Peppercorn & University

As we were making our way down the mountain back to Dalat, we pulled over to inspect some pepper plants! Very cool, they are vines that are trained on old trees or poles.

Pepper is primarily grown in Vietnam's central highland regions, such as Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, and Lam Dong provinces, where the favorable climate and soil conditions are suitable for its cultivation. Pepper plants typically start bearing fruit after three to four years of planting. Farmers harvest the mature pepper berries by handpicking or using tools like shears or knives. Apparently black, red, and white pepper are all the same berry, just different stages of drying in processing! That was a fun fact of many from today! I of course had to pop a couple of green peppers in my mouth and holy bananas, super spicy!

The day ended with us going to the University of Dalat, to hear one of the lecturers talk about this small provincial college. We left the lecture room and a swarm of 20-year-olds gathered all around us and two chose me and off we went to practice their English. It was really fun, and another example of how they are teaching English at a very young age to the Vietnamese children here, but they don't have significant opportunities to actually practice with a native speaker. We had a leisurely tour around campus and talked about their nightlife and school life. High school and college kids who live in the dorm have to take military classes, in their words " in case there is another war". Living in the dorm is a challenge, because they close at a certain time, and many of the kids need to work in the restaurants that are open late. Phyllis and Rebecca are in apartments but can't work because some of their classes are late at night. Very small offering of courses, so they are going to school morning and night. I made a note to look into how I could get on a zoom call with some of these kids and help them practice their English when I get back.Read more