Fees Must Fall (FMF) is a movement in South Africa that has emerged due to a dissatisfaction with the annual tuition increases instated by various South African universities. FMF’s immediate demands include a halt in tuition increase; however, the movement also argues that tertiary education should (eventually, not immediately) be free of charge in South Africa.
The reason that I wanted to talk a bit about Fees Must Fall is because of an incident that happened last Friday at Stellenbosch. Since last Monday, there had been a peaceful protest taking place in the Stellenbosch University library. The sit-in participants had basically been ignored for the entire week, as they were not being particularly vocal or disruptive to the other students in the library. On Friday, however, the tone of the protest changed drastically. Throughout the whole of Friday, students who were not protesting were barred from entering the library by FMF. Later in the day, when private security arrived to close and lock the library for the day, the protesters refused to leave. FMF was told that they would be given five minutes to leave before more security would arrive to forcibly remove them. The security officers, however, did not allot the full five minutes for the students to leave the library, and within two minutes, the students were being beaten, strangled and pepper-sprayed by private security. One young woman had a seizure after being pepper-sprayed, but was not allowed to leave the building until she had a second seizure, minutes later.
For the past week, the library and many classroom buildings at SU have been completely closed off to the student body. The classrooms that are open are consistently being disrupted by protesters. Many of my classes have been cancelled this week due to the knowledge that the lecture would most likely be disrupted. Test days are particularly nerve-wracking, as FMF participants often run through classrooms and tear up partially completed tests. The FMF’s goal in this action is to say “hey, if your test gets torn up, you can come back another day and take it again. But if fees get raised again, we will not be able to come back. We won’t get another chance at this”. That is a really powerful message.
I’m not going to pretend like I fully understand what is going on here; I don’t. However, I am trying my best to understand. FMF holds open forums every day in one of the buildings they currently are occupying on campus. Last night, I attended a discussion forum that was hosted by an FMF representative as well as a representative from the finance department at Stellenbosch University. Both of the hosts tried their best to present information in an unbiased fashion, with which the audience could form their own, informed opinion. As an international student, I did not feel qualified to offer comments in that conversation, but I did, and do, feel compelled to listen to every opinion and discussion I can find.

As an international student in a foreign country, it is often difficult to position yourself in the culture you find yourself in. It has taken me almost three months to feel comfortable and justified in a discussion of South African politics and justice, and even now, I still have a lot of underlying discomfort. But I am learning that the best thing you can do in any and all situations abroad is listen. Listen to as many people as you can find, and listen to understand, not to respond.

This weekend marked the Mid-Autumn Day festival in China. We were off classes Thursday through Sunday 🙂 (though many of the locals had to go to school today – Sunday – in order to make up for missed classes on Friday).

Though I decided not to travel to Chengdu this weekend, I still had one of the craziest 4 days of my life full of rave and Chinese massages.

Thursday night, the night of the actually moon festival was also the night of the full moon. If anyone’s ever had a moon cake, this is the weekend where the moon cakes are out full force in China. One of the Chinese roommates in our program graciously invited two of my friends and I out to dinner with his family. We were welcomed and treated like one of their own, and I walked out of there fuller than I think I’ve ever been. The almost four course meal was filled with almost every type of food imaginable from carrots to … yes, bugs. I said I’d try almost everything here in China so I knew once I saw the bugs that I was going to have to eat it, and surprisingly it wasn’t that bad, though the whole time I could only think “yes, I’m actually eating a bug.” Besides that though, we were treated to wonderful dumplings, and this good pork dish just to name a few. I’m really honored to have experienced such hospitality here in China, especially on a holiday that is meant specifically for family to be together.

Bugs aside, Friday was equally as crazy. There’s a ton of music festivals here in China all around this time, but we decided to hit up STORM ft. Flo Rida and Alesso. I went into the festival expecting to experience another Lolla, but the experience was entirely different. First off, the cab ride to the festival was almost an hour away (ended up taking us 2). It’s always a good time to try to communicate with the cab drivers – and ours was just finding my minimal Chinese very entertaining. In the US, we grow up saying “thank you” almost all the time, but they don’t do that that much in China, so my cab driver was laughing at me every time I would say it.

I’m going to say I prefer Chinese concerts to American ones, only for the fact that being a foreigner, it was surprisingly easy to get up to the front. And by the front, I mean the literal front. The crowds at the concert were no where as large as Lolla, but there was also a lot less jumping for it being an EDM ish concert. That being said, we now get to say we celebrated Flo Rida’s 37th birthday with him here in Beijing, and that’s something not a lot of people will get to say ever. Also, it was pouring rain when we reached the concert, and concerts in the rain are always a sign that the night will be crazy.

After exiting the concert and receiving my free gift of blue mascara and eyeliner (!!!) we decided to go to a salsa club. It’s always a good time to experience a taste of what the Chinese think foreign culture is like, so after almost 3 hours of dancing to El Taxi and Danza Kuduro, we called it a night.

I capped my weekend off by getting a Chinese massage, which on it’s own was also an interesting experience. The only thing I had remotely experienced massage wise in the US was when I went to Physical Therapy and my therapist massaged my calf. But a 60 minute Chinese massage involves the therapist literally straddling you and popping all parts of your body that you didn’t know could be popped. It also really hurt which is not the relaxing experience I thought I was going to get, but after a day of jumping and dancing, it felt good after.

So that recaps my crazy vacation weekend here in Beijing. The weather has finally started to get cold, which kind of sucks for me because I didn’t pack any warm clothes – so I guess that means more shopping for me:)

 

 

This past weekend, we traveled south, to the Mekong Delta. The Mekong Delta is located at the Southern most part of the Mekong River; the largest river in Southeast Asia. It is the place where the Mekong River approaches and empties into the ocean through a series of distributaries. Many of the people that live in the area live, and make their livelihood on boats. This area is known for its food, floating markets, and peaceful scenery.

We took a bus to the dock where you can catch a boat to the Delta. About 40 minutes before we reached the doc, we took a pit stop at the Cao Dai Temple. This temple is a must see for anybody who is interested in different religions. The Cao Dai religion is a religious practice that originated in Vietnam, and is the third most practiced religion in the country. It is a monotheistic religion that mixes ideas from different religions. If you want to learn more about it, I highly recommend looking it up. Wikipedia has a pretty good description (but really). It kind of reminded me of Unitarian Universalism, except more religious, and also of the Baha’i Faith, except with only one “God.” The temple itself is pretty rad also.

After the Cao Dai Temple, we hopped back on the bus and headed to the Mekong Delta dock. From there we caught our boat into the delta. For the weekend, we stayed in an “eco-tourist” homestay. What an “eco-tourist” is, I have no idea, but the homestay was wonderful. A few of the families in the Mekong Delta have made a living off of turning their homes into homestays. We slept in rooms that had about 10 beds in them, with mosquito nets over them, and the family cooked our meals for us.

The food in the Mekong Delta was some of the best food I have had since my arrival in Vietnam. Our first meal consisted of Elephant Ear Fish Spring Rolls, regular spring rolls (which our tour guide described as #1 spring rolls), prawns, rice, soup, and rambutan for dessert. Throughout the weekend, we ate many other incredible foods, including snake and rat. Don’t worry though, the rats that they eat in the Mekong Delta are farmed, and so they only eat coconut and grass. We were warned to never eat rat in the city, because city rat diets tend to consist of lots of undesirable trash. We also were given the opportunity to make our own spring rolls, and ban xeo (Vietnamese pancake that resembles a crepe made out of egg). Honestly, I felt stuffed full for the entire weekend, but it was so worth it.

After our first lunch, we went on a bike ride around the area, and also on a boat ride down one of the tributaries of the Mekong. Life on the Mekong is simple and tranquil, and once again, I felt myself falling more deeply in love with Vietnam.

Visiting the market in Mekong City was its own experience. I was partly horrified, and partly enthralled. We first entered the meat part of the market, where we bought the snake that we would later eat for dinner. Our tour guide casually just carried it around in a bag all day after our visit to the market, while it was still alive. The market sold every kind of meat you could imagine, though most of the beat was still attached to its original animal, which was still very much alive. There were chickens that they would kill on the spot when you bought them. When we first got off the boat at Mekong City to go to the market, there was a woman dumping fish back into the river. Our tour guide told us that sometimes, when in need of good karma, people will buy live fish at the market and return them back to the river. In this way they are saving lives. Across the street from the meat area of the market, were the streets of vegetables and fruits. I loved this area of the market. Think of every type of tropical fruit you can think of, and then picture them all stacked on top of each other for blocks, where you can buy them for 30 cents a piece. I am learning that markets such as these are some of the best places to overdose on a country’s culture.

After the market, we visited a pottery factory, a honey factory, and a coconut candy factory. At the coconut candy factory I got to hold a snake. I’ve always been kind of weirded out by snakes, but holding one made me love them. It was one of the coolest sensations I have ever experienced, I thought it was going to be slippery, but the snake was so strong and soft at the same time. Experiencing life on the Mekong Delta really made me question western consumerism more so than I have so far on this trip. The people in the Delta use everything they can, and make everything they can with whatever they find in the Delta. They are totally self sufficient, and yet, the majority of what they make is exported out of Vietnam. Their work does not feel like work to them, because they reap the benefits directly. When they put in the effort to catch prawns, they get to eat the prawns right away. Though most people live in poverty, they are happy to live the way that they live, and they are proud of the work that they do.

If you want to get an idea of what traditional life in Vietnam is, I recommend visiting the Mekong Delta. It is the opposite of life in Ho Chi Minh City, and other than my many mosquito bites, I loved every second of it.

After the first week of school last week I was EXHAUSTED. And then the idea of taking a trip somewhere I had never heard of seemed crazy to me. Thankfully, I was able to catch up on sleep on the way to Umbria which is about 2.5 hours away from the JFRC.
When I woke up, I was surrounded by gorgeous scenery, miles of olive trees, and homes tucked away in the mountains. The sequence of events seemed to be something from a movie. Our first adventure was to a farm that was owned by a family in Passignano sul Trasimeno. There, my dream of immersing into Italian culture came true as we learned how to make pasta, harvest grapes, and work with legumes.

 
The next day we toured the historical town of Spoleto which felt like a third home afterwards. Then, the SLA’s (Student Life Assistants) spoiled us and outdid themselves AGAIN by planning a buffet style meal at Campello Sul Clitunno. Now: I am a foodie with a capital “F”, so just imagine how far my jaw dropped when we were given a HOMEMADE buffet style meal. So yes; I did stroll out of there extremely happy.

On the third day, we left for Todi to eat and then headed to Cascate delle Marmore to go on nature trails and see the waterfall. It was so fascinating to thing about how the waterfall got to be as grand as it is today. The plan was to walk to the top of the waterfall trail to look at the view. However, a heavy rainstorm stopped us halfway and we had to go back down. After 30 minutes of sitting on the bus wondering what the view from the top looked like, other people who waited out the storm to get to the top came back. Their pictures put mine to shame!

It was such a fun weekend that I would LOVE to go back one day just when I need to escape the busy Roman life.

1. Chinese is hard!! You’d think that even after being surrounded Chinese here and there for at 10 years, I’d get around better than I do. Speaking aside, there is literally a character for every single word you can imagine AND it’s not based off sounds like English is. As much as I love being in a foreign country, the complexity of the language makes it a lot harder to read and get by than I originally thought I would. Probably explains why everything I eat either is a dumpling (because I can recognize the word) or has a picture attached to it. And I can guarantee you by the end of this semester, we will still not know anything.
2. You get a good squat workout from going pee. The Chinese toilet is one that everyone should be aware of before they arrive to China. Despite it being physically better for you, it smells bad since people continually don’t aim quite right.
3. Pollution isn’t everything. Everyone has this stigma about China and the pollution. While I’m not going to lie there are days where the pollution is horrible, it is not everything. There are days where it is bright and sunny and you do not even notice a speck of pollution in the air, and others where it feels like you are walking through a haze. I suspect in the winter I will get sick of it, as they burn more and more coal to heat our freezing bodies, and the pollution gets worse, but for now, I’m enjoying the pretty fresh air.
4. Physical Contact is real, whether you like it or not. In some ways it’s cute. You can walk hand in hand with your friend, and it’s completely normal. But, then you also have the pushing in crowds. Chinese are fearless when it comes to lines. Cutting isn’t a thing, it’s a lifestyle with no shame.
5. People people everywhere.
   Yes there are billions of people in China. So if you’re the kind of person who needs time away from masses of people, the only time to do that is in the dead of night when there are no lights.
6. Americanized Chinese is not American.
   You can go to an Americanized restaurant and order nachos, and you might get a plate of fried chips with no cheese (because Cheese isn’t a thing here). Probably how the Chinese feel when they come to America and are forced to eat crab Rangoon. Which is something I still have yet to find in China.
7. Fascination galore. People here are fascinated by the smallest things in China whether it be Michelle Obama, Leonardo DiCaprio, or even High School Musical. AND, they’re fascinated by us, especially when we’re working out. Not even kidding, I’ve had women come over when I’m doing abs and just mimic my actions.
8. WIFI sucks, accept it. Almost every shop or restaurant here has WIFI, however it is not good. It’s one of those things that I’m trying to embrace, and probably good to cure my snapchat addiction.
9. Cheap Meals. As a foodie, this was perhaps the biggest bonus to coming to China. Now in one day, I can treat myself to at least three meals full of fresh squeezed juice, dumplings, steamed buns, bubble tea, pancake wraps, noodles, rice, or whatever I’m really feeling for around $10 a day. The downside, the food here, at least in Beijing is very oily. And, the food is also very carby. I love my fresh fruit stand just down the block from my dormitory, but that’s about the only way I get in my 5 fresh fruits and veggies a day.
10. Cheap Thrills. If/when you live in China, you start to see everything in RMB. There are about 6 RMB per dollar. Thus, my wallet is rolling in bills, literally.
11. TaoBao is addicting. Taobao is pretty comparable to American Amazon, but it’s even better. You can get just about anything from TaoBao including eggs, clothes, phone chargers, or even white noise machines. The only catch? The website is entirely in Chinese. Thank goodness for my Bing Translator (because Google doesn’t work here) and pictures. But if you spend hours on it and search well like I do, you can get very very good/cheap deals on whatever you’re looking for.
12. Time flies when you’re having fun. As cliche as this sounds, it is just setting in that I’ve been here for a month already, and there is still SO much of Beijing alone that I have left so see. It’s hard when you want to establish a routine to get out and explore, but it’s one thing that I have to consciously make an effort to do.

I’m going to be completely honest with you.

I almost ripped off the title of our campus-sanctioned orientation trip itinerary to use as the title of this blog post. “Ultimate Umbria”, the faculty called it. Well, I think the adjective “unbelievable” does this place more justice. Hopefully, by the end of this post, you’ll agree.

For those of you who have never heard of Umbria (it’s okay, I’m a newbie as well), it is the region that lies just north of Lazio, which is the region that contains Rome. In fact, here’s a relatable yet accurate simile: Rome is like Chicago, Lazio is like Illinois, and Umbria is like Wisconsin.

And just like Wisconsinites, those Umbrians really know how to farm! At Passignano sul Trasimeno, we kneaded dough from flour and water, thrashed fragole beans, and stomped grapes (now I can finally cross grape-stomping off my bucket list!). We also walked through vineyards, plucking fresh grapes from vines and savoring their fresh (pesticide-free) juiciness.

Now every time I drink some delicious wine, devour some yummy pasta, or pour some smooth olive oil in Rome, I will think about the farmers out in rural Umbria who distilled that wine, formed that pasta, and crushed those olives!

At this point, I will borrow a phrase from our brilliant and hilarious tour guide Stefano (please imagine this in a deep voice with a thick Italian accent for the full effect)…
“HOT DETAIL!”

1. Many Catholic saints lived their lives and ministered their miracles in Umbria. One of the most famous saints, Francis of Assisi, and my personal favorite saint, Rita of Cascia, both hail from this region.

2. In Spoleto, at Cattedrale di Santa Maria Assunta (Cathedral of the Assumption of Saint Mary), the ornate murals on the walls depicting the life of the Blessed Virgin looked incredible…especially after Stefano informed us that the painter used a brush with only one bristle!

3. Stefano pointed out that on the outside of one church in Todi, the sculptor chiseled a small depiction of a gynecological appointment underneath a statuette of Mary because he had his doubts about her virginity! How scandalous! I wonder…did the Bishop of Todi ever seek vengeance…or did the sculptor take his secret to the grave? You decide.

4. We saw a bridge in Spoleto made of hollow aqueducts. Legend has it that the infamous Lucrezia Borgia buried her husband’s mistress there…alive!

5. Contrary to popular belief, the famed Cascate delle Marmore (Marble Waterfalls) aren’t naturally occurring. They were man-made by the ancient Romans! It baffles me that such early civilizations successfully constructed such mind-boggling feats of engineering.

6. The Marble Waterfalls aren’t actually made of marble. The Romans made a mistake. Oops!

Now do you understand why “unbelievable” is the far better adjective?

It’s unbelievable that a place like Umbria–with its charming provincial aesthetic devoid of the Americanization that plagues many European cities—still exists! Instead of spotting the ubiquitous McDonald’s (yes, the golden arches stretch all the way to Rome), we spotted the occasional CASTLE.  Instead of drinking boxed wine, we crushed the grapes ourselves.

Umbria was unbelievable…yet more authentic than any place I’ve ever been.

 

As I continue to settle into my new norm here in Saigon, I find myself reflecting more and more on the traveling I did before arriving, particularly the 6 weeks of travel I planned – and paid for – entirely by myself and my one travel companion. I had traveled enough prior to leaving in May to understand that when traveling, anything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Even still, there were a few mistakes made that could have been avoided. I have taken them as learning experiences for myself, because I believe that’s what mistakes are for. Here are 6 things I learned in 6 weeks of travel:

1. To check, or not to check (your bag) – I knew from the moment I decided travel between programs, and realizing I would be gone for 7 months, I did not want to check my bags. I had done some 3-week long trips in the past without checking a bag and figured it couldn’t be much different. I’ve also almost always gotten through check-in with a bag over the normal 10 or 15kg weight limit since any airline I’ve flown has not taken the time to weigh carry-on luggage. I assumed Air Asia (my primary form of transportation), with their 7kg carry-on weight limit, would also not take the time to weigh my carry-on, especially since I had not paid to check my bag… silly me.

Without having our boarding passes printed ahead of time, and at a location without kiosks, we were forced to go through the check-in line for our first Air Asia flight. They weighed our bags – both were almost twice the limit (Oops!) – and charged us $175, nearly 3x what we paid for our flight, to check both for our few hour flight. Never again. We were determined to find a way out of it – and we did. With a printed boarding pass, or a code for the kiosk, all that was needed was a “Document Check” before heading to security. Quick and painless, but still extremely stressful.

Lesson Learned: Pay attention to rules and regulations, and plan ahead to pack less or print.

2. Overpacking – Even though I only packed a carry-on size backpack and a small over-the-shoulder bag, there are quite a few items I absolutely did not need to lug around for months.
• Notebooks: You can buy notebooks and school supplies anywhere – for cheaper usually, too. No idea why I brought 6 notebooks with me, but it was added weight and took up a lot of space that could have been used better.
• Clothes: Yes, clothes. I brought with me 5 dresses, two thin cardigans, 3 pairs of regular shorts, 3 pairs of comfortable shorts, two pairs of pants, 5 tank tops, 4 t-shirts, one belt, 3 pairs of socks, 3 bras, 5 pairs of underwear, one pair of shoes and one pair of flip flops. Holy moly. I haven’t had to do laundry more than a handful of times in the past 4 months, even though facilities have been available to me or easy to find. I could have easily cut down on at least a few articles of clothing (ie: dresses or shorts). Plus, there are malls and markets everywhere. I, myself, have picked up 3 shirts and a pair of shorts along the way from either small markets or conservation sites I have visited.
• Travel-size shampoo/conditioner: I brought two of each in the usual 3oz containers. It cost me more money and space to bring the doubles from the States as opposed to buying them along the way.

Lesson Learned: Pack less. If you need something, you can find it or wash it (don’t be afraid of laundry!)

3. Sharia abiding hotel – Depending on the country, and the country’s religious make-up, there may be hostels, guesthouses or hotels that are Sharia abiding., or have other specific policies you may not typically expect. For those that are Sharia abiding, it means, among other things, that only married couples or families can share a room. My travel buddy, and significant other, and I had originally booked a guesthouse in Jakarta, Indonesia that we did not realize was Sharia abiding. We only caught it when reviewing the reservation the day before. Not wanting to put the owners in an uncomfortable position or risk being turned away, we decided to look for another place to stay. Luckily, we were able to cancel with no additional charges and find another guesthouse for around the same price that turned out to be wonderful.

Lesson Learned: Read the fine print. Double check hotel policies.

4. Budgeting – Being very much a Type A person, I planned almost every detail of our trip, including budgeting for every country. I used the website http://www.priceoftravel.com/world-cities-by-price-backpacker-index/ to get a general idea of what it cost to live (cheaply) in all the cities we would be visiting and adjusted it slightly to our personal travel styles and needs. For example, the estimated cost per day listed on the website only includes one paid cultural attraction, such as a museum or historical site. Since we were only spending a few days in each city, I knew we would be visiting more than one paid cultural attraction per day and adjusted our budget accordingly. What I didn’t account for is that Asia, particularly Southeast Asia, is hot. To stay hydrated, we needed a lot of water, and nowhere we visited had drinkable tap water. In the end, we still came in under budget, but learned a lot about water resource issues along the way.

Lesson Learned: Pay attention to details. Stay hydrated.

5. Rest days – I am the type of travel who likes to Go! Go! Go! This is not sustainable. We had the first 3 weeks, almost 4 weeks of our trip planned with days packed full of activities. The first day we had planned to take a rest was not until week 5. There were many times where we had to move around our itinerary, or cut things out all together simply because we were exhausted. I do not regret our decision to rest instead of push sometimes, but I do wish I had planned better.

Lesson Learned: Be real with yourself and plan relaxation time, too.

6. Rigid Schedule – We booked every flight, every bus, and every ferry. Set in stone, paid in full, on the itinerary. Only, what if we wanted to stay longer somewhere? Or leave sooner? Too bad. Or too much money. Near the end of our trip, we took an Open Water Scuba Diving course in Koh Tao, Thailand. We had an amazing time and wanted more. The dive school we were at, Roctopus, offered us a 10% discount for their Advanced Adventurer Course, which would allow us to dive to a depth of 30m and give us 5 more dives under our belt. We couldn’t pass up the opportunity. In the end, it was worth the extra cost of buying another ferry ticket and for two more nights at our hotel on Koh Tao. Being that it was our first trip in Asia and of this length, I felt better going in with everything planned, but moving forward, leaving myself more breathing room will create space for new, and unexpected, experiences.

Lesson Learned: Allow, and be comfortable with, the unknown.

Exhausted, and a little sore, I hobbled into my room last Saturday still beaming with excitement. Just 30 hours before I was boarding a coach bus, headed for my friend, and cultural partner, Quynh’s hometown.

Having previously taken the Megabus in the States, I expected nothing more than an uncomfortable seat with limited leg room – I could not have been more mistaken. The bus system in Vietnam is run differently than what I had experienced back home. For one, you can book a ticket ahead of time, but do not pay until the trip has started and everyone pays the same price, unlike the tiered price system for Megabus. Secondly, there are three rows of bunked reclined seats/beds, which, unless you are over 6 feet tall, provide ample space for yourself, snacks, and a personal bag. Perhaps the most noticeable difference was that when boarding, we all removed our shoes before entering the main space of the bus and brought them with us to our seats. This is something I have experienced throughout my time in Asia, particularly in guesthouses and some shops or restaurants, but never before on a bus. It keeps the space clean, and is a way to respect both the space you are entering and those around you.

At around 5PM Friday evening, we arrived at my friend’s home and were graciously welcomed by her mother, brother and Aunt. They immediately made us feel at home. For dinner, we were treated to a never-ending array of homemade dishes, including beef curry, mushroom soup, papaya and shrimp salad, white rice and more fruits than I could count (or pronounce). My friend informed me that this type of meal is not typical in their household, but was prepared specially for our visit.

If that meal alone did not make me feel overly grateful – and overly full – our second dinner would. Within an hour after finishing our first meal, another friend, Duyen, treated us to a visit from her family. Mother, father, brother, sisters and grandmother all came to welcome us. With them, they brought snacks, including addictive fried bananas. Around the same time, my friend Quynh’s father returned with live crabs and shrimp. A full stomach was not going to stop me from enjoying the freshest seafood I will likely ever have!

To say this all was not overwhelming at first would be a lie, but I was overwhelmed in the best possible way. I was surrounded by people who were welcoming me into their home or had travelled hours to meet and welcome me, as well as a plethora of new foods they so graciously shared with me. The experience was exhilarating.

Before bed, Quynh’s mother made sure we were all prepared with water and leftovers for our journey the following day. It reminded me of how my own mother would always send me with my favorite foods or any leftovers, no matter how short of a time it would be before I saw her again. It seems that mothers (and fathers, too) are wonderful no matter where you are in the world.

For the night, three of us shared a room with a mosquito net, fan and bamboo mat. It was more than what I was expecting and much more comfortable than my bed at the dorm. But, just two hours later, we were hopping on another bus, heading to Chao Doc and by 4AM, we were riding xe oms through an already lively town towards the trailhead at Sam Mountain.

The hike itself only took a little less than two hours, but because of our lack of sleep, it seemed like an eternity. The trail was lit faintly, and only in random intervals, by roadside shrines and temples we passed along the way, creating a surreal experience. We reached the top just as the light began to peak over the horizon and spent the next hour watching the sky change colors as the sun rose slowly over the sprawling rice fields below.

As I watched, my exhaustion faded and for the first time, It hit me that I was really here.