Elsbeth writing…
Wow, I can’t believe tomorrow is already October 1st. August seems like a lifetime ago. In a sense it was another life compared to the one I’ve been living here. I feel like I’ve been floating in nothingness through this last week and a half. I had to check my cell phone to see what day it was. I’m definitely ready to accept a job and get out of this city. HCMC has grown on both of us, but I think it’s time for a change. We need to see another part of Vietnam.
I’ll try to make this update brief—well, briefer than my last—on what we’ve done this last week. Sunday our students from the CELTA class invited us teachers out for coffee. I thought we were just meeting in the café at our school, but it turns out that they had a whole-day outing planned for us. They took us by motorbike to the outskirts of the city where we visited a park. The first thing I noticed: A plethora of engaged couples in their wedding outfits getting pictures taken. Apparently in Vietnam couples have their wedding pictures taken before they get married. I mean the brides had on their wedding dresses and the grooms had on their tuxes. Later they actually have the ceremony and a big photo of the couple is usually displayed next to an arbor of flowers at the reception. We think it’s funny how over-the-top the wedding dresses are here. Many of them aren’t even white; they’re more like prom dresses in all sorts of bright colors. Some couples also wore traditional Vietnamese wedding garments which were interesting to see.
I never thought that Vietnam would be so full of romance (considering its war-laden history). But go to any park in HCMC after dark and it’s full of young couples cuddling or kissing on their parked motorbikes. Ellyn and I feel out of place walking through the parks after dark. If you don’t have a mate you’re not cool enough to been seen there. It’s an interesting and sweet cultural phenomenon.
Anyway, back to the park. It’s kind of like the U of M Arboretum where it’s nicely kept up and there are many different features to it; however, it obviously has a tropical/Asian flavor. It’s definitely a beautiful site for wedding pictures. They also have several high-end outdoor restaurants serving traditional Vietnamese food, cooked in the traditional way. We sat under one circus-like tarp to eat. Unfortunately the monsoon rains came not long after. Luckily we didn’t get too wet.
After that we drove to a more modern café for drinks. Did I mention that I love riding motorbike? I especially love riding fast on motorbikes. The student that drove me went pretty fast. We were way ahead of the others because he took all these back-alley shortcuts. Anyway, it was an enjoyable day to spend with everyone. Our students also invited us back to HCMC for the Tet Holiday in February. They’ll take us around to all the events and whatnot. I’m excited, but that’s a ways away.
Otherwise this week has been pretty mundane so far. Yesterday I went to the War Remnants Museum. I think I had a lump in my throat the whole time… All the unthinkable things that happen in war. All the innocent people who are murdered. Of course, the museum was from the Vietnamese perspective, but it was really eye-opening. I can see why it was so controversial back in the day. One of the main reasons why the Vietnam War had such a mass of dissenters back home and around the world was because it was the first time vivid, uncensored pictures were seen in the media on TV, in newspapers, and in magazines. And this museum was an archive of those pictures. What was even more powerful were the excerpts, statements, and captions that went with these pictures. I remember one picture in particular of villagers, mostly women, who were about to be executed. The photographer told the soldiers to wait a moment while he took the picture. As he turned his back he heard shots and from the corner of his eye saw people falling down. He never turned around. There were many similar stories.
Obviously, I didn’t live during the war, but in a sense, I feel the reality of it. The pictures I saw weren’t just pictures of people from some far off land. They are real people who I see and talk to every day. On the streets I see people permanently deformed and crippled from the effects of Agent Orange. In the orphanage we visited there are two huge rooms full of children who can most likely attribute their disabilities to the dioxin after how many years? Forty-some? How do they deserve this punishment for a war they had nothing to do with—a war that was resolved years ago? It’s also hard for me to grasp that these people could deserve such lasting punishments. In all my traveling they have been some of the warmest, friendliest people I’ve ever met. But, that’s life and war I suppose… What happens in it isn’t always fair nor does it always make sense.
Today Ellyn, Sam, and I went to the Xa Loi Pagoda which is where intense raids took place and Buddhist monks and nuns burned themselves during the war. I was very interested in seeing this site as well, but when we got there it was pretty much dead. I thought it would be a tourist attraction, but there were only a handful of workers and nothing mentioning the history of the site. Interesting and a bit disappointing, but also kind of nice. Somehow it’s refreshing to see a historical site without there being any mention of it being historical. Obviously the people who died there should be honored and remembered, but as a tourist attraction? I felt like we saw something few other tourists see.
So that’s an update for now. Not as short as I hoped. We’ll also update you when we actually get a job. We have an offer with the school we took our course with, but we’re also looking at another school that’s very similar. It’s a tough decision, but we’re hoping to have everything finalized by Friday. Stay tuned….
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tourist
Ellyn Writing...
I'm back! :) So a lot has happened since I wrote last so I will try to just give a general overview and a couple good stories... Elsbeth filled everyone in on the Vung Tau experience. It was an amazing weekend packed full of new experiences. We are looking at going there to work as we have received a job offer from ILA to work there and may end up taking it. The job search is actually going very well. We received an offer from another company who wanted us to fly out a couple days ago to Hanoi and start this weekend. We turned them down because we really weren't ready to leave that soon and didn't know if we wanted to work in Hanoi. I have an interview with another company this week because I still want to see if it may be an option to move further up north. We will see what comes of the interview with a company called Apollo.
Ok so the last week we have become tourists...its like backtracking we went about it backwards but we are definitely enjoying our experiences. And we have started taking pictures so I will try putting some in here that will help tell stories...seeing as a picture is worth 1000 words. We did a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Cau Dai Temple. The guide that took us around was probably the best tour guide I have ever had....and I have had a lot of tour guides in my life. He was a typical skinny enthusiastic Vietnamese man. He continuous kept spitting out expressions that you would just not expect to come out of a Vietnamese person like "Chill out" "shake a leg" "see you later alligator" and "are you ready Freddy?" He was wonderful! We went to the Cau Dai Temple first. Cau Dai is a religion that the Vietnamese created in the 1920's. As our guide, Slim Jim, tells us Cau Dai is a religion where they basically worship everything and everyone. He says that there are approximately 3 million people in Vietnam who follow the religion and most of them live near this religious center. Whereas most of the country is Buddhist, 75% and there are some Christians about 8 million Catholics and only 3% are Muslims. Cau Dai is a combination of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Catholicism. The temple was perhaps the most fascinating religious place I have ever been. It was brightly colored and had aspects of many religions within it. I found it interesting that there was something like minbars which are what Muslims use place in mosques for the person who is doing the sermon to stand in. S there were Islamic aspects when Islam isn’t even one of the religions that they worship. When we were in the temple we were able to watch part of their worship and take pictures. The men and women are separated and they are in order of their ranking. They ascend closer to God’s eye the more years they are involved in practicing this religion which requires prayer, not eating meat or fish among other things.
We continued on to visit some of the tunnels that were used during the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi people that used these Cu Chi Tunnels were fighting against the south for the north even though they lived in the south. We crawled through small tunnels that were actually doubled in size for the fat foreigners. It was still small and a bit claustrophobic to be it there. We next moved on and paid some money to shoot n AK47! We were terrible at it and jumped every time a shot was fired. No one even hit the target circle…no prize of a scarf for us.
Our next tour was last Friday. We went along the Mekong Delta to My Toa and Ben Tre. We took a two-hour bus trip down to the river where we boarded a large motorboat that took us along some floating houses. Through the day we moved from place to place boarded several boats and saw many different people making various handmade things, such as rice paper, coconut candies, and wooden toys. We had a relaxing ride in a small canoe with a couple Ausies down the river.
Well I think that covers the interesting parts of the tours. I will throw in more about the culture as every day I learn something new about the people here. I have gained an extreme respect for this place. It is a wonderful place to be as a single female. I can walk down any alleyway in the middle of the night and feel completely safe. Another thing I have noticed is that the Vietnamese never sleep and always seem to be working. I think this is partially because I am in HCMC and not in some small town but there is always something going on.
I have started running again and it is a struggle to breath, I think that it will be a relief to get out of the city. However! I did get to play soccer today for the first time since being here. Some of the teachers get together every other day to play and it is just so great! So unfortunately I would not really have something like that in a smaller area but maybe I can get some little Vietnamese kids to play with me.
Till next time!
I'm back! :) So a lot has happened since I wrote last so I will try to just give a general overview and a couple good stories... Elsbeth filled everyone in on the Vung Tau experience. It was an amazing weekend packed full of new experiences. We are looking at going there to work as we have received a job offer from ILA to work there and may end up taking it. The job search is actually going very well. We received an offer from another company who wanted us to fly out a couple days ago to Hanoi and start this weekend. We turned them down because we really weren't ready to leave that soon and didn't know if we wanted to work in Hanoi. I have an interview with another company this week because I still want to see if it may be an option to move further up north. We will see what comes of the interview with a company called Apollo.
Ok so the last week we have become tourists...its like backtracking we went about it backwards but we are definitely enjoying our experiences. And we have started taking pictures so I will try putting some in here that will help tell stories...seeing as a picture is worth 1000 words. We did a tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels and a Cau Dai Temple. The guide that took us around was probably the best tour guide I have ever had....and I have had a lot of tour guides in my life. He was a typical skinny enthusiastic Vietnamese man. He continuous kept spitting out expressions that you would just not expect to come out of a Vietnamese person like "Chill out" "shake a leg" "see you later alligator" and "are you ready Freddy?" He was wonderful! We went to the Cau Dai Temple first. Cau Dai is a religion that the Vietnamese created in the 1920's. As our guide, Slim Jim, tells us Cau Dai is a religion where they basically worship everything and everyone. He says that there are approximately 3 million people in Vietnam who follow the religion and most of them live near this religious center. Whereas most of the country is Buddhist, 75% and there are some Christians about 8 million Catholics and only 3% are Muslims. Cau Dai is a combination of Taoism, Hinduism, Buddhism and Catholicism. The temple was perhaps the most fascinating religious place I have ever been. It was brightly colored and had aspects of many religions within it. I found it interesting that there was something like minbars which are what Muslims use place in mosques for the person who is doing the sermon to stand in. S there were Islamic aspects when Islam isn’t even one of the religions that they worship. When we were in the temple we were able to watch part of their worship and take pictures. The men and women are separated and they are in order of their ranking. They ascend closer to God’s eye the more years they are involved in practicing this religion which requires prayer, not eating meat or fish among other things.
We continued on to visit some of the tunnels that were used during the Vietnam War. The Cu Chi people that used these Cu Chi Tunnels were fighting against the south for the north even though they lived in the south. We crawled through small tunnels that were actually doubled in size for the fat foreigners. It was still small and a bit claustrophobic to be it there. We next moved on and paid some money to shoot n AK47! We were terrible at it and jumped every time a shot was fired. No one even hit the target circle…no prize of a scarf for us.
Our next tour was last Friday. We went along the Mekong Delta to My Toa and Ben Tre. We took a two-hour bus trip down to the river where we boarded a large motorboat that took us along some floating houses. Through the day we moved from place to place boarded several boats and saw many different people making various handmade things, such as rice paper, coconut candies, and wooden toys. We had a relaxing ride in a small canoe with a couple Ausies down the river.
Well I think that covers the interesting parts of the tours. I will throw in more about the culture as every day I learn something new about the people here. I have gained an extreme respect for this place. It is a wonderful place to be as a single female. I can walk down any alleyway in the middle of the night and feel completely safe. Another thing I have noticed is that the Vietnamese never sleep and always seem to be working. I think this is partially because I am in HCMC and not in some small town but there is always something going on.
I have started running again and it is a struggle to breath, I think that it will be a relief to get out of the city. However! I did get to play soccer today for the first time since being here. Some of the teachers get together every other day to play and it is just so great! So unfortunately I would not really have something like that in a smaller area but maybe I can get some little Vietnamese kids to play with me.
Till next time!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
The Vung Tau Experience
Elsbeth writing…
Okay, now to get to our Vung Tau experience this past weekend. On Saturday our school took us to Vung Tau to have a tour of the sister school where there are a few job positions open. Vung Tau is a small city of about 300,000 people on the Pacific Coast. It is a popular weekend getaway for Vietnamese, especially those living in Saigon, because it’s only about an hour away by hydrofoil and two hours away by land.
We took the hydrofoil down the Saigon River to the ocean. When I got out of the boat and onto the docks it was literally a breath of fresh air. I saw blue water and green trees! Everything was so much quieter and more peaceful compared to the city. I’ve gotten used to living in HCMC, but we’ve been dying to be in the outdoors and be able to swim again. Ellyn and I both want to live somewhere on the coast and this town seems like a good bet.
One of the guys from the school in Vung Tau picked us up by taxi and drove us the long way through the town to the school. The streets were so clean and most of the buildings were rich and ornately Chinese or French. Plus there was hardly anyone around. Few motorbikes were on the street. In fact it was so quiet compared to where we’ve been living for the past month or so that it seemed like a ghost town.
The school itself was nice—basically the same as our other school, which is modern, clean, and has many resources for both students and staff. Our tour guide from the school, who I believe is the boss, also seemed nice and laid back. Afterwards we ate lunch at Belly’s, an Australian restaurant, where many ex-pats hang out. Belly himself shook our hands when we came in. Ha, he was your stereotypical Aussie—a jolly, red-faced man, with a sleeveless, torn jean jacket and tattoos on his arms. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant made me miss NZ. We also had a perfect view of the harbor from where we sat—Ellyn and I sat closest to the open bay windows. It was fantastic.
After dinner we climbed up Jesus Mountain. There’s a huge statue of Jesus on the top of this big hill that overlooks the harbor. Kind of random, but neat. It was an exhausting, hot climb to the top. On the way there were other smaller Catholic statues and monuments to the saints. At the foot of the hill old women were chanting the rosary in Vietnamese while facing the statue. When we finally reached Jesus, we could climb inside, all the way to the top and walk out on his arms. It was a tight squeeze, but about four other Asian tourists and I fit on one arm and we took pictures. Plus I love heights, so it was a thrill to be up that high.
Afterwards, our two “tour guides” and two of our classmates left us and we waited for our students to pick us up. They had planned to take us to Vung Tau on the last weekend of the course; however, that was the same weekend that our school was planning to give us a tour of their sister school there. So we decided to meet our students on Saturday afternoon. While we waited for them we ventured down to the ocean for the first time. Again, it reminded me of NZ. The water felt wonderful and we climbed on the black rocks along the shore.
A little while later our students picked us up. I was surprised that they had rented an entire bus to drive us around for the weekend. First we went to our hotel—“Berlin.” Other than a painting of das Brandenburger Tor on the wall, it was nothing like the actual city. Before dinner we walked down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was so warm and refreshing.
Then we went to dinner at a Vietnamese seafood restaurant. We ate squid, fish, and…snake! We even watched it being killed, but I won’t go into the gory details. Then three of the guys, Ellyn, and I drank shots of fresh snake blood and snake bile liquor! Ummy….
After dinner we again walked to the beach where our students had rented double bikes for us and we biked around the city. That was an experience. There was an odd number, so I ended up sitting on a third person seat that didn’t have pedals on the back of one of the bikes. I rode with one of the ladies from our class and a student. She was laughing so hard because we looked so ridiculous with three people piled onto a two-person bike. And because she was laughing so hysterically that made me laugh really hard. Plus, I didn’t know where to put my legs so they were dangling off the sides and getting hit by the pedals. I still have big bruises. Yet, that made her and the people following us laugh even harder. I felt like we were going to tip over because we were laughing so much. It was a lot of fun though. By the end I found where to put my legs and didn’t have to hang on. I just sat there nonchalantly. Oh, ha, I did get a chance to try pedaling. We waited half an hour for some people to catch up, so Ellyn and I took one of the bikes down the street. We were biking against traffic and almost ran head-on into a motorbike, which made me shriek really loudly. Everyone looked at us and probably thought “who is this crazy tourist who doesn’t know how to drive a bike.” That made laugh even more.
Then to finish the night we went again onto the beach and had a bonfire. The students bought us this strange sugary candy with peanuts rolled inside from one of the vendors walking back and forth along the beach. They also baked sweet potatoes—Kumera, I think—on the hot coals and we peeled and ate those. We played a couple campfire games and talked. It was a beautiful way to end our exhausting day.
The next morning we woke up early and went to a Buddhist Temple grounds. There were all sorts of statues dotted around the grounds. Also there was a colorful, ornately-decorated temple. At first I thought the monks were chanting inside, but it turned out to be a recording. Still it was a transfixing sound. It was so fascinating to visit this place since I’ve studied and have been interested in Buddhism. Ellyn was really fascinated, too. We even had a breakfast of tofu Pho on the side of the temple. It tasted so good.
After that we went to the beach and swam for awhile. It was a lot of fun, until this jelly-like thing started crawling all over me. I started screaming and laughing at the same time, because I couldn’t get it off, I didn’t know what it was, and it tickled. The others just kind of stood there and looked at me like I was crazy. Then one of the students came and helped me chase it away. After that most of us decided it was time to get out. We discovered that we all had these red scratches all over our bodies and many of us had felt something else biting us. Also, while in the water, we felt some sort of electric shock which made my and another girl’s back crack. Weird.
Soon we made our way out of Vung Tau. We stopped at another Vietnamese seafood restaurant where our students ordered for us again. We had two kids of fish and some sort of fried seafood—all fresh. Then we drove back to HCMC. We stopped along the way at this Lothamilk Market. One of the guys and I bought milk while the others bought ice cream. I hadn’t really had milk since before I left. It tasted good, but I drank too much of it that I think it churned my stomach. Ironic, the snake juice didn’t make me sick, but the fresh milk did….ha.
Overall, it was an awesome weekend. Our students were so fantastic (and so organized). They were the perfect tour guides and it was sad to leave them. We were really lucky to have that experience. As for Vung Tau…it’s definitely a possibility….
Okay, now to get to our Vung Tau experience this past weekend. On Saturday our school took us to Vung Tau to have a tour of the sister school where there are a few job positions open. Vung Tau is a small city of about 300,000 people on the Pacific Coast. It is a popular weekend getaway for Vietnamese, especially those living in Saigon, because it’s only about an hour away by hydrofoil and two hours away by land.
We took the hydrofoil down the Saigon River to the ocean. When I got out of the boat and onto the docks it was literally a breath of fresh air. I saw blue water and green trees! Everything was so much quieter and more peaceful compared to the city. I’ve gotten used to living in HCMC, but we’ve been dying to be in the outdoors and be able to swim again. Ellyn and I both want to live somewhere on the coast and this town seems like a good bet.
One of the guys from the school in Vung Tau picked us up by taxi and drove us the long way through the town to the school. The streets were so clean and most of the buildings were rich and ornately Chinese or French. Plus there was hardly anyone around. Few motorbikes were on the street. In fact it was so quiet compared to where we’ve been living for the past month or so that it seemed like a ghost town.
The school itself was nice—basically the same as our other school, which is modern, clean, and has many resources for both students and staff. Our tour guide from the school, who I believe is the boss, also seemed nice and laid back. Afterwards we ate lunch at Belly’s, an Australian restaurant, where many ex-pats hang out. Belly himself shook our hands when we came in. Ha, he was your stereotypical Aussie—a jolly, red-faced man, with a sleeveless, torn jean jacket and tattoos on his arms. The whole atmosphere of the restaurant made me miss NZ. We also had a perfect view of the harbor from where we sat—Ellyn and I sat closest to the open bay windows. It was fantastic.
After dinner we climbed up Jesus Mountain. There’s a huge statue of Jesus on the top of this big hill that overlooks the harbor. Kind of random, but neat. It was an exhausting, hot climb to the top. On the way there were other smaller Catholic statues and monuments to the saints. At the foot of the hill old women were chanting the rosary in Vietnamese while facing the statue. When we finally reached Jesus, we could climb inside, all the way to the top and walk out on his arms. It was a tight squeeze, but about four other Asian tourists and I fit on one arm and we took pictures. Plus I love heights, so it was a thrill to be up that high.
Afterwards, our two “tour guides” and two of our classmates left us and we waited for our students to pick us up. They had planned to take us to Vung Tau on the last weekend of the course; however, that was the same weekend that our school was planning to give us a tour of their sister school there. So we decided to meet our students on Saturday afternoon. While we waited for them we ventured down to the ocean for the first time. Again, it reminded me of NZ. The water felt wonderful and we climbed on the black rocks along the shore.
A little while later our students picked us up. I was surprised that they had rented an entire bus to drive us around for the weekend. First we went to our hotel—“Berlin.” Other than a painting of das Brandenburger Tor on the wall, it was nothing like the actual city. Before dinner we walked down to the beach and swam in the ocean. It was so warm and refreshing.
Then we went to dinner at a Vietnamese seafood restaurant. We ate squid, fish, and…snake! We even watched it being killed, but I won’t go into the gory details. Then three of the guys, Ellyn, and I drank shots of fresh snake blood and snake bile liquor! Ummy….
After dinner we again walked to the beach where our students had rented double bikes for us and we biked around the city. That was an experience. There was an odd number, so I ended up sitting on a third person seat that didn’t have pedals on the back of one of the bikes. I rode with one of the ladies from our class and a student. She was laughing so hard because we looked so ridiculous with three people piled onto a two-person bike. And because she was laughing so hysterically that made me laugh really hard. Plus, I didn’t know where to put my legs so they were dangling off the sides and getting hit by the pedals. I still have big bruises. Yet, that made her and the people following us laugh even harder. I felt like we were going to tip over because we were laughing so much. It was a lot of fun though. By the end I found where to put my legs and didn’t have to hang on. I just sat there nonchalantly. Oh, ha, I did get a chance to try pedaling. We waited half an hour for some people to catch up, so Ellyn and I took one of the bikes down the street. We were biking against traffic and almost ran head-on into a motorbike, which made me shriek really loudly. Everyone looked at us and probably thought “who is this crazy tourist who doesn’t know how to drive a bike.” That made laugh even more.
Then to finish the night we went again onto the beach and had a bonfire. The students bought us this strange sugary candy with peanuts rolled inside from one of the vendors walking back and forth along the beach. They also baked sweet potatoes—Kumera, I think—on the hot coals and we peeled and ate those. We played a couple campfire games and talked. It was a beautiful way to end our exhausting day.
The next morning we woke up early and went to a Buddhist Temple grounds. There were all sorts of statues dotted around the grounds. Also there was a colorful, ornately-decorated temple. At first I thought the monks were chanting inside, but it turned out to be a recording. Still it was a transfixing sound. It was so fascinating to visit this place since I’ve studied and have been interested in Buddhism. Ellyn was really fascinated, too. We even had a breakfast of tofu Pho on the side of the temple. It tasted so good.
After that we went to the beach and swam for awhile. It was a lot of fun, until this jelly-like thing started crawling all over me. I started screaming and laughing at the same time, because I couldn’t get it off, I didn’t know what it was, and it tickled. The others just kind of stood there and looked at me like I was crazy. Then one of the students came and helped me chase it away. After that most of us decided it was time to get out. We discovered that we all had these red scratches all over our bodies and many of us had felt something else biting us. Also, while in the water, we felt some sort of electric shock which made my and another girl’s back crack. Weird.
Soon we made our way out of Vung Tau. We stopped at another Vietnamese seafood restaurant where our students ordered for us again. We had two kids of fish and some sort of fried seafood—all fresh. Then we drove back to HCMC. We stopped along the way at this Lothamilk Market. One of the guys and I bought milk while the others bought ice cream. I hadn’t really had milk since before I left. It tasted good, but I drank too much of it that I think it churned my stomach. Ironic, the snake juice didn’t make me sick, but the fresh milk did….ha.
Overall, it was an awesome weekend. Our students were so fantastic (and so organized). They were the perfect tour guides and it was sad to leave them. We were really lucky to have that experience. As for Vung Tau…it’s definitely a possibility….
Monday, September 22, 2008
Updates on last week of CELTA!
Elsbeth writing...
Wow, I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. It's been awhile and a lot has happened in that short time. Sorry, I should be more proactive about updating, but that's the way it goes when you're in a foreign country and would rather be outside enjoying yourself than inside spending hours on the computer.
Well, first before I get to the most recent news and events I'll update you on what I did the weekend before last since I know some people were interested. Let's see on Friday we went out for drinks and bowling with a bunch of people from CELTA. Ellyn told you about our second Orphanage outing on Saturday...such sweet kids. I'll miss them. We're hoping to do volunteer work wherever we go. Then on Sunday morning I took a motorbike to the Notre Dame Cathedral. First I have to say that I have come to I love riding on motorbikes. I took one for the first time the other week during lunch. I had to mail a postcard for a friend’s birthday and the only post office I could find was the big, old central one. So I got one old motorbike driver to take me. At first it was scary weaving through traffic but I soon got used to it. It's the best way to see the city and probably any part of the country or region. I can't wait to buy or rent my own and learn to drive it!
Anyway, I heard they have the only English mass in the city. I got there extra early to look around and get a seat, since I also heard it gets crowded. The cathedral isn't as over-the-top and spectacular as some cathedrals I've been to, but it's simple and beautiful. I sat in the midst of the local church members who were friendly. The service was interesting, but maybe it was the humidity or the fans droning because I was so sleepy.
It was also the Full Moon Festival--Tet Trung Thu--that day. This festival dates back thousands of years and is set on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In Vietnam it is mainly a children's festival (a bit like our Halloween). It is a chance for parents to spend time with their kids, because they have been harvesting in the fields. The children parade around, sing songs, and carry lanterns in the shapes of fish, butterflies, and stars. They are also given moon cakes, which are made with ground beans, lotus seeds, orange peels, and a yolk in the center to represent the moon. There are also many folk tales that go with the festival and its origin as well. I was really excited to see this, but unfortunately it was raining and I hadn’t planning our strategy on where to go very well. We weren’t sure on the time, so Ellyn and I decided to go to the park nearby around 8 p.m. There weren’t many kids there. Only a few were dispersed around, carrying lanterns. It looked like there had been something there, but earlier. We later heard that there were celebrations in other parts of the city where two of our classmates had visited. Oh well, maybe next September.
The next week was very busy. We were all finishing up our lessons and last written assignment. My last lesson was on Friday—most people finished their lessons on Wednesday or Thursday. But no, I had to wait and plan all week, while everyone else was out partying. Of course, they liked to rub it in…. That’s okay, I had more time to plan and relax. Also, one day a group of us went out for lunch at this restaurant down the street. The owners were so excited to have a big group of Westerners come to eat. They showed us up a couple flights of stairs to a more private room. The menu was all in Vietnamese. We tried to translate it, but ended up pointing to things and expecting to be surprised. When the food came out, everyone’s looked so delicious, but then a camera crew came up and began video taping us! Apparently the dish another lady in our group and I ordered is famous. It was a piece of fried chicken with orange-dyed rice. It was really delicious and the chicken tasted like good, old fatty American chicken. The guy who was translating for us said it would go on Vietnamese television! Wow, we’ll be famous! I think they were taping us as a promotional thing—“Hey look at this group of Westerners happily eating here.” I can’t deny it was great food and excellent service. They kept bringing us things we hadn’t ordered, too, like French fries, salad, and Vietnamese iced tea. I want to go back.
Then on Friday we officially finished our CELTA course! It was so great to be finished, but as we were walking back to our hotel Ellyn and I looked at each other and asked “Okay, what now?” We still don’t know…
That afternoon we relaxed. I went with one of my classmates to an aerobic class in the park. Ellyn, her and another classmate had gone the two days before. It was so much fun. Everyone was spread out on the side walk with a stereo blaring music. The class was aerobics mixed with a little Indian dancing, belly dancing, and salsa. A good workout. I really want to take one of these classes once I have a job—they’re only $2-3 for a couple months. Then we went to an outdoor seafood restaurant next to the Ben Thanh Market where we met the rest of the class. They had huge toads hanging on a string, one on top of the other, awaiting their death to become fried frog legs. I have yet to try those—I’ve heard they taste like chicken. Afterwards we headed for a restaurant along our alley where we often go and had drinks.
The only sad part about leaving the course is leaving all our classmates who we’ve become friends with throughout this past month and our students who've been absolutely awesome. It’s been great. But we’ll see them around. Today we actually saw pretty much all of our classmates either wandering around the streets or ate a meal with them. Tomorrow some of the girls, Ellyn and I are going on a day trip to visit the Viet Cong tunnels. It should be fun. It’s crazy to be done. We’re all in the same place, asking ourselves what we’re going to do now. But hey, we’ll be spread throughout the country and region so we can visit each other and have free place to stay!
Okay, that’s enough reading for today. Jeez, sorry. I still have to update you on our very exciting weekend in Vung Tau, but it’s late and I need some rest for our next adventure tomorrow!
Wow, I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. It's been awhile and a lot has happened in that short time. Sorry, I should be more proactive about updating, but that's the way it goes when you're in a foreign country and would rather be outside enjoying yourself than inside spending hours on the computer.
Well, first before I get to the most recent news and events I'll update you on what I did the weekend before last since I know some people were interested. Let's see on Friday we went out for drinks and bowling with a bunch of people from CELTA. Ellyn told you about our second Orphanage outing on Saturday...such sweet kids. I'll miss them. We're hoping to do volunteer work wherever we go. Then on Sunday morning I took a motorbike to the Notre Dame Cathedral. First I have to say that I have come to I love riding on motorbikes. I took one for the first time the other week during lunch. I had to mail a postcard for a friend’s birthday and the only post office I could find was the big, old central one. So I got one old motorbike driver to take me. At first it was scary weaving through traffic but I soon got used to it. It's the best way to see the city and probably any part of the country or region. I can't wait to buy or rent my own and learn to drive it!
Anyway, I heard they have the only English mass in the city. I got there extra early to look around and get a seat, since I also heard it gets crowded. The cathedral isn't as over-the-top and spectacular as some cathedrals I've been to, but it's simple and beautiful. I sat in the midst of the local church members who were friendly. The service was interesting, but maybe it was the humidity or the fans droning because I was so sleepy.
It was also the Full Moon Festival--Tet Trung Thu--that day. This festival dates back thousands of years and is set on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. In Vietnam it is mainly a children's festival (a bit like our Halloween). It is a chance for parents to spend time with their kids, because they have been harvesting in the fields. The children parade around, sing songs, and carry lanterns in the shapes of fish, butterflies, and stars. They are also given moon cakes, which are made with ground beans, lotus seeds, orange peels, and a yolk in the center to represent the moon. There are also many folk tales that go with the festival and its origin as well. I was really excited to see this, but unfortunately it was raining and I hadn’t planning our strategy on where to go very well. We weren’t sure on the time, so Ellyn and I decided to go to the park nearby around 8 p.m. There weren’t many kids there. Only a few were dispersed around, carrying lanterns. It looked like there had been something there, but earlier. We later heard that there were celebrations in other parts of the city where two of our classmates had visited. Oh well, maybe next September.
The next week was very busy. We were all finishing up our lessons and last written assignment. My last lesson was on Friday—most people finished their lessons on Wednesday or Thursday. But no, I had to wait and plan all week, while everyone else was out partying. Of course, they liked to rub it in…. That’s okay, I had more time to plan and relax. Also, one day a group of us went out for lunch at this restaurant down the street. The owners were so excited to have a big group of Westerners come to eat. They showed us up a couple flights of stairs to a more private room. The menu was all in Vietnamese. We tried to translate it, but ended up pointing to things and expecting to be surprised. When the food came out, everyone’s looked so delicious, but then a camera crew came up and began video taping us! Apparently the dish another lady in our group and I ordered is famous. It was a piece of fried chicken with orange-dyed rice. It was really delicious and the chicken tasted like good, old fatty American chicken. The guy who was translating for us said it would go on Vietnamese television! Wow, we’ll be famous! I think they were taping us as a promotional thing—“Hey look at this group of Westerners happily eating here.” I can’t deny it was great food and excellent service. They kept bringing us things we hadn’t ordered, too, like French fries, salad, and Vietnamese iced tea. I want to go back.
Then on Friday we officially finished our CELTA course! It was so great to be finished, but as we were walking back to our hotel Ellyn and I looked at each other and asked “Okay, what now?” We still don’t know…
That afternoon we relaxed. I went with one of my classmates to an aerobic class in the park. Ellyn, her and another classmate had gone the two days before. It was so much fun. Everyone was spread out on the side walk with a stereo blaring music. The class was aerobics mixed with a little Indian dancing, belly dancing, and salsa. A good workout. I really want to take one of these classes once I have a job—they’re only $2-3 for a couple months. Then we went to an outdoor seafood restaurant next to the Ben Thanh Market where we met the rest of the class. They had huge toads hanging on a string, one on top of the other, awaiting their death to become fried frog legs. I have yet to try those—I’ve heard they taste like chicken. Afterwards we headed for a restaurant along our alley where we often go and had drinks.
The only sad part about leaving the course is leaving all our classmates who we’ve become friends with throughout this past month and our students who've been absolutely awesome. It’s been great. But we’ll see them around. Today we actually saw pretty much all of our classmates either wandering around the streets or ate a meal with them. Tomorrow some of the girls, Ellyn and I are going on a day trip to visit the Viet Cong tunnels. It should be fun. It’s crazy to be done. We’re all in the same place, asking ourselves what we’re going to do now. But hey, we’ll be spread throughout the country and region so we can visit each other and have free place to stay!
Okay, that’s enough reading for today. Jeez, sorry. I still have to update you on our very exciting weekend in Vung Tau, but it’s late and I need some rest for our next adventure tomorrow!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
More Class.....
Ellyn writing...
So our posts have already become far and few between... but I am back. We are going on a month being here and its quite hard to believe. In fact I frequently find myself taking a step back in my mind and being like hey..."I'm in Vietnam" still so hard to believe. Class is going quite well I think. I don't think its as hard as I had expected. It does take a lot of time and we will often be at school from 8:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night. But as long as you put the time in things go fine. We are starting to look into jobs and right now it looks like a pretty good option to stay with the company we have been working with because of all the resources and support it offers to the employees. It will be nice to start a job and have more free time on our hands. We are also happy to get out of the city. I have been dying to go for a run...I am definitely loosing all of my muscle.
The summer here is coming to an end therefore its cooling down. I never really thought highs of 88 would feel this cool. Seeing as every day at CELTA is pretty much the same I will go through a typical week day. Elsbeth and I wake up around 6:30 am every morning because there is either someone hammering next door, someone yelling outside our door, some loud TV on downstairs, or some old lady on the street yelling out "oranges" in Vietnamese (which to me sound sounds similar to the call call to prayer in a Islamic country). There are so many weird noises around here that they don't seam to faze us anymore. We get up watch some news eat some Frosted Cornflakes (or if we are out, we grab a pastry on our way to class). Right after we listen to the Bananas and Pajamas intro song we leave to walk to class (around 8 or 8:30). The walk takes 12 minutes...we are getting great at crossing streets. We get to class in the morning and either teach a lesson or watch a lesson. We were broken into group of 6 and put into 3 different level classes; elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate. Once this is done we go over our lessons with our tutor. We then have an hour break for lunch. There is a nice Western style restaurant on the top floor in our building where most people go to eat. I prefer to get out of the building and try the Vietnamese street food. I will either have pho (noodle soup) or go to a barbecue place were I can make my own spring roll type things, absolutely delicious and cheap! I grab some fresh pineapple on the street on my way inside for a snack later... all this for about a dollar. Once back inside we have class with our tutors where we have learned a variety of methodologies. We have also started to brush up on grammar and phonology through these classes. We have two in the afternoon and then around 4 we come back together with our groups to plan lessons for the next day. Once this is completed we are free to do whatever we want...aka work on lessons. We go to the computer lab and plan our lessons. We then walk home with anyone from the class who is done at the same time. We go out to eat along the street where our hotel is (most people live around the same area). Dinner normally lasts an hour or two at we ruminate on how the day has gone. Then we go home and crash only to begin again very soon.
So that's our day during the week. We do look forward to weekends when we have a chance to sit back and go a bit slower. As Elsbeth talked about earlier, we have also had the opportunity to visit an orphanage. We have now been their twice. It has been quite the experience and I would have to say it has been a bit difficult for me especially the second time. The first time through the terminally ill room it didn't hit me, I blocked everything out. Today however, we went through for a second time and it hit me. Many of their heads are three times the size they should be and they are in so much pain. They have tears in their eyes but do not cry out because its useless to do so. They lay there day and night with no break from their pain. But there are a couple of them that smiled, just to see us walk through there. I would love to work in there and would have loved to stay longer, but since we do not have the training they do not want us to play with them. We may end up creating more pain for them instead of helping them. They do have training sessions on Wednesdays where you can do physical therapy with them. I wish I had time to do this and I wish I could come more often, but unfortunately I will be leaving Ho Chi Mihn City soon. We had the opportunity to play with some of the toddlers today. I found this to be interesting also. These were children without any inborn developmental disabilities but when we went to play with them they were very mellow and didn't even want to leave our arms. Normally toddlers at this age would be impossible to control. We had about 15 toddlers in the room and only one was walking around getting into trouble. Before leaving the states I had the opportunity to do an internship with occupational therapist working with children with developmental disabilities. I would say that these toddlers were definitely at an extreme disadvantage in their situation and were developing at a much slower rate than children outside the orphanages. They were unwilling to play and only wished to be held. Its amazing what difference the human touch makes.
So I will leave it at that for the depressing portion of this blog. Sorry to bring it all down! To lighten it up a bit we are getting excited with one week left! ILA has invited us to go to Vung Toa this weekend to check out the school. So we will be leaving this Saturday. Some of us were also invited to do a tour with some of our students in Vung Toa. So we will be staying there this weekend I'm sure enjoying the beach! I hope everyone is well back home!
So our posts have already become far and few between... but I am back. We are going on a month being here and its quite hard to believe. In fact I frequently find myself taking a step back in my mind and being like hey..."I'm in Vietnam" still so hard to believe. Class is going quite well I think. I don't think its as hard as I had expected. It does take a lot of time and we will often be at school from 8:30 in the morning to 8:30 at night. But as long as you put the time in things go fine. We are starting to look into jobs and right now it looks like a pretty good option to stay with the company we have been working with because of all the resources and support it offers to the employees. It will be nice to start a job and have more free time on our hands. We are also happy to get out of the city. I have been dying to go for a run...I am definitely loosing all of my muscle.
The summer here is coming to an end therefore its cooling down. I never really thought highs of 88 would feel this cool. Seeing as every day at CELTA is pretty much the same I will go through a typical week day. Elsbeth and I wake up around 6:30 am every morning because there is either someone hammering next door, someone yelling outside our door, some loud TV on downstairs, or some old lady on the street yelling out "oranges" in Vietnamese (which to me sound sounds similar to the call call to prayer in a Islamic country). There are so many weird noises around here that they don't seam to faze us anymore. We get up watch some news eat some Frosted Cornflakes (or if we are out, we grab a pastry on our way to class). Right after we listen to the Bananas and Pajamas intro song we leave to walk to class (around 8 or 8:30). The walk takes 12 minutes...we are getting great at crossing streets. We get to class in the morning and either teach a lesson or watch a lesson. We were broken into group of 6 and put into 3 different level classes; elementary, pre-intermediate, and intermediate. Once this is done we go over our lessons with our tutor. We then have an hour break for lunch. There is a nice Western style restaurant on the top floor in our building where most people go to eat. I prefer to get out of the building and try the Vietnamese street food. I will either have pho (noodle soup) or go to a barbecue place were I can make my own spring roll type things, absolutely delicious and cheap! I grab some fresh pineapple on the street on my way inside for a snack later... all this for about a dollar. Once back inside we have class with our tutors where we have learned a variety of methodologies. We have also started to brush up on grammar and phonology through these classes. We have two in the afternoon and then around 4 we come back together with our groups to plan lessons for the next day. Once this is completed we are free to do whatever we want...aka work on lessons. We go to the computer lab and plan our lessons. We then walk home with anyone from the class who is done at the same time. We go out to eat along the street where our hotel is (most people live around the same area). Dinner normally lasts an hour or two at we ruminate on how the day has gone. Then we go home and crash only to begin again very soon.
So that's our day during the week. We do look forward to weekends when we have a chance to sit back and go a bit slower. As Elsbeth talked about earlier, we have also had the opportunity to visit an orphanage. We have now been their twice. It has been quite the experience and I would have to say it has been a bit difficult for me especially the second time. The first time through the terminally ill room it didn't hit me, I blocked everything out. Today however, we went through for a second time and it hit me. Many of their heads are three times the size they should be and they are in so much pain. They have tears in their eyes but do not cry out because its useless to do so. They lay there day and night with no break from their pain. But there are a couple of them that smiled, just to see us walk through there. I would love to work in there and would have loved to stay longer, but since we do not have the training they do not want us to play with them. We may end up creating more pain for them instead of helping them. They do have training sessions on Wednesdays where you can do physical therapy with them. I wish I had time to do this and I wish I could come more often, but unfortunately I will be leaving Ho Chi Mihn City soon. We had the opportunity to play with some of the toddlers today. I found this to be interesting also. These were children without any inborn developmental disabilities but when we went to play with them they were very mellow and didn't even want to leave our arms. Normally toddlers at this age would be impossible to control. We had about 15 toddlers in the room and only one was walking around getting into trouble. Before leaving the states I had the opportunity to do an internship with occupational therapist working with children with developmental disabilities. I would say that these toddlers were definitely at an extreme disadvantage in their situation and were developing at a much slower rate than children outside the orphanages. They were unwilling to play and only wished to be held. Its amazing what difference the human touch makes.
So I will leave it at that for the depressing portion of this blog. Sorry to bring it all down! To lighten it up a bit we are getting excited with one week left! ILA has invited us to go to Vung Toa this weekend to check out the school. So we will be leaving this Saturday. Some of us were also invited to do a tour with some of our students in Vung Toa. So we will be staying there this weekend I'm sure enjoying the beach! I hope everyone is well back home!
Monday, September 8, 2008
Orphanage Adventure
Elsbeth writing...
I know, I know it's been a long time since we last updated. It's been a busy last week or two with our class. We're there all day from 8 a.m. to about 8 p.m. ...well, at least I am because I just want to get stuff done there. Then we don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m. Sadly, we've even been going in on the weekends. It's actually not as stressful as what they said--that's probably because I just graduated from college. The class just lasts literally all day.
As you can probably guess there hasn't been much to update. Last Tuesday was a Vietnamese national holiday, which we had off from school. It was so odd to see red flags with the gold sickle and hammer streaming all over the city. It really makes your realize that you're in a communist country. I wish I could give you more facts about it now, but it's late and I've been so busy. Anyway, we mainly walked around and went shopping that day. I needed to get out. I was feeling so cramped from being sick, doing homework, and being at school all day. We mainly bought some basics. Then just as we were going to dinner we also bumped into one of the guys from our class who was going to get some pants he was having tailor-made. We'd been meaning to get some skirts and dresses tailored but hadn't found the time or energy, so we asked if we could go with him. We checked out the place, got a few ideas from catalogues, and found out the prices. We have yet to get clothes tailored, but we'll have to soon... We seem to run out of clothes so quickly.
Anyway, the streets were quieter than usual that day, but everyone was out in the park. There were so many cute kids out and all of them had some little toy that their parents had bought them from a vendor. Many of them had these fancy, Asian animal balloons which hovered just above ground. I've seen them before, but still we were amazed by them. I want one. Many people were also playing this odd type of hacky-sack only with a badminton type of ball with feathers. We were going to buy one from a little girl, but we decided to get it on the way back and then the girl was gone. Someone also invited us to play and I really wanted to but I think we were all nervous about screwing up. For now, I think we'll just observe and quietly practice; then we'll come out to play with the locals and show them our amazing hack-sacking abilities. There's always games going on here in the park. It seems to be a fad and national past time.
Then on Saturday Ellyn, I and two other girls from the class went to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. The school set up the visit and one of the ladies who works at school and volunteers at the orphanage paid for the taxi and brought us there. Apparently we were the first CELTA class who actually wanted to go to the orphanage. No one had volunteered before, which really surprised us. I was so happy to finally get out of the city center. I'd been feeling so cramped lately. Mostly though we were excited to see the kids.
It was an eyeopening experience to say the least as you can imagine visiting an orphanage in a developing country would be. There are many kids there who are disabled in some way. We played with kids who had Down's Syndrome, some other mental disability, or were blind. They were fun, but they don't know their own strength. As soon as I walked in the room one of them tried to hug me and subsequently tore the string clear off my apron. A couple others tore chunks of hair right out of the other two girls' heads. I really enjoyed playing with them though. They definitely need the attention. Most of the day they are confined to cribs. They've never been potty trained so even the oldest kids who are nine years old wear diapers. They've also never eaten solid foods, because the orphanage can only afford to feed them porridge.
There was also a room called terminal room--and they mean terminal. Actually it was two or three big rooms filled with children in cribs who had some sort of deformity. Many of them have Hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluids in the brain (also called "water in the brain"). Basically this means that their heads were enormous in comparison to their skeletal bodies. It's difficult and shocking to see for the first time. These terminal cases are both untreatable and treatable. In particular, Hydrocephalus is treatable, however the orphanage is too poor to afford to give these children the necessary operation to drain the fluid from their brains. Something that's fairly routine in the U.S. It's definitely food for thought....
On a happier note, we also got to hold and feed the infants. Many of them were normal, healthy babies who will soon be adopted. There was one set of twins who had red strings through their ears. Apparently, when they were born their parents had their ears pierced; however, the parents decided to take the gold earrings and abandon their children. You wonder.
The first baby I picked up was a tiny one, who was slightly deformed, and suffered from hemroids. He had been crying, but the second I picked him up he stopped. I fed him, but he wasn't that hungry, he just wanted to look at me and everyone with these big, gorgeous eyes. Okay, my plan to adopt a kid one day (which I've been planning to do for a long, long time) has been officially sealed.
Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. I'm not sure when we'll have the time to update next, but we'll try our best to keep you up-to-date, especially on what will happen to us after this class ends in...jeez, two weeks!
I know, I know it's been a long time since we last updated. It's been a busy last week or two with our class. We're there all day from 8 a.m. to about 8 p.m. ...well, at least I am because I just want to get stuff done there. Then we don't eat dinner until 9 or 10 p.m. Sadly, we've even been going in on the weekends. It's actually not as stressful as what they said--that's probably because I just graduated from college. The class just lasts literally all day.
As you can probably guess there hasn't been much to update. Last Tuesday was a Vietnamese national holiday, which we had off from school. It was so odd to see red flags with the gold sickle and hammer streaming all over the city. It really makes your realize that you're in a communist country. I wish I could give you more facts about it now, but it's late and I've been so busy. Anyway, we mainly walked around and went shopping that day. I needed to get out. I was feeling so cramped from being sick, doing homework, and being at school all day. We mainly bought some basics. Then just as we were going to dinner we also bumped into one of the guys from our class who was going to get some pants he was having tailor-made. We'd been meaning to get some skirts and dresses tailored but hadn't found the time or energy, so we asked if we could go with him. We checked out the place, got a few ideas from catalogues, and found out the prices. We have yet to get clothes tailored, but we'll have to soon... We seem to run out of clothes so quickly.
Anyway, the streets were quieter than usual that day, but everyone was out in the park. There were so many cute kids out and all of them had some little toy that their parents had bought them from a vendor. Many of them had these fancy, Asian animal balloons which hovered just above ground. I've seen them before, but still we were amazed by them. I want one. Many people were also playing this odd type of hacky-sack only with a badminton type of ball with feathers. We were going to buy one from a little girl, but we decided to get it on the way back and then the girl was gone. Someone also invited us to play and I really wanted to but I think we were all nervous about screwing up. For now, I think we'll just observe and quietly practice; then we'll come out to play with the locals and show them our amazing hack-sacking abilities. There's always games going on here in the park. It seems to be a fad and national past time.
Then on Saturday Ellyn, I and two other girls from the class went to an orphanage on the outskirts of the city. The school set up the visit and one of the ladies who works at school and volunteers at the orphanage paid for the taxi and brought us there. Apparently we were the first CELTA class who actually wanted to go to the orphanage. No one had volunteered before, which really surprised us. I was so happy to finally get out of the city center. I'd been feeling so cramped lately. Mostly though we were excited to see the kids.
It was an eyeopening experience to say the least as you can imagine visiting an orphanage in a developing country would be. There are many kids there who are disabled in some way. We played with kids who had Down's Syndrome, some other mental disability, or were blind. They were fun, but they don't know their own strength. As soon as I walked in the room one of them tried to hug me and subsequently tore the string clear off my apron. A couple others tore chunks of hair right out of the other two girls' heads. I really enjoyed playing with them though. They definitely need the attention. Most of the day they are confined to cribs. They've never been potty trained so even the oldest kids who are nine years old wear diapers. They've also never eaten solid foods, because the orphanage can only afford to feed them porridge.
There was also a room called terminal room--and they mean terminal. Actually it was two or three big rooms filled with children in cribs who had some sort of deformity. Many of them have Hydrocephalus, which is a buildup of fluids in the brain (also called "water in the brain"). Basically this means that their heads were enormous in comparison to their skeletal bodies. It's difficult and shocking to see for the first time. These terminal cases are both untreatable and treatable. In particular, Hydrocephalus is treatable, however the orphanage is too poor to afford to give these children the necessary operation to drain the fluid from their brains. Something that's fairly routine in the U.S. It's definitely food for thought....
On a happier note, we also got to hold and feed the infants. Many of them were normal, healthy babies who will soon be adopted. There was one set of twins who had red strings through their ears. Apparently, when they were born their parents had their ears pierced; however, the parents decided to take the gold earrings and abandon their children. You wonder.
The first baby I picked up was a tiny one, who was slightly deformed, and suffered from hemroids. He had been crying, but the second I picked him up he stopped. I fed him, but he wasn't that hungry, he just wanted to look at me and everyone with these big, gorgeous eyes. Okay, my plan to adopt a kid one day (which I've been planning to do for a long, long time) has been officially sealed.
Anyway, it's late and I'm tired. I'm not sure when we'll have the time to update next, but we'll try our best to keep you up-to-date, especially on what will happen to us after this class ends in...jeez, two weeks!
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