The Dream Job...Gone Bad

Tonight, I will be heading back to Can Tho City, which I am having very mixed feelings about. I have come to really love Phan Rang (mainly just the balcony that Alex and I drink beers on and the relaxing nights we have without work), but I am also very excited to go back to Can Tho and see everyone and have more than just 2 people to talk to. Although I am very excited to have a group of people I can talk to again, I will miss going to Cau Gay, the Raglay ethnic minority village, where Alex and I had many great times. Over the course of our two trips, each about 4 days long, we really formed a close bond to our homestay family. Even though they didn't speak English, and we soooo obviously don't speak Vietnamese or Raglay, we got to the point where we no longer even needed a spoken language to understand each other.

But first (before I get all mushy. Well, honestly, I'll probably stop before the mushy part in this blog. Don't worry, the last paragraph was the mushiest that I will get), before I go back to Can Tho, let me tell all of you about the last four days spent in the village. I really like the analogy of the first day of a dream job. You know, that dream job that you're offered (probably involving something like polar bear observation) and your sooo excited that the opportunity has presented itself that you don't really ask any questions about it. You just say "Yes!" But then, you show up at work the first day and there is a whole list of problems when you get there.

1. There is a huge leak above your desk that probably won't be fixed for a week or two, so basically you just cover up your papers and hope that your shoddy rain jacket will keep you a little bit dry.
2. The air conditioning is on the fritz and its much, much colder than anyone is used to, but of course they forgot to mention this point, so you come in a T-shirt and one warm jacket that you really don't want to get wet. You sit there all day long with your teeth chattering and your hands in your armpits to keep warm, but you still have a cheerful face on when the boss comes by and asks if everything is ok. "Oh, of course I'm fine. Oh no, don't worry. I love cold, wet weather. You can count on me boss!"
3.  They only have horrible fluorescent lighting.
4. The cockroach problem has again gotten out of control, and the creepy little guys seem to pop-up when you least expect them, like when walking to the bathroom.
5. The boss brings her dog to work, but the assistant forgets to pick up its poop. 
6. They promise you cheesecake, but forget to mention that we will only get it after hours and you have to climb to the top of the skyscraper where your polar bear observation company is located to eat it. But, also don't forget that the stairwell is under construction on floors 19-22, so you have to climb up the ladder in that part. But the good part, you still get the cheesecake (It's got raspberries on top, so it's, like, way extra good.)

Well, at this point, you're like, "OMG, Alissa, is there a point to this story? Or are you just going to make these weird references that no one but Alex understands." Hold on to your little horsies, because I am about to explain each of the analogies. My dream job that I didn't ask any questions about is going camping in the woods of Nui Chua National Park. The beautiful tropical forest and mountains seem like the perfect place to go camping and trust me, it was...except for these points.

1. It rained the entire time we went camping. We were supposed to camp for 3-nights, but thank god, it is too dangerous to go the route we originally planned when it is raining, so we got to sleep in the homestay. Concrete flooring is wayyyy better than sleeping in a hammock. Especially when its raining.
2. Did you know it was really cold in the mountains, especially when its raining? And when I say really cold, I mean like maybe 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit. I had my fleece, old woman head wrap, scarf, pants and socks on, but my teeth were still a chattering without a blanket that night. Also, hammocks don't really hold heat in all that well. Who knew? Well now I know, and I will be a princess and drama queen and ask to sleep on the concrete floor from now on. 
3. Since it was raining, it was cloudy all the days. This means that the view of some of the mountains were obstructed and everything had a misty haze about it. 
4. So, wet season in the tropical jungle...you know what that means. Watch out for poisonous snakes and scorpions. Of which we saw both. I saw a poisonous green snake up in the trees, Mr. Vinh saw what was most likely the end of a king cobra, and we all saw a scorpion. Let's just say, I was more than a little paranoid when I had to squat. 
5. In Nui Chua National Park, there are free range cattle everywhere. Even way up in the mountains where you would never imagine there are cows, there really are cows. This means there are cow pies every where, on every path and if you don't pay attention for one tiny second, your shoes will have an even worse smell than normal.
6. The langurs! We were promised Langurs, well, suggested Langurs. We tried to see them the second day of our camping trip, but it was too cold for them to be out. So no Langurs. We wanted to see them the third day on our trip to Cau Gay, but we had other plans on the other side of the village. So, finally, on the last day in the village, we got a call from our host, who said that the langurs were near his farm. So we did the hour hike up the mountain and saw the Langurs. Soo worth the hike. They were spectacular. They were across the valley in some trees and rocks, just doing their things, and they were so fun to watch.

So, as you can tell, although our trip started out kind of miserable, it definitely was a ton of fun by the end. It was one of those trips though, where I really, really wanted to say that I enjoyed the camping part, but honestly, I am too much of a princess to be outdoors in the rain for that long. I just wanted to go back to the village...and we did. We had great nights at the village though. The first night back, we had beers and sat around with the family and some of the village heads, singing and drinking and having a good time. The next night, our host bought some rice wine and we finished up Alex's work and the wine that night. Very, very fun.

Well, this blog post is about a million pages long, so I am going to sign off for now! So, if you enjoyed it, or didn't enjoy it, leave me a note in the comments box. I am seeing all these viewers from all over the world, and I am very curious about who all of you are!

It rained and rained and rained and rained some more. Surprisingly (except not), these super thin ponchos don't last that long. Both Alex's and my poncho were completely destroyed by the afternoon.

Mr. Yen being amazing as usual. Here, he is showing us the Spirit Tree. The sap of this tree is used for poison on the arrows that the Raglay used for hunting. There are only two trees that they know of that are used for this type of poison. The extraction process is also quite complicated, including fasting for two-days and sexual abstinence for one day prior to collection. 

Scorpion!!! Thank god the Raglay have about 5 different ways of treating scorpion stings and poisonous snake bites. I suggested that they include a free snake bite with all their eco-tourism gigs, and then they can heal them with their natural remedies. I also suggested the bite be free, but the treatment not be included in the tour price.

I didn't really know this picture was being taken, which is why I look like I am in a stupor. But this was beer night at Mr. Yen's house. His mother is the one in the head-wrap and his wife is the one in yellow.

Mr. Vinh interviewing Mr. Yen on stories of this cave during the war time. It was used for the Raglay to take shelter and hide from the American observation planes that flew overhead almost every day.

Group Photo. Say Cheese! Same cave with most of our group. Tram aka "Mama Tram", Mr. Vinh's assistant who always takes care of Alex and I; Trinh, one of the National Park Forest Guides; Me, student; Alex, student; Mr. Yen, pure man in all respects and holder of wisdom.

Our last group meal at our homestay. There was the most delicious food, including vegetables that we gathered from the forest that morning. From left to right: Me, Alex, Canh (Mr. Yen's daughter) and her 3-year-old daughter, who is very easily entertained, Mr. Yen, Trac (Mr. Yen's wife, who was a messenger for the North during the war), Mama Tram and Trinh

Cow! In the middle of a stream. I told you they were everywhere. Alex and I were teaching Trinh English words the whole four days, and when we were riding the bus back to Phan Rang, we saw many cows. But at one point, Trinh just burst out shouting "Cow!" It was great.