Wow! Another day in Paradise. Can life really be this good? I guess it can, because I am living the best life right now. Today, as I swam in a beautiful bay in the middle of Asia, rode my bike through remote villages, I realized how awesome it is to be Jess.
I've worked so hard, taken so many risks and struggled a lot this year, but I realize more and more everyday how worth it, it has been. My friend Donna once said to me, "I choose to be happy." That simple statement has influenced me for the last year. It was the initiator into my life in Asia. And, it is a priority in my life. I choose to live a happy life and that meant leaving Brian, leaving a huge part of my life behind and it has been worth all of it!
Today, I realized that American women are highly regarded around the world. I am so lucky to be an American woman! We are so lucky to be able to have the rights we do, be self-confident, independent and opportunities galore. Others are not so lucky...we are lucky to be raised in a culture where we are equal. No silly standards to live up to.
Well, it's time to close this blog and I hope you all are well. I will write more soon and miss you all!
Thursday, 18 September 2008
Monday, 15 September 2008
Sapa, Vietnam- 3 days in Paradise
We just spent the last 3 days in Sapa. We took an overnight train and a one hour car ride to this great little mountain town, it was worth every bump and motion sickness pills to get there!
From Sapa, we booked 2 nights to sleep in minority villages. We got to stay with the local people in their homes. It was quite an experience. The first day we hiked 12 KM. Through gorgeous rice terraces, mountains and the freshest air I have had in a long time! The local Black Muong tribe followed us the whole way. All the women follow the tourists each day, being very nice to us, making us beautiful flower wreaths for our hair, little animals crafted from rice stalks and bouquets carefully crafted into heart shapes for us. They carry handbags, bracelets, blankets in woven baskets on their backs hoping that us, rich white people, will buy their goods. Each day, the walk the mountains in hopes of making such little money on their intricate embroidery. There embordiery is so detailed, beautiful, it blows Gramma Sahm's away! So, you know me, I definitly purchased my fair share!
We had this fantastic tour guide named Zung. He really made our trip the best! Super enthusiastic and always making sure we were happy! We went swimming in beautiful waterfalls, crystal clear waters and beautiful mountains! It was very interesting to go from village to village. It was obvious which villages had more money than others and how important it is for the local people to have the toursit industry come to them. They are so very poor, indoor plumbing is definitly a luxury item, only for the richest people in the village. And those people are the ones who host the tourists in their homes! Amazing how everything in our lives is just an "extra" compared to these people. It's a good eye opener for Derrick, I believe.
We hiked a total of 28 KM in three days! I loved getting out and being in nature and it feels so good to exercise. Along the way, I met a very nice Vietnamese man named Kien. He was very passionate about learning English, so I spent many hours helping him with pronunciation, phonics, etc. He was also very good looking :) But, what I loved about Kien is that he opened up my eyes to how important learning English is for them. It is a survival tool they need in order to make money. He opened my eyes to how much I have learned how to be an English teacher and how I am looking forward to doing this more, just in a different environment. I have many tools to give and want to give them to the people who need them most. So now, I am on a journey to figure out how to do this. I guess Sister Mary Lee is calling my name again!
I miss you all and hope you are well. Looking forward to returning to the States in June!
From Sapa, we booked 2 nights to sleep in minority villages. We got to stay with the local people in their homes. It was quite an experience. The first day we hiked 12 KM. Through gorgeous rice terraces, mountains and the freshest air I have had in a long time! The local Black Muong tribe followed us the whole way. All the women follow the tourists each day, being very nice to us, making us beautiful flower wreaths for our hair, little animals crafted from rice stalks and bouquets carefully crafted into heart shapes for us. They carry handbags, bracelets, blankets in woven baskets on their backs hoping that us, rich white people, will buy their goods. Each day, the walk the mountains in hopes of making such little money on their intricate embroidery. There embordiery is so detailed, beautiful, it blows Gramma Sahm's away! So, you know me, I definitly purchased my fair share!
We had this fantastic tour guide named Zung. He really made our trip the best! Super enthusiastic and always making sure we were happy! We went swimming in beautiful waterfalls, crystal clear waters and beautiful mountains! It was very interesting to go from village to village. It was obvious which villages had more money than others and how important it is for the local people to have the toursit industry come to them. They are so very poor, indoor plumbing is definitly a luxury item, only for the richest people in the village. And those people are the ones who host the tourists in their homes! Amazing how everything in our lives is just an "extra" compared to these people. It's a good eye opener for Derrick, I believe.
We hiked a total of 28 KM in three days! I loved getting out and being in nature and it feels so good to exercise. Along the way, I met a very nice Vietnamese man named Kien. He was very passionate about learning English, so I spent many hours helping him with pronunciation, phonics, etc. He was also very good looking :) But, what I loved about Kien is that he opened up my eyes to how important learning English is for them. It is a survival tool they need in order to make money. He opened my eyes to how much I have learned how to be an English teacher and how I am looking forward to doing this more, just in a different environment. I have many tools to give and want to give them to the people who need them most. So now, I am on a journey to figure out how to do this. I guess Sister Mary Lee is calling my name again!
I miss you all and hope you are well. Looking forward to returning to the States in June!
Saturday, 6 September 2008
When Broken Glass Floats
| As I chatted with a very close person to me today, I realized where his pain comes from. He swells with pain that comes from the absence of love in his life. The absence of a certain love. A Mother's Love. I believe that there is nothing else of more power than the feelings that eminate from a mother to her child. A Mother's Love fills us, the children, with energy, confidence, HOPE. A feeling that we can achieve all of our greatest dreams. Mother's are the backbone of the world. Without them we are non-existant. A Mother's Love is of the purest form, like mountain water that first sees the sunlight, like a new flowering bud during the first weeks of spring. Mother's Love is powerful, it can make us and break us. When we cannot feel our Mother's Love we are on a constant journey to reach it again. |
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Sally Sells Seashells
I need someone to pinch me, I must be dreaming. But...I know I am not. As I plop my somewhat overweight body (for Jess that is) onto my beach chair, I am in paradise. I've worked so hard to do this and I am finally reaping the fruits of my labor.
I woke up at 6 AM, ran out my door and headed for a morning walk on the beach. How awesome it is to walk outside on Tuesday morning and have the East China Sea as my backyard. At 8 AM we met our Welsh and New Zealand friends for kayaking. It was fantastic! The water here is so blue and the lush, green mountains shoot right out of it. We kayaked to a small rocky beach where I now have a new collection of the most enormous seashells. I can now officially be Sally who sells seashells at the Seashore!
As I sit on the beach and look out at the cerulean blue waters I wonder to myself, why am I here? I think of Facebook. Each time I log onto Facebook, I see my classmates from HS, living in Dubuque, raising a family and doing the same same. I feel so young at 27, but I am living such a rich lifestyle. Why do I choose this and others don't? Why do they choose to settle down? There is so much to see and experience in this expansive world, I can't understand, but I want to. Let me know your thoughts on this...I keep thinking of it and want to hear others perspectives and ideas. Why do we choose the paths we do? Hmmm....
Well, tomorrow I am off to snorkel, while the others go scuba diving. We are not even half way up the Vietnam coast yet. At least 6 weeks more, so stay tuned if you choose to hear about my travels....keep me posted on your thoughts and ideas of this blog....it keeps me thinking, growing and trying to understand all people's roles in this life. Peace until then.....
I woke up at 6 AM, ran out my door and headed for a morning walk on the beach. How awesome it is to walk outside on Tuesday morning and have the East China Sea as my backyard. At 8 AM we met our Welsh and New Zealand friends for kayaking. It was fantastic! The water here is so blue and the lush, green mountains shoot right out of it. We kayaked to a small rocky beach where I now have a new collection of the most enormous seashells. I can now officially be Sally who sells seashells at the Seashore!
As I sit on the beach and look out at the cerulean blue waters I wonder to myself, why am I here? I think of Facebook. Each time I log onto Facebook, I see my classmates from HS, living in Dubuque, raising a family and doing the same same. I feel so young at 27, but I am living such a rich lifestyle. Why do I choose this and others don't? Why do they choose to settle down? There is so much to see and experience in this expansive world, I can't understand, but I want to. Let me know your thoughts on this...I keep thinking of it and want to hear others perspectives and ideas. Why do we choose the paths we do? Hmmm....
Well, tomorrow I am off to snorkel, while the others go scuba diving. We are not even half way up the Vietnam coast yet. At least 6 weeks more, so stay tuned if you choose to hear about my travels....keep me posted on your thoughts and ideas of this blog....it keeps me thinking, growing and trying to understand all people's roles in this life. Peace until then.....
Friday, 29 August 2008
The Mekong Delta
Wow! What an amazing lifestyle! One river completely shapes the way these people live! The Mekong is a beautiful area, full of traditional Vietnamese people.
We did the tour thing, which just about drove me crazy, but that is kinda how traveling in Vietnam is. But we met interesting people, so that was a benefit. Last night was the best for me. After a long day with the tourist crowd, there were 7 of us who decided to stay at a homestay place. Well, we trampled into a rickety old boat in complete darkness last night and our boat driver took us for a beautiful, awe inspring boat ride down the Mekong. It was fabulous! I haven't seen so many stars in such a long, long time! Beautiful stars, thousands! It was so peaceful and calm. I loved looking into the people's dailyness of life. We were able to peak into the private lives of these people by looking in their windows and doors of the little river shacks they live in. I am just amazed every country I go to, how simple people still live these days. Life doesn't have to be complicated, we make it that way.
The Mekong is their survival. They brush their teeth in it, do their laundry in the dirt brown water, the use it as drinking water, everything! We went to a floating market where everyone just goes grocery shopping from boat to boat. We also took the "classic ride" down the Mekong. The picturesque ride of an old person rowing you down in a traditional boat in an canal of trees and nothing else could be seen. I was loving it. And just like that it was over. As they dropped us off at our bigger boat, the beautiful, "tradional" scene was then over, as the old people whipped on the motors of their boats and took off to do the same tourist trap ride! Ha Ha! I could do nothing more than just laugh at this scene!
Next we are headed off to DaLat, Vietnam. I don't know what we will find, but hopefully some scooters to rent and some peace and quite. Hope you all are well, take care and I miss you!
We did the tour thing, which just about drove me crazy, but that is kinda how traveling in Vietnam is. But we met interesting people, so that was a benefit. Last night was the best for me. After a long day with the tourist crowd, there were 7 of us who decided to stay at a homestay place. Well, we trampled into a rickety old boat in complete darkness last night and our boat driver took us for a beautiful, awe inspring boat ride down the Mekong. It was fabulous! I haven't seen so many stars in such a long, long time! Beautiful stars, thousands! It was so peaceful and calm. I loved looking into the people's dailyness of life. We were able to peak into the private lives of these people by looking in their windows and doors of the little river shacks they live in. I am just amazed every country I go to, how simple people still live these days. Life doesn't have to be complicated, we make it that way.
The Mekong is their survival. They brush their teeth in it, do their laundry in the dirt brown water, the use it as drinking water, everything! We went to a floating market where everyone just goes grocery shopping from boat to boat. We also took the "classic ride" down the Mekong. The picturesque ride of an old person rowing you down in a traditional boat in an canal of trees and nothing else could be seen. I was loving it. And just like that it was over. As they dropped us off at our bigger boat, the beautiful, "tradional" scene was then over, as the old people whipped on the motors of their boats and took off to do the same tourist trap ride! Ha Ha! I could do nothing more than just laugh at this scene!
Next we are headed off to DaLat, Vietnam. I don't know what we will find, but hopefully some scooters to rent and some peace and quite. Hope you all are well, take care and I miss you!
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
The Agent "Mr. Orange"
Hello Everyone!
I am in Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam right now. I've been here for three days and I feel a little crazy. Crazy because I don't think life is all too strange here. I am used to it now from living in Taiwan. I actually feel like Saigon is much better because they have lots of trees and fresh air compared to Taiwan!
The last couple days have been all about the Vietnam War. I learned all about Ho Chi Minh, who is the man who wanted Communism here. We went to the War Museum! Wow! It's amazing that this war still affects these people today! The pictures of what the American bombs did to these people were horrifying. Children born in 1991 still come out all deformed because their parents were exposed to Agent Organge. Napalm victims in many places! What damage a war can cause. It just makes me think of what we are doing in the Middle East! The last effects war has on a place are inmeasurable...
We also went to the Cu Chi Tunnels today. This is where the Viet Khong, (the Vietnamese Communist Soldiers) build hundreds of Kilometers of underground tunnels to kill the American soldiers. It's amazing. We went into the tunnels that they have made bigger for the Western tourists to go in and I was still crawling on my hands and knees to get in it! I highly reccommend reading about the Cu Chi Guerilla fighters. They are the ones who made America loose the war! So, Vietnam is a Communist country today because of these people. Truly amazing! Oh Yeah! And I got to fire an AK47 automatic rifle. Now that baby had a kick!
Tomorrow we are spending two days on the Mekong Delta. We will spend the night with a host family, do boat rides, floating markets and the like. I don't feel shocked at all here. Just like normal life for me. Very similar to Taiwan in many ways. Thoughthe Vietnamese are exceptionally friendly and very beautiful!
I will post photos as soon as I can! Hope you all are well!
I am in Saigon, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam right now. I've been here for three days and I feel a little crazy. Crazy because I don't think life is all too strange here. I am used to it now from living in Taiwan. I actually feel like Saigon is much better because they have lots of trees and fresh air compared to Taiwan!
The last couple days have been all about the Vietnam War. I learned all about Ho Chi Minh, who is the man who wanted Communism here. We went to the War Museum! Wow! It's amazing that this war still affects these people today! The pictures of what the American bombs did to these people were horrifying. Children born in 1991 still come out all deformed because their parents were exposed to Agent Organge. Napalm victims in many places! What damage a war can cause. It just makes me think of what we are doing in the Middle East! The last effects war has on a place are inmeasurable...
We also went to the Cu Chi Tunnels today. This is where the Viet Khong, (the Vietnamese Communist Soldiers) build hundreds of Kilometers of underground tunnels to kill the American soldiers. It's amazing. We went into the tunnels that they have made bigger for the Western tourists to go in and I was still crawling on my hands and knees to get in it! I highly reccommend reading about the Cu Chi Guerilla fighters. They are the ones who made America loose the war! So, Vietnam is a Communist country today because of these people. Truly amazing! Oh Yeah! And I got to fire an AK47 automatic rifle. Now that baby had a kick!
Tomorrow we are spending two days on the Mekong Delta. We will spend the night with a host family, do boat rides, floating markets and the like. I don't feel shocked at all here. Just like normal life for me. Very similar to Taiwan in many ways. Thoughthe Vietnamese are exceptionally friendly and very beautiful!
I will post photos as soon as I can! Hope you all are well!
Thursday, 14 August 2008
It's time....
It's time for me to hit the road again. I am off to Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia for the next 2 months! I am excited and hope everything goes well! Stay tuned for more insights.....
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