A few things to start. Although feeding the elephant might be my favorite picture ever, I thought I should keep changing it. This was in Sapa, when An and I climbed a mountain, and that was our tour guide! I also recently updated my favorite websites & songs, as well as adding some pictures. I wanted to share some of my pictures from Jamaica, which was my first life-changing vacation. If you're reading this and don't know: I spent my last spring break in Jamaica with a group of students from Northeastern on what is called Alternative Spring Break. Being the "Team Leader," I helped plan a trip to St. Elizabeth where we built a playground at a primary school. We also spent the week teaching the kids some of their lessons and endlessly playing with them. Not only is Jamaica absolutely beautiful, but the hospitality we received from the families in this parish, who are among some of the poorest in Jamaica, opened my eyes to so many things, and humbled everyone on our trip. There were tears in everyones eyes when we left, and I know no one on that trip will be the same. We worked with the non profit VIJON, if you're interested in more information. I'm happy to say that NEU is sending a group of students back to work with VIJON again, and that one of the students from my group is the new Team Leader! I can't wait to hear what they accomplish. Anyway, this was what really pushed me over the edge to do whatever I can to help, and to see as much of the world as financially possible. So I hope you enjoy the pictures! 

I think you should:

Listen to: 1) the new Andrew Bird album, Noble Beast. One of the better things I've heard in a while. (Dad- I think you'll like it!) 2) Chris Cornell - anything acoustic/live. He's my latest obsession.

Read: 1) The Alchemist. I found it incredibly easy to read and follow. Great story about following your dreams, everything Paulo Coehlo lives up to. He is coming out with a new book soon, I'm pretty excited. Check out his blog, and read the entry of his comments on the new book, The Winner Stands Alone. It sounds like I'll love it. 2) Revolutionary Road. Actually, I didn't like this one. However, I've heard great things about the movie, so you might want to read it before/after and decide for yourself. I'm betting I'll like the movie a lot more. 3)I've started reading Sense & Sensibility. I found a SMALL section of English books at the local bookstore, all of them classics, and I realized I've never read Jane Austin. I'm about halfway through it, it takes me a lot longer to read then Paulo Coehlo, but I absolutely love the language, and the romance. It's keeping me occupied.

Watch: 1) Blood Diamond. I think Leo gets better with every movie he does, but this was just an amazing movie. I also watched some of "The making of" and it's so interesting how they filmed it with real children (as opposed to actors, not fake children) and were able to educate them about it at the same time. Anyway, definitely worth watching. 2) The Prestige, One of those movies where you can't get up to go to the bathroom or you'll miss something, and one that you have to watch again to figure everything out. I'm still thinking about it. 

Life in Vietnam. Well last weekend I had a great American weekend. It was Alice's birthday, so Frank came up and we had a party. We made mojitos (mm) and she made homemade chocolate chip cookies (she brought baking soda back from America, and they were perhaps the most delicious I've ever had.) We also introduced my two favorite American drinking games, Beer Pong and Flip Cup. Although some of my students were there, and it was slightly embarrassing, we tried our best to teach everyone how to play. Flip cup ended terribly (some people just can't flip cups!) and beer pong was a lost cause because there were no specific teams, and we all know that I get angry when the rules are not adhered to. Regardless, I was incredibly happy to play for the first time since August. It's the little things. We spent the next night playing Kings (my least favorite drinking game) and then went out dancing, and it was a good old American-college weekend.

The two days after that I went to Rach Gia. It is a province about three hours away from Can Tho. Our friend Frank teaches there, so he showed me around. I actually really like it there. It's less of a city then Can Tho, but still pretty big. And a little cleaner.. mostly I think because there is less traffic. It was a relaxing few days though, bike riding, eating delicious food, the normal Vietnam days, just in a new place, which I'm hoping to do more of. You could tell there were a lot less foreigners in Rach Gia because i got about a million more stares then I usually do. I don't think you can truly understand what I mean by this... people actually just stare at you. Some of them smile, but even then you cant be sure what they're thinking, because its culturally known that some Vietnamese smile when they are nervous, not happy. Anyway we sat down by the river and people literally would stop their motorbikes right next to us and stare. I would say "Wanna make bets on how long they will stay there?" It's ridiculous! I thought it must be what being a celebrity is like. A few people stopped to talk to us, and one girl came up to me with her cell phone and asked if she could take a picture of me. That turned into a photoshoot: Me and her, Frank and her, the three of us together, us with her friend. It's completely nerve-wracking, I wonder how quickly those pictures get forwarded to all of her friends and passed around the internet, I will never know. Note to self: I could never be a celebrity. Although Frank mentioned that its close to being a politician, which I have to agree with. Everyone wants something from you, but mostly they just want to be in your presence. Invite you out with their friends just to say that you were there with them, and you have pictures to prove it. While it is really, really annoying sometimes, I can't imagine what it will be like to walk down the street and NOT be noticed. Another reason going home is going to be hard to adjust to.

I stayed there an extra night to watch the inauguration because my hotel room had a tv. This turned out to be quite the ordeal. Just as it goes in Vietnam, if you're having a great day and have high expectations for the evening (ie. being able to watch the inauguration) something will not work out in your favor. To make a long story short, we finally found a TV that showed it, at 11:30pm, but it was a French TV station. So yes, I watched in inauguration as it was overdubbed in French. Quite the experience. I was able to listen to most of it, some of it got lost in translation (HA!) but there is always youtube for that. It was a pretty funny experience. It was nice just to watch it and feel a little bit closer to home, part of history, even though I'm half way across the world. 

Then I took a mini vacation to Phu Quoc, which is an island in south Vietnam, although it is very close to Cambodia and apparently they want ti claim it as theirs, but it's not. I rode the SuperDong (insert own joke here, the boat really is called the SuperDong, and I really did have to ride it to get to the island) about 2 1/2 hours from Rach Gia. I stayed in a cute little bungalow on the beach, and just relaxed (and got a tan!) for a few days. The water was actually a lot dirtier then I had expected it to be, so for my last day I went to a different side of the island and it was absolutely beautiful. After my trip to the islands in Thailand, I think I'm a little bit spoiled, because I'm not sure anything can compare. But it was a beautiful island, and had I gone there first I would of thought it was absolutely amazing.. I'm just a little spoiled now. I'll put up pictures soon, but hopefully I'll go there at least one more time, it's easy to get too, just a little expensive (relatively.)

Last weekend one of my students, Duy, aka Tiny Cat (they choose their own English names..) took my back to his hometown for the day. It was about a 2 hour motorbike ride to the province of Vinh Long, which is right next to Can Tho. I love going to the country side, it is so beautiful and a nice change of pace from Can Tho. I met his ENTIRE family.. as is custom to Vietnam, you don't move far away from your family. A whole row of houses consisted of his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandmother, a 92 year old blind woman who was incredibly happy just to touch my arm. It was a really nice day. Duy's mom made a delicious meal, and he taught me some Vietnamese! He has the most beautiful garden in his backyard and I got a lot of fruit to take home, picked right off the trees! The country side reminds me a lot of Jamaica, and then I realized.. thats just because it's a countryside in a tropical location. Anyway, beautiful. Unfortunately I forget my camera, but they took a few pictures of me with the family I'm hoping he will send me.  

I've also spent some time touring more of Can Tho with my friend Thao, who I have mentioned many times before. I also forgot my camera for this trip, but it was really nice. She showed me a famous pagoda, and there were kids practicing dragon dancing in front of it, which i love. We also went to this French colonial house, which has been featured in movies, and I forget the details of it, but I'm hoping to go back with my camera one day because it was beautiful. 

So, thats a sum of my life recently. Today is New Years Eve, and tomorrow starts Tet. I have a few plans for the next few days, so after it all wraps up I will write a little about the Chinese New Year! I hope everyone is well. xoxo.