So here I am ...

All things considered, the trip here went pretty darn good. The snow was coming down sideways as my plane sat on the runway at O'Hare. But after a 45-minute delay, we took off. Turns out, that was the last plane to leave O'Hare before the airport was shut down by the weather. Chicago to Tokyo flight was rough: I was moved next to a little girl and her mom and dad, and the little girl puked almost the entire flight. Poor thing. Because of the delay in Chicago, I missed my connection in Tokyo (to Ho Chi Ming City), but the Tokyo airport was so well organized that they already had a new connection with boarding pass lined up for me as I got off the plane.  My flight to HCMC was awesome .... great food, big seats and half-full plane. Good thing about long flights: I watched The Master, Social Network (again), Taken 2; and Wallee. Two things struck me right away about Vietnam when I got off the plane in Ho Chi Ming City. First, the people were very tolerant of my inability to speak any Vietnamese whatsoever  -- and they got me my visa and through customs with no worries. Second, it's going to take me some time to get used to the heat and humidity here. I've been doing some serious sweating, and it's kind of embarrassing.  I spent my first night in a seedy hotel in the center of HCMC. I say seedy because it was cheap for the location, had no towels, the lights went out as soon as I entered the room, and these guys stood outside and yelled "Hey girl" at me as I carried my luggage to the room. But there was a delux Starbucks across the street, where I used the internet to connect with my school, which sent a taxi to pick me up and take me to Bien Hoa. Traffic, which is extreme, moves very slowly here, but it moves. It took almost an hour to get from HCMC to Bien Hoa and it's not a great distance -- about 15-20 miles maybe. Met  my new bosses and folks at the school. They seem very cool. Had a pretty good lunch in town with one of my bosses -- lots of hot peppers and hot sauce, fish I've never heard of, skinny green beans, weird cold pork soup, and RICE. My boss picked up the tab, but don't think it was too expensive. Lots of scooters and SARS masks here. SARS masks are used to keep out dust and sun, I was told. I'm teaching 3 classes tomorrow, so it's time to lesson plan. Miss the folks in Peru (students call the teachers "teacher" here as well), and of course I miss my family and friends in the U.S. But this place has a pretty good vibe.

Leaving ..... again

Another six months in Peru, and another departure with mixed emotions. I think I'm finally better understanding the life and rhythms here. So I guess that means it's time to move on. What I'll take away most from my stay in Peru is the generosity of the people I've met here, especially the students. Sure, thieves stole my laptop and two cameras, but crime is universal. But the students here bought me lunches, dinners, gifts, and they gave me sage advice like, "Don't leave your laptop unattended." I'll miss the students more than anything or anybody here. Next, I'll miss the weather. It's perfect everyday. You could live in shorts and a T-shirt year-round. The locals complain about the cold .... a crisp 45-55 at night, but I'm telling you, this is the best weather on the planet. I'll miss the food a little, but US food ain't shabby. I'd like to open an anticuchos stand and pisco sour bar in the US one day. Maybe when I move to Key West, Fla. I won't miss the people cutting in line, or bumping you on the street. Everyone's always in a hurry here, and they're always late. It's a cultural thing.
I'll be back in the U.S. for three weeks and then I'm flying to Vietnam to teach in Bien Hoa, which is very close to Ho Chi Ming City. I'm looking forward to the new job and challenge (my new boss seems really cool, just like my boss here), but I'm sure I'll look back more than once and realize how good I had it in Peru.