Hanoi

Hanoi is the largest city in Northern Vietnam. It is not a modern city. There are no modern office buildings or high rises. Hanoi is a city which is buzzing with activity - a place where agricultural tradition meets cosmopolitan city life. It's not unusual to see a cow walking the streets or a farmer harvesting rice on the outskirts of the city. It was the anniversary of Ho Chi Mihn's birth (founding father of communism in Vietnam) on the weekend I was in Hanoi. It was also voting day. The picture above shows a typical street in Hanoi. Observe the many flags decorating the street in observance of the holiday and the voting station on the right.

Water Puppets

While I was in Hanoi, I went to see the "water puppets." Water puppets are a traditional art form which was originated in Northern Vietnam. I was amazed by the performance! I've never seen anything quite like it. "Modern, water puppetry is performed in a pool of water with the water surface being the stage. The puppeteers stand behind a screen and control the puppets using long bamboo rods and string mechanism hidden beneath the water surface. The puppets are carved out of wood and often weigh up to 15 kg. A traditional Vietnamese orchestra provides background music accompaniment. Singers of Cheo (a form of opera) with origin in north Vietnam sing songs which tell the story being acted out by the puppets." The show consists of a series of skits based on rural themes and stories from the Red River Region (Northern Vietnam).

Centipede or Millipede?

What kind of arthropod is this? Hint: look at the number of legs on each body segment. This guy was about 10 inches long and about 2 centimeters wide. Don’t touch! This one bites.

A Dream to Teach

Viet is somewhat of an expert on identifying the butterflies of Tam Dao and is an excellent guide and host. He is from a small coastal village east of Hanoi on the Red River Delta. He grew up very poor, working on his family’s rice farm. Now, Viet is 26 years old and has been a teacher for five years. For the last two years he has taught in the city of Hanoi and for three years before that he taught in his home village of Dong Xuyen. He tells me he prefers to teach in his home village. It is his dream to return to his village and teach the children of Dong Xuyen as a career teacher. He feels deeply appreciated there, and why shouldn’t he?

First, there’s a shortage of good teachers in small villages throughout Vietnam. Most teachers prefer to teach in the cities. A good teacher is highly valued in these very poor villages where people can not afford to pay money to send their children to school elsewhere or hire tutors.
Second, the students are very respectful and polite. For example, there is a custom where younger people show older people respect by passing something, such as the salt at the dinner table, with two hands. When the older person takes the object they do it with only one hand to show that they accept the younger person’s gesture of respect. Also, when his students pass him in the street they fold there arms in front of their chest, bow, and greet him with a "good morning," "good afternoon," or a "good evening." Furthermore, the entire village pays respect to teachers on National Teachers’ Day by holding a festival which lasts the entire day. Viet says that the streets are filled with children running back and forth to the teachers’ houses to visit them and give them gifts.

And last, Viet is a great guy! He is very sociable and friendly. His students love him. He has received several emails, instant messages, and calls on his cell phone from his students since we’ve been here in Tam Dao. He is an inspired teacher, and his students trust his sincerity. They know he cares about them and wants them to succeed.

Viet wants to be a career teacher. He says there is nothing else he would rather do. Right now he is a "contract teacher." He signs a contract each year with no guarantee for employment next year. He is not paid during the summer and receives an equivalent of $30 per month. In order to remain a teacher and be able to support himself and a family he needs to become a "state officer teacher." An "officer teacher" is a teacher who works for the government. This is a highly respected position in Vietnamese society. Presently, at $300 dollars per year he can not afford to pay the $2,000 fee to state officials necessary to obtain a certificate to work for the government as an officer teacher. At his current salary he can’t even afford to save up for this fee. He says he has little hope of realizing his dream of being a teacher.

I can’t help but feel for Viet and his students. Viet is obviously an inspired and gifted teacher. It seems unfair that he can’t do what he was born to do. When he told me his story I kept asking myself what I could do to help him. There must be a way to help. I just know it. Do you have any ideas?

The Road Transect: Our Research Begins

(click on image to enlarge)

Today we began the process of collecting data on the butterflies of Tam Dao. I was amazed to learn that there are 360 species of butterflies here in the tropical mountain forest of Tam Dao. Do you know how many species live in the Western Massachusetts area? I don’t, but I suspect it’s not even close to 360. Could someone please find out for me and post it to my blog? I’m really curious I you do find out. I’d also like to know your hypothesis as the why there is a difference. What is different about the two habitats which accounts for the differences in the diversity of species?

As I was saying, today we began the process of collecting data on butterflies which reside on the "road transect," which is a designated area that runs along a road going up the mountain. This area is characterized by a road which is bordered by patches of forest, open spaces, and small farms.

Every time we saw a particular species on the list we made a mark to the right of the name on a chart. I had no idea what I was observing at first. I’m not familiar enough with the butterflies to make identifications. They rarely sit down on a leaf and let you gaze at them while you look them up in the field guide. We really need the expertise of our guides to make identifications. We’re just learning, and that’s what makes it so fun!

Thank You!

Thanks to all of my students for your thoughtful questions! I’m really enjoying the process of reading your comments and questions and sharing with you what I have learned so far. Also, it was great talking to you on the satelite phone today.

Rules of the Classroom

The sign shown above was posted in every classroom of Tam Dao Public School. In fact, it is in every classroom in Vietnam where teenagers are taught. They are the words of the former president, Ho Chi Minh. A translation is as follows:

1. Love the country, love the people.
2. Study hard, work hard.
3. Unite and follow the rules.
4. Keep the environment clean.
5. Be honest, brave, and modest.

A Visit to the Tam Dao Public School

Today we visited the local public school. Outside the school were signs which said, "clean," "beautiful," and "green." We got a chance to peek into a couple of the class rooms (see the picture above: standard size of all the classrooms). What do you think? Makes our classrooms look rather roomy in comparison. I believe that having my experience in Vietnam will help me appreciate the material blessings I often take for granted back in the United States. Vietnam is a very poor country, and people seem to manage from day to day without the modern conveniences I am used to having.
We sat down with the Vice Principal who poured each of us a cup of very strong green tea and told us all about the school. The school serves first to ninth graders. The elementary school students go to school all day, but the sixth through ninth graders only go to school in the morning. Now before you start thinking that the Tam Dao students have it easy, consider this! The older students don’t go to school in the afternoon because there are not enough teachers. In addition, when they get to tenth grade they have to move to another town and live there while they complete high school and they have to pay for it.
Teachers here don’t have it so easy either! Some of them travel so far that they have to live at the school. They aren’t paid very either. For instance, the music teacher makes the equivalent of $30 per month.
It was a great experience visiting this school and learning about the similarities and differences between Vietnamese and U.S. schools. For example, something they have in common with my students is that they are presently studying for a big "state exam." Good luck on the MCAS, guys!!!

The Dragon and the Fairy

There is a myth in this area of Vietnam that goes a little like this. There once lived a dragon and a fairy who had 100 children. There were fifty sons and fifty daughters. The sons went to the sea and the daughters went to the forest. Each daughter had a temple. The temple I visited today is believed to be one of these daughter temples.
In order to get to the temple we had to climb a large flight of stairs through a bamboo forest. Once we got to the top we were invited into the temple to join in the worship services. There were two temple rooms where many people were sitting cross-legged and praying. In one of the rooms there was a person completely covered in a red blanket. He had some books (probably some form of sacred text) on his head and he was swaying back and forth. I say "he" when actually I could not tell if the person was a "he" or a "she" since he or she was covered from head to toe in a blanket. The worshippers were swaying back and forth with the blanketed figure. A man was reading something out of a book and occasionally the worshippers would chant in response.
I have since learned that he/she is a member of a select group of people who locals believe can "talk to the dead." These select individuals meditate all day and go into a "trance" for two or three days. During the trance these "channelers" can talk to the ancestors and impart great wisdom to the members of the temple.
I felt a little out of place at this worship service, but the worshippers appeared to be very accepting of my presence or at least to tolerate my short visit. Later, I made the mistake of taking a picture of one of the shrines. Immediately after snapping the shot, I heard some women scolding me in Vietnamese. Whoops! I didn’t know one was not supposed to photograph the temple. You live and you learn. I’ll be sure to ask next time.

A Word about Cows

Remember the pet cows I mentioned yesterday? I ate one today. It was really good with rice.

A Word About Mosquitoes

I just saw my first mosquito. In this part of the country mosquitoes can carry diseases such as Dingue fever (related to malaria) and Japanese Encephalitus, which literally makes your brain explode. Lots of bug spray and the proper inoculations greatly reduce the risk of disease and render the little bugs nothing much more than annoying little pests that bite you and make you itch. Check out my bug netting! Keeps the critters out at night.

A Word about the Language

Hello "Xin chao (sin chow)
Goodbye "Tam Biet"
Thank you "Cam on" (kam urn)
I’m sorry "Xin loi" (sin lowey)


Writing Vietnamese using the latin or western alphabet (the letters we use) is a relatively recent practice. The Vietnamese always used Chinese characters to write until a westerner came to Vietnam, translated the language, and wrote out the vocabulary (phonetically) using the latin alphabet. Soon after he accomplished this, the new system was adopted and the Chinese characters were no longer used.

Be careful! Vietnamese is a tonal language. What that means is you must say words at a certain pitch (like musical notes) in order to have the meaning you intend. The same word at different pitches can mean different things.
Vietnamese expressions I like:
Something or someone special is called "noodles." Something you have to do or someone you see everyday is called "rice."

People in Vietnam eat rice every day and eat noodles infrequently or on special occasions. Thus, the expression mentioned above.
For example, school is "rice" and weekends are "noodles."

The Team

We’ve got a great team! There are five volunteers. Bruce and Susan are environmentalist from Colorado who have traveled from Costa Rica to Borneo, Tibet to China, and all over South East Asia. Rachel is a fourth grade teacher from Washington State. Beth is a 7th grade Science Teacher from North Carolina. There are three Vietnamese guides. Lien is a scientist from Hanoi who knows all about butterflies (he’s the one in the picture in the hand out I gave you). Inh (pronounced Ein like in Einstein) is a retired professor from Hanoi. Viet is Lien’s brother. He teaches English in Hanoi. He is my roommate and has acted as my friend and guide since I arrived. I’m really enjoying getting to know everyone. We all enjoy traveling and care deeply about the environment. Even though some of us our teachers, this week we are all students. I am having a great time learning. For the record, I have not once been caught without my pencil and notebook! One cool thing is that there are no detentions. Above is a picture of Viet and Beth in front of the local public school.

Rain, Rain Go Away, The Night the Lights Went out in Tam Dao, and Technical Difficulties

It rained today. Apparently, butterflies don’t like the rain. They hide and sleep which is not good for research purposes. Instead, we are going to visit a temple and local school. I’ll tell you about it in tomorrow’s blog.
The electricity went out last night. This happens frequently around here. There’s a possibility that I may not be able to blog on any given day due to electricity problems. Also, the internet is extremely slow! I will probably not be able to upload videos or extra pictures to the class website. Also, we are looking at live telephone conference for Tuesday and Friday. We just don’t have the bandwidth for a webcast. Oh well.

Boy or Girl Butterfly?

Believe it or not, you can tell the difference between a male or female butterfly in much the same way you would with a mammal. This is female Euploea mulciber. They can also be distinguished from the male by their wings, which are less colorful than the male (males have blue markings on their wings).

How to Hold a Butterfly

Once you catch the butterfly in the net you must take the butterfly our without harming it. In order to do this you must be careful not to grab the wings. In fact, you must gently trap the head in between your two fingers and hold on softly. I felt like I might squish the little thing, but he flew away when I released him. I must say, I expected it to fly off like some drunken sailor with squished head syndrome. Above is a picture of a Paranica sita.

How to Catch a Butterfly

The most important piece of gear is the butterfly net. It is made of a soft mesh netting so that butterfies will not be harmed when they go into the net. Catching the butterfly in the net entails a few simple steps. 1) Spot the butterfly 2) Chase the butterfly 3)Scoop the butterfly out of the air with the net in a back and forth motion. I caught my first Pieris canidia today!

How High is a Butterfly and a Bit About Global Warming

A couple of my students asked me before I left for Vietnam if I knew how elevation affected the butterflies. According to the prevailing theories about global warming which are based upon the systematic observation of mountain habitats, some species at certain elevations have been moving to higher elevations on an average of 20 feet per decade. This means that as temperatures rise, these organisms move to higher elevations where it is cooler. This change has a profound impact on all of the organisms that live in these habitats. In particular, the butterflies may be very sensitive to temperature and, consequently, move further up the mountain until they reach an elevation where the temperature is right for them. Lien has set up transects at 900 meters and 1400 meters. He wants to see if certain butterfly communities migrate in response to rising temperatures. He suspects this has already happened in the case of certain butterfly species which have disappeared from the area.


How to Spot a Butterfly

Spotting butterflies and identifying butterflies takes a certain amount of skill and experience. I’m sure you’ve seen butterflies fluttering around a field or through the woods, but have you tried to chase them down and catch them. Try it some time. Butterflies have compound eyes, which are very efficient at detecting motion, much more so than ours. In a sense, they see you coming before you do. In order to be effective researchers on this study I have to become very efficient at spotting butterflies and identifying them while they are flying. In order to do this I need to understand what I am looking for. For example, if I know what the behavior of certain butterfies are, such as if they fly high or low, I can tell the difference between a Appias albina (high flyer) and a Pieris canidia (low flyer) which are both white and about the same size. We also need to know about their size, shape, and color. In order to become more familiar with them we need to catch them. If we are able to bring a butterfly up close for a more in depth examination of its markings and colors we can better identify it while it is flying.

Our Job: To Play a Role in the "Scientific Process"

Apparently, our job is to observe and record the butterflies we see in 9 different transects located right around the village of Tam Dao. Transects are areas which have certain qualities which Lien is interested in studying. For example, there is a transect along the road, a transect in the forest, and transects at different elevations. Different species of butterflies thrive in each of these areas. For example, the "cabbage butterfly" (common name) thrives in open areas and fields and therefore can be found in abundance along the road.
The "junge queen" (common name) is a common butterfly which resides in the forest and is an "indicator species." Lien is most interested in studying the health of the forest and therefore, pays particular attention to forest species. He has designated four "forest health indicator species." These are species which are very sensitive to changes in the environment, particularly, changes caused by human actions (which include global warming, of course). We looked at a graph before I left for Vietnam. Remember? The graph showed four different species of butterfly populations from 2002 to 2005. Do you remember what happened to those populations (increase or decrease)? In 2005 the populations changed rather dramatically. What do you think happened? Look at the handouts I gave you about the "classroom case study." I have a cool prize from Vietnam for the student who can guess it!

Training Day

We started our first day of classes today. Of course, Lien, being the resident expert on butterflies, was our teacher. We got out our notebooks and pencils. I might add that everyone was prepared for class. Lien has created a map of the Tam Dao tropical mountain forest. I discussed the pink sections at the borders of the park in my blog yesterday (pink indicates no forest present).

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner

They serve us breakfast, lunch, and dinner at the hotel. These women are excellent chefs. The food is interesting and tastey. They serve a lot of fresh, green vegetables. This is a carp (river fish). It was delicious.

My Roomate

This is the spider that lives under my bathtub. I put a pack of kleenex next to it for scale. He is possibly the largest, harriest spider I've ever seen.

Humble Living

At first I thought this building was a shed of some sort. When I got closer I realized it was this man's home. He appeared to be a very skilled farmer. He had a large farm of a crop called choyote (related to the cucumber) behind his house.

Arthropods I've Met

We found this moth in our hotel. He was quite large. My hand can act as a scale for the size of this moth. Do you remember the difference between moths and butterflies? Can you see how his wing is torn? He died the next day.

My First Day in Vietnam

First Impressions
Vietnam is a very poor country. In fact, Vietnam is the third poorest country in the world. Most of the Vietnamese people I’ve seen are hard-working and polite. They often live in places we would deem uninhabitable. The road we took to Tam Dao was an unpaved dirt road and was very bumpy! The children I saw along the way were extremely hard working. They were either harvesting crops (rice and corn are staple crops) or walking there pet cows and water buffaloes with make-shift leashes made out of rope. My friend Viet told me that they eventually eat these cows. He told me that the Vietnamese eat everything. He asked me if I would like to try some dog, and I told him I’d think about it. While the cows and buffaloes are tended to very conscientiously, the dogs roam freely (maybe they should be running). I haven’t seen very many cars – mainly mopeds and motor bikes. The Vietnamese are an agricultural people. Every where I looked there was some type of farming being done.



Money
I exchanged my dollars for Vietnamese currency (called "dong") at the airport bank. I’m a millionaire!!!! The exchange rate is 16,040 dong to the dollar. I received 2,400,000 dong. You do the math. How many dollars did I exchange?



Accommodations
The hotel is proving to be very hospitable. My room has a fantastic view of one of the mountain peaks and the valley below. I have my own bathroom with hot water which I share with an extremely large, hairy spider. We get breakfast, lunch, and dinner served to us.
Tam Dao
The village of Tam Dao is located in a beautiful place on the top of a mountain overlooking the valley below - a real "Shangri-La" with a waterfall just below the village. Our lead scientist, Lien, pointed out to us that there has been no planning in the development of this village. If you look at the picture above you may notice that it lacks aesthetic appeal (doesn’t look so pretty). Lien seems to think that people are only interested in making money and therefore put up hotel after hotel without considering how it affects the appearance or health of the landscape.



Forest
At my elevation I can see mainly deciduous trees (trees that lose their leaves in the fall). At the bottom of the mountain are some non-indigenous (not native to the area) pine trees which were planted by the French about 100 years ago. Non-indigenous trees are the least of Tam Dao’s problems. On the north side of the park the locals engage in slash and burn agriculture (burning down trees in order to cultivate the land for crops such as green tea). Therefore, the forest around the borders of the park (regions in pink), which are the regions closest to the largest populations of people, lack forest habitat.

Animals
Apparently, there were tigers living in this area about 30-40 years ago. Hunters killed them for what were believed to be their "medicinal qualities" (many Vietnamese believed that different parts of the tiger’s body cured certain ailments). Much like they do with bears and monkeys today, they would boil the tiger meat for three days and then harvest the internal organs which were believed to have the medicinal uses. There are primates (monkeys) in the forest, but they live no where near the inhabited areas like Tam Dao. They are very scared of people because people shoot them. Sounds reasonable.



The Arthropods I’ve Met
I held a giant moth we found in the hotel, met the enormous, hairy spider that lives under my bathtub, and found the coolest little stick bug (looked just like a little bamboo stick) on the first day. The tropical mountain habitat has an extremely diverse insect population. Apparently, these are among the few organisms which haven’t been scared away by the locals here in Tam Dao. No large mammals survive in this area. In fact, I haven’t seen a wild mammal yet (not even a squirrel).

Night Life
I went out last night to the internet café to update the blog and send some emails. They use dial up, which is extremely slow since there are several users logged on at once. As I walked through the village I could hear the sounds of bad karaoke singing, night clubs with neon lights all to the backdrop of screaming chickens being slaughtered for tomorrow’s lunch.



Weather
It is rather windy and cool in the morning and evening. I haven’t seen a single mosquito so we keep the windows open at night. There was a thunderstorm last night, but we have had exceptional weather since we got here.

A Word or Two About Butterflies
We started our training today. I’m learning a lot about butterflies. One important thing I learned was that butterflies that emerge from their chrysalis on the ground do not have sufficient room to stretch out their wings in order to push the merconium (blood-like substance) into their wings. Consequently, their wings become permanently damaged. Sorry guys. They will live and potentially lay eggs in the habitat but will not be able to fend for themselves in the wild. We live and we learn.

I'm in Vietman!

From Hartford to Hanoi and it only took me 36 hours! I only have a few minutes to post this first blog and so it will be short and sweet. I don't have a picture to go with it either. My new friend, Viet, brought me down to the internet cafe and I'm grateful to be able to share a little of my trip with you. Vietnam is remarkable - unlike any place I've every been. On the bus ride to Tam Dao I saw how the Vietnamese live. It's a poor farming culture. Children are either out in the fields harvesting the crops or walking their water buffaloes. I hope to be able to send you pictures but the internet connection is as slow as molasses uphill! It also looks doubtful that I will be able to conduct a live webcast with you. We will probably have to resort to a live phone conference via satelite phone.

Tomorrow morning we begin our training and in the afternoon we will be in the woods observing wildlife. I'm very excited!

By the way, the food is superb and you have to pace yourself while you're eating it because it keeps coming and coming and coming...

Talk to you soon.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

I'm sitting here at the Bradley Airport at gate 9 waiting for Delta flight 6033 and I am really psyched about the journey ahead! I am so grateful to all of the help and support I've received in the last 2 months. My 7th graders sent me off today with a little breakfast "bon voyage" party (the cinnamon rolls were fabulous). I want to take this opportunity to thank all of my family and friends and the staff, faculty, and students of White Brook Middle School for your encouragement, support, and financial assistance. You are all awsome!

I look forward to sharing my experience with all of you and can't wait to hear from you. Oops! Looks like my plane is boarding. I'll keep you posted.

Check out student field questions.

Field Questions

I intend on going to Vietnam with some questions from my students. I will post all student questions and my answers at field questions. To see the questions my students sent me to Vietnam with, click on the "comments" button below.

To my students: Thank you for your awsome questions!!!

Bon Voyage!

On Thursday afternoon I will begin the first leg of a 30 hour trip to Hanoi, Vietnam. I will be flying Singapore Airlines. Singapore Airlines has a reputation of being a very comfortable and well-run airline. I look forward to tastey meals, frequent snacks and beverages, and first-run movies. Also, I anticipate catching up on my reading.

Below is my itinerary. I wrote it in Eastern Standard Time so you could follow my flight more easily.

Airport Arrival Departure

Hartford depart at 2:55 pm on Thurs. 5/10
JFK/NYC arrive at 4:10 pm on Thurs. 5/10 and depart at 9:20 pm on Thurs. 5/10
Frankfurt, Germany arrive at 4:30 am on Fri. 5/11 and depart at 5:30 am on Fri. 5/11
Singapore arrive at 4:30 pm on Fri. 5/11 and depart at 11:05 pm on Fri. 5/11
Hanoi, Vietnam arrive at 1:35 am on Sat. 5/12

How to Use This Blog

While I'm in Vietnam you will be able to keep in touch with me through this blog site. Just press the "comments button" on this post and find out how it works.

Introduction

Earlier this year, I applied to the Earthwatch Institute for a fellowship (scholarship for educators) to participate as a volunteer on one of their scientific field studies. I was totally psyched when Earthwatch called me and told me that in May I would be conducting actual scientific research on butterflies and catapillars in Vietnam! Even better, I would be able to share my experience with my students through blogs and live webcasts.

I am excited to be continuing my investigation of Asia. I had a great time visiting China earlier this year, and loved sharing my experiences with my students! Both my 7th and 8th graders have studied Vietnam this year. In addition, my 7th graders will be studying ecology and observing the life cycle of butterflies in our classroom. The culture and natural environment of Vietnam is so interesting, and I'm hoping to bring a little of this back to my students. Please check out the website Vietnamese Customs and Habits to find out more!