on giving thanks

Last Thanksgiving I was in Kampala, Uganda, trying to hang on to the last days of my HNGR internship before Mother Africa whispered it was time to go home. If I knew then that before a year passed I would be in Viet Nam, I think I might have hid myself away somewhere deep in the African bush. But here I am in another capital city and on this Thanksgiving find myself grateful for many things:

1) Host Family. While our communication is limited to my stuttering Vietnamese, I always look forward to going home after a long day of work. My host mom has realized that I love orange juice, so when I got back late last night, there was a full cup of freshly-squeezed juice waiting for me. Host mom, I love you. Em Ngoc (younger sister, 15) is especially patient in helping me with language. Em Thuy (older sister, 19) is fluent in English and fun to talk with, but she's currently away at a training course.

2) Co-workers. Both at MCC and Action for the City, my co-workers have become good friends whom I can talk to about language, family, development work, and various cultural issues. The MCC reps, Lowell & Ruth, are open, hopitable, and encouraging. Brent, Rachel (fellow SALTers), and I have had many fun experiences together. :-)

3) Bamboo flute. I've been taking lessons every week on this traditional Vietnamese instrument and thoroughly enjoy both the lessons and the practicing. I have taken to practicing in what is the closest I could find to a conserv practice cubicle--the (toilet-less) bathroom next to my room. The acoustics are great and I can shut the door and just bury myself in the music. This may surprise some of you, but practicing here is a kind of therapy for me--it's the one time that I don't have to think about language, don't worry about offending people with some cultural faux pas, and actually have that rare, rare thing called Privacy. And I think the people who hear me enjoy that this foreigner is playing their traditional music.

4) Traffic. Biking to work and back home in crowded Hanoi traffic is one of the highlights of my day. I just love it when a motorbike cuts me off and gives me the opportunity to quicken my reflexes, or when a bus behind me blasts the horn for 10 seconds straight and lets me practice solfege using its pitch as the tonic, or when the motorbike in front of me puffs its exhaust straight into my face, or when my tire goes flat for the fourth time that day. But oh wait, this was supposed to be a post on giving thanks, not on sarcasm (well, the solfege part wasn't sarcasm, I really do that). So moving on...

5) Street life. Hanoi is one of those cities that is lived outside on the sidewalks and spills into the streets. While this makes bicycling through narrow alleys a maze between fruit stands, roasting beef, racks of scarves, and pigs feet taunting passerbys, it gives a certain dynamism that keeps life exciting. There's always something new to see! Just yesterday, I saw a motorbike carrying a cage with five large pigs stacked together. Not a bike I want to have an accident with...

6) You. Getting an email from a friend at home, hearing my cell phone ring in the middle of the night from those in far-flung time zones, or seeing a real letter in my box from my family totally makes my day. Thanks for keeping me connected.

I hope you also are finding much to give thanks for this day. Happy Thanksgiving!