That Will be 900,000 Dong - Cash or Card?

I am officially an official, officialized, official-esque, well kind of official photojournalist. In the past weeks I have been working my tuccass off and Blurb.com has been kind enough to publish and sell my two photographic ventures!

The first, 365: Seasons of the City was my New York City baby for 12 months of my relatively short life. I really like this book and everything it stands for - it will be sitting proudly on my, currently non-existent, Wyoming coffee table in a few months time.

The follow up, What the Phở, was more of a labor of love/hate between myself and the experience I have come to know as "I hate when people ask how Vietnam was because I don't know how to answer" or IHWPAHVWBIDKHTA for short. Nevertheless, the contrast between seeing the world through my lens and my keyboard provides for some interesting material.

And in a shameless act of self-promotion click, click, click here for my books.


P.S. Less then two months until Wyoming :D

Home Sweet Home

Everything is right where I left it 3 months ago, except for the leaves - they are on the ground. I've never enjoyed more the feeling of walking into Target or not having to communicate with my fingers. However, I do not think that you can truly appreciate what you have until you see where others call home.

My last day in Dalat I, once again, put my life in Vietnamese construction's hands and took the alpine slide down to a gorgeous waterfall. I'm here typing, so i guess that means I survived! Enjoy my second to last adventure below and here.

TransContinental

December 11th turned into November 1st. Life is always unpredictable isn't it? I won't blather on for long about my time here, that's what the blog archives are for. However, I think today was the perfect end to a somewhat imperfect experience.

1. While sitting in the park enjoying some dried sweet potato and soy milk, one of my students busts out in an N'Sync song complete with some break dance moves. After he was done he looks at me and asks if I like N'sync. Words could not explain my excitement.

2. 6 Vietnamese teenagers and myself on tandem bicycles, in a skirt no less.

3. Eating che chuoy (banana sweet soup) with my class while they keep yelling at each other to speak English.

and finally...

4. A wonderfully western dinner with some great friends and my favorite little dude (since when do I like kids?!) As well as a few intense games of Dutch Blitz.

2009 has been a year full of lemons and I'm planning on opening up my own lemonade stand very soon. Pink and regular on sale until December 31st.

I have 2 more sets of Vietnam pictures. The first is from the Valley of Love when my fellow KKG'er came to visit Dalat and the second will be posted when I am back on US soil. I think I'll put my camera down for a nap, however my next adventure begins in February when I move to Wyoming to assume the spot of official Air Force girlfriend. I promise Canon will come back to life in full force!

Stay tuned....

Enjoy below and here.

Some Me Time

Sometimes it really does take a day all by yourself to put things into perspective. Add in the serenity and awe-inspiring view of the Angkor Wat temple and you've got yourself a revelation. No better place to ponder matters then in the shadow of the largest religious structure on the globe.

Whether your thoughts are geared toward God, Buddha or Shiva, it is easy to feel closer to them while being here. The Khmer people wanted to get as close to the heavens as possible, so they concentrated much of their construction efforts skyward. Maybe they were on to something.

Although I was enjoying the peace and quiet, it was very difficult to turn down my fellow mid-twenty's motorbike driver when he invited me to go and drink with his friends in the park. Old habits die hard, I guess. Nevertheless, I politely declined and read my book from the comfort of the balcony hammock for the rest of the afternoon. In Cambodia it doesn't get any better then that.

Enjoy Angkor Wat, Ta Prohm and Angkor Thom here and below.

Cambodia and Nothing to Say

I'm suffering from a bit of writers block or perhaps just lack of motivation. Nevertheless my first full day in Cambodia was everything I thought it would be. Filled with temples, temples and more temples...and maybe a massage thrown in there for good measure.

Enjoy the set below and here.

12 Hours & a Chicken Sandwich Later

I loved Cambodia. It was the perfect mix of familiar and un, all wrapped up into one. The amount of poverty contrasted with their amazing command of the English language is what surprised me the most.

Although the 12 hour bus ride from HCMC was grueling, I wouldn't have done it any other way, for the chance to see the countryside of this recently war-torn country was priceless. Tourism was, within the past decade, reintroduced to Cambodia following the atrocities and genocide forced on the nation by Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge.

Despite this astronomical setback, one would never know the nation was forced back to Year Zero only a few decades ago. In Siem Reap, the town just outside the Angkor Temples, the variety of western amenities rivals that of only the biggest tourist cities in Vietnam. Many people from home thought I was facing certain death by venturing over the Cambodian border. However, my fate was much sweeter; that of $10 massages, adorable children, friendly Buddhist monks and and ruins rivaled only by the final scene in Planet of the Apes.

Enjoy my ride from Saigon to Siem Reap (with a pit stop in Phnom Phen) below and here.

A Year Older

I aged in Saigon - literally. I spent a wonderful birthday weekend with some equally wonderful friends, doing everything American and girly to boot. Dishing about boys, drinking beer and indulging in some much needed Pizza Hut, unfortunately sans bread sticks.

While growing older and wiser I came to some conclusions after this weekend:

1. An American entering the Vietnam War Museum feels exponentionally more American right after crossing the doorway. Not in a good way.

2. Alcohol makes me much more fluent in Vietnamese. Especially when trying to haggle with the cab driver to give us the correct change. Hai muoi, hai muoi, hai muoi!

3. Bad American movies are also bad in Vietnam, go figure.

Enjoy Uncle Ho's city below and here.

Halfway Home

As I will be lighting on out of here the beginning of December, I just passed the halfway mark of my journey. When I look back it seems as if so much has happened, yet feels like just yesterday I was bidding farewell to my family, friends and Taco Bell. I have been feeling a twinge of the homesick doldrums as of late and this quick passage of time is proving to be quite reassuring.

I really am enjoying most of my time here and the next month and a half is shaping up to be much more exciting with trips to Cambodia, the Mekong Delta and Thailand in my future. Perhaps its not as much homesickness as it is SE Asia wanderlust. Although I am in Vietnam, small town life can be claustrophobic whether you're on domestic or foreign soil.

It was great having some familiar faces in DaLat this weekend and despite the trepeditation caused by thinking about Vietnam + cable car, we decided to brave it. Although it was a cloudy day the view was gorgeous and gave a nice idea what was past the DaLat border.

This experience is one much more appreciated post-return home then while immersed. The mundane tasks of everyday life in Vietnam will be washed away with the memory's tendency to make more vivid the truly good and truly bad experiences of 4 months away. I know this to be a fact so I am enjoying everyday here to its potential and letting things that can only be described with TIV roll off my back with least resistance possible.

I have, however, made a few discoveries over the past few days that are perhaps worth noting...I love tofu, don't really miss American food anymore, and pedicures lift the spirit no matter what country you're in.

Enjoy the wonder that is the DaLat Cable Car below and here.

Intermission Entertainment

This week I had 2 lovely ladies visit me in Da Lat. It was great to have some quality time with friends and definitely restored some of my sanity which may have been lost in transit. Although, I do have large purple bruises on my legs from the massages we received yesterday. I would qualify it as more of a physical assault then massage, but hey, TIV, I guess.

I am getting caught up on the photos I took from the places we ventured, so I thought I might provide you with something to keep you busy while you wait with baited breath for my next set of pictures. Or maybe just regular breath...

My good friend and fellow photographer sent me this link the other day. He couldn't stop clicking and neither could I. The idea is that every time (or as much as your budget can afford) someone asks you for spare change you give them $2 and ask for a photo. Ask a little bit about them, snap a few pictures and be on your way. The combination of the moving images and equally moving stories make for a great distraction from the fact that Manhattan isn't just right outside my door or maybe you just want to escape from your cubicle for awhile.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/2dollarportraits/

My Street is Acutally Multi-Directional

I realized today, while pondering my pre-lunch stroll destination, that I live on a big hill, yet in the almost two months that I have been here I have never walked any farther up the hill then reaching home called for. So, I decided to spice up my life. I walked up the hill.

Although the scenery was beautiful, like all of DaLat, I realized why it was okay that I never ventured up. Everything is down. Aside from some gigantic houses (strange) and a row of 5 shops, each emblazoned with strawberry signs selling what I can only assume to be everything strawberry, I realized that no one here goes up. Only me and the people craving what looked to be strawberry wine, tea, juice and large jars of pickled something. I'm going to put my money on strawberries.

So, as my photographic ambition is to capture something out of nothing, I took the opportunity to employ that and captured away.

Enjoy my ascent below and here.

Dragons, Mooncakes and Drums... Oh My!

This weekend was a festival celebrating the 15th of August. Yes, I realize that it was October 3rd, but perhaps the reason everything is so backwards here is because they use two calendars! (lunar & regular)

Mid-Autumn Festival was this weekend and I think this is one tradition I am going to bring home with me. Streets were packed with motorbikes, people, dragons and handmade floats which were painstakingly constructed with bamboo and cellophane. American parades have a lot to learn from the Vietnamese; no more boring marching bands, waving Boy Scouts or giant, deadly balloons. Just add a touch of anarchy and a pinch of vodka guzzling fire-breathers and you have yourself an amazing parade. I can certainly attest.

With a dinner of Cha Ram Bap (corn spring rolls in peanut sauce) and a desert of Kem (ice cream) in my belly, some of my students, American friends and I immersed ourselves in the throng of holiday revelers.

It is traditional for the children and adults alike to carry lanterns in this crazy procession. The traditional paper ones have a candle inside, however I opted for the light up
faux-Minney&Mickey which played It's a Small World. Why not right? When in Rome - or Vietnam - buy the chintziest thing possible to blend in.

Enjoy the festival below and here.

P.S. Sorry for the profanity...blame John.

Cleanliness is Next to Godliness

I am an innately messy person, therefore according to that ancient proverb I am akin to Satan himself. I think it was my way of rebelling when I was younger, being that I was too afraid to get in trouble for anything else. I used to tell my mother that the reason my room was a black hole was because cleaning was so much less important then all my other, apparently pressing, obligations. She would always roll her eyes and tell me to clean it anyways.

I still find that cleaning is way down on my list of priorities. Even the mail guy at my former place of employment told my friend he knew I'd left because my cubicle was finally clean. I still protest with a cry of organized chaos! As long as I know where everything is no one else has to, right?

Prologue aside, water in Vietnam is not potable even for the hardened natives, so we all drink out of large office water cooler-esque jugs. Mine was delivered today by the mother who runs the corner shop, whom we have become quite neighborly with. She even ran after John and I the other night with a bag of steaming potatoes for a snack.

Needless to say, I knew my room was really messy and thought I might have a chance to clean it up before she arrived. Unfortunately for me, and perhaps her, she was too speedy on her motorbike and reached my house before I finished my trek up the hill. She knows no English, so my explinations of, "sorry, its so messy", were lost in translation.

About 15 minutes later her daughter burst into my room freaking out that there were robbers and wondering if my stuff had been stolen. Apparently, her mother had pulled her out of her bath and made her run up the hill because, clearly, someone had ransacked my room given its current state of disarray.

Maybe this is what addicts refer to as rock bottom. When your room is so messy that it looks like a crime has been committed I think its time to turn over a new leaf...or maybe just my cleaning habits.

Where is my broom again?

P.S. I did a shoot of DaLat University today, who says you shouldn't still be in college at 23! Maybe a slight role reversal though...enjoy below and here.
A bit of typhoon damage showcased towards the end of the set.

Photoless Post

It's typhooning outside. 'Nuff said for the lack of pictures. Camera or not, I'm settling into my temporary Vietnamese life very nicely, most of the time. If nothing else, this experience will teach me patience as well the ability to roll with the punches. I thought I was relatively good at that before, but this is like the XGames of punch rolling.

Nothing is ever to be as expected and logic is the farthest thing from most situations. Needless to say, life is interesting in Vietnam! It takes about 3x the amount of time to get something done as one would expect. I thought it was bad in NYC with the public transportation but the N train pretty much equates to having a teleporter in Vietnam.

It took me about an hour to get a package at the post office the other day. I didn't happen to have my ID on me and even though I had picked up my slip at the university, they didn't seem to believe I was who I was. This was most likely the only package received from the US in a very long time, and I'm about 1 of 3 white people in Da Lat at any given time. C'mon people, just give me my Halloween goodies! They ended up calling the school, making me go up and get my slip signed and then finally relinquished the goods. Not for nothing, I get a lot of walking in here!

Today I had 2 classes. I only teach 6 hours a week and all of those hours were today, Monday, the first day of the week. They apparently think we Americans need alot of downtime. I walk into my 7am class and attempt to write on the board. This chalk board was glossy, but not white board glossy, black board glossy. Needless to say, my lesson had to be spur of the moment revamped becuase of lack of chalking ability. TIV, people, TIV (this is vietnam!). I realized today how truly integral chalkboard ability is here, they comprehend much better when I can write things down as well as speak them. Miss Bria's words were coming way to fast for class AVK32D early this morning. Oh well kids, this is a speaking class. Or you could just tilt your heads in confusion - ok, lets go with that.

Until the typhoon is over...

They Don't Write About This in Supermarket News

My day began today with an early morning aerobics class. There are a lot more carbs then I thought here...so I'm taking advanced precautions! After sweating for an hour with my American friend and 30 other thong leotard-clad (think 1980's style) Vietnamese women, I figured I should take advantage of the the morning and photograph the elusive DaLat morning market.

Photograph I did, however I came to the conclusion that my talent with the lens does not stretch far enough to make dead frogs, dying fish and one happy goose destined for the chopping block aesthetically pleasing. My goal with urban photography is to transform the ugly into something to behold, however this was just a bit too far out of reach.

Enjoy might be a strong word for this set of pictures...so in lieu of that, cautiously view my market trip below and here.

Fitting It All In

It's rainy season in DaLat. This means that the world comes to a halt after about 2pm until dinner time. Because of this one has to cram all daily activities into the morning hours.

Sunday was a particularly productive day as I woke up way too early for my own good. The recent lack of internet connectivity in my room has prompted me (e.g. forced) me to go out and explore. Perhaps a silver lining? However, I did make my first stop that morning at the internet cafe to catch with some of my favorites at home.

Afterwards I took a long walk down to the famous DaLat Flower Garden, picked up some Pantene ProV at the grocery store, restocked my cell phone minutes, bought some goodies to send home and watched and episode of True Blood with Chi and John, all before nature got the best of my day. After that it's usually a long afternoon of cuddling with my Kindle.

Enjoy the flowers below and here.

Where Are All the Buddhists?

Every Vietnamese that I have broached the subject of religion with celebrates Christmas. One of my students even gets up at 5am every morning to go to mass. When discussing this she was incredibly suprised that I didn't attend services here. I tried to explain to her that I wouldn't understand any of what was being said, ignoring the fact of our previously latin-based masses, however I still think she was judging my lack of Catholic devotion.

I find this ironic because prominently dotting the landscape of the DaLat horizon are two very large, very white Buddhas, making me wonder when I'm going to meet one of his devotees.

As I'm patiently waiting for that day please enjoy my wet trip up to the 2nd Buddha below and here.

Canon No Likie Rain

I have been wanting to photograph the morning market in DaLat for a few weeks now. However, a little thing called rain has been quite a photographic buzzkill. For the 2nd and 3rd weeks here it rained all day, hense the little sabotical I had to take from my camera. Now, it starts to rain around 2pm, however sometimes the deluge starts a bit prematurely.

Unfortuntely, I left a bit too late in the morning to catch the market before the angels started crying, actually histarically bawling is more like it. Nothing like wading through foot deep brown water to get home! All I can say to that is a little thing called TIV (this is vietnam). It makes us who are used to modern drainage systems feel a bit better about predicaments such as this one.

Enjoy my walk to the market and my expedition back, below and here.

Up With The Sun Comes My Mood

Yes...its been 2 weeks. 2 weeks for me without taking pictures is like that fat kid without his cake. Speaking of, I've really been craving cake. Although, I have fallen in love with these amazing pastries at the shop right outside of the university. Enough about sugar...I digress.

Vietnam is everything and nothing of what I expected. I'm always cold, I currently am only teaching 6 hours a week and the amount of free time I have is mind-boggling. Going from a packed schedule to watching the 1st 2 seasons of True Blood in 5 days is a bit of a change. However with time, change becomes normalcy.

The normalcy that this immensely intriguing place brings is great people, cheap beer (cheap everything!) and the revelation that I somehow love being a teacher. Amid the ups and downs of this past month I am looking forward to all that is to come over the next 4 months and am determined to capture it all on film...starting now.

Enjoy my afternoon walk in the amazing DaLat spring weather below and here.

Easy Ridin'

I had never ridden on a motorbike before Saturday. Now I know what I have been missing all my life. Hopping on the back of Mr. Lulu's bike was the best $25 I have ever spent. He is part of a group called Easy Riders who take tourists on single day or multiple day trips into the Vietnamese countryside.

I opted just for the day trip to the surrounding areas of DaLat, but the feel of racing across the countryside and through the mountains at 65Km/hr made me definitely rethink the short duration of my trip. We saw coffee fields, flower greenhouses, a silk factory and had to trek down a slippery cliff to a gorgeous waterfall, among other things.

Enjoy below and here!

The Buddha Awaits

When one gazes across the DaLat horizon it is hard to ignore the silhouettes of pure white Buddhas that overlook the city. I am fortunate enough to live in the shadow of one of these icons. The courtyard that accompanies this statue and its pagoda is gorgeous and just as tranquil as one would think it should be.

As my first week in Vietnam is coming to a close my apprehension is lessening, however I am still struggling with lack of activities. I am sure this will be changing in the near future as I start to become more acquainted with the locals. A fellow teacher and I already have a dinner invite with a local family who runs a corner shop this weekend. If I thought I was getting a taste of Vietnam at the cafes, I think I am in for a treat.

Enjoy the trip to the pagoda below and here.