We are well and truly into the rainy season which simply means instead of being hot and dry it is now hot and wet. Still averaging about 35 degrees during the day but unfortunately it also rains most days which has put a dampener on many activities such as my usual walking and running. Not that we have let it affect our social activities including a pool party in torrential rain. What a night it was...just as we were about to walk down to the pool the heavens ...

It is so long between my blog posts because I literally have nothing to talk about here. Life at the university and in this place follow a monotonous routine most days. Get up, go to uni, teach, plan, back to the apartments to go stir crazy till the next day when it all starts again.....I have never been surrounded by so many people and yet spend most of my time alone. We have just started the last quarter at Uni for this academic year so yet again 2 new classes...

Things are not good here at the moment. We have had a week of turmoil and demonstrations with reports there is to be a large demonstration/protest tomorrow. It all started with problems between Vietnam and China and the territorial disputes in the South China Sea, bought to a head by China putting an oil rig in the disputed area. This has led to a strong anti-China feeling within Vietnam. At least 20 factories have been vandalised or destroyed by demonstrators th...

Finished the last quarter of teaching with a wonderful picnic/BBQ in the park with a group of students. They arranged everything including picking us up from the apartment. One of the boys picked me up and I hopped on the back of his motorbike...think he was quietly chuffed to have a foreigner on his bike as he asked me to wave to everyone we passed and say hello....needless to say I was happy to oblige!!! One of the girls bought her guitar along so we talked and...

Well there is a saying that things happen in "3s" so after my eventful hospital visit I waited to see what would come next. No sooner had I recovered from that and I came down with a bad head cold.....then last weekend I went to the swimming pool and managed to get bitten by hundreds of ants!!! I now figure my 3 bad things have happened and am looking forward to some good things. Life goes on here in a rather monotonous way in the new city. With next to no facil...