Well. It's the day I've been waiting for! I'm on my way to Vietnam!
Flight to China. Fourteen hours. That's all that really needs to be said.
One of the neatest things was lifting the window shade during the night and seeing the stars. It was so cool! Magical, really.
july 15
Holy heck. This place is amazing.
The layover in China was horribly long. It was crazy. Crazy boring that is. But we survived. From there we flew to Ho Chi Minh City (also called Saigon). On that flight I had the CUTEST little Chinese girl sitting next to me. At the beginning of the flight I was trying to fall asleep and then randomly felt something petting my hair--yes, it was her. She then became my best friend and started chattering away in Chinese. She kept looking at me like I should understand what she was saying, but obviously I had no idea so I just smiled and nodded.
So let me set the stage for when we arrived in Vietnam: dark, evening, so tired, hungry. There are no rules about driving here. You can do just about anything, go in any direction, go any speed, or get as close to anything as you want, so long as you honk. Oh and there are so many scooters (aka motor bikes). The country is infested with them. Anyway, it's really neat to see how things work together regardless of who or where you are.
So despite being so tired we walked through the rain to go to dinner. It was so good! One girl got stir-fry and they brought her out a plate of fries stirred around in soy sauce. So funny. On our way home, Justin led us through an alley to show us the apartment he lived in when he came to teach English. When we walked through the alley we were basically walking through people's houses. It was like every house was missing a wall and we could see what was going on inside. Kinda cool! I can't imagine what they were thinking when 40 white people started walking through...
july 16
After the tunnels we went to the war memorial museum. It was worse. I have never felt ashamed or embarrassed to be American before. Agent Orange, a toxic spray released to kill the jungles so we could see camps of soldiers to kill. It left so many awful effects. Burns, deformities, death, birth defects, and the problems still continue today. It's sad to think of all the people who faced those problems as a witness and through first hand experience. It's disappointing to think of the people who took pictures and walked away without doing anything. It's scary to think of what the US has done, is doing, and is capable of doing that I don't know about. The experience was very eye opening although sad. It was humbling to see things through the eyes of the "enemy"--who is really just another type of living, normal people.
july 17
After an overnight, longest ever, 12 hour train ride, we made it to Song Cau!
Let me skip to the good parts. We went out exploring and found the cutest little family! 3 girls, mom, dad, and grandma. The littlest was just learning how to walk and loved blowing/eating bubbles. The mom just loved showing off her kids.
We also had out opening ceremonies. Oh my gosh! I love the kids! At first they were really shy, but by the end we were all laughing and taking pictures and giving high fives. This week is full of promise of fun and memories!
july 18
This morning I taught my English lesson on emotions. After my lesson a cute little girl stayed and helped me clean up. Darling I had a few kids who stayed during all my lessons. I pulled out balloons and bubbles and the kids just LOVED them so much. Oh my. I sound like a crazy person, but this place is the best.
During our three hour lunch break there was a big rainstorm so we went on the roof and danced in the rain. Does it get any better? I think not.
LATER: Okay. It gets way better.
This has been the best day of my life. After lunch I went back up to the school. All the kids came running when the bus pulled in. They ran up waving and calling out "hello, hello" and lined up outside the door of the bus to say hi and give us high fives.
Okay, embarrassing moment of the day. We were playing tag and I was being chased, so, of course, I ran away. Right into the thick black cord holding the tarp up. I ran into it so hard that the cord snapped in half and my head jerked back. Oh my. So embarrassing. To top it off, I had been tagged so I then had to chase everyone. So great. Let me tell you.
Oh so flashback to this morning. A kid pooped in my English lesson. Yup. That's all.
Um so dinner was awesome. I accidentally ate squid. Enough said.
After dinner we went into town on a search for ice cream. And then. We saw dancing. And decided to join. It ended up being a charity event for the Red Cross. So we ended up being able to dance with the kids. Priceless.
And now. The best part.
So the cute girl who had grabbed me to dance with her ran over and pulled me aside as we were leaving. She led me off to the side where it was lit up and more quiet and pressed a little gift into my hand. She then gave me a hug and ran off. The gift was a little necklace/whistle thing. Best ever.
july 19
I still don't know how to describe my feelings in this place. It's like no moment is the same and every moment is the best. No one moment is better than another because they are all part of a whole set of feelings. Here in Vietnam, I feel whole.
Despite the language barrier, the relationships we are building are real and strong. I can feel and see it when the kids run down to the bus to greet us. When they hug us, sit on our laps, copy what we do, and blow kisses as we ride away on the bus.
It's so fun to see the kids start opening up and seeing their personalities come out. One of my favorite parts of the afternoon was a little boy and little girl (gosh I wish I knew their names!) were the last two standing in musical chairs and ended up playing tug-o-war with the stool. It only ended when the boy kicked (not unkindly) the girl away. So funny!
Once again we walked around town--our main intent, more ice cream. While we were getting ice cream we met up with Hoa, one of the police from the friends and family team. Here's how our conversation went.
Hoa: "Hi, what is your name?"
Me" "Alyssa, what's yours?"
Hoa: "Hoa, H-O-A. How old are you?"
Me: "18, how old are you?"
Hoa: "22, do you have a boyfriend?"
Me: "No, do you have a girlfriend?"
Hoa: "You are beautiful, get boyfriend."
Haha, not sure if that was a compliment or if he was hitting on me...
So as we were walking through the same courtyard as yesterday, I felt a small tap on my back and heard a little voice say, "Hello, Olyssa?" Guess who?! My favorite little girl from yesterday! She noticed me wearing the whistle and got so exited when I blew it!
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