i think i'm turning vietnamese, i think i'm turning vietnamese, i really think so...

I've officially made it to summer camp!  It's not at all like I expected, especially that part about the lizard in my tent.  I believe I was mis-informed about the potential for lizard tent roommates, but I'll have to check my contract.  I think there's a bat flapping around over my head as we speak, but luckily I've been up-to-date on my rabies shots since 2006 (thank you vanishing-possum-in-the-night).

I really like Ho Chi Minh City and am glad I'll get a few more weekends there in between camp sessions.  That place is hopping every night of the week - there always seems to be people everywhere just hanging out on their scooters, staring at everyone else.   I've had a few near run-ins with scooters/bikes, but it's only because there is so much to see so I just walk around staring at everything but I'm learning to be better about walking straight and pretending that everything around me isn't fascinating.  Like this guy selling puppies on the back of his scooter.

So I left my lovely hotel on Monday and we drove about 2 hours outside Ho Chi Minh City (north maybe?) to a place called Gang Diehn - it's sort of like a really nice nature park that has tourists and allows the organization I'm working with to host our camp programs here.   We almost didn't make it out of the city on time due to a run-in I had with security at the grocery store that morning - seems to me they wanted to do a lot more than a "price check."  I think you know what I mean.

So I'm here at camp and it's really beautiful and we have settled in to make this place our own for the next month.  The college-aged (and up) staff we are training have arrived and are so excited to be here- which makes it easier to be happy and excited living in a tent (with a fan and electricity, strangely enough) in this 95 degree heat and humidity.  To any fellow face-sweaters out there, you can imagine the horribleness.  But again, this should be a piece of cake compared to what awaits me in Cambodia, so I'm just happy to be here around good people.  They don't all understand what I'm talking about, in fact, some of them literally come up to my face and point and giggle at me b/c they don't speak english - but then they hug me and it makes my day.  And they don't mind when I point back at them and laugh too.  Friends.

There is so much more to write about but I only just now located the internet and it's 1:30am and I have to be up at 6am.  But I think the roosters will wake me up at 5:30 anyway like they did yesterday.  Plus that bat flying overhead just buzzed me.  It's at least a 2-pounder.
Where am I again?

Goodnight!