Vicki writing volumes from Vietnam.....................

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Greetings from Tam Ky! Arose this morning in Hoi An – had a little breakfast – and did a walk-about! Ended up in the old part of Hoi An where the open market is. Was quite interesting to see all the food – garden goods and meat and fish! That part was a little gross but lots of different kinds. We have bigger crabs at home!!! We ended up taking a cab back to Tam Ky and it was nice to have the air conditioning – that hot humid weather is back with a vengeance!!! The towel is back around the neck!

Was nice to get back to the house – it just feels like home!! And the best part – FRESH MANGO!!!! I missed it so much – Mrs. Hanh cut one up for me as soon as she got here!!!

Got settled back in – did my laundry – hung it out to dry which I’m kind of enjoying. I don’t think dryer exist here - clothes are hung everywhere – big or little house, old or new!! Had a wonderful dinner again – the food is much better here than it is in any restaurant!!

Right at the end of dinner the electricity went out up and down the street! Was out for a couple of hours so we sat outside in the fresh air! The only lights were the motorbike lights going up and down the road!

One of the items that I bought in Hoi An was a collection of DVD’s – a little under a dollar a piece US!!! Hopefully they will all work. One store put them in the DVD player for me so I’m pretty sure they work. The other store didn’t. Now, just to get them through the airport!! Anyway, one of the new ones is ‘Life Is Complicated’ so we are watching it and it’s pretty darn good!!

Monday – March 15, 2010: Woke to sunshine and heat!! I do love my bedroom – it’s the best in the house – I have big double doors to the deck and three fans in my room – one on either side of my bed and one on the ceiling! I stay pretty darn cool considering the actual temperature!!

Spent the morning at the orphanage. Son had a good massage however he’s got a really bad rash on his face and upper torso. Hopefully just from heat. Played with the babies. The toddlers and elementary schoolers had music day. Went pretty well except there were not enough instruments for everyone and sharing does not go over well. So in between all the smiles and fun were plenty of tears. Julie will be purchasing more musical instruments and we’ll be making some with containers and rice – nice little shakers!! You’ll see pics of both happy and sad!! Pretty funny!

Took a nap this afternoon – didn’t intend to but it just happened. Then Ms. Hanh, Amber and I went to the fabric store – one of my personal favorite hangouts. I am having 2 pair of genie type pants made – just below the knee and 2 pair of long ones. The fabric is really light weight so they will be great in the heat with a little t-shirt!! I’d like to say I’m done having clothes made – so I will say it – I’m done having clothes made – but don’t hold me to it!!

The sight on the way to the orphanage that made me laugh today was a little boy with his cow on a leash leading him down the road. The cow and water buffalo are more revered here than the dog – there are those who actually eat dog but we’re not talking about that anymore!!! First of all cuz it’s just a bad idea and second of all because we have a little puppy that hangs out at our house – he lives next door – and the thought of him disappearing is so sad. His name is Bean. Perhaps there is a reason they named him that but I hope not – he’s tooooo cute!!!



Finished up my lesson plans for the week so that’s a good feeling. All ready for the little munchkins!

Had a great class with the 9 to 12 year olds. We learned all about opposites tonight and they did really well. They LOVE LOVE LOVE word searches and I had one with opposites – they were totally silent the last 15 minutes of class and wouldn’t leave when time was up – they wanted to finish it! We are still working on body parts too – there’s just a few that have a hard time with some of those. I scored with senses – they got it! And we’re pretty good on days of the week and months of the year. A couple of them have really good English. They all write down all the words they learn in a special book. Whether or not they ever go back and look at it I don’t know – but we review the previous lesson each time I’m with them. Lorraine made cookies with some of the kids tonight so the class had a treat during the word search.

I learned a sad story tonight about one of the little boys at HOA. His name is Truc. I never knew his age but thought it was around 11 or so. I found out tonight he is 16. Until he was taken from his home approximately 8 years ago, he was beaten and locked in a small closet all the time. The neighbors finally discovered what was going on and turned the parents in. Truc, of course, was taken from them. I’m not sure if he went to the orphanage first or straight to Home of Affection. Upon his arrival he wanted to be in dark corners all the time. He has blossomed. He goes to kindergarten classes as he is not developed at all – he is the most lovable young man there – always runs to greet the volunteers with a huge hug. His English is pretty good, what little he speaks. He always has a huge smile and is very happy. We took some clothes tonight for the children at HOA and Truc had on a red polo shirt and was showing it to everyone very proudly!!!

Home for the evening getting caught up on blog, pictures, etc. Early morning tomorrow at the disabled hospital as all the children usually get there around 7:30 am so we’ve moved up the time we arrive. Will probably have a houseful needing physical therapy and massages.

Life is still good here. Each day brings something new to my heart and to my eyes. These children are amazing in so many ways – the life they live, the love they get, yet lack a real family, the caring nature of all of them, and the love they give to each of us. As I have said before, we volunteers are coming out of here with so much more than we are leaving behind. Always know how blessed and lucky we are in our world and never miss an opportunity to see the world from a different viewpoint. And love each other always – never miss an opportunity to say I love you – and make a point to bring some happiness and love to someone – you never know where their journey called life has taken them.

I am not able to download pics at this time so I'm going to go ahead and publish this without pictures. Will do a blog of pictures only when the computer will let me do it - wierd connection sometimes!