My morning class of rising 7th graders doing a team building exercise where they have to build a 5 level pyramid with tennis balls. Although we did not win, the kids had a blast. My teaching/coaching schedule is laid out like this: Monday-Thursday I teach four Sports and Health classes a day, and coach four volleyball practices a day. In addition I teach a life skills classes like leadership, team building, or higher education. There are morning and afternoon students so I work with two groups a day. I also work with two Vietnamese college students from Can Tho University and one Vietnamese high school student. Every Friday we have competitions and academic tests. My morning orange team took first place twice in the competitions last Friday.
Hard at work on the pyramid.
My evening orange team (The Orange Sky Dragons). Slogan, "Train your body for sports, train your mind for school", and "Doi cam vo dich (Team Orange is the champion)."
The fruit here is so different than back in the U.S. There are miniature bananas and watermelon, and then some dragon fruit, and I forgot the names of the other fruit, but as you can see it is very colorful and it tastes pretty good as well.
We went to a floating market, which is a market on a river. We had to get there at 5:30am, and Nghi (our Vietnamese program director) told us that the locals get there at 3am to buy food to bring back to their villages. In the above picture we are eating a fruit pronounced mit yet I do not think that is how it is spelled. It actually tastes just like yellow laffy taffy, and even has a similar consistency.
Here you can see one of the vendors at the floating market. The giant bamboo stick holding produce is how the vendor displays what he is selling. Some boast sell only one item while others sell a wide range of vegetables and fruit. There are even boats described as coffee shops that offer you coffee, soft drinks, and small snacks while you shop. Were were escorted around by a boat as well.
On our way to the Hoa An research center where we stay, we stopped for a Mekong River tour. The Mekong is actually a huge river and this is just one of the smaller rivers running through one of its islands. We actually all were given those hats you see, but there is no way I am posting that picture on the Internet, those you want to see how funny we looked will have to wait.
Right now I am at a hotel in Can Tho city. We have spent a few days here and yesterday I was did some shopping at the local markets. Graham, a Duke alumni that also played soccer, and I made the effort to get tailored suits made. We first went to the market and bought some fabric we liked (color and quality/feel) and then brought it to a tailor. We chose the style of pant and jacket and he took measurements. The full suit will only cost about $50, and what I have heard they turn out really nice.
I also ate some more interesting food since I last posted. I had frog legs and snake at dinner Friday night, and was able to eat pure sugar can freshly chopped down from the yard at the center where we stay. They snake was not very tasty, but everything else has been fine. I am not sure if I already mentioned this, but I tried the partially developed chicken and duck eggs. They are eggs that have a recognizable embryo in them. They taste good but it is a little weird to eat them. Last, I had dog. I will not ever eat dog again, but I had to try it. Just to let everyone they usually do not just kill their pet dogs, but they buy the dog meat from the market that comes from wild dogs. Anyway, it has all been an experience.
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