It's hard to believe that a full two years has past since I last posted in this blog. My last post was just a couple of weeks before I was accepted to graduate school. Ever since then nearly all my extracurricular energies and even creative output like poetry have been devoted to this ambition. When your love poems are about statistical distributions, then you know you're ingrained in your science.
When I finalized my plans to go to Islamabad, Pakistan for a month for a health communication project as part of a global health grant I received as a graduate student, I figured I would dust off the 'ol "Discovering A Dream" blog. I started this blog in the fall of 2008 when I set out to teach English for a year in Hanoi, Vietnam. This is (almost) my longest time abroad since then (minus a 5-week South American backpacking adventure two summers ago). Embarking on this new project in Pakistan made me reflect on my past significant international endeavors.
Reflecting back on my past trips made me laugh:
....at what an inexperienced and innocent traveler I was...
"My first steps. Walking through five airports in 24 hours. Detroit. Chicago. Los Angeles. Taipei. Hanoi. All the time praying that my overweight suitcase will make all my connecting flights while trudging through airport security lugging a briefcase, fleece coat, and my overstuffed backpack dangling a pair of tennis shoes, umbrella, bike helmet, water bottle, and a portable backpack. Yes, I agree with the flight attendant, all I am missing is a tent."
...at how much communication technologies change....
"Bonjour! Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes of bon voyage! and support as I Frenchify my life. Here is some essential contact information:
Email: ebaughma@umich.edu AIM Screenname: peachesb12"
...at embarrassing cultural mishaps....
"Today I unknowingly wrote the Vietnamese equivalent of "pussy" on the board. My students roared with laughter."
Reflecting also made me cry:
....when reading about some touching memories that I had forgotten...
Teaching my Vietnamese friend how to swim on our trip to Da Nang.
"I had brought along an extra bathing suit for Van as she did not own one. She had only been to the beach once before, two years ago. This time we were at Lang Co Beach, which had been voted best beach 2009 in Vietnam. It's no doubt as to why. A stretch of beach alcove between mountains, white sand and gentle waves. The shore still unspoiled by tourism.
'Emily, can you teach me to swim? Emily, I want to swim in one day, is it true?' Standing thigh deep in waves I racked my brain for a beginning point. I showed her how to tread water with her arms to keep aloaft in the water and guided her through an elementary freestyle stroke. Like a 7-year-old learning to ride a bike without training wheels, I guided her through the salty water, then periodically let her go."
Remembering my Vietnamese dan bau instrument lessons and how beautifully the blind student played.
"For my first lesson I arrive early and walk in the small practice room where a young Vietnamese boy delicately plucks the string. He wears dark glasses. After his lesson is over and he exits the room, I clarify with my teacher Mr. Binh. Not knowing the Vietnamese word for blind person, I try, 'Anh ay la nguoi khong xem?' He is a person who can't see? 'Yes', Mr. Binh says."
The moment when I was able to locate my distant Polish relatives in a small village outside Krakow.
"I sat at the kitchen table with the woman’s elderly mother, who had a striking resemblance to my own Polish grandmother. After graciously accepting some tea, I sat in silence and witnessed the woman make phone calls in Polish wondering whom she was speaking with and what they were discussing. Nearly an hour later, she looked at me with a huge grin. She now had two phones in her hand, and was having two simultaneous conversations. She was talking in Polish and handed me one of the receivers. I heard a voice say in English, “Hello, I am Maria’s son. My mother has told me that she has found your relatives. Write down your phone number and she will have them contact you with the help of a translator.” I was ecstatic."
Global Health
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| View of Margala Hills, the scenic backdrop of Islamabad |
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