Planes, Trains and Xe Oms

Greetings from Vietnam! Right now, I am in Sapa, an area of Northwest Vietnam, enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola Light and gazing into the beautiful lush valley in front of me. Sapa is a part of Vietnam well known for its green countrysides, large mountains and plethora of Vietnamese ethnic minorities... but we'll talk more about that later. (PS – I’ll post pictures when I get back to the US of A)

Last time I updated you all, I was in Beijing and a lot has happened since then. After Beijing, I took off for Hangzhou with the rest of my program. My stay there was short but filled with a trip to a tea plantation, a boat ride around the scenic West Lake - boasted to be the most beautiful lake in that region of China - and excursions to an ancient villa and a Buddhist temple. My personal favorite was the boat ride. From Hangzhou, our group ventured onward to Shanghai for our last stop of our trip. Shanghai is a bustling city, but although it is often compared to New York City, it did not feel that crowded. Because time in Shanghai was short, we only made short trips to the Bund - a waterfront area along a river that runs through Shanghai, a few shopping centers and the World EXPO. The Bund was beautiful, but I enjoyed the EXPO the most. Although the EXPO hosts about 400,000 people each day, it is spread out over an area of over two square miles. Throughout the site are pavilions for various countries or continents - some more impressive than others. Among the best pavilions were Saudi Arabia - with the world's largest IMAX, United Arab Emirates, China, Spain, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Japan. Steve and I went to the Pacific Pavilion and chatted with the woman from Samoa for a few minutes. All the volunteers at the EXPO site are Chinese but almost all of the pavilions have at least one representative of the country on site. Continuing on, I explored North Korea, Iran, Vietnam, Slovenia and the African Pavilion. While it would have been fun to have had more time to explore more of the sites, it was definitely a worthwhile adventure.

On July 8th, the GYLC program in China wrapped up and I bid adieu to the last remaining scholars as they departed for home. Steve and I enjoyed an awesome 3-dollar-for-18-dumplings lunch with some of our friends and then took the train out the Suzhou, our last stop in China. Suzhou is a little (by Chinese standards) city about 45 minutes west of Shanghai. It was previously used by many Chinese aristocracy as a place for a country home outside of Shanghai, and it is sometimes today called the "Venice of the East" due to its system of canals that cut through the town. It was a wonderful stop-over before departing for Vietnam and very relaxing. We explored the canals and local shops and paid a visit to a seven story pagoda during our short stay there.

At long last, on July 10th, we made our way to the Pudong airport to leave for Vietnam. I was very excited but nervous due to lingering travel arrangement snafus. The first four days I spent in Hanoi, the capital city of Vietnam that lies in the north. It is a dynamic city with a constant and sometimes terrifying hustle and bustle. We visited various cultural sites, including Ho Chi Minh mausoleum and museum, and took time to sample the delightful cuisine in our down time. Hanoi is well known for having many different cuisines at very affordable prices. Often a three course meal for two people with drinks will total 20 USD. Great city :)

My favorite part about Hanoi is simply being a part of the crazy city. Any given street is covered with street vendors, hotels and motorbikes. There are constantly 5 different smells in the air that direct you to different stalls. In the streets, there are buses, honking cars and motorbikes that whiz by you, weaving in and out of all the other traffic. The motorbikes are also a convenient (and cheap) mode of transportation, and I finally broke outside of my comfort zone and tried it. It is called a xe om and for about 1 USD for a fifteen minute ride, you hop on the back of a bike and hang on. Unnerving? Quite. Thrilling? You betcha.

After leaving Hanoi, Steve and I set our sites on two other areas before returning home to spend a final night in Hanoi. First, we went to Ha Long Bay, a beautiful cultural heritage site in northeastern Vietnam. Ha Long Bay is a bay of water that is spotted with hundreds of tiny limestone islands, spottily covered with any vegetation that can cling on. It is a stunning site to see, and in order to see it throughly, we took a boat cruise into the bay. The first day of our excursion was spent traveling on the boat, kayaking around some of the islands and then swimming by the boat. We also saw these dramatic caves that had been cut into the limestone by millions of years of erosion and weathering. It was an awesome site to see. On our second day, we landed at the largest island, Cat Ba Island, and hiked to the top of a peak. We spent the night at a hotel overlooking some of the other islands.

We finally departed from Ha Long Bay on the 16th, just in time for an impending typhoon warning to come to the area. The night of the 16th we took the overnight train from Hanoi to Sapa, and that's where I am today! Sapa is very relaxing, and also about 20-30 degrees cooler than the blistering heat of Hanoi. Hanoi tends to hover around a humid 93 degrees... not ideal. We got an awesome hotel right on the edge of town that has wonderful views overlooking the emerald valleys and rice fields below. After today, Steve and I will spend the next two days here before finally returning to Hanoi for our last night in Vietnam. Tomorrow should feature trekking and tours to explore the greater Sapa area.

I have loved every part of my trip so far. It has not been without its setbacks but every part has definitely been worth it. And, to add in the fun, we have manage to reschedule our flight back to Hawaii to allow for a 12-hour layover in Tokyo! Japan, here I come!

I hope you have enjoyed this update... and I apologize if it was patchy but I will fill you all in when I see you next. I am finally homeward bound on July 24th and should land in Boston on the morning of the 25th. Hope your summer is going well! See you all soon!

Soaring through China

Hello again! Right now I am sitting in the Beijing airport with about 60 of our "scholars". We leave for Hangzhou in roughly 3 hours, bidding adieu to Beijing. The capital has been a wonderful place to explore for the past 10 days. I will try to post pictures later, but here is a list of some of the sites I have seen in China so far. I've been to the Temple of Heaven, the Summer Palace, the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, the zoo to see the pandas (!), the 2008 Olympic Green with the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube and lastly, the Great Wall. I would have to say that the Great Wall was my favorite so far, but being in Tianamen Square felt very overwhelming and surreal. I also loved seeing the pandas and am currently wearing an awesome panda t-shirt from the zoo.

Our flight that leaves soon will go to Hangzhou, which is a beautiful city of 4 million. We spend two days there before heading to Shanghai for our last three days. The program has been fun so far, but we have been working 18 hour days ever since the students arrived. I am very much looking forward to a quiet and relaxing trip to Vietnam.

It is time to check in for the flight now. I hope this post finds you well. More later!

Good Morning Beijing

Hello from Beijing! I am writing this blog from my Kindle - it is the only form of Internet I have right now. I arrived in Beijing last night around 9:15. One of our wonderful tour guides, Leonard, picked us up from the airport and drove us to our hotel just outside the city. Then we watched the world cup match before heading off to bed. Now its time to go to the Temple of Heaven. More later!

Last Day in the USA

Well, technically not the last day, but the last full day. But you get the point. Tomorrow at 1:00pm Hawaiian time, I leave for the Far East! Woohoo! I am very excited :) But before I get into details of my trip to China and Vietnam, it's time for a little recap of the events of the past week.

On Wednesday, my mom and I made it out to our wonderful hotel on Kauai. It had a bunch of pools, a water slide and a bar by the ocean. It was pretty awesome. Thursday, we spent our time relaxing by the pools, enjoying Pina Coladas and reading. Friday was our first big sightseeing day. We first ventured out to Waimea Canyon, driving along the 11 mile road that hugs the western side of the canyon. The weather was slightly overcast and it rained at times, but my mom and I loved the magnificent sights. Then we headed back east and stopped along the way at Kipu Falls. A small, 30-foot waterfall hidden off of a side road outside of Lihue, it was one of my favorite places in Kauai. I jumped off the rope swing into the clear pool below twice, and then we watched other tourists and locals do the same. We stopped back by the hotel for a few hours and then headed out for our last stop of the day: sunset dinner at the Beach House. The Beach House is an awesome restaurant in Poipu that sits right on the water and has stunning sunset views. Having reserved our table a few days before, my mother and I got a first-class table for two by the window. We enjoyed a delightful three course meal and watched the sun slip behind the Hawaiian mountains. As I went to sleep that night, I had little idea of what awaited me on Saturday.

Saturday featured a five hour rafting trip along the Na Pali coastline. The Na Pali coast is the western coast of Kauai, and there are three main ways to see it: by boat, by helicopter or by hiking. Not quite ready for a daunting 11-mile hike, we chose the boat. Our choice of boat however was more like a raft - kind of like a Zodiac, where you sit on the sides or the back of the raft in seats. As our tour began, we set out from the southwestern shore of Kauai and sped along the coast dotted with beaches. On our trip out we saw two pods of spinner dolphins. They were rather sleepy but it was fun to see them skimming the surface of the water. Then we traveled up the western coast and saw the towering cliffs of the Na Pali coast. The cliffs are the second highest sea cliffs in the world, and also the second fastest eroding cliffs. After rafting for about three hours, we stopped for a lunch break to eat, hike a little and snorkel. Snorkeling was my favorite part of our stop. I saw many different types of fish - my favorite was striped with royal blue, red, white and gray-green. Pretty awesome. After disembarking from our luncheon bay, we rafted one more hour back to the small harbor we left from, enjoying the opportunity to see one more pod of spinners before we left. The trip was a lot of fun, but left me quite sore the next day.

On Sunday, I saw farewell to my mother, and I have been relaxing and packing in Honolulu ever since. I am excited to see China, nervous about my new teaching role and thrilled to have this wonderful opportunity. I hope that all my travels go well and safely, and I look forward to tell you all about them right here! Until then... goodbye!

The Beginning of My Summer

Hello everyone! I hope that this posting finds you well. Ten days ago, I left my island home and set out to begin my summer adventures. After a quick five hour flight that was passed by sleeping, I said my final farewells to all my fellow island friends and made my way in the real United States - Honolulu. Although many people have tried to tell me that Hawaii does not count as the real US of A, I can assure that it does for two reasons: 1) Stoplights and 2) Buildings over 4 stories tall. So there.

I spent my first night in Honolulu with my boyfriend and his sister being mesmerized by the plethora of food and drink choices readily available. We made a pit stop on the way home to play a few rounds of bar trivia - we won once - and then got some sleep before our flight to Kauai. On Tuesday, Steve and I departed for the Garden Island.



We stayed in a wonderful condo in Poipu, a beach town on the south side of Kauai, and engaged in various sightseeing and nature activities. The highlights of the trip (in no particular order) were:

1. Swimming and tanning at Poipu Beach



2. Hiking along the northwest coast on Kauai to see a beautiful beach and an awesome waterfall







3. Walking five minutes through head-high grass to find a gorgeous 25 foot waterfall and then jumping off the waterfall rope swing into the pool below. (No pictures yet)

4. Visiting Waimea Canyon



5. Checking out the Hawaiian blowholes.



6. Relaxing :)

This past Saturday, Steve and I returned from Kauai and I made my way over to Waikiki to welcome my mother (!) to the island. Since it was late in the afternoon, Mom and I went for a stroll on the beach and around the different stores to get ourselves better acquainted with the area and grabbed some food. Sunday featured time lounging at Waikiki Beach and then watching the Celtics game - a great, relaxing day in Hawaii.

On Monday, we undertook our major cultural project for the trip - Pearl Harbor. Steve, my mom and I left early - around 7:30am - to beat the dreaded tour buses that TripAdvisor warned against. We arrived around 8:00am, purchased our tickets for the aviation museum, Mighty Mo and one of the submarines in the war and reserved our spot for the USS Arizona memorial. We diligently followed the self-guided audio tours for both the submarine and the battleship. Both were wonderfully informative, providing a lot of background knowledge and helping us appreciate the sites more. Touring each ship was a fantastic learning experience - to see firsthand the types of living and working conditions that the various military forces endured.

Submarine torpedoes and the submarine behind it

Inside the tiny submarine

The USS Missouri - the last battleship and the one that ended the War

After finishing up with the USS Missouri, we headed back to the main entrance to await our boat to the USS Arizona memorial. When the USS Arizona was bombed at Pearl Harbor, over 1,100 men died, including over 900 who are still entombed inside the sunken ship. Due to the severe damage done to the ship and the number of men who died there, the military and the families jointly decided to leave the ship in the harbor. The memorial for the ship lies perpendicularly above the ship, parts of which are still visible in the shallow 35-40' deep harbor. It is a beautiful memorial and allows for a wonderful view of the rest of the Pearl Harbor memorial site as well. I would highly recommend it.

The USS Missouri, part of Battleship Row and a portion of the sunken USS Arizona

Our flag above the memorial where the mast would have been

After visiting the USS Arizona, we made our final stop of the day at the Pacific Aviation Museum. It was an informative and interactive museum housed in a former airplane hangar. The majority of the information there described the first year of the war in the Pacific, from the Pearl Harbor attacks to the Doolittle raid and the Battle of Midway. It was a nice stop, but our group was worn out after 6 hours spent at Pearl Harbor.

Tuesday was my mother and I's last full day in Honolulu. We woke up rather early (early for me, at least) and hiked up the famous Diamond Head Crater just outside of the city. The trail was packed with many different types of people and we completed the round trip in just over an hour. The hike was well worth it - stunning views of Honolulu and Waikiki specifically from the top.

Waikiki from the top of Diamond Head

Now, last but not least, it is Wednesday and we have departed Oah'u for the Garden Island of Kauai. Mom and I checked into our awesome hotel today - three pools, one pool with sand to mimic a beach, and a water slide - and are looking forward to exploring Kauai for the next few days.

Coming up on tap: driving to Waimea Canyon, visiting Kipu Falls, sunset dinner in Poipu and a 5-hour rafting trip along the Na Pali coast. Should be lots of fun! I will definitely keep you updated! Hope everyone is having a good start to the summer! Tofa!

Tofa Soifua Samoa!

Hello again! As I am writing this new entry, I am sitting at the hotel across from my house and watching the clock tick down my final hours in American Samoa. Tonight at 11:20pm the last of my friends and I will finally depart this island. Right now, my feelings are mostly elation. I have spent the last week saying goodbye to students, teachers, friends and cool island spots and I'm ready to leave. I'm fairly certain that my departure will eventually be bittersweet, but I don't think that will come for another few days.

The last week of school was stress-free and rather uneventful. The students took their finals on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was an awards ceremony - each teacher gave certificates to the top one or two students in each class. It was a wonderful way to recognize the dutiful students that had worked hard throughout the year. I greatly enjoyed handing my awards over to two students who were shocked and very grateful for the honor. It was one of those awesome teaching moments. Friday was our clean-up day. This meant that I had about 10 students in my classroom from 8am-12pm doing about one hour of cleaning and about three hours of singing and dancing. It was a nice, relaxing way to end the year and say goodbye. I exchanged emails and Facebook accounts with a number of students and we promised to stay in touch. It was very difficult to say goodbye to some of the students. As their teacher, I have pushed them and encouraged them all year, and it is tough for my (I have now realized) over-bearing personality to just let them go and hope they do well in the years to come. It often seems as if this experience was a mini-parenting experience.

The past week since school has been out has involved last trips to fun island locations, school graduation and celebrating/saying goodbye to friends. Leaving tonight makes me just about the last of my friends left. A few friends will be on the flight tonight, and we plan to enjoy our last Pizza Hut dinner together before boarding the plane.

Overall, this year has been a wonderful experience. It is quite easy for me to look at my time here through rose colored glasses right now, but I think it was very worthwhile. I truly loved teaching many of my students and hope to continue encouraging them onto bright futures. My staff at Tafuna High School was amazing, and it was hilarious to talk with them everyday and share stories about misbehaving students. But the thing that I will definitely miss the most about this island was the other volunteers I meet. Without them, I would not still be here. In this year of struggles and triumphs, we truly became a family and helped each other through it all. Luckily, most of them have the good sense to live on the East Coast next year, so staying in touch will be easy. But I believe that I have grown up a lot in the past year, and I do believe that this experience was a necessary stepping stone for me.

All that being said, without further ado, because my camera is broken and I cannot upload any new pictures, I will show you some older pictures of the island. Tofa soifua American Samoa!

Pictures from Secret Beach - about an hour's hike from Vatia and the site of my very first camping experience


The Vatia Pola Tai and tidal pools off a NPS trail


Spending a lazy Sunday at Tisa's Barefoot Bar - about 30 minutes east of Pago

Boat in Utulei harbor


View of Pago harbor from Mt. Alava and the sunrise over the Rainmaker

Waterfall in Faga'alu behind the hospital



Teaching my 4th period Chemistry students!

That's all for now! Hope you are all doing well. Back to the East coast in less than two months! Have a great summer until then!

Spring Activities

Hello again. This week I finally got around to upload some pictures from this spring onto my camera so I decided to share some of them with you and explain where they came from. Now where to start?...

Our first large school activity in March was Senior Night. Senior Night is essentially the same as senior prom is in the States, but there are a few important differences. First, it's a big deal. It's a very big deal. It is best to be thought of as a mix between a senior prom, a fashion show and a family reunion. Second, having a date is very important. Unlike in the States where you may be able to get away with the old "I'm just going with some friends," here, the first 90 minutes of the event are spent announcing every senior who is present and their guest. The two walk onto the stage from opposite sides, meet in the middle, give each other flowers or ulas (Samoan leis) and then walk to the front of the stage to have their photo taken. The prom is also like a fashion show because during this presentation time, everyone sees what everyone else is wearing. Many times it is popular for the couple to have extremely matching coordinated outfits. Like this:


It was great. Then, Senior Night is also somewhat like a family reunion because 1) most everyone is already related anyway and 2) many of the parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents come to watch the kids at the dance. It makes things sort of awkward when the kids start dancing, but that's just how it is.

Overall, the evening was very nice. I saw a bunch of my students there and really enjoyed hanging out with some of them outside of the classroom. Here is a picture of how the gym was decorated for the occasion:



My next activity in early April was the Easter egg hunt! The posters advertising for the hunt claimed that there were 25,000 eggs in total... and I absolutely believe it. Steve and I headed over to the hunt around 9 am on the Friday before Easter. We helped with a bunch of the games and also aided the other volunteers "hiding" the eggs in this huge park (Lions Park) in Tafuna. All of the children were separated in different age groups and then mayhem ensued when they were let loose to collect as many eggs as possible. Surprisingly, the whole hunt went well. I didn't see any tears or injuries - always a good thing.

All the Easter eggs you could ever want

Easter egg hunt in beautiful Tafuna

Let the games begin!

Then the month or so since the hunt occurred has been filled with a multitude of other events. One of the most notable experiences was a hike to a secret cove on the west side of the island. One Saturday, my friends Molly, Christin and I went venturing out to explore the island. Christin picked me up from my house, drove 10 minutes down a series of lefts and rights until she finally parked her car in front of a random house. I gave her a quizzical look, to which she laughed and replied, "It's okay. I know them." We then exited the car and I remained baffled. Although she and Molly assured me that we were in the right place, all I saw was a house surrounded by banana trees. Then, the two of them push through two large banana trees and begin the trek to the beach. I was shocked that this "path" was going to lead anywhere, but after a 15 minute walk down some hills, through a large meadow, we did emerge at a beautiful secluded beach. The water was nice, and the coral did not cover the whole beach so there was good swimming. We tanned, chatted and relaxed for a few hours before heading back home. Just another day in American Samoa.

Larson's Cove

And finally, I have a treat for all of you. In American Samoa, it is often common to see two people who are dating or married wearing clothes made from the same fabric. Not only is it common, it is also very amusing. So for hilarity's sake and also when in American Samoa...


Thanks for reading! Have a great week!