Dirrrty South. . . . Mekong Style

I’ve been gone for six weeks and I have done an abysmal job of keeping in touch. Hey, I’m making up for it right now. I wonder if in the future when I reminisce, am I going to see the chapters of my life divided by the different blogs I’ve started (and maybe abandoned). Oh the silly things I thought about before starting this blog, adding another notch to my already well established blogging bedpost. Do I just continue one of the many blogs I already have? When I was in Vietnam in 2006, I started a blog about my adventures (The Vietnam Blog) should I continue where I left off? Or do I go on with my current personal blog about my life in suburbia. Both didn’t seem right. Even though I am continuing my life, and I am continuing my relationship with Vietnam, it didn’t fit. I guess this is a new chapter, which means a new blog (sorry about clogging up cyberspace even more).

Anyways…….so here’s the deal: I’m going to be teaching English at Tra Vinh University, which is in (you guessed it!) Tra Vinh. It’s a small city four hours south of Ho Chi Minh City. I’m here through an organization called Volunteers in Asia (VIA).  Tra Vinh is in the Mekong Delta, which is in the south of Vietnam. Vietnam is roughly divided into three regions, the North (Bac), Central (Trung), and the South (Nam). Each region has stereotypes about the people who live there. Northerners are thought to be colder, more intellectual, pretentious, they speak the “correct” version of Vietnamese. Southerners are more laid back, open, warm, and our dialect isn’t as correct. My parents are nguoi nam so I have to have southern pride. Since I’m posted in the Mekong Delta, I’m embracing my new country bumpkin status…. viva hai lua!

I have a lot to update about, but I will do that later. Here’s the lowdown so far: I was in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for three weeks going through both cultural training, and TESOL (teaching english to speaks of other languages) training. VIA sends folks to several different countries in Asia (including China, Burma, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia). The three weeks in Chiang Mai was training for all the countries, so there was like 30 of us. It was basically like Camp Chiang Mai. Afterwards, we all went to our different countries. I was in Ho Chi Minh City for two weeks, along with the other 9 new vols going to Vietnam), for language training. Now I am in Tra Vinh. I will go in depth later, with pictures hopefully (but my internet is HELLA slow, but at least I have internet in my room)….

Ok, I’ll post one to leave y’all hungry:

Banh uot and nuoc mia (sugarcane juice….so deliciously refreshing)

Email me, facebook me, SKYPE me! Download Skype and let’s talk (my university has blocked ichat and aim for me).