The Chases in Vietnam: A Month of Doings

Hello, friends and family and folks back home!

The last time I wrote it was early October and I showed you a picture of a plant with new growth. At that time we were two months in and still getting used to life here. We were expecting a drenching month (all the weather charts say that it rains twice as much in October as any other month of the year), and Tim was working at learning his students names and adjusting to his schedule. We had been warned that the third month can be a really hard one because the newness has worn off, but things still aren't familiar and comfortable. I don't know if I would describe it that way precisely, but I can say that the first three months were like wading through a pit of peanut butter that got gradually more shallow as we went along. There were places along the way where we found a solid rock and jumped to another solid rock, but then it was back to being ankle deep in peanut butter and chugging along. Now we're out of that mess and we've changed our shoes and we're feeling fine.

Locals still tell us that we're in the rainy season, but they admit that this has been an incredibly dry rainy season. We were looking forward to a break from watering our plants on the roof and being hot, but instead we keep having sunny days with only occasional rains, most of them at night when we're asleep. Tim is grateful he's not motorbiking to and from class in a poncho. A handful of times is enough for the novelty factor--more than that gets old. The weather has cooled to being in the mid-80's, so most of the time we're pretty comfortable. Sometimes the humidity has us damp all over, but a half hour or so in the A/C sets us right again. We can't wrap our brains around the fact that next week is Thanksgiving. We are enjoying a really long summer and can't believe that the rest of you are finishing up with fall and beginning winter. Ok, that's enough of a weather report (I realize that I always start by talking about the weather--I can't help myself! It's the backdrop to whatever else I may tell you about.)

The daily routine for me and the kids is pretty simple. We're home every morning while Tim is teaching. The kids do their schoolwork, and I help them as needed. I fill the rest of the time with bits of language study, laundry, shopping, etc. I've learned to drive a motorbike, so now I can do some of the simpler errands without Tim. Fortunately, the part of town we live in is light on traffic, and it's not hard for me to get around. Driving in the city center still freaks me out a bit, but I've gotten a lot more confident with it. I still hate parking, usually because there is someone standing there watching you do it!

The other day we had a sudden inspiration to drive up Monkey Mountain. We only saw the backsides of two monkeys disappearing into the underbrush, but at least we know they live there! The kids and I had a long time at the top because Tim had to take care of a flat tire (rolling to the bottom of the mountain, finding a repair shop, waiting for a new tire, etc.). The flat occurred when we were about halfway up, so I ferried the kids the rest of the way and he went down to get it sorted.

Vegetable and pork skewers for grilling

We've gone on several outings now with Tim's classes. He teaches Freshmen, so they are in the important stage of bonding with new classmates and forming a class identity. They will study with the same 20 or so students their entire 4 years, so it's important that they like each other! Tim has helped with that group bonding by doing trust exercises in class and helping them to organize picnics and such. Some of the classes would have done that anyway, but others have needed the nudge toward getting to know each other outside of class time. Our two favorite outings were to the beach (an area we hadn't been to before) and to a mountain spring. The students prepared the picnic foods, and they've done a great job.