But am I a better person?

It's been an a year since I last wrote in this blog. That, of course, means today is my birthday again. 23rd for those keeping score.

Uncertainty is an innate being, standing under an umbrella in the middle of a rainy street. Its eyes unassuming and constantly attentive. It cares for me although I've feared it before and have fled from its gaze. With age, I didn't learned about acknowledging the unknown or relishing in it. Instead, I try to be polite, ask how its day is doing, and hope to God it will let me stand under the umbrella until the storm lets up. Was it ever supposed to be so difficult, so abstract?

There's nothing profound to transcribe here.
It's a year in Vietnam.
It's my first year not as a student.
It's a year.

Let me tell you about it

Oreos Suck in Vietnam

Oreos are stale and bland for some reason.

There's not that much pizza around here either.

That’s about the extent of my agony thus far.

My birthday has come and I am 22 on the 22^nd.

Before that, I arrived in Long Xuyen and have since passed through a full four weeks.

For those concerned, my health is fine, the food is fine (read the cuisine section in the "continued" portion), I'm never going to find a local wife, the weather is what you may expect from the region, I don't need any money sent to me, the shoes aren't holding up to well, and work is working.

There have been a lot of things going through since arrival.

There was loneliness (on a first night sleeping alone after two months of sharing rooms).

There was delight (discovering my Ethernet cord reached “the can” in my room).

There was awe (as I passed the serenity of an endless emerald emanation of rice paddies).

There was disappointment (that followed the theft of my bicycle on a Saturday morning).

There was itchiness (when teaching judo to local boys at orphanage lead to me getting lice).

I would love to tell you all about this city, about this school, about these people that have embraced me, and the air conditioning machines that make me not sweaty.

If you want to see and know more, guide your way to the banner directly below.

The First

My name was once Mark Pham.

A few things have changed. I got into a few planes. I’ve developed non-committal arrangements with whatever I might be sleeping on, whether it be couch, floor, or bed. Now I am as I am in Vietnam, hoping to find something greater than myself.

My name is Phạm Bảo Thạch. I volunteer in Vietnam with the group Volunteers in Asia.

I will be a professor at An Giang University. I will be instructing first-year pedagogy teachers in English conversation and comprehension, and am definitely excited to be contributing to the development in this community.

I came for many reasons. My ambition is to end the child sex slave trade that runs through the Mekong Delta between Vietnam and Cambodia. The An Giang Province in Vietnam is one of the most frequented spots for the trafficking of Vietnamese people. If you wonder why I chose to work in Long Xuyen, a city you’ve never heard of, my “heart is there, not anywhere else,” as mother once conceded.
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In March, I was fortunate enough to receive a fellowship from the Ford Foundation to formulate a project to pursue this very issue. On my birthday, I will introduce my new initiative to end this travesty. I hope, as a gift, you will be my audience.

In this blog, I will inform you of my personal struggles along with the progress of the project. I hope you will enjoy my account, perhaps keep it marked or tagged somewhere good.