Getting everything ready to go

So, I thought I'd join the latest century and write a blog. It took me awhile, and I needed a good reason to do it. I didn't think most people would be interested in just the random drivel I have floating around my head put to paper, er um, put to digital, so I wasn't going to do it until I had a good reason. So, what's that good reason you wonder? Well I'm going to be staying in Vietnam for the summer. This first post will be a tad long since I'm going to attempt to catch everyone up to where we are today. Also, I tend to sometimes be long winded in my writing, I'll make my apologies for that now. Perhaps you'll just want to look at the pictures instead :-)

I wanted to get this started before I go to Vietnam, so that when I'm there I won't have to fuss with the minutia of making the blog, I can just type and publish.

How this came about is sort of interesting. A couple weeks ago I received an email sent out to many of the vision teachers in Florida. It said that a graduate from the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind was working at a school for the blind in Vietnam, and that they were interested in bringing over a couple Teachers of the Visually impaired for about 6 weeks in the summer. Its a volunteer position, but travel, food, and lodging would all be taken care of. I had not really considered even applying because frankly I'm a softie, and did not like the idea of leaving my lovely wife for 6 weeks. I mentioned it to her over dinner though, just to make conversation about the great opportunity for someone to see Vietnam. Melissa asked me if I had applied. I said, "No way, I'm not leaving you here for 6 weeks." She reminded me that working internationally, in not so wealthy countries, with people who are visually impaired has been something I've talked about since I was in school. She also mentioned that it was a pretty incredible opportunity, and I should at least apply. So I did, and what do you know? I got it.

Since then I've been pretty torn, both of us are mildly depressed. I really am excited about the opportunity to do this amazing experience, but it also makes me very aware of how very important Melissa is in my life, and how much I'll miss her. She's also been in and out on the tears, pretty much I think, feeling the same way I am about it all; wanting me to go, and yet being pretty bummed about it at the same time. So its been a little tough around here lately.

The communication from Vietnam has been much less than ideal. I don't know if this is due to the country's infrastructure, or the communication style of the person I'm working with, but it'll take 3 and 4 days to get a response at times, and then when I do, it rarely addresses all my questions. I have a lot of questions! As of Sunday night I was still pretty confused about details, and I sent Gabby (my contact in Vietnam) an email that basically said, "Look, in less than a month, you are wanting me to travel literally to the other side of the globe. If I don't get some solid information soon we may have to cancel this adventure." She's been great since then, and we've emailed multiple times a day for the past two days. I think from her perspective she's probably feeling like she's doing a ton of stuff for this trip, and really focusing on it, but from where I sit, I feel pretty out in the cold. She was also ill from a bad pastry last week. So anyway, that's getting better now that I put on my assertive hat.

Alright, some details about my upcoming adventure. The school for the blind is in Hue, Vietnam. If you click on the map, you'll see Hue right in the middle of the country in the very skinny piece. Its pretty close to the division between the old North and South of Vietnam. Its best known for many historic monuments and temples. I hope to get some good pictures of these that I can post here for you all to see. Hue is pronounced a bit like "whey" as in Whey protein. Vietnam itself, for those that aren't up on their current Vietnamese history is a communist country. Its northern neighbor is China, and has a lot of historic cultural influence from the Chinese, and was indeed, like much of this part of the world, once ruled by China, though according to Wikipedia this ended in the 10th century, so its been a little while. It is considered a pretty safe place to travel, and is a huge up and comer in the tourist department in the Asian region. Read here if you want to learn more, I know wikipedia isn't always the most reliable, but for information like this, its pretty good.

Apparently the most dangerous part of Vietnam today are the roads. I intend to get some photos of them, but the traffic there looks very, very bad. In, I believe it was the Lonely Planet guide book for Vietnam, its basically recommended that one avoid roads when at all possible. They even mentioned that sometimes you'll see bodies covered up on the side of the road where people just pulled them out of the way and covered them, so that traffic could resume. They do not have 911 there. Hue is not considered as bad as most of Vietnam, but its still not good. The ironic part of this is that I'll be expected to teach blind people to travel in this mess :-)

I'm not required to get any vaccinations but its been strongly recommended that I get a Hepatitis A vaccine. So I'll be doing that very soon. Its also recommended that I make a portable pharmacy to take with me, as western medicines are not the easiest to come by. I'm also going to be applying for my Visa. Its pretty guaranteed that I'll get it, I just have to go through the paperwork of it all. I'm going to Hue during its rainy season, and I've been told that its pretty rainy, as in daily, and lots of it. When one reads the books, the time I'm going is kind of the black out period for visiting Vietnam due to weather, so it should be a great time. My dad bought me some rain gear this past weekend, and I'm pretty certain I'll be using it, a lot, so thanks Dad! If its anything like Costa Rica, another country with lots of rain, the people don't stop what they're doing because of rain, if they did, they'd never accomplish anything. So, I'm pretty sure I'll be expected to work in the rain, and traveling as a blind person in the rain presents many additional problems. So we have the problem of not seeing so well, check. Traffic with no discernible rules, check. Oh and rain, which will dampen out our main alternative travel sense when our eyes aren't useful, check. Alright then, lets go traveling!

As of this morning, the tentative dates for my being in Vietnam are June 21st-August 1st. Melissa's birthday is August 3rd and its a personal priority that I'm home to celebrate that with her. Its going to be very hard on both of us being apart for so long, and I couldn't be more proud of her for supporting me through this process when she knows that with no fuss at all, if she asked, I'd stay. Some days I kinda wish she would ask. Its pretty much an emotional wash in terms of staying or going. I'm excited to go, but the prospect of leaving her, and home for that long, fairly balances the scale. After yesterday and today, it would appear that my going is a definite reality, though I'll be totally committed when I see the plane tickets.

I'll keep you all updated through this space, I don't know how good communication will be from there. I know they have internet, and hopefully we can all stay in touch through my blog, and you can stay updated as best as I can on the experience. It seems much more efficient since I probably won't have much time to individually email. So watch this page for more updates as time and this experience moves forward.