Pajama Mammas in the Mekong Delta

This is going to be a long post, so here's an introductory summary.

• Saturday: 
• Andrea, Violet, and I went on an eco-tour of the Mekong River. 
• Kelly arrived and we did a lot of catching up.
• Kelly joined the pajama-mamma club and we all went to the phở place again.
• We stayed up late.
• Sunday: 
• Woke up early to say goodbye to Andrea.
• Kelly and Violet and I did some adventuring on a hunt for breakfast that had mixed results.
• We went to a cafe and spent the next few hours there until it was time for Violet to go.
• Kelly and I relaxed for a few hours and ventured into the jungle-esque landscape just behind the school.
• We were taken to a birthday party organized by the high school and middle school teachers that I teach. After that we were taken to a cafe overlooking the Ben Tre River.
• My sneaky students had invited me to coffee at eight but instead had a birthday surprise planned for me.

Saturday morning the three of us slept in until the glorious hour of eight am. After a hurried breakfast at the canteen we jumped in a cab that should take us to the tour company. The taxi driver took us most of the way there, but when we were almost there he turned right instead of left. We tried to tell him that he was going the wrong way, but despite lots of yelling on both sides nothing seemed to be getting through, so we used the tricks we learned in Hanoi. We shoved our money at him and jumped out of the (stopped) cab. Luckily, the tourism agency was just across the highway, and with MAC trucks bearing down on us from both sides, we made it across safely.

The rest of the trip went off without a hitch. Given our past experiences, I had been dreading an overbearing, hurried guide, but he turned out to be leisurely, well informed, and extremely fluent in English. The three of us had a boat to ourselves, and were treated to coconut juice on the journey. We learned that the Mekong rises and falls with the tide, so it never floods. Fish boats have giant eyes painted on them to scare away the crocodiles (of which we saw none).

Enjoying the local specialty on our private boat

The mighty Mekong

'Fish boats'

Our first stop was for honey tea at a garden and apiary. The honey was delicious because the bees pollinate awesome tropical fruits like longan and rambutan. The bees seemed to think so, too, and we had to rescue many a honey-hungry kamikaze bee that dove into our teacups. When we finished our many cups of tea we took a stroll to our pickup point. We passed many interesting plants, especially fruit trees, which our guide pointed out and quizzed us on their Vietnamese names. Papaya = đu đủ (just like doo doo).

The clean-up crew

Papaya

Star fruit

Banana flower - my sighting that I pointed out to the guide

Coconuts, of course

Cacao

Water coconut

Next we took a ride in a cart drawn by an emaciated little horse that made us all feel guilty, but it was a pretty short ride before we arrived at our destination. We were greeted by a python and then led to a spread of tropical fruits. As we enjoyed our fruits, we listened to traditional Vietnamese music.

Finally, it was time to head back to the boat. We took a sampan down a narrow waterway back to the motorboat that took us back to the dock. It looked like we had timed our trip just in time, as big gray clouds were by now rolling in over us. 

Shiny male mudskipper

While we were adventuring, Kelly had arrived, and we met up back at the college. We spent some hours catching up before heading out for pajamas, adventure, and dinner. I introduced my friends to heaven in the form of fried bread (sweet and sesame or filled with meat) before getting to the phở place. We spent the day talking about our schedules, our students, our lives, our happinesses and our frustrations. It was wonderful. We climbed to the dorm roof to look out over the school and marvel at the stars. As the night drew to a close, we made a makeshift birthday cake out of the sesame bread and candles left over from the mid-Autumn festival.

The four of us!

Pajama Mammas! (plus the essential Vietnamese broom)

Sunday morning we had to wake up bright and early to say goodbye to Andrea. The morning was fairly uneventful, and after a trek to breakfast and several hours of embracing cafe culture (I even drank coffee!), it was time to say goodbye to Violet, too. Kelly and I then did some adventuring on campus. Finally, after almost three weeks here, I can say that I have seen all of campus. I discovered that I have a backyard jungle, complete with river, palm trees, cows, ... and also a driving course.

It started like this

And quickly turned into this

Dad, I expect an identification of this little buddy in the comments section.

Later we were taken out to celebrate my birthday with the teachers that I teach on Friday. We feasted on grilled pig's foot and a salad with shrimp and pork and peanuts and coconut trunk. To make this salad, the whole tree must be cut down. Then, when I thought we were done eating, they brought out a chicken hotpot. I saw feet and other parts get ladled out to others. Throughout the celebration, people offered me a shot and their blessing. Each person came up to me with a thimbleful of this banana-infused rice wine. They gave me their best wishes for my birthday and the year to come, I took a sip, and they downed the rest. Aside from the fact that it required me to drink what tasted like rubbing alcohol, it was a very sweet and special birthday tradition.

Later, some of the teachers invited us to a rooftop cafe by the river. It is said to have the best view in Ben Tre, and I can't disagree. The spectacular sunset didn't hurt, either.

They took us home after a while, but the evening wasn't over yet. On Friday, some of my students had told me that they wanted to take me out for coffee on Sunday night around eight. When the time came, I got a knock on my door. When I opened the door, I saw glimmering candles outside. They led me upstairs and told me to close my eyes. At the count of three I opened them and, from the second floor balcony of the dorm, saw the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY' written in lit candles on the ground and all of my students. They sang me happy birthday and brought me back downstairs. They sang again and then it was time for more cake. We didn't have any plates so everyone got a spoon and we dug in. Soon the gaggle of giggling students were feeding me spoonfuls of cake and rubbing icing on my face. At one point one of them asked me if I was happy. When I said yes, she told me slyly that there is a song you are supposed to sing when you are happy. So, with their help, I sang 'If You're Happy and You Know It.' Then one of them told me that they had to leave soon because many of them live very far away. I had assumed that they were all students who live in the dorms, so the thought that they had come from home just for this brief celebration made the event even more special. My tiny students and I, like a flood of ants, managed to consume the entire two-tier cake before they had to leave. As I headed back to my room one of them called out, "We did this because we love you." It was a celebration I will never forget.

Whenever I have gone to a new school, I have always felt like I have not had enough time to form close friendships by the time my birthday rolls around. Here, though, the fact that I have only known these people for a few weeks made my birthday all the more special. I received such an unimaginable outpouring of affection and thoughtfulness, both from my ETA visitors who braved the circuitous mysteries of Vietnamese transportation, and from my students, young and old. I think my birthday wishes are already on their way to becoming true.