And That’s Why I Blog for America
Back in my Teach for America days I was fat with self-righteousness, certain that my life was one With Meaning because TFA told me so. I was the chosen elite; smart enough, brave enough, good enough to save America’s education system!
Now, I don’t really mean to diss TFA. It’s a great organization. It means well and it gets results. But it’s even better at marketing than education. It convinces 22-year-olds, otherwise set to become Contiki tour guides, that they have a greater purpose. I’m thankful for their influence.
But now that the un-glamorous glamor of working in America’s worst performing school district has long past, and I am a sell-out, rich-kid teacher at a private international school, I am more cynical.
A Diverse Reminder
Southeast Asia continues to splatter Awesome and Weird onto its diverse, fantastic canvas.
Recently in Chiang Mai, Thailand JD and I marveled at ancient temples whilst sidestepping lady boy lookers. We ate delicious pad Thai with a dessert of tarantula from a street stall next to McDonald’s. We went whitewater kayaking through proper rapids, and quickly paddled out of the way of elephants bathing in the river. They waved goodbye to us with their trunks when we moved on. In the wake of the beloved king’s death, there was no alcohol served, except sangria and margaritas at Mexican restaurants. In Bangkok, the millions of mourners who flooded in from across the country were met with stands of free food, free drinks and free tea to anyone who wanted it in the spirit of the king’s generosity. As we learned, we were also welcome to partake. We bypassed the magnificent paintings of aspiring Thai artists and, instead, bought beetle wing earrings as souvenirs. We tuk-tuked through alleyways of the Sweet, the Strange and the Sublime.
How the East Was Won
Or rather how the East won me over – East as in Eastern Europe. After spending most of my American life pining to be exotically French or Italian or even British and being obsessed with all things Western European, I have come to admire Europe’s other half. My trip with my mom to Hungary, Czech Republic, Croatia and Italy (just couldn’t resist!) transformed Eastern Europe from intriguing to enchanting.
This is Croatia
And it’s wonderful.
The Glitz, Glam and Grit of Budapest
Budapest startled me. The fine beauty I associated with Western Europe interlaced with the darkness of far and recent past so perfectly that I was sure I was in a storybook. Here the opulent Parliament building sits just in front of walls still suffering from Soviet bullet wounds. The Jewish Quarter hosts one of the world’s largest – and most beautiful – synagogues in between lots that have been abandoned since most of the Jews there were deported in the last months of World War II. From the Danube River you gaze at a fairytale castle just next to the statue made to commemorate that the people wanted no more war. Budapest quickly became one of my favorite places.
How I Love Thee, Eastern Europe
This is why.
What Comes Next?
Arriving in a developing country like Vietnam can be difficult. It’s messy, loud; jazz with no rhythm and a coked up bass player. Street food vendors have rats a-waiting in the wings. Three-story houses that you could only afford here are subject to weekly power cuts and water shortages that reduce them to stifling cinder block cells. Local friendliness is more intrusive than calming.
But four years on those nuisances fade to background noise. What emerges in their absence is the fun of being here. Even if initial intrigue and cultural fascination wane, homey comforts arrive in a place you never thought you could call home.
Honeymoon of Nine Children
Most couples are surprised to get one honeymoon baby. We had an average of nine.
The idea of revisiting a place where we’ve already been is not our style. The more you travel, the longer the list grows of places to visit. No matter how many places you can check off, the list never gets shorter. So it was our highest compliment to return to the Philippines for our honeymoon. After becoming engaged in the Philippines last year there was a sentimental component, but really we went back because it’s so fricking cool.
Island of No Natives
It’s not often you find a country that no one is from; where the only ones indigenous are the plants. However in Mauritius the equal non-nativeness of the island may be part of the reason the place works so well. Off the coast of Africa, a continent plagued by the lasting effects of different peoples stepping on each other throughout time, Mauritius sits as an appealing alternative; a more harmonious way different cultures can share a space.
What da What in Da Lat
Where was Rumpelstiltskin? Where were Hansel and Gretel? All I could find were Ha and Hang and Hung, all Nguyens. Something didn’t match.
In Da Lat everything you think you know about Vietnam is wrong. There are pine trees instead of palm. There are hills instead of beaches. People grow flowers instead of rice. And it’s cold. Actually cold. Ok, more like cool but definitely not brow-dripping hot like the rest of the country. Da Lat makes you stop and wonder, “What da what is going on?”
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