Still trying to get caught up

Where to start?   

The incredible early childhood program I have been part of developing?  2020-2021 school year employment plans?  Post October-break activities?  Christmas in Vancouver?  Tet break in Myanmar? The corona virus battle going on in Ho Chi Minh City?  Post cataract surgery?  Hmm.  Maybe by writing all that, it commits me to at least writing about all those topics while I’m on our early Spring break (due to corona virus). 

Lat year, on 6 May, my school principal met with the Pre-K team and asked how we felt about adding 3-year old students to our classrooms for the school year 2019-2020.  As early childhood educators, it was a flurry of charts, diagrams, spreadsheets, and pro and con lists.  On 9 May, we met with the principal to talk about our thoughts and ideas.  He started the meeting by giving us a mini-lecture on the grief process.  Yes, grieving the loss of what we thought was going to be the next school year.

It was, however, an amazing process as we designed what I now know is a continuous provision program.  Walls were taken out of the classrooms so that children can circulate, at will, through all areas.  Each area is set up around a particular theme with a specific name – the Living Room, the Studio, the Laboratory, the Neighborhood, the Bistro and creative landscaping has brought us our own Outside play area.  Students are allowed to choose where to go and what to do (even outside).  Inquiry learning at its finest.  I received my teaching degree in 1981 and this was the first year of teaching that I felt I was actually able to present an environment that was best for young children and their learning.  What a high to start a school year on!

Something has happened to contract planning and international schools in the 16 years I’ve been overseas.  “Back in ‘05” I had to tell my employer by 30 January if I wanted to return the following school year.  It was great having essentially 18 months to ponder whether I wanted to commit to working another school year at that placement.  Imagine my surprise when during Orientation Week this year my principal asked me at the welcome back dinner if I would make an appointment to talk to him about my future plans.  I hadn’t even seen any students yet.  I had to make a commitment by 4 October, so he wanted to start talking in August.

I’ll cut to the chase.  After running the numbers, retirement seemed like a viable option.  A lovely alternative given the frustrations with class size/ratio, the seemingly increasing social media requirements, and the growing age gap with colleagues.  

Ecuador … here we come!

Cambodia

My blog writing continues to get delayed … even when friends and relatives gently remind me I haven’t made a post since September.  Life is what happens when we’re busy making other plans (not an original thought, but I just learned, courtesy of the internet, John Lennon was not the first to write such an idea). 

  

October break was spent in Cambodia.  Like most of my Southeast Asian adventures, it was moving, emotional and an indication that I am ever so grateful for all that I have experienced.

I took a bus from Saigon to Phnom Penh.  It was a really comfortable bus with reclining seats and only 3 seats per row, talk about accommodating Western hips!  I was in PP long enough to change to a different bus station and proceed to Battambang.  This was the pre-determined destination so I could take a boat up river/across the lake to Siem Reap.  It also provided a day to adjust to the poverty of Cambodia (a land-locked country that uses the U.S. dollar as their main currency), 

the spaghetti bowl of power lines,

the various means of transport, 

  

 

 

the essence of what it means to be a truly developing country,

(textile industry workers going home from a long day's work)

the shrines (big and small),

the presence of non-governmental organizations, 

and the innovative means of existence.

 

The trip up the Sangker River took me just outside Siem Reap, home of Angkor Wat.  

 

Started as a Hindu temple complex for the Khmer Empire, Angkor Wat is the largest religious monument in the world, dating from the 12^th century.  With a rented bicycle, I rode to the specific temples I wanted to see.

  

As I stood there, marveling at the architecture, 

the incredible length of the bas-reliefs,

the enormous trees growing in, around and through parts of these buildings,

I slowed my breathing to make sure I absorbed as much of the experience as I could.  I’ve seen A LOT of incredible things in my life … is it possible I have become jaded?  I felt like I was casually checking this off some list rather than recognizing the cultural gift this is to humanity.  It was a time to stand, look, listen, touch, feel, breathe.  

From Siem Reap, the travels continued in a mini-van across the country to Kratie, 

 (15 seats occupied by 19 people)

a town nestled in one of the many crooks of the Mekong River, but this one is close to an area of the river where a pod of the endangered Irawaddy dolphins live.  The World Wildlife Fund works with people in the area to protect the dolphins while allowing the community to benefit from the economic presence of tourists.  Given the ease of using Booking.com and TripAdvisor.com, I suspect it hasn’t taken long for the community to see the immediate benefits.   

Yes, I floated down the Mekong in a kayak, with a guide.   

 

Yes, I managed to float/hover and watch these dolphins surface.  Yes, I listened to their clicks as they communicated with each other, probably about us.  Yet another life moment that prompts me to say to myself, “I am so lucky.”

It was a bus ride day back to Phnom Penh, connecting to a bus back to Saigon and home to my own bed.  At times, I feel guilty for not visiting a museum about The Killing Fields, the genocide of Cambodia; or the museum that educates one about the statistics of all the unexploded bombs the U.S. government left behind.   

Sometimes, I like to think about the good in the world, rather than the … less good.

And then there was the anniversary ....

Another big event of the summer was our 30th wedding anniversary in July.  We managed to be in Vancouver that weekend with our two children and our daughter-in-law.  It was a lovely time with some old traditions, some new traditions, and some wonderful laughs.

There was the traditional bike ride.

We rode around the outside of Vancouver's glorious Stanley Park.

And yes, those fruit shirts are from Vietnam where tourists seem to buy them in order to remember their experience.  I just liked their brightness and wanted a family photo taken with them.  We received numerous compliments and looks of envy (or so I like to think) from similarly aged people.  There was another family out riding bikes with their "family t-shirts" as well.  Ours were definitely more eye-catching!

S2 and I headed back to Vietnam with one-day to grocery shop and recover from jet lag prior to reporting to work on 31 July.  And we're well into the new school year.  In fact, this week is the end of the first quarter.  Next week will find us on October break in Cambodia. 

A look at Cuenca and the surrounding area

Cuenca - population figures provided ranged from 400,000 to 600,000

 

Some reports indicate there as many as 12,000 retired expats living in Cuenca.  Indeed there is an amazing network of non-Ecuadorians calling this lovely city (altitude 8,370 feet above sea leve and 2 degrees south of the equator) home.  I believe there is good reason to consider retiring here.

First, the climate is lovely.  I was able to wear socks (!) and jeans the whole time.  You may laugh, but when it is something that is remarkably uncomfortable where I live in Vietnam, getting to do such things take on a new meaning in such a climate.  The apartment we stayed in had neither heating or air conditioning, because it doesn't need it - ever - at all.  It certainly helped me feel better about my carbon footprint!

Next, the flora and fauna was delightful.  Who wouldn't love fuchsia year round?

 

Or gigantic hummingbirds?

And what about fresh squeezed orange juice, right from the vending machine?

 

 There some really great deals on food as well.

Sure it was $1 for a SLICE of pizza - but still!  And yes, the official currency of Ecuador is the U.S. dollar.  Do you ever wonder why there are so few Sacajawea or Susan B. Anthony dollar coins in circulation in the U.S.?  Because they are all in Ecuador.  THEY have grasped the ease and significance of getting rid of the one dollar bill and using a coin for that value (like the Canadians).  

So here is $20 worth of food that we bought at a traditional market.

Just to clarify ... yes that is $1 worth of avocados, $1 worth of bananas and the $1 worth of peas were already shelled.

As is usual, the markets were so colorful and interesting.

 

A little chocolate perhaps?

Museums were free.  We went to a free symphony concert every week we were there.  The jazz cafe had a cover charge, but the music was great.  Culturally, there was plenty to do.

We went to the opening of an interactive fireworks display museum.

 

The "Panama Hat" industry has some great museums/displays.

Other fun markets:

But one of my favorites ... a restaurant that ONLY SERVES nachos.  

All in all, a great fact-finding mission.  And yes, we are seriously considering it as a retirement destination.  Health care is affordable as well as lives up to the standards of the developed world. Health insurance is $120 per month for a couple AND covers pre-existing conditions with no deductible.  Retirees (and their money) are welcome, no matter what country one comes from.  There are a number of incentives for  senior citizens (discounts on utilities, bus and plane tickets, as well as taxes).  And ... it is only a two-hour time difference from the kids, one-hour time difference from my parents, which would make jet lag nothing more than a blurry memory.  Stay tuned for further developments.