Schedules….
I think schedules are so important to Americans. My life is one big schedule. Even my vacations are scheduled…my husband calls me ‘The General.’ (I personally feel that I am much more flexible with vacation time than regular life time, but that is another discussion.) Anyway, our schedules back home are run by various things, primarily time. The boys’ school schedule is run by bus transit, but it still works within the parameter of time.
Here, though, it’s HEAT that runs the schedule. It took me about 9 days to figure this out, but I got it. The rooster down the street wakes up around (I say “around” because I refuse to even look at my clock to check. The little %^$^&& needs eyeshades, in my opinion.) at 4:00 am, with the first barely visible glow of sunrise. Within the hour, the park is filling up with the aerobics group, the tai chi groups, the badmitton players (they string their nets across one of the side street, about 4 games going one every morning) and the walkers. I even saw a couple of runners this morning! The street vendors start setting up about 5:00 am as well. I took a walk around the neighborhood and down the main street and saw them putting out their food and filling small bags with sauces—a kind of ‘take out’ system.
The traffic starts to pick up some time between 6 and 6:30. A few badmitton players are still out, but most everyone else is either in the house or eating/drinking coffee or riding to work.
When we get out of school at noon (we stay and get on the internet for a couple of hours after class) the traffic is teeming, but there isn’t much other activity. People are quiet. We see them laying on hammocks or sprawled on the floor inside their living rooms with the French doors wide open.
It stays this way pretty much until the sun goes down. Then, it’s just like 5:00 am all over again, only louder because all the kids are out. They’re screaming, running around, laughing and playing from about 6:30 or 7:00 until about 10:00. At about 10:00, someone flips a switch, and everyone goes to bed.
Our schedule is fitting into this pretty well. I don’t need an alarm clock, for actually, the music wakes me up pretty gently. Yesterday, I did a little stretching on my balcony while they did Tai chi below; today, I went for a walk.
We’ve gotten in the habit of having fruit for breakfast in our room. We’ve been to the Big C supermarket three times since we got here, which pretty much makes it every 3 days. I think I’ve spent $100 so far on food and essentials, but that includes a $5 pillow that is to die for. We’ve bought 2 cases of bottled water, a couple packs of NesCafe (gotta get some more of that—drank the last one this morning) some Coke, Fanta, and Sprite, and snacks for Anthony, particularly potato chips and these funky coconut coated peanuts. I also bought my own toilet paper because the hotel’s TP is like gauze, and neither of us liked it. Oh, and of course, we bought fruit.
We have no problem getting to the school at 7:00 am, bright eyed and bushy tailed. For Week 1, they had us teach 3 days, which was understandable because we were getting acclimated on Monday. Anthony and I have decided that on teaching days, we’ll stay at the school for a few hours every day to use the internet. This means that we’re online from about 11 am to 1 or 2 pm every day VN time, if you want to get ahold of us. I recommend that you upload Skype (for free) and then search for anthonypasinato1 to find Anthony. You can add him, and he will accept you as a contact. You don’t need the video to communicate with us. He generally chats with his girlfriend via skype text message, and Tony and I talked for an hour yesterday just using the Call function, not the videocall. I generally try to do my typing in the evening, on a word document, so that I can just upload it quickly and send it out as an email attachment. I hope no one minds the ‘form letter’ style.
Yesterday, we ate lunch at the school, which is what we would like to do every day that we teach. The food is great, and I don’t have to guess at a menu, and I know where the food came from and (basically) who cooked it. Plus, it gives Anthony another half hour on the internet, for he can stay in the classroom while I eat with the admin, and then they make a plate for him to eat in the classroom. 
The school is great. I have some pictures of the courtyard and the cafeteria, but I only have the one of my classroom yet (where Anthony is on the computer). To mark the schedule, they use a huge drum. This is the signal for everything except my class schedule.  I just keep track of myself. We teach 45 minute hours. The students are between 16 and 17 years old, and all of the girls are in love with Anthony. He’s being a very good sport about it. The kids are kids. They’re probably more respectful to me because I have another VN teacher/interpreter in the classroom. His name is Mr. Vinh, and he’s a student at the teacher’s college. I’m going to ask him if we can come with him to visit the school some time. I’m curious. There is one girl who is amazingly clear in my first class. When I asked her, she said that she studies by listening and watching TV. Smart girl.
I think that’s about it. I’ll talk to you later!
Love
mishelle