Feb 15th Can Tho

hi!

I'm in Can Tho, the city right next to my dad's hometown, Vinh Long. I am in the Mekong Delta, the great and fertile area where the majority of Vietnam's food are grown from. I miss home lots. Thinking a lot about home as per usual.

I'm making some headway on my research project, but still the topic is so broad. I am not sure where and how to be more specific. I made a few contacts, but most of them are in Sai Gon and I'm still in Can Tho. It's sorta crazy how just when i'm beginning to make some contacts and build relationships, we are on the move to a different area, so it makes it hard for me to build anything long-term. Though I must say, every person I have met have been so nice and amiable. No one talks shit about my hair. Everyone laughs nervously or happily, when they talk to me. I'm actually having a great time, getting adjusted to myself here in this space, this environment, this air.

I'm thinking about things here now. my mind is beginning to focus on here, I think it's finally hitting me that I am HERE, in Vietnam, doing the things that I am doing. We are constantly learning and constantly being challenged, being introduced to new topics, new ideas, new findings about Viet Nam. I think I'm realizing that this program is awesome. I'm learning things about Viet Nam that I never learned before, and I would not have learned if it was not for the contacts and connections and collections of readings this program is providing for me. We meet such awesome professors, everyone experts of their fields, each one full of specific knowledge and love for Viet Nam. These professors have all studied abroad, have gotten a taste of abroad, and have all decided to come back and teach, to learn, to research, to contribute to the country that they love. Everyone here is really inspiring, especially the professors and students. The students have been friendly and funny, making conversations with me.

Today, my language teacher was different than my other ones. And he was harder, more challenging. I realize how little I actually know, and I realize how much more studying i will have to keep doing, to remember those vocabulary words that I was taught. I enjoy my vietnamese lessons, sometimes challenging, sometimes too easy, but in its easiness, i learned how much i know, and in the hardness, i am humbled and realize how much i don't know, and realize how much more there is to know, and that thought is exciting. I'm excited for my learning experiences, quite literally, studying abroad is all about the experiences.

We were talking about soil today, especially the soil composition and history of the Mekong Delta. The Mekong is special, it has all these rich silts and sediments from upstream, where the river starts in Nepal and runs through Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Mekong has a different name in each country, but it is the connector and relates so many countries and cultures to each other. It's pretty durn amazing. Anyways, we dug out some soil samples from the nearby field, and saw firsthand the soil types that are in the area, and did some ph tests, and saw the acidity levels. I learned about pyrites, iron-sulfate, and how it is not good for growing crops and how it was made from mangrove forests. Very fun, today's lesson was a talk about the environment, a little about hte culture, a lot about the geological history of Viet Nam.

Yesterday we learned about the culture of Viet Nam, and the professor brought in musicians, some of his friends who play traditional instruments, and have them played for us samples of music from different regions. the lesson made me cry, cause some of the songs reminded me so much of Viet Nam, of the overwhelming and amazing feelings of Vietnamese-ness, that it made me fill with joy and emotions. Having lessons about Vietnamese history and environmental and developmental concerns, about anything and everything Vietnam, and it feels DAMN AMAZING. I've never had history lessons about VIet Nam, never had lessons about Vietnamese poetry, and was never taught in Vietnamese (in the states).

Viet Nam is amazing, no doubt. And I am so glad i am learning about it. The more i learn about it, the more professors I get to meet and learn from, the more connected I feel to Viet Nam, to its people, to myself. I feel better now, getting more settled, getting excited about my independent study project on art. though i am not sure exactly what my topic is, i know that it will be related to contemporary art in Viet Nam, and I know I will give my all to it, and I know it will be awesome. well, it will at least be decently interesting, if not well-written. ;O) I'm excited for the future, though i have my fears and apprehensions, i feel more ready than ever to meet them. i feel hopeful, I feel more myself, I feel a lot better than I did before.

Hopefullly these feelings are not empty promises. hopefully they will come true.

I am using the computer and internet of my host family in Can Tho. Thuy, my host-sister, is really sweet and smart. I like her a lot, and I look forward to getting to know her much, much better. Even though I have a slight cold or a slight allergy reaction to the air here, coughing a lot of dry coughs and speaking with a slightly raspy voice, I feel that I have been very well taken care of. Now i just need to take care of myself better. ;O)