Tra Vinh

Tra Vinh is a lovely little town in the Mekong delta. We arrived this afternoon after a wonderful drive down from Saigon. The distance is about Hull-Montréal (200 km) but it took us about 4 hours to do the drive. It went by really fast, though, since I had so many things to look at! We crossed at least 4 bridges, hundreds of motorbikes (it goes without saying now), a few cows and quite a bit of vegetation.

We were greeted at the University by one of the long-term WUSC volunteers and taken to meet Mr.Z who formally welcomed us to Tra Vinh University (TVU as they call it). We also met most of our colleagues at the International Collaboration Office and of the Gender and Community Development section. I also got to ride a motorbike for the first time! Much smoother than I expected, although I did feel quite dashing and reckless. :D We were shown our sleeping quarters for the next 3 months - quite nice rooms with our own private bathroom and mini kitchen, and very well stocked with irons, pots, bowls, plates, washing machine and even a rice cooker!

We were also treated to supper at the hotel. We ate lovely fat prawns, hot pot, fish and lots of things that I could not pronounce. We also learned the Vietnamese toast - "Cham po Cham" or "One Hundred Percent!". Now I am listening to karaoke and just thinking, "This is the life. How lucky am I!"