Creepy Crawlies

My apologies for the slight blog hiatus.  I’ve picked up more hours at school and have meant to update for days now.  Life here has become sweet in the way that you start to feel settled in a new environment.  My residence history has defined this feeling to be a danger zone for me, but I have not yet succumbed to the high I feel every time I plan for a move.  Da Nang is still showing me quite a bit of love and new experiences.  It’s truly another world living here.    

Language has to be the most difficult part of life in Vietnam.  My original intention of travel living in Indonesia was first spurred by their phonetic language being so easy to learn.  Vietnamese, a fast tonal string of one-syllable words, is incredibly hard to remember and understand.  I say this with a foreign ear, but I’ve also witnessed countless misinterpretations between fluent Vietnamese speakers.  It is hard to imagine learning a word, learning the correct pronunciation, saying the word, and being met with complete confusion.  Then someone else will say the word and the receiver magically understands.  Not to mention, the receiver will repeat the word and it will sound JUST like I said it!  I think possibly if I stayed here for multiple years, I might be able to converse freely with locals, but I would really need to invest some serious time in learning the language. 

Suoi Voi

This week, some teacher friends and I moto-ed to a relaxing cold springs location called Suoi Voi – also called The Elephant Springs.  As the place is pretty hidden, it is mostly enjoyed by Vietnamese families and groups.  Through countless huge boulders, fresh cool water flows and pools in a valley area.  Along these springs there are many private platforms where your group can rest in the shade when not swimming.  Hiking a short way up stream, we found a deeper pool area where we sported some boulder jumping with Hue monks into the springs.  After we’d had our fill and were drying off, we witnessed some young Vietnamese boys beating a snake to death on the other side of the pool.  I was thankful that we saw this after our untainted water fun. 

The new fish

The drive from Suoi Voi to Da Nang is one of the most beautiful stretches of road in the world.  Named Hai Van Pass, it’s almost all coastal with beautiful lush green to one side and the ocean to the other.  This was the longest trip I had ever ventured on my own bike.  I’ve leveled up in moto cargo carry as well.  I doubt I’ll ever reach the capability of local moto drivers who you occasionally see carrying fridges, big screen TVs and dressers on the backs of their small motorbikes, but I’m starting to utilize more parts of my bike for various needs.  In the last two weeks, I’ve carried home a large box fan, a tall plant and bags full of water and fish.  (And felt pretty boss during all of these transports). 

I have taken up a small volunteer position at Bread of Life one night a week.  These girls absolutely don’t need me, but they graciously pretend that I’m helping them count down the drawer at the end of shift and fill out various forms concerning the different sources of revenue.  The exchange is symbiotic in that I am “helping” them count down the drawer, and at the same time, working on my spoken and signed Vietnamese.  The deaf servers and baristas are so nice and eager to compare signs with my ASL vs. their VSL – I am learning their signs quite quickly.  A hellova lot quicker than I’m learning spoken Vietnamese, that’s for sure. 

One more bit of lifestyle that Stacey and I have become accustomed to, *and the last two weeks have been quite heavy* are our uninvited house guests.  We’re grateful for no furry intruders, but it seems that we’ve had the rest of the lot.  The usual geckos have been lounging around of course, but also baseball-sized Huntsman spiders, large roaches and frogs.  (How did those frogs get in there??)

The pink thing is the size of a ping pong ball

Lately, I’ve been doing a major mental overhaul of acceptance to large spiders.  We found four in one day and haven’t seen any since.  Those, I hate to say, all went to spider heaven.  Now, many friends have convinced me that these guys really are good and beneficial for roach control, but I just can’t imagine going about my daily house living with a huntsman just chilling at arm’s length on the wall.  I’m supposed to just let him stay there?? They’re huge!  Not to mention, they don’t even spin webs because they RUN lightning speed to capture their prey.  Nice feature.   Let’s just say when I get back to America, not many creepy crawlies are going to phase me.