A scattered photo update in order to catch up on all the things I haven't posted yet

My apologies for the forthcoming incoherent post. I have so many pictures that I have not yet uploaded onto my blog, but I would still like my readers to see. These have no narrative thread or particular order, but I will do my best to describe (and contextualize) each one!

Someone from the English department e-mailed me the photos taken at our faculty meeting on my first day at Ha Tinh University. In the picture you can see me (probably pretty easy to find amongst all the Vietnamese people), Mr. Duc who is my host and supervisor (on my right), Chi Hang in the black-and-white shirt, and Chi Quyen in the royal blue dress.

Here I am again with Mr. Duc leading the conversation (he is the Chair of the English Department), a clearer view of Chi Hang on his right, and Chi Dau in the ruffly floral shirt across from me. She is also one of my new friends!

Here I am trying my best to a) pay attention and b) avoid the tempting snacks provided at the meeting (in front of me).

Behind me on the blackboard is a welcome message to me. I am not sure who has been perpetuating this myth that my name is spelled with an extra I ("Allision") but every Vietnamese student and faculty has been spelling it that way, so it might be a lost cause to try to correct.

Here I am with my two new friends, Sarah and Linda. Linda is Chi Quyen's daughter, and Sarah is her best friend. This is from the day two weeks ago when Chi Quyen took me to a cafe and I hung out with the two little 9-year-old girls. They remind me so much of Marie, my Senegalese little sister and wise language tutor, that I felt a bit homesick and nostalgic for my host family!

Naughty cow found a bag of trash in the street and is shaking it around, trying to rip open a hole. I think if I had any real common sense, I would be more disgusted than amused at the concept of this, because chances are I am eating this cow or his brethren in the local meat supply. Do I really want to be eating an animal that has grown up consuming trash? Well... it's still sort of endearing and precious, despite the health consequences for both the cow and myself!

Typical day, crossing the street. Yes, I have witnessed actual traffic jams on the main highway here when a herd of cows gets in the way of one lane of traffic. Again, this reminds me so much of Senegal and makes me amusingly nostalgic.

This is right after I got off the bus in Vinh this past weekend, and was greeted by Sasha in front of her University. Doesn't she look like a proud teacher?

On my 25-mile bike ride through the rain with Sasha, we found several herds of water buffalo who were being their buffalo selves. This one was romping around in a mud bath for several minutes, so we just had to stop to watch it roll, and eventually, take a picture of it watching us curiously.

Here are some bathing buffalo.

Course #1 at the beach-side restaurant. This was steamed crab with lemongrass.

Steamed shrimp, my favorite, per usual!

Small clams in a delicious broth. Yes, this is what I can eat if I just travel 25 kilometers. Tough life, huh?

Cua Lo Beach in Vinh with Sasha. Sadly, the weather did not cooperate with us, but the water was still bath-tub warm, and the whole experience was silly and quite memorable.

Cramped in our sleeper bunks on the train, but overall, I can say that I had two decent nights' sleep on my two train trips in Vietnam. I will definitely travel by train again! Maybe next time I'll bring sleeping pills so I sleep a bit more soundly next time, but overall, I slept straight through the night!

Here is Linda in her bedroom with her stuffed animals. I know that my parents are looking at this picture thinking that she is the perfect buddy for me with all of her books and toys and animals!

No big deal, just my motorbike!

The side-view of my motorbike with my space-age helmet

Here is Linda with the dinner that Chi Quyen and I prepared. From left to right are the fried, breaded tuna (delicious), the chicken soup (incredible), the lemongrass-chilli shrimp (delectable), and the lemon-garlic morning glory (fabulous).

The money-shot

My day today hasn't gone as well as my day yesterday did, and I am trying to get myself into a better mood. I feel frustrated and disheartened after my classes today, which didn't go as well as my classes yesterday. I think the motivation levels and skill levels are so radically different between my two days' of classes that I get on a high from my first two classes, and crash very quickly from that high when I get to my second two classes and no one wants to participate. I really need to work on my classroom management skills in the Wednesday classes because there are so many people speaking Vietnamese, not paying attention, and not participating. My Tuesday classes are fabulous gems and are all very active and willing to participate, but I just don't know how to get the Wednesday classes more motivated. It's crazy how classes can really take on their own personality as a social group!

Anyway, I am excited for my day-off tomorrow to play around on my motorbike, run some errands, and maybe even fit in a trip to the beach if the weather is nice and if I work up the confidence to drive the 25 km on dirt roads. 

Over the past 3 days since being back from Hanoi, I have consumed the majority of my Haribo gummy frogs (total regret!), so I desperately need to ration the last ones until I can replenish on my next trip to a bigger city. 

Here are some of my goals/plans for the weekend:

- Buy a lock for my motorbike and get it installed on the wheel (kind of an important, crucial goal)

- Buy a second pair of sheets so I can FINALLY wash the ones that are on my bed (this is an equally important goal in terms of remaining a hygienic human being!)

- Hang out with Sasha and maybe go on a trip to the hot springs that are 50 km away.

- Clean my room. I am starting to get ants, and the tile is pretty much covered with a thin layer of sand (despite my vigilant wipe-your-feet and shoes-off policy in my room!), so it is time to scrub the floors and the walls once more.

- Make guacamole (as fellow Fulbrighter, Taylor, pointed out... all the ingredients are right here in Hanoi, and incredibly fresh! It is actually shocking that Vietnamese people don't have a delicious, creamy, zesty avocado snack like in Latin-American cultures, because the ingredients are so abundant!)

- Explore the parts of Ha Tinh that have thusfar been too far to get to, via my motorbike. On the road to Vinh, I even saw a pizza restaurant that I desperately want to check out as a treat to myself!

- Lesson planning. Next week's lesson is, per my students' request, on American customs of food and eating. (Any ideas of what to include or any activities/games/topics/vocabulary to use would be MUCH APPRECIATED)

- Paint my nails

- Figure out a plan for my Halloween and other American holiday parties and movie-nights that I am supposed to be planning.

Whew, just making that list tired me out. I will drift off to the flashes of bright lightening outside my window and the sounds of loud, off-key karaoke that is being performed in the building next door. Oh, Asia....