On the Commute

Last night I had a sleep over with my most favorite people under 3 feet tall. The Brown's are the family I taught with in Guatemala and who so graciously offered me the opportunity to teach with them in Vietnam as well. They have two little girls, ages 2 and 4, who just brighten my world. We go swimming, paint our nails, celebrate the birthdays of various Barbies, go for walks, read stories, and many other imaginative activities. I am so impressed with the intelligence of these two and wonder what percentage of it comes from their educator parents and international upbringing. One daughter, I'll call her Kay, was born in China. The other one, May, was born in Guatemala. They have also lived in Hungary and Vietnam. Pretty much a new country for every year of life.

I believe the amount of wisdom that is packed into those tiny heads is largely because their parents spend quality time talking with them, reading to them, and making note of their surroundings. Today in the taxi ride to school, we played a game of Eye Spy. Except, Vietnam style. Here is a list of things we were looking for:

• 20 ladies in pointy-hats
• 4 fruit vendors
• 2 men without shirts
• a pig with no head
• a baby sandwiched between it's parents on a motorbike
• a family of 4 or more on one motorbike

Believe it or not, we saw all of those things except for 2 men without shirts (it's apparently the "cold" season in Vietnam, meaning temperatures dip as low as 70*F, 21*C) in our 15 minute ride. The best part of it all is that its the little ones who spark up the game and yell out with enthusiasm "CHECK!" every time we spot something from the list. What an interesting life these girls are having. I thought my childhood taught me a lot from my constant moving and that was just within the United States. These girls are going to know that much more about the world because not only are they seeing it, they are living it.

This taxi ride has reminded me to be more aware of whats happening around me. Since I normally ride my bicycle to school, I focus more on not getting run over than on the hilarity I am constantly surrounded by. I think tomorrow, I'll leave 10 minutes earlier and take my time riding to school. I would love to be able to post some pictures of what it looks like in the streets in the day-to-day of Saigon, but right now I'm moving to fast. I'll share what I find with you soon, perhaps when the internet comes back on at my house :)

Cheers!