Airport Layover Hell

Hi everyone -- I'm back at the airport for my loong layover. There was trouble getting a prompt flight to Japan at a reasonable price, so Tonya and I are both getting to know the airport...but unfortunately at different airports in different cities. D'oh! And the computer is set up here so I can't upload pictures, which would have been an excellent use of my time. I'll have to wait until I can use Tonya's computer in Japan. I wish I could share them with you! I've taken so many. I have 3 minutes of internet left so I'll be quick: my plans are to fly to Tokyo in the early morning hours tomorrow, meet Tonya in the airport and head to her house in Nagano. From there, she has a fun itinerary of parties and cultural events lined up. I'm really excited! Will write more when I get a chance. Love to all.

Hanoi

Hi everyone! Sorry its been a few days since I last wrote, but I have a good excuse! Tonya and I have been on Ha Long Bay, on a renovated junk boat, kayaking, meeting lots of interesting people and drinking perhaps too much local Vietnamese wine. I have a looong layover in the airport tomorrow as I head off for Japan, so I will try to find internet access so I can write something more extensive. But, long story short: having an amazing time, love Vietnam and all is well with me. Plus I'm getting a lovely tan. Write soon!

More Saigon

Yesterday I had no trouble catching the train back to Saigon from Phan Thiet. I waited in the station for about an hour with an adorable family, sharing cookies with the kids. The train wasn't bad at all: the seats recline, plenty of space. I finally got my Vietnam train ride! The views were incredible. We wound through an agricultural belt and I got to see fields of plants growing all those strange (to me) Asian fruits...I never knew what a dragonfruit tree looked like! Everything is so green and lush here. I was definitely the only Westerner on the train, but everyone was super nice to me. We can't understand each other's words, but that's not necessary for friendship, it seems.

I arrived in the Saigon station at about 7pm and got a room in a guesthouse in the backpackers area. Its not nearly as crazy and chaotic as the backpackers zone in Bangkok -- thank god! I went to the airport to pick Tonya up. Its so great to see her!!! I can't believe its been 2 years. I'm so excited. Today we fly to Hanoi and plan to go island hopping in Halong Bay for a few days. I'm really, really enjoying Vietnam.

Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam is just amazing so far! On my flight to Saigon from Bangkok I sat next to Chou, a Saigon native coming back from visiting a friend in Thailand. We chatted and hit it off -- she's 28, she's also just going back to school after working for a few years, she also likes traveling alone. She offered to take me to the train station on her motorbike. I figured I already trust her more than I would any taxi, so I accepted. The train to Hanoi ended up being sold out for the next two days, so I had to figure out a new game plan. I met Chou's family and some of her friends, one of whom is an American ex-pat named Mike who was a war photographer here in the 60's and 70's. He was excited that my parents had also been here during the war, so he led me on a detailed walking tour of central Saigon, complete with descriptions of how things were, where and what important things happened, etc. I saw where all the journalists used to hang out and drink coffee. And the streets that used to be all seedy bars filled to the brim with GI's are now lined with luxury hotels, department stores, and Gucci shops. It was fascinating. I took lots of pictures.

Chou's family were immediately warm, welcoming and generous. One nice thing about traveling alone as a young woman is that people tend to take you under their wing. They asked a lot about my family and told me that since my parents were so far away, here in Vietnam I was as their daughter. We had dinner, which was a whole fried fish. Head with open mouth and eyes, skin, everything. I was brave and ate it. I'm such a brave vegetarian!

By the end of the evening, it was very clear to me that these were all wonderful, trustworthy people, so when they offered that I could stay in their spare room, I accepted. They all seemed quite worried about me spending money because I'm a "poor student". They wouldn't let me pay for anything, not food, not bottled water during our walk, not our pricey coffee at Rex's. They are so incredibly sweet. And as devout Catholics, they were excited to hear that I'm also from a Catholic family. Melissa left me with two San Francisco shot glasses, I gave them to Chou's family.

Chou and I stayed up late talking and giggling about breakups and relationships. She's in love with an American boy who "doesn't love her". I told her American boys are just trouble.

In the morning, Chou called a resort on the coast a few hours away from Saigon and bargained with the manager to get me a room for one night for less than $10. Chou is very charismatic, so after a few minutes, the manager agreed on an insanely low price and upgraded me to the "VIP Room". Pretty amazing! In the morning, we zipped around Saigon on Chou's motorbike. She said that she doesn't like motorbikes because they are dangerous; if Saigon had a subway, she would never drive. But you'd never guess she was afraid when she's driving around! It was really, really fun. I think Chou is one of the coolest girls I've ever met, in any country.

Chou got me onto the small bus to the coast, giving me a bag full of sweet rice cakes, bread, bottled green tea, and popcorn, in case I got hungry. I thought being in Ho Chi Minh City would be stressful, but thanks to my new Vietnamese best friend, its been one of the easiest parts of my trip!

The bus was interesting. The scenery was lovely, but the girl next to me kept alternating between eating fistfuls of caramel popcorn and vomiting into a (clear) plastic bag. The sight, sound and smell of someone vomiting usually makes me incredibly nauseous, but I was able to tune it out and stare out the window. When I got to the beach town, I bargained with a motorbike taxi to take me the 20 kilometers to the resort, and then we were on our way. I wish I could have taken pictures from the motorbike. We passed lots of animals, small fishing villages, scenic harbors with fishing boats, little boys trying to hunt birds with slingshots. When I got to the resort, it was really nice. My $7 room has not only air-conditioning (already a luxury for me) but my own yard with hot tub, big shower, free soap! I didn't know what to do with myself. I sat there for about 20 minutes deciding what I felt like doing. Luckily, Tonya called to discuss meeting up and Hanoi tickets, and that got me out of my daze.

The resort is nice, but it was quite clear that there was no one who spoke English around for miles and miles. Its sort of a strange feeling. People were very nice, but I felt pretty lonely. The beach was lovely, though. I'm happy that I am meeting up with Tonya tonight.

This morning I got a motorbike taxi back into the larger beach town and bought my train ticket. The train doesn't leave until 2:00 PM and its only 12:30, so I have some time to kill. I figure I'll wander around and find something to eat, then go to the station to read. Tonight I'm picking up Tonya at the airport, and tomorrow morning we head up north to Hanoi. Yaay!

One (More) Night in Bangkok

We flew back from Cambodia today for Melissa to catch her flight home -- boo! She has to go back to work. I, however, am continuing on to Vietnam tomorrow. Tonight I'm staying in this really old budget hotel called the Atlanta. Its like a cheap Casablanca. I like it! And I'm exhausted, so I plan to go to sleep in a few minutes. Might have energy to post again tomorrow morning before my flight. Goodnight!

Cambodia

Why go to Thailand when there's Cambodia?? That's what Melissa and I have kept asking ourselves. We've spent the last few days here in Siem Reap, Cambodia and are both absolutely loving it. We've been seeing the temples of Angkor Wat and others, which have been amazing. Of course, even more than the sights, the people we've met have been so lovely! I have an excessive amount of pictures, all of which I plan to upload to Flickr during my loooong layover in the Bangkok airport tomorrow (Monday).

The poverty is harder to ignore here than it is in Thailand, but you know what? That's okay -- I don't really want a sanitized tourist environment. Its been pretty heartbreaking but also really fun. And the food is great; our meals here have generally been better than in Thailand and I looove Thai food.

I'm on a really bad computer so I'll keep this short...but I plan to upload my pictures and write a more extensive blog tomorrow when I have lots of time to kill at the airport. Right now I just want to go and enjoy our last night in beautiful Cambodia!!

One Night In Bangkok

Hi everyone! We've made a decision to head to Cambodia tomorrow to see Angkor Wat. Chiang Mai was pretty, but we were unhappy with our hosts...they were very generous and good people, but weird. They tended to only speak to Melissa and ignore me -- it was all very strange. So we made our escape yesterday evening and took a sleeper train to Bangkok. The train was fun! We splurged on first class (still cheaper than any Amtrak train I've ever been on) and had our own little cabin. We made friends with the guys working on the train and a passenger from Israel, drank lots of Chang beer, and passed out at 11pm (much later than the other passengers). We got in at 7:30 am and were exhausted. We took the subway to the Sukhumvit area of town to look for a hotel a friend recommended. We had trouble finding it so we sat in the nearest outdoor patio bar to rest and put our bags down. This led to our early morning beer session -- hey, you're only in Bangkok once, right? We had food on the street later. The guy working there didn't speak English and our few Thai words didn't get us far, so we guessed with the menu. Unfortunately, bean curd soup has pork in it. And Melissa got this noodle dish with, ahem, gravy -- which in her words had "the consistency of snot". It made for pretty funny pictures, though! I chose the safe option: pad thai. Not the most adventurous choice but it was good and I knew there was no meat! I've been eating shrimp occasionally. Some days I can get myself to eat fish, other days I can't. Overall, I'm doing fairly well.

After looking at the map we realized most people recommended that we stay in Th Khao San, the touristy backpacker area. We headed over that way and immediately regretted it. The best times we've had here have been hanging out with locals, not other Western tourists, so I'm not sure why we didn't realize that we wouldn't like it. But by that time we were super tired so we checked into the nearest not-as-sketchy hostel and took a nap. This evening we've been wandering around, we had really good dinner that within a half hour made me vomit and gave me a huge headache (msg?)...we went down to the river and enjoyed the sights. It was a nicer restaurant. I've heard that the street food is safer than the food in "nice" restaurants -- they were right.

Tomorrow morning we're heading out early to Cambodia! I'm really, really excited that we decided to go.

Most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS TO JIMMY AND KATH!! I got a text message a few days ago from Jimmy that they got engaged, but didn't post it in my earlier blog in case he hadn't announced it to everyone. I think its safe to say it now, if not...oops!! Sorry...

My next post should be from Cambodia -- yaay!

Chiang Mai

We just got into Chiang Mai an hour or so ago and are staying with a couple that are friends of a friend of Melissa's in San Francisco. One is an (American) retired English professor. We haven't met his Thai partner yet -- he's at a class. Chiang Mai looks really beautiful!

Our last night in Phuket was very fun. We went out with the owner of the hotel to an amazing drag show, it was SO great. If anyone ever goes to Phuket, definitely stay at CC Blooms! We only have wonderful things to say about the place. It was beautiful, not super touristy, and the staff are great, especially Miss Canada, the transgender cook. Most of our evenings out were spent with locals, not other tourists, which I think is a little unusual. Its been perfect!

I'm so tired (again)!! Its hard for me to type coherently. I think after we eat I'll perk up a bit. Just wanted to check in! I should be able to email/post more frequently because there's internet here at the house. I'll post again soon!

Phuket & Ko Phi Phi

Hi everyone -- sorry its been a few days. I didn't have internet access the last few days. We were on Ko Phi Phi, a small limestone island near Phuket. It was really, really nice! I kept very busy sitting around on the beach, drinking beer. Melissa and I are both pretty sunburned! Now we're back in Phuket at the same hotel we were at when we first arrived. We came back for one more evening so we could hang out with the owner and his Thai boyfriend. They wanted to take us out when we were here earlier, but forces of nature (i.e. a bad hangover) didn't allow it! So we're going out with them tonight and heading up north to Chiang Mai tomorrow. I'm super tired and feeling pretty stressed out about some law school preparation stuff. This was pretty much the worst time for me to not have internet access. All my stuff from Hastings came! Argh. Luckily, my family is amazing (obviously) and I think everything will be okay.

I'll try to write more soon when I'm feeling a bit calmer and clearer. So far Thailand is just perfect, though! I have fun stories to write, I'll catch everyone up soon. xoxo

Airport fun

I'm in the Bangkok airport and I'm exhausted! My flight left Delhi at 12:30 am this morning and I wasn't able to sleep. I'm here on a layover between my flight to Phuket. On the plane a woman curled up to sleep and put her foot on me. Augh!! Those of you who know my foot-phobia (caused by working at a shoe store for 2 years)will understand just how horrifying this was for me.

My last day in India was really nice. The family was so sweet to me and gave me many hugs and gifts. They gave me a woven bracelet they'd gotten recently at a shrine in the Himalayas. I'm supposed to wear it until it falls off. Luckily, I really like it. Its red, my favorite color. I also have anklets on that jingle when I walk. I probably annoy everyone around me, but I think its fun!

We (the family and I) were joking that we should have many goodbye parties for me. So we had a "samosas and sweets party" at 10am yesterday -- which is exactly what it sounds like: we ate samosas and sweets. I like this kind of party. Then at 1pm we had our "beer party" where my host father, uncle and I got a bit tipsy on Kingfisher "Strong" beer and everyone else drank Fanta. No one else is allowed to drink alcohol. Of course, then I took a nap. At 7:30 I left for the airport. Sonu (one of the brothers there) has a friend who has a van taxi, so we took that. Amit and Sonu came along to see me off and decided that we would have beer in the taxi. Yes, its legal. So we have lots of fun pictures of our second "beer party" inside the taxi, which included lots of spilling.

My flight went well other than the foot thing (eek! don't want to think about it). I took Indian Airlines, which seems to not care as much as other airlines about passengers who freak out about turbulence. Also, they told us to put our seatbelts on, oh, 20 seconds before we landed on the ground in Bangkok. It was pretty funny. They also served the worlds unhealthiest meal: an egg roll (which was actually wrapped in egg -- like an omelet. a real egg roll?), a fried Indian patty thing, and a weird quiche-like cake. And ketchup. Whats the ketchup for?

Well, my internet time is running out so I'm going to wrap up and go to my gate. I'll write more in the next day or so! Thailand is nice so far..but I'll write more about that in my next post.

For some reason, its not letting me write a title for this...unless it changes its mind this might be my untitled post.

I'm leaving for Thailand tonight! My last few days in India have been interesting. My last day at CSI on Friday was cut short due to heat exhaustion. I felt so miserable! I spent the whole afternoon in bed. Pooja and Amit kept coming in to try to get me to drink this very salty lemon drink. Everyone was really sweet. The next day it was still hot and I felt pretty weak until about 1pm when the sky clouded over and the rain started. Yaay! I suddenly felt alive again. We went on the roof and played in the rain. It was great.

Now I'm heading downstairs to have our "party": samosas, sweets and drinks. Beer for me and the adult males, and Fanta for everyone else. Next time I'll post from Thailand!

Indian drama

A couple of days ago, I found out that one of the cousins of my host family read my personal journal. I was really upset, but now I'm over it. I've been feeling quite a bit better the past few days. I've settled into a routine here. Here is a typical day for me in India:

I wake up around 7:30, have breakfast and chat with my host sister and/or brother for a little while, then I head to CSI at around 9:15 am. Technically, they open at 9 am, but any time I've gotten there before 9:15 I've been the first one there and had to wait around for someone with keys. This morning was a nice treat: they were setting up decorations for a wedding. The office is in a community center, so sometimes there are other events going on.

At work, I tend to be more productive in the mornings because the weather is cooler and because the director isn't there yet. The computer I use is right next to her desk. My chair is literally about 1 foot away from her chair. And she yells really loudly in Hindi at everyone. I can never tell if she's angry or if that's just how she speaks to everyone. Whenever she's speaking to me, she is sweet, polite and somewhat quiet. I've been thinking of it as her "English personality" because she seems to change so much depending on which language she's using.

At 1 pm I go home for lunch for about an hour. I usually dread going back because of the said loud yelling and the stiflingly hot office. But I manage to get myself to go, and I try to be as productive as possible. Sometimes this is not productive at all. Today I finished the grant proposal project I was working on and, per the director's request, have started writing short summaries of each major project to be used on the website. Its not exciting, but I at least feel helpful. And tomorrow is my last day, so I really can't complain. And today my coworkers told me I look like a "very sharp Indian lady" because I was wearing a scarf on my head and shoulders. That pretty much made my day.

When I get home, I often have a headache from the Hindi yelling so I relax and read for a bit. I'm short on interesting books, so I'm halfway through reading Karen Armstrong's biography of the Prophet Muhammad for the third time. Yes, same book, third time in a row. Luckily its a complext subject, eh? After my headache goes away, I go play or watch a Hindi movie with the younger children in the family.

There's a power outage every night from 9 to 10 pm, so we usually sit on the roof or just in the dark living room chatting. At 10 pm I have a glass of whiskey mixed with water (not a huge fan, but I want to be polite) with my host father, and then dinner. Then we all talk for a while, then I go shower and lie in bed trying to avoid itching the imaginary mosquitos on me until I fall asleep.

Oops! I have to go -- just found out that the teenagers want to take me to a movie (at a real theater...oooh!). After some initial frustration, I'm actually really enjoying my time in India right now. xoxoxo

Happy Birthday, Mama!

Happy Birthday! To anyone who will see Mom this week, please give her a big hug for me.

Also, here is a picture of me in my new "suit". I'm standing with my host mother here in India. I'm 25 now...isn't there that poem about wearing purple once you're old?

Speaking of "freak"

Today I found some books that a previous volunteer left here. One of them is called "The Third Gender" and is a study on transsexuals in India. Here they are called 'eunuchs'. When I first saw it, I was pretty impressed. India is extremely conservative. I'm pretty sure homosexuality is outright illegal. So a book about gender issues, especially transsexuality, struck me as incredibly progressive. Almost Berkeley-like, even! But then I saw the first page:

WOW. Its so politically incorrect I just don't know what to say!! So it might be a step in the right direction that social scientists in India are starting to sympathize with the condition of eunuchs. But...wow. "Prevention of the birth of such unfortunate freaks of nature"??! To the eunuchs and how we can stop them from being born?! Progressive is not the word that comes to mind. And the book's forward was pretty much the most self-aggrandizing, pompous garbage an author has ever written. Seriously, he said he was pleased that he would always be the first and foremost thinker about eunuchs. Um...I'm 3/4 through the book and not impressed with his methodology nor his conclusions. But then again, he is a man and India has made me into something of a man-hater. You probably would, too, if you had them staring and snickering at you all day long!

That's all I've got...except this fact: India has over 1,500 different varieties of mangoes. And its mango season. Yaay! Below is the mango man delivering to our house today: