A Typical Day...

Here's what a normal day in Tra Vinh looks like for me:

Up at 6 am when my 3 alarm clocks ring (my cellphone, watch and travel clock). Obviously I could get up early to go for a walk and enjoy the cool morning air, but so far I've been too lazy. Shower, get dressed and hop onto my trusty, rusty old bicycle. Do the 5-minute bike ride to campus and hope the bike chain does not pop off yet again. Dodge the trucks, other bikes and motorbikes. Pick up breakfast along the way, perhaps a sticky rice bun, or pho at the cantine.

Work starts at 7 a.m. and goes until 5 p.m. normally, with a two-hour lunch break between 11 am and 1 pm. I get to my office and greet my three lovely colleagues, Dr.A, Ms.Condom and Ms.Stylish. This week, they have been preparing a gender workshop for the teachers, so it's been very busy.

A word on my colleagues: Dr.A is also a WUSC volunteer, but has been in Vietnam for a few years now. She is a former Grade 8-9 schoolteacher and has a Master's degree from the University of Sussex in England (a coincidence, that's where I would like to do my Master's as well, perhaps). She is a sunny, blond Vancouverite, married to a tall German and they have 2 little girls, K1 and K2. We've had a few chats and I feel pretty lucky to have her to explain things to me!

Ms. Condom is my supervisor. She is Kinh (of Vietnamese origin) and very lady-like. Her English is quite good, so we've talked a little but so far I don't know much about her personal life. She has been working at TVU for a year or so and studied English here, I think. The nickname, by the way, comes from the fact that she was in charge of getting the box of condoms for World Aids Day (I wasn't here but heard about it).

Ms.Stylish is half-Kinh and half-Khmer. She is very small and cute, likes to sing to herself and laughs at me a lot. We have a lot of difficulty communicating, since my Vietnamese and Khmer is non-existent and her English is at the beginner level. She has also chauffered me around a bit on her motorbike and has offered to give one hour of Khmer culture per week to the foreign volunteers.

We generally spend the morning working on different files or meeting people (for example, yesterday I did a few interviews with the Heads of Department on gender and hiring practices). Someone will go out for ca phe sue da (iced coffee with sweet condensed milk) or we'll all go to the cantine at some point. People drop by to say hi, or check their hair in the mirror on our door (without realizing that we can see them checking their appearance).

Then we generally all go home or go out for lunch. I like to nap a little, read or chat with my neighbours at Khu II (Campus 2, where I live). Yesterday, my neighbour from Valencia invited some monks over for lunch, so I dropped by and also schmoozed some lunch. The monks from the Buddhist Pagoda are very nice, although I still find it strange to talk to them and see them walking around talking on their cell phone or checking their emails.

After lunch, back to the office for meetings or workshops. We've been staying late this week, not leaving work until 5:30 or 6 p.m., and by that time the sun is setting. I've been going for supper with the other volunteers around 6-6:30pm, for seafood, pho, num num, and other things that I don't know how to pronounce or spell. The food is always delicious, of course. Then I'll go home, watch American Idol if it's a Wednesday night, read or check emails. I'm usually asleep by 9 p.m., unless the noise from the evening classes keeps me awake (Campus 2 is where English classes are taught, among other things).

This week has gone by so fast, it seems that time moves differently here, or maybe it's just because I'm not used to my new schedule. Next week should be less strange, I'm slowly adjusting. Frankly, I thought that I, with my black hair and medium height, would blend in more than my tall blond fellow Canadians and Americans, but I was wrong on that point. It's still a novelty, but I'm sure I will get tired of people calling out "Hello! What's your name? Hello!" after a while. But the people are so nice and friendly, and so far I like being the centre of attention.

I am excited about upcoming travel plans: we are planning a weekend in Saigon soon, plus a whole week up North for Tet (Lunar New Year) and possibly a weekend in Bangkok!