Hello from Tra Vinh. My time here is coming to an end really soon. I only have about 3 weeks before returning home on June 22. It hasn't yet hit me that my year (well, nearly a year) in Asia is almost over. Everything has been good since my last post. I went to Nha Trang with other volunteers from all over Vietnam. Myself and three friends drove up in a car provided by another volunteer's Aunt. It was fun to road trip, but I happened to get sick that same morning we left. At first I thought I was just tired, but a few hours into the ride I felt really horrible and knew I was sick. I suffered for the 15 hour trip. Nha Trang was fun, but I was sick the whole time so I didn't even go to the beach. I was well enough to enjoy some time with the other volunteers though. When I got back to Saigon I went to a doctor and was diagnosed with tonsillitis. I almost never get sick in America, but in Vietnam I have been sick a lot. I think it has to do with pollution, dust, unclean food, etc.

Last weekend Anh-Thu and I were invited to our students' home in the countryside, in Cau Ngang District. I always love going to the countryside, especially that day because we had no power at home (there are power shortages in Vietnam now so we have outages a few times a week). The visit was as interesting and fun as I expected. Her home is one room where she lived with her parents and 5 other sisters. They are building a new, modern, home now which should be complete soon. In her home I saw a certificate on the wall from the government, and having an idea what it was for, I asked. My student said it was because her father was in the war and "they had a good result." Her father was Viet Cong during the war. He had the wounds to prove it too, from two separate grenade attacks. As is usual, there is no animosity or ill feelings to having Americans in his house. The past is the past, even her father joked that we used to be the enemy, but he was more than happy to entertain us at his home. On the way back to Tra Vinh, we drove the motorbikes through a storm. The rainy season is starting finally I think.

A few days ago, I went to the countryside again, to Long Hiep Village in Tra Cu District. This time we went for a community service project. A few months ago some students came to Anh-Thu and I and said they wanted to help their villages. Their plan was to do a mobile library. We would give 1000 books to 5 different schools (about 200 to each school). After a few months, the schools will rotate the books so that all the children have access to all 1000 books. It was a student project from the beginning, all Anh-Thu and I really did was find them money. We won a $500 award from our organization, VIA, and Anh-Thu received some money from relatives and friends. This past Thursday, we went to Long Hiep and gave the 5 boxes with books to the school teachers. The students at the schools are away for the summer, so we didn't get to see them unfortunately. We are hoping that the project can be expanded next year to more villages in the province, but we'll see.

My classes are slowly coming to an end. I am finally feeling really comfortable teaching and it's almost over. I like teaching though, and I am hoping to teach accounting next year. I will apply for some positions in the Fall in Ho Chi Minh City or Hanoi and hope for the best. As I said, I will be home June 22, and here is a rough plan for my summer:

Near July 4th - about July 22: Go to Colorado for Wes's wedding

July 30th - August 8th: Go fishing with my dad in Canada

Mid to late August: Head back to Vietnam and hopefully find a job teaching Accounting

See everyone soon hopefully.