you crap). To say the least, the beach in Hoi An is goregous. We (my Aussie friend) and I had lunch and swam for a while yesterday and it was really relaxing. The two of us piled onto a female run moped (making 3 people on a one person bike), paid about 1.00, and got a round trip, door to ocean drive.
We took a cooking course last night which was fun I learned how to make pork in banana leaf (aluminum foil will suffice), vegetable spring rolls - fresh and fried, papaya salad (they use unripe papaya so it tastes like cucumber), and won ton salad. It was good fun :) I also managed to get some artwork that will hopefully be in my home one day and ordered more clothes. Johanna, watch out, I may come off the plane in something a little crazy!
We are leaving today for Hue, another beach town, and I have heard it is really nice. There is a woman who tells fortunes there and I am really looking forward to hearing what she has to say! While I am loving Asia, I think that I am preparing for going home as I am getting sick of people in these countries thinking I want to buy everything....they say "Madame" and follow you around, ignoring your pleas of "No, thank you" and bothering you for far too long. I am also sick of the mopeds here. They honk all the time and I have been hit by 2 so far (they drive everywhere - market, sidewalk, buildings, etc.)....none of my hittings were great and I didn't even get bruises, but it is annoying. Oh well, I will probably wish to be back soon enough!

Penis', Rats, Cockroaches, and more!

I almost forgot to tell you:
The restaurant we went to last night had the following items on the menu:
goat penis
she-goat breast
rat
cockroaches
scorpion
cow penis
intestines
eel

People in my group ate: scorpion, eel, rat.
I ate: rat.
It actually wasn't that bad and tasted remarkably like beef jerkey. Sorry Lizzy..I know you keep them as pets...I promise it wasn't related to Taz, Taz II, or Taz III.

Hoi An - the Beach Town!

After avioding getting run over by 30000000 mopeds this morning, we boarded a flight from Saigon to Hoi An - a lovely town on the enormous ocean. This town is really quaint, more quiet, and full of tailors and great restaurants! Nearly everyone in the group was fitted for clothing today and I am having more things made. I figure it will keep me out of US malls and truly I think I won't be able to handle them for at least 2 months for fear of culture shock. It is really cheap - for 120.00US I am having the following made (and the fabric ranges from linen to silk...)
2 pairs of pants
1 dress
1 asian-style jacket
1 asian-style shirt
1 skirt
3 button down shirts
Got a massage, ate some good tofu, read some Harry Potter (100 pages to go....), and walked a bit around. Tomorrow we'll go to the beach and visit some of the old homes on a tour. Leyla - Vietnam is definitely the Durian Country - it is everywhere :) Glad you are enjoying Ireland!

Cute Kids and Crazy Driving!

Chau warned me against adopting a cute Cambodian child...and I laughed telling her not to worry...but after visiting an orphanage full of the most adorable, loving, sweet kids in Phnom Penh, I seriously considered adopting a cute kid some day from here. I can't wait to share pictures of these kids with you - one of the boys just latched on to me and wouldn't let me go! We danced to Cambodian music and they gave us a traditional dance show which was captivating.
We also went out to a club in Phnom Penh which was an absolute riot. First of all, before midnight, there are shows to Western songs that incorporate hideous costumes and crazy dancing with some awful singing. Secondly, the men dance like they are on crack and shake your hand to ask you to dance. A good time was had by all :)
On a sad note, we visited the Killing Fields - where Pol POt and his army killed massive amounts of people for fun and raped many women and went to the torture chambers which were a school at one point. It was awful and very upsetting that so many people were hurt for no reason.

Vietnam is a crazy place. Two men were seriously fighting over me to ride in a little cyclo thing with them and that was scary. There are over 4000 motorbikes in Saigon and you just have to cross the street with 100's coming at you and hope they weave around you. There are 40 fatalities each day on motor bikes alone! The city is really pretty and the French influence is intersting - there is actually a Catholic church here and it has some nice Virgin Marys that are surroded my neon lights (they really like those here....). The coffee is fantastic and the rice paper rolls are phenomenal - finally the food is healthy and not fried! I have yet to see any obsese people that are not white in Vietnam and to date have only seen one fat Asian and I think she may have been a tourist :)

Today we visited the War Remnants museum which made me very unhappy about the US involvement in this country and felt physically ill because of all of the photos and information about the hideous tortures. In addition, we went to Chu Chi - the tunneled city that the Vietnamese lived in for 10 years and was crucial to them winning the war. It was amazing and extremely scary in the tunnels - they were TINY and smelly but included a school, hospital, kitchen, etc.
Sorry for the long post - internet has been spotty here. Tomorrow we leave for Danang and I am getting excited to resume a non-travelling life and see Johanna and other people I miss :) Mabel and Em - good luck with the marathon - Woo hoo!

Crocs, Ruins, Sunsets and rises, and Land Mines

Today I was up at 4:30 getting prepped to watch the sun rise over Angkor Wat. The sky was full of purples and pinks as it engulfed the beautiful outline of one of the seven wonders of the Ancient world. We spent the day toodling around many different ruins- the most beautiful, in my opinion, the ones that are the most ruined by trees and random earth shiftings.

We also visited the most unique restaurant - The Stinking Fish - which unfortunately did not serve rat, worm, or cat (it explained this on the menu) and had a lake full of crocodiles ready to attack any drunkard that accidentely fell into their swarming, seething, evil territory. Food here is pretty good....similar to Thai food, spicy if you so choose, and always full of meat or fish. I was completely misconcepted thinking that I would find tofu wherever I went as I try to aviod meat when travelling.

We also visited the Land Mine Mueseum which is actually more of a center for victims of land mines. It was harrowing arriving there as you pass a basketball court full of goregous Cambodian children missing limbs - arms, legs, faces cut up, etc. because of land mines the US and Vietnam left here during our conflicts. There are still over 6 MILLION land mines and 3 casulaties a day here because of them - generally the most poor people are hit by them and there is not much they can do about them because they pose such a threat to all involved in finding them. The Museum has volunteers who educate the children by teaching them how to read, write in numerous languages since most of the victims are beggars. Unfortunately the US, China and Russia are still producing massive amounts of these mines and no one seems to do much about it. There are 3,000 surrounding many villages in Iraq apparently....democracy what? Anyway it is upsetting and innocent people are being maimed by devices that are made to do just that.

To end on positive notes:
I was in the same place as Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider today since she filmed here in Cambodia and we are on our way to have dinner at a woman's home....apparently she is a great cook and I am starving so it is really exciting! I feel very safe here and find it to be more beautiful than Thailand.