Mom and Dad, you may not want to read this or see these pictures...

So I have come to the conclusion that I want to purchase a motorbike here.

Today I came to the disappointing realization that my idyllic assumption about travel in Vietnam proved to be largely false. I thought that I'd be able to get around just fine simply with walking and biking. I thought I would be this fit, intrepid, rugged, environmental traveler who would explore Vietnam on foot. This was a romantic notion, to say the least.

IT IS SO FREAKING HOT HERE. If I go outside for more than 5 minutes, I am drenched in sweat and out of breath. Then I retreat back to my cave of air conditioning in my apartment. I have now tried three different times to walk and/or bike to the center of town from my school (about 2 miles), and all three times I've been defeated by the heat. As a result, I feel incredibly isolated and cooped up here on this rural dirt road with no restaurants or shops or cafes or anything to do.

I know that Ha Tinh is indeed a rural province, but nonetheless, it does have a city with a downtown area, as well as beautiful beaches and caves and mountains that are all 20 to 50 miles away.

I NEED TRANSPORTATION, and sadly, walking and biking are not proving to be realistic forms of transportation, which is so frustrating to me, from so many perspectives. Walking/biking saves money, it is better for the environment, it keeps you in shape, and I feel like it helps you better interact with a community and an environment than does being sequestered in your own private vehicle.

Unfortunately, though, I might have to succumb to the ranks of moto-commuter, just like in the States, only for convenience' sake. I want to get around and have some freedom and independence here. I want to be able to go on daily adventures without feeling inhibited by distance, proximity, or weather (I understand that as hot as it is now, it will be equally cold in the winter, and equally unpleasant to be walking/biking outside in the rain).

So anyway, with all of that said... one of my co-workers in the English department, Chi Quyen, is selling her Yamaha motorbike (new, reliable, and NOT from China, she made sure to remind me). I mentioned to her that I'd be interested in buying it, or at least hearing more about it. With typical Vietnamese hospitality, she responded with an immediate invitation to teach me how to drive her motorbike. Naturally and excitedly, I accepted.

Here is some documentation of our productive and successful (if I do say so myself!) lesson around the courtyard of Ha Tinh University:

Chi Quyen told me she would continue to teach me, and when I feel ready, she would help me sign up to take a license test. I cannot even begin to imagine the freedom I will feel when I can up and leave campus and just drive for an hour and actually get somewhere, instead of the 1 or 2 miles that I'm limited to otherwise.

So, to my parents: please don't be too mad. I promise I'll ALWAYS wear a helmet!!!!!!!!