My last post seems to have been a foresight into what had happened to me on Thursday. Yes, I got in my first motorbike "accident". Nothing too serious, I was sitting sideways on the back of a bike and a guy came by with a giant wooden dresser lashed to his motorbike. Needless to say, the dresser got a bit too close and clocked me on both my knees! It wouldn't have been that bad if I got hit anywhere else, but since I was hit directly on my kneecaps, any bending of my legs resulted in some pain. I didn't go to school the next day with the intention of giving my knees a rest; I wanted the bruising to go down as soon as possible so I would be all set and ready for CAMA on Saturday night! Along with Saturday being the biggest music festival in Hanoi, it was the last night that the Connecticut College SATA group was in Vietnam. The weather was perfect (if not a little too hot...) so we spent the afternoon at a pool at Thang Loi Hotel, which is one of the first luxury hotels opened in Hanoi.
It is overlooking West Lake and is absolutely beautiful. After leaving the pool sans-sunburn (this was quite the feat) we all got ready to go to the music festival. After having some seafood noodles down the street from my house, a couple girls and myself arrived at CAMA around 7. The first band was a Japanese rock band featuring a very impressive lead female vocalist who also played guitar. The group did a great job, but the real show-stopper of the evening was Dengue Fever. Based in LA but featuring a Cambodian woman as their singer, the music could best be described as "groovy ethnic".
Despite the 90 degree weather, I still danced like crazy, and by the time the set was over, everyone looked like they had just gotten out of a shower, fully clothed. After Dengue Fever finished their set, we ran into the drummer and bassist on the patio, and chatted with them a bit about their music style, dance moves, etc. Their music has been featured on the 'Weeds' soundtrack, so any fans of the show would recognize their stuff. If anyone is interested, "One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula" is their most famous song, go check it out if you have some free time! The festival was absolutely amazing, with a separate tent dedicated solely to DJs, so the dancing went on well into the night.
I've taken it pretty easy on Sunday, recuperating from the CAMA extravaganza, and preparing myself for teaching swimming tomorrow morning at 8am. Apparently along with the PE teacher, and teacher aide, the expat teacher is required to swim with the students. I'm a little wary about showing up in a bikini around twenty 9 yr olds so I'm just going to wear a t-shirt in the water in a last ditch effort to maintain a modest appearance. I'll be letting you know how that goes....
It is overlooking West Lake and is absolutely beautiful. After leaving the pool sans-sunburn (this was quite the feat) we all got ready to go to the music festival. After having some seafood noodles down the street from my house, a couple girls and myself arrived at CAMA around 7. The first band was a Japanese rock band featuring a very impressive lead female vocalist who also played guitar. The group did a great job, but the real show-stopper of the evening was Dengue Fever. Based in LA but featuring a Cambodian woman as their singer, the music could best be described as "groovy ethnic". 
Despite the 90 degree weather, I still danced like crazy, and by the time the set was over, everyone looked like they had just gotten out of a shower, fully clothed. After Dengue Fever finished their set, we ran into the drummer and bassist on the patio, and chatted with them a bit about their music style, dance moves, etc. Their music has been featured on the 'Weeds' soundtrack, so any fans of the show would recognize their stuff. If anyone is interested, "One Thousand Tears of a Tarantula" is their most famous song, go check it out if you have some free time! The festival was absolutely amazing, with a separate tent dedicated solely to DJs, so the dancing went on well into the night. 
I've taken it pretty easy on Sunday, recuperating from the CAMA extravaganza, and preparing myself for teaching swimming tomorrow morning at 8am. Apparently along with the PE teacher, and teacher aide, the expat teacher is required to swim with the students. I'm a little wary about showing up in a bikini around twenty 9 yr olds so I'm just going to wear a t-shirt in the water in a last ditch effort to maintain a modest appearance. I'll be letting you know how that goes....
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