residual effects and new challenges

The sun has come out a bit in the last few days (could spring really be just around the corner?) and since everyone is leaving, we decided to hit the beach on Tuesday between orphanage visits. We took a cab for the 20 minute ride out there and were so excited to see the ocean, until we saw the sand. Not only was the beach littered with garbage, there was black, sticky everywhere. There must have been an oil spill off the coast somewhere, but I'm news-less here and hadn't heard anything.


I've heard about other oil spills and the pictures are so disheartening, but let me assure you that it is nothing like seeing it in person. Everything that washed ashore was covered in the goop, including metal rods, shoes, birds, crabs and fish. The sheer volume of oil was amazing, it stretched on as far as we could see and, I'm quite sure, for miles more.

We were stuck there though, since the cab had already left, so we made our way through the globs of oil as best we could and settled ourselves out on the clear part of the sand. The ocean was very dirty, and cold(!), so the kids set to work writing in the sand, building sandcastles and digging holes. Stuart managed to dig a hole wide and deep enough to stand in, coming across a crab only once (which he kindly moved to another area of the beach). Audrey molded a mini-home for herself with couch, chair and TV in the living room and a little bathroom to the side, complete with a squat toilet.


The entire time we were watched, from the sidewalk above and, soon enough, surrounding us. The kids surrounded my kids, watching them build and dig, without much comment, save the "one dollar" begs and screaming "hello!" at us. There's no issue with staring and getting right into our business, but we're getting used to it, though it still makes me laugh.
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We got a new baby yesterday; a tiny little thing born just the day before. I had to ask twice to make sure that the baby was that freshly hatched, though she sure does look like it. I'm not sure what the situation was that precipitated giving the baby to the orphanage, but hopefully she'll be adopted soon. Until she gets a mom of her own, I will cuddle and love her like she's mine.

going a-Hue

We spent the weekend in Hue, a former capitol of Viet Nam, which is a 5-hour train ride north of Tam Ky. It's where Tamra and Summer (from New Zealand) are volunteering for GVN and where Chris, Mai and Megan live. We had plenty to see and crammed what we could into two days, but like Hoi An, we will have to return to see all we wanted to see.

We visited the Citadel for several hours on Sunday, but we still didn't see all of it. The place is enormous and we wanted to take our time to read the signs, take photos and really just soak in the grandeur of the place. Unfortunately, we were also soaking up the rain as it sprinkled the entire time were were there. Still, it was very nice and an enjoyable excursion for all of us. Some of the old sites have been incredibly boring for the kids, but this one maintained their attention a bit better (plus I think I'm getting better at picking out the interesting "hey, look at that" sort of things). UNESCO is funding renovations on the Imperial City and already the improvements are visible. It'll be amazingly beautiful as the work continues.

We managed to convince another Westerner to take our photo in front of one of the building (you know, the requisite posed photo) and then we did the usual chit-chat: where are you from? how long are you here? And found out that the photographer and her friend were from New Jersey and, amazingly, their tour guide was from little ol' Tam Ky. We raved about the city and how much we love it. He was so excited to have us know about his city; it was great fun.

It was a great trip and here's a brief rundown of the places we ate:

La Boulangerie (20 Hung Vuong).
A little French-style bakery that sells some lovely little pastries. We bought them every day we were in Hue and loved everything we got. There are a variety of styles including croissants and pastries filled with chocolate, mango, apple and banana. Delicious and run by a charity that educates local orphans in a skill that can provide a living for them after graduation. Great prices for delicious food.

Minh & Coco (3b Hung Vuong)
A typical little cafe with about half Western/half local clientele. I had a banana pancake, the kids both ate the omelette with bacon. The hot chocolate (ca cao nong) was pretty good and she served a chocolate syrup with the pancake. Pretty good and a decent price. We ate there with friends and for the 5 of us, it only tallied up to 78,000VND.

Huyen Anh (52/1 Kim Long)
Delicious two-dish restaurant where we were the only Westerners (and felt more comfortable!). They serve banh uot thit nuong and bun thit nuong. Very good. Especially the banh uot (pork and greens rolled in a rice wrapper and dipped into sauce). Stuart and I were big fans and between us, we ate 26 of them (S=16, T=10). Yum! We were treated to dinner by Chris and Mai, so I don't know the price, but considering it's way off the tourist trail, it had to be quite reasonable.

Omar Khayyam's (34 Nguyen Tri Phuong)
Our first night in Hue we had dinner at Omar's at the suggestion of a friend. It was good food, though a bit spicy for my kids' taste. The curry was sweet and the garlic naan was more butter than garlic, but maybe they messed up the order. It ended up costing about 150,000VND. A deal compared to prices in Hoi An.


We slept all three night at the Phu An Hotel (42 Nguyen Tri Phuong, www.phuanhotel.com)and were delightfully suprised for once. The room was larger than others we've stayed in and didn't smell in the least bit bad. There was a large window, two bed (queen and twin), a bathtub that actually plugged up and a small balcony. It was wonderful and if we can make it back to Hue, we'll go again. We were picked up at the train station for no additional cost and breakfast came with the room price ($15/night). We didn't like the eggs (they tasted like they had been cooked in thrice-used oil), but the socola sua nong (hot cocoa) and fruit drinks were delicious and we paired them with the french pastries on the last morning there.

We didn't make it on the tour we'd hoped for. The rain cut out any desire to spend 5 hours on the back of a motobike. But the sun is coming out more and by the time we get back up there, the weather should be cooperating on a more regular basis, I hope, and we'll do it then.

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In other news, the other volunteers are all leaving. Claire is going to Nepal to work in another orphanage. Leah heads home to Australia today and Jo is heading to Ha Noi to meet up with her boyfriend on Friday. So, tomorrow the new volunteers, one from Denmark, one from Sweden, come in. Let's hope we all get along as well as we did this month. We had a wonderful time and I will never forget them. My kids made a new best friend in Jo and I will forever appreciate the time she spent with them so I could do homework or take a nap or go to the internet. It's tough saying goodbye so often.

happy and sad goodbyes

Quang's getting a home on Monday. He's been at the orphanage since he was born, though he was scheduled to be adopted at birth. He's a twin and when he was born, it was harder on him physically and he was left with bruising on his face. The adoptive parents showed up and decided they wouldn't take him and, instead, adopted only his brother. Quang was taken to the baby orphanage and has been living there, since while his brother lives only a few kilometers away.

Now, there's a couple coming from America to adopt this fantastic kid and while I am so excited that he will have a family, it is sad to say goodbye. Quang and Stuart are very similar in ways and have gotten along very well; the goodbye was hardest for him. We gave Quang a photo of him and Stuart with a message and our email address on it. Yen is going to see if she can get the mailing address for his new parents, so we can contact them. We'd really love to stay in touch with him via his family. And just maybe get to see him again in the States. I hear he will live near Disney World. Sounds like a good vacation spot to me.

Hoi An Recap

After our visit to the Home of Affection on Friday, Jo, me, Stuart and Audrey took off, with Mr. Hanh driving his cute little white Fiat, to Hoi An. I thought it was a good omen that the second song on the tape we were listening to was The Smiths' "Need To Be Loved," followed by Thompson Twins, New Order, and a number of bands I haven't heard in years. Granted, I was the only one singing along, but it made the trip so enjoyable. I would never expected those songs to provide the soundtrack while driving along some road in Viet Nam. A bit surreal.

We got to Hoi An at around 5pm and checked in. I told them that we were there for two nights, but he said that they were pretty full and only had rooms for one night. We got it settled and put in room on the top floor. There was a beautiful terrace and we felt so lucky until we caught a whiff of the room. Why do we always get the stinky rooms? It wasn't horrible, but we kept the door open and finally managed to get the fan turned out (the switch was behind the mirror...logical, eh?) to clear out a bit of the musty odor.

Sleeping. Thumbs down for Hoang Trinh Hotel (76/4 Tran Hung Dao). Not only did our room smell funky, but we were given a room with two twin beds for the three of us. Not the most comfortable sleeping arrangement with Audrey and I in the same small bed. The the sink fell off the wall. Audrey had gone into the bathroom at around 11pm to look in the mirror and when she leaned on the sink, the entire ceramic thing fell off the two small hooks on the wall, crashing to the tile floor but somehow remaining in one piece and missing my daughter's feet. Then the water started shooting out of the wall. Whee!

I jumped up, threw my hand over the spraying water to keep it from shooting straight into our bedroom, yelled to wake Stuart and sent him down to try to find someone to help us. He finds the clerk, who speaks no English, and uses gestures to tell him to come upstairs. Stuart rushes back and the clerk slowly makes his way up only to stand on the door, refusing to enter our room to see the problem, despite the kids' wild gesturing. He turned and left; meanwhile, I'm still in the bathroom holding water in the pipe with my thumb and getting my feet burned by the hot water still coming out. I tried turning the shut off valve, but it like playing Twister to get to it and it just kept twisting without slowing down.

I'm about ready to panic when Ayode (a volunteer from the Hue program who'd joined us for the weekend) knocked on the door to find out of we were all right. No, in fact, we aren't. So, Ayode (eye-oh-day) saved the night when he was able to reach the water shut-off valve and twist, twist, twist until it shut off. The bathroom floor was covered in water, the sink was in two parts and we just left it that way and went back to bed.

In the morning, I told them what had happened (using a lot of gestures still) and that I wanted a room (and out of Room 302). No problem, she assured me. We'd even get a room with windows and could move in after 12pm when the others checked out (of Room 304) But when we returned at noon (Audrey and I had migraines from the stinky, sewer gas air in the room overnight), we were told it would be about an hour, so we sat out on the terrace for a bit, but it wasn't helping our headaches. We took some medicine and eventually made our way back downstairs and ate our leftover pizza. At a bit after 1pm, I asked about moving our things over so we could go lay down. No luck. It won't be available until 3. And at 3pm? You guessed it...we'd get a room later, but this time we were told we'd be in Room 301 (Jo's room). We decided to not even come back again until after dinner and at that point, we were moved into Room 104, right off the front lobby.

They did so much shuffling between us, were given only four rooms for our group when we'd reserved five, were incredibly unhelpful when needed and tried to overcharge me by 100,000 VND. Overall, a terrible experience.
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Eating. We didn't eat out much as it was pretty expensive compared to Tam Ky and I don't particularly like spending money on food. Each night, though, we went out as a group (basically our only times all together). With nine of us going to different shops, it was hard to plan meet-ups, though we did randomly run into each other a few times.

The first night, we went to Xua & Kay (51 Le Loi), where we ate pizza and french fries. The pizza was actually pretty good; we bought the 4-cheese kind and a pepperoni to share between me, Stuart, Audrey and Summer. There was plenty for the night and leftovers for lunch the next day. It was pricey; the pizzas were 79,000VND each, plus the kids got Sprites and I had a pineapple lassi (fruit, juice and yogurt drink). Very good and all together, set me back about 200,000VND (about $12). After dinner, the kids and I headed downstairs and played foosball in the bar while listening to the Rolling Stones. A bit too Western for my liking, but I'd recommend it anyway.

The second night, we at at the Tam Tam Cafe, recommended in most guidebooks and by me, as well. The place was nicely decorated with several different dining areas and a balcony with a few small tables. Seemed like it would be nice for a romantic dinner, if you aren't as devoutly single as I. We order Carbonara Pasta (described as pasta with cream, garlic, bacon, and cheeses) and Chicken Pasta (described as pasta with cream, garlic, chicken and cheeses). Both were sauces served over spaghetti noodles. Despite the lack of fettucine noodles, it was really delicious and very flavorful. We ordered the two plates (85,000VND each) and shared it between the two of us with plenty of leftovers (lunch, again!). The kids drank Sprites, I had a Tam Tam cocktail (a delightful mixed-fruit drink with no alcohol) and shared a plate of garlic bread with others at the table. Altogether it was 230,000VND (about $14). Very expensive for food here, but we managed to eek two meals out of it for three people, so it wasn't too bad.

Shopping. What Hoi An is known for... the clothes shopping. I'm really not the right person to ask, being a seamstress and all, because I really was not impressed with the overall quality of the things that are made there. Yes, they can "copy any design" but don't expect it to wear as well as if you'd actually bought the Calvin Klein suit. That said, we did have a good time and after I fix a couple of things on the clothes I had made, it will all be good.

We visited two shops, primarily. Hoi An Cloth Shop (154 Tran Phu) is operated (not owned) by a young lady named Quyen (pronounced a lot like Quinn) who was a joy to work with. She speaks English very well and loved the kids. She helped me get the copy of my dress, pants and a shirt for Audrey and plaid shorts for Stuart. All from fabric that we had bought at the Cloth Market (1 Tran Phu). I also bought the silk fabric for the boots from her for $8/metre.

All the prices are given in US dollars, as well. A bit startling when I'd gotten so used to dealing in Vietnamese dong. It did help me to realize what a good deal the fabric was. It seems like good quality by feel (and after a washing, everything kept it's color, didn't twist, etc.). The linen was $5/metre. The cottons were $3-4/metre. Very good prices. I bought some fabric for Audrey to have another skort made, but we didn't have a photo or the skorts, so we will have it made here in Tam Ky.

The Cloth Market was great and there are a number of tailors in there, so you can have things made right there, which is what I did with Hoa at Cloth Shop No. 20 (she's on the east side of the Cloth Market). She was recommended to me by a friend and I ended up ordering a button-front shirtdress in a cute floral fabric. It will be perfect for hot summer days, though it really is calling out for red shoes. I may have to settle for some flip-flops (jandals) for it. She also made me a black a-line skirt, but after two fittings and running out of time, it still doesn't fit my waist. Darn that small waist-big hips thing.

Finally we had our shoes made at two places: Funky (28 Bach Dang), a shop run by Hoa's sister, Huong, and Ty Ty Shoes Shop (133 Tran Phu, across from Hoi An Cloth Shop). Huong helped us get my dark brown dress shoes, black leather flip-flops for Stuart and pink plastic flip-flops for Audrey. The shoes all came out well and the kids have been wearing them all week. Mine are "real" teacher shoes, so I'll wear them when I get a "real" job. My boots were made at Ty Ty Shoes and I put them to the test on Tuesday when we went to karaoke and they were comfortable, wore well and fit beautifully. Along with my Western features, the boots garnered a bit of attention.
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Sightseeing. As Keith recommended to me, just wander. There is so much to see, despite the constant "buy my stuff," "cyclo ride!" and "money, money" calling. The river is lovely to sit by and features some pretty strange little animals. We spotted crabs, fish and that weird eel-ish thing.

The Japanese Covered Bridge is best visited in the evening. We went through it one night at about 8pm and got to look closely at everything, though the altar room was closed (we looked through the grating). We went through the next day at about 10am and had to fight our way through. No fun. There are a ton of old buildings, though we didn't go inside any this time. We are planning another trip and will do more sightseeing and no shopping (okay, maybe some gifts again).

Hoi An is great for the ceramics, DVDs (we bought 16 at a buck a pop), bamboo bowls and t-shirts. There were a lot of things that were unavailable in Tam Ky that we found there, including quite a few little gifts for my nieces and nephews. Walk all the way down Tran Phu when you go; there are quite a few shops down there that have some really nice stuff and it doesn't feel quite as Disneyland-ish as the main part of Tran Phu.

Besides the horrible hotel experience, the faux-Viet Nam feeling of Hoi An was the worst part. Because we are living in a city with little contact with foreigners, there is no facade. Tam Ky is Viet Nam. This is how people really live and work and act. They don't speak English for us. They eat at the street corner. They talk very loudly. The shops are tiny and crowded with boxes and the streets are a bit dirty with garbage waiting to be picked up by the front steps. In Hoi An, everything is being cleaned, repainted and spiffed up, all the time. It felt like visiting a Chinese restaurant in America and having all the wait staff, chefs, etc. being Chinese, but knowing that this isn't what Chinese food is really like. It's modified for the Western palate. That's what Hoi An is like. It's Viet Nam, modified for the Westerner palate.

So, go to Hoi An when you get the chance. Have some clothes made, wander the market (it's bigger and a bit crazier than the one here in Tam Ky), but remember that it's been altered to make it easier for you (I.e. price quotes in USD, English-speaking clerks). Then hop on a bicycle and wander out of the city center, away from the other Westerners. And if you get the chance, visit another town. One that's on the map, but not in the guidebook. Like Tam Ky.

I -heart- fast internet

Tonight was a good night and I uploaded about 50 photos. Honestly. Check 'em out. There are a bunch from Hoi An. I still didn't finish the post about it, but you can get a good idea of the action by checking out the pics.

Hoi An in brief

We spent the weekend (and too much money) in Hoi An, but we are back in Tam Ky. It's nice to be "home." Hoi An is very touristy and a bit obnoxious at times, but I'll explain more in my next big post about our trip, complete with recommendations.

I got my boots and I'm a happy camper. They are striped in a black/grey/dk. pumpkin silk dupioni. Very cool, tail-kickin' boots. I also got a black linen skirt, a chocolate brown linen dress (a copy of my vintage dress, see photo below with Goolie), brown dress shoes and a light cotton floral dress. Stuart got a pair of brown plaid shorts and black leather jandals (flip-flops). Audrey got a pair of crop pants, a tee for swimming and some pink plastic jandals. Fun, but tiring.


I'll post more soon. For now, I have to go work up a lesson plan for the 6-7 year olds at the Home of Affection. They are a trying bunch, but hopefully they'll learn to love me.

Off to Hoi An

Today we leave Tam Ky for the first time since we arrived two weeks ago. We were supposed to head to Hue last week, but due to Audrey being ill we had to stay home. We'd already planned for Hoi An this weekend, but I was a bit scared we'd have to cancel this week, as well, when Stuart developed a fever on Wednesday. But everyone is well enough now and we're looking forward to the hotel room. Hoping for a bathtub and internet. We'll also be doing some fun sight-seeing, getting harangued by the local sellers and eat some Western food. It'll be a nice break, then back to Tam Ky on Sunday evening.

The changes in eating and increase in exercise has made my skirt a bit big, eh? No, mom, I'm not starving. Eating enough and lots of fruit and water.

bad bug bites

So we had our first social occassion and went to a coffee shop owned, in part, by one of the students at the Economic Zone--Mr. Bao. There was an older fellow, in an even older tuxedo, playing sax and accompanied by others. Nice, but overly loud. I ordered a delicious yogurt drink and the kids both enjoyed their hot chocolates.

We'd ridden our bikes over and everyone had sprayed or rubbed on the bug repellant. Everyone, but Stuart, we later found out. We arrived home after 9pm and he saw a couple of bites, but by the next morning he could count 20 on both arms. Awful.

So lesson learned. Wear bug repellant in the evenings. Always.


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Audrey is feeling better. Stuart finally caught it and is spending the day in bed right now. Probably not sleeping due to the constant horn-honking, but he's attempting to get some rest and get back to health soon.


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And who knew that cactus grew in Viet Nam?

What we do...

Every day we go to the Quang Nam Province home for Orphans, informally known as the Baby Orphanage. We spend an hour and a half there playing with the kids, the only play time they get. We also bring fruit everyday since they aren't fed much beside rice gruel and tofu. The whole building is made of cement with barred windows everywhere. The buildings form a square around the play area; a roof covers the entire area, though the sides are open between the building, so there's plenty of fresh air. The play area has a couple of swings, a teeter totter and two small slides. We also have the key to the toy closet and bring those out for the kids to play with.

The kids can be a bit crazy at times and there is a definite difference in rearing children here. There are no "no hitting, no throwing" rules, so chaos reigns when too many toys come out. We've learned to keep it minimal. There is little to no respect taught to the kids, so they do whatever, including tearing up the books that we brought to share with them. The "mothers" (workers at the orphanage) aren't afraid to smack the kids and don't do much cuddling with the babies. It's also an interesting cultural norm to yell at a baby/kid when they are coughing. I asked Yen why and she said that it detracts their attention from the coughing and makes them stop. I had to turn quickly before rolling my eyes at that one.

So every day we go there, cuddle the babies, play catch with the kids, sing nursery rhymes and toss them around a bit. Stuart and Audrey are great with the kids. Audrey has gravitated toward the shyer girls and Stuart takes on the craziest boys in chase and in physical play. Yesterday, he was flipping the kids around and walking around with them while they held onto his ankles. Very cute and the orphans have a great time with him. They don't get much rough and tumble, so they appreciate it all. They really love to jump and be spun around, so a lot of time is occupied with that. Burns energy for both Stuart and the orphans!

There are several sets of twins there right now and the kids range from 1 month old to 13 years old. One new girl has a cleft lip, so the volunteers are going to see what it would cost to get that fixed and see if there is a way we can help. She is about 1 year old and very small due to not being able to eat well with the lip problem. She is kept to herself in one of the rooms so as not to disturb the other kids. Another boy there is 6 years old, but due to some unknown problem, is about the size of a thin 18 month old, maybe two. He's agile and fearless, making him quite the sight as he flips around the play yard. He hasn't grown in more than 2 years, despite repeated visits to doctors and added nutrition (he gets yogurt, bought by us volunteers) every day. Altogether there are about 25 kids, I think.

I'm learning to not be so depressed by the orphanage, though it's a daily fight. Holding one of the babies yesterday, Stuart asked how long they have to stay in the baby room (we aren't allowed to carry them out into the play area) and was told until they are 2. So for the first two years of their lives (depending on when they come to the orphanage), they stay in the same room 24 hours a day. His reply was "That's crazy!" but Yen couldn't understand why it would be any different. I explained that in America, we take our kids out with us anywhere after a few weeks. And she thought that was crazy. The kids do get adopted out, though, and that is a step up in my opinion. It's nearly always by foreigners (they have had one domestic adoption from that orphanage) who take the babies out of Viet Nam, so there is something about that that smacks of colonialism, but I would, personally, rather see that than living in an orphanage for years on end, only to leave at 18 with little education or job skills.

We also visit the Home of Affection most every day and on some days, twice. We lead classes there, as well as playing with the kids. The kids are older there and know a little bit of English. They are better behaved, though not angelic by any stretch. C'mon...they're kids! We separate into 4 classes: preschoolers (4 or 5 of them), 7-year-old twins, older kids (ages 9-16) and Truc. Truc is the unofficial security guard for Home of Affection and is always a joy to see. He has the biggest smile and always asks how you are, even though he pays no mind to the answer. Truc came the orphanage almost 6 years ago after he was found isolated in a tiny, dark room of his parents' home. He had been held there for the first six years of his life. He is now mentally retarded and physically the size of a 7- or 8-year-old. It isn't known how much the isolation affected those things, but I'd guess it was the primary cause along with malnutrition.

The kids have a cement play yard that is uncovered and contains an ancient teeter-totter and a small metal play structure that can be climbed and then slide down. The kids play a lot of soccer in that area and I've joined in a few times. Quite fun and since all the windows are barred here, too, it doesn't matter if you kick it too hard and it hits the buildings. ha! They have one classroom that we all use, which makes it a bit difficult, but we're trying. The kids learn English in their regular classes, so we are just supplementing and giving them and opportunity to use the learned English.

Audrey and I have also been learning a bit of Vietnamese sign language from one of the girls there. Her name is Nga and she is 16 years old. She has both parents still alive, but they didn't feel like they could raise a deaf daughter and sent her to the orphanage as a young toddler. She sees her family once or twice a year and is really looking forward to going "home" for the Tet holiday next month. The VSL is similar in ways to ASL, but different enough to cause confusion. She's wonderfully patient with us, though. It's interesting, because at times we are using four language to get the meaning across. She fingerspells in Vietnamese, so if I don't know the word (often the case) I ask Yen to translate into English, then I'll show her the ASL sign and she'll show me it in VSL. Pretty fun, actually.

The kids are great, but the orphanage is a bit rundown. No surprise. It hasn't been painted in years and there are several broken windows. The kids live in dorm-like rooms with four to 8 bunks in each, grouped by age and sex. Then there is a kitchen, the office, the teachers' bunks and the classroom. And like all other official buildings (and many others) it is painted yellow. It is adjacent to a vocational school for the older children where they learn domestic skills, like cooking and sewing, that will hopefully help them get a job in the future.

We also had two adult classes, but are now at one. We taught one class at the Tam Ky Hospital, but it was cancelled tonight due to irregular attendance. This was our third time and only two of the students have been there for each class. Otherwise it is pretty off-and-on as to when people are attending. It makes it difficult to plan lessons because people are at such different levels of English and dedication to learning. It can be frustrating and the hospital decided to call off classes until March.

The other place we teach is the Economic Zone, where we have 8-10 adult students. They are all professionals: architects, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, international trade manager, etc. Their English levels are pretty high, some better than others, of course. The shocking thing is the wages that these people make. Tam Ky is a very small town and the average salary is less than $50/mo. The electrical engineer, after 4 years of college and several years of work experience is making only 1,000,000 VND a month. About $60. A month! He was shocked to learn that in my job in the States I was considered poor making $12 and hour. I made in 5 hours what it takes him 120 hours to make. Amazing.


As for the city we live in, it has roughly 100,000 people in it and just became an official city (instead of a town) in November. It is fairly large, but we've only explored within about a mile radius of the house. The train station is not too far away (which we'll use to get to Hue in a couple of weeks), there's a large market where we are the center of attention and lots of government buildings. Tam Ky is the province capital so there are plenty of government officials wandering around all the time. A bit creepy. And every night around 2 or 3 am I can hear helicopters flying over, but there are not lights on them. Ever. The craziest thing is the Voice of Vietnam, a message that comes on, preluded by music, every morning at 5am to usher in the day with news of Vietnam's growing prosperity. It's interesting propaganda, though I don't have any straight-up interpretation of it. Just an explanation from our translator. No matter what, I can't sleep through it. It also comes on around lunch time and after dinner (at 7pm, I think) though it lasts the longest in the morning. Not my favorite. In Da Nang it was at 4:45 and sounded like a fire alarm going off, but never followed by talking. In Ha Noi, it started at 7am and had music and talking. I'd prefer that one over the others, but I'm growing used to it, even if I can't sleep through it.

photos on flickr.

photos

I got a few onto flickr today:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/teresa_and_kids

rain, rain go away

Another day of rain and I'm a bit tired of it. Luckily I come from rainy weather, so it isn't as overwhelming for me as those that have come from sunny weather. It's wet, but not to cold (though I wish I'd packed some sweaters!).

A 3-year-old was adopted from the orphanage today and I was so glad. The orphanages do their best, but it's no place to live for years on end. As a mother, it's heart-wrenching to watch these kids that yearn for love and physical affection, but do not (and really cannot) get it there. One baby cried and cried until I started rubbing her little foot and it calmed her right down. I finally convinced one of the "mothers" to let me hold her and she just cuddled up onto my shoulder and laid there for the next twenty minutes, finally at peace, being held. It was nice to be a bit of a comfort for her, but knowing that it was all she'd get for the next few days was really difficult for me. I didn't hide it very well, either. No tears, but a melancholy afternoon. I'll have to find a way to put a more positive spin on it or it will send me into a bit of a funk and I (and my kids) don't need that right now.

In funnier news... Mrs. Hanh tried on Audrey's clothes and shoes tonight and they fit. Too funny. We had a great laugh and took some photos of her wearing Audrey's dress. Very cute. She's a great sport and we're growing to adore her more each day.

off to bed....

Tam Ky

Here's the update (sans photos as I can't log into the 'net with my computer to upload them):
We are in Tam Ky and it has been raining. For the first two nights, it rained *hard*. Enough to wake me up with the deluge. Then it rained all day Saturday, so we got a bit wet going to the market. Okay, so we got really wet, but the kids have ponchos, so it wasn't too bad, really. Today (Sunday) it is nice enough. Overcast, but dry. I guess it kind of comes and goes, but hopefully the rain will taper off more. I don't particularly riding a bike in the rain, though I suppose I will get used to it. :)

We went to the city market yesterday, which is nothing like markets in America, to say the least. It's set up like a flea market with a bunch of different booths and arranged by items. The place is a bit overwhelming for the senses with all the sounds and smells and sights. Crazy different. The kids wandered off a bit, but when they found cone hats, Audrey had to come back and get me. She took me back over there and I bought it for 20,000VND. About $1.25. Not too bad. We also bought some fabric, some Pediasure (to keep Audrey's weight up), hangers and a nifty little rack for hanging things like socks and undies to dry. I got enough fabric for two dresses (one lined) and two blouses for about $15. It will cost another $20 or so to have it all made up. That's insane. :) Stuart wants a pair of plaid pants, but we couldn't find the right fabric yet, so we will keep looking. I think we will go back later this next week to find toe socks (the Japanese kind). Yen (pronounced Ian) said they sell them there for about $1/pr. Yea! Much better than the $14/pr. that I paid in Portland.

Anyway, the market was a bit crazy because the kids are like a sideshow all on their own. Westerners don't really come here, so my kids are among the few, if not the ONLY, white kids they've ever seen. So, you can imagine the staring. Now insert it into a culture that is way touchier than America and poor Audrey is poked, prodded, pulled, touched, etc. every few steps. Seriously, it's the strangest thing to watch. The next time we go to the market, I'm going to have Jo film it. It's really overwhelming for poor Audrey. We went with our cook, Mrs. Hahn (a wonderful lady!) and when she realized that Audrey wsa upset by it, she took her under her arm (which is adorable, because honestly...Mrs. Hahn is about 3 inches taller than Audrey) and shuttled her around the place, telling people that she didn't want to be touched anymore. Very nice. After that, the hassling (sp?) really slowed down and went back to just staring. Yea.

We also visited the orphanages on Friday. It was very different from what I'd expected, but the kids did wonderfully. It took about ten minutes for the orphans to stop just staring at the kids, then the playing began and everyone had a great time. Stuart, as usual, played with the little kids, chasing them around, flying them on airplane rides, etc. Audrey latched onto a couple of kids and had a really fun time. That was at the baby orphanage. One of the girls pointed out that Audrey had something stuck to her legs. It was the hair on her legs. :) Too funny. The other orphanage is a school and home. It was a little less fun for the kids because they were older kids and it was rainy. -sigh- One of the girls there is 16 years old and deaf. We tried conversing and she was teaching me signs in Viet Sign. Very fun. It will be good. We will be teaching there and two adult classes. The kids are looking forward to it starting up for real.

Our home is pretty nice, though I am getting pretty picky about the cleanliness and have started scrubbing things down. :) I scrubbed the tile bathroom yesterday and it feels so much better now. No foot fungus, thank you very much. ha Stuart has his own room (though it is supposed to be a study or something and doesn't have a door. Audrey and I share a room. It works out very nicely. Although we are getting bit a bunch. Thank goodness for the mosquito net at night. I think we will start wearing the repellant during the day, though, since Audrey has 9 bites and I have about 6. Stuart has 1, lucky dog.


Blogger is a bit off-and-on here, which is why I haven't posted in a few days. I will continue trying, but it's not working quite as nicely as I expected. Bummer.

riding the rails

Our last day in Ha Noi.... what to do? Keith visited once more and we headed out for lunch. The kids love the fried rice and it may become a staple in their diet. I'm just happy when I can get Audrey to eat, so I'm more than willing to order the same thing every time. This time we ate in a little cafe with an upstairs balcony, no surprise that the kids (and I) enjoy the view. Audrey had her first hot chocolate-Vietnamese style and really the best way to describe it would be liquid pudding. You know when you make it at home and before you put it in the refrigerator? That's what it was like: thick and syrupy-sweet. I drank it and called it lunch.

After lunch we headed back to the hotel, stopping at an ATM along the way, and tried to figure out what we could do with these kids who were tired of strolling the same area of town, had little interest in seeing more old stuff and were bored to the point of misbehavior. Then the lightbulb lit above Keith's head and he suggested the shopping center's arcade, so off we went without telling the kids. It was a hit, for sure! A bit overwhelming at times with the pushing and shoving, but overall a really great time and in an environment where they could vent some of the physical energy and not worry about being too loud.

Our train was scheduled to leave at 7pm, so we took a taxi over (barely fitting our luggage into the car), piled out and waited for the doors to open and allow loading. As we waited, a young man approached and grabbed hold of my tickets. I wasn't about to let go, though, and he read them then pointed at the train. I shook my head yes, that I knew it was my train, but as the doors opened and we all streamed toward the cars, the fellow came up and grabbed our suitcases, loading them onto the railway car for us. He looked again at our tickets to find the berth numbers and set about finding them, then loaded all of our suitcases under the beds (the big one under the table) and promptly asked for a tip. I was nearly ready to give the boy a kiss at this time, so I tipped him more than some might approve of (50,000VND= $3.00), but it was well worth it. I honestly don't think I could have lifted those suitcases up those stairs or known how to pack them in.

The whole adventure of the train ride had worried me. We were alone, completely (no front desk clerk who speaks English or a good friend to call) and in "hard sleepers" and headed to a place I wasn't sure I'd recognize and had not idea when we'd be there. I'd been told we'd arrive at 7am, 10am and 11:45am. The latter was correct. I was a bit nervous, though I was hoping for the best. Turns out, it was fine. We fell asleep within an hour; the train's rocking is lovely for putting tired people to sleep. I only slept a few hours, then fitfully dozed for the remainder of the dark hours.

After 6am, the view came into show. There was so much to see and again that feeling of "Oh my, we really are in Viet Nam" hit me as I watched rice farmers tilling their fields with plows pulled by water buffaloes; women in cone hats, up to their knees in water, working in the paddies; ancient burial spots with temple-like structures around them; boats and the rivers and fishing nets. It was all exactly like I'd expected. Several people waved as we passed, my face pressed to the window.

The kids woke much later and enjoyed the view, as well. Especially the section between Hue and Da Nang. The guidebooks are right about that. Stunning views of palm trees up the mountain on one side and the ocean beating against the shore just to the other side. Even the cramped quarters and the squat toilets (!) couldn't take away from the fun of the train and the kids asked that we do it again, so we will take the train to Hue when we visit in a couple of weeks. It was an amazing trip and one that I highly recommend. We even were served two meals, something I completely didn't expect. A great time that ended with our arrival in Da Nang, where we were picked up by GVN people.

We checked into our hotel, but our room was so mildewed from the rainy season that it was honestly causing me to feel like the floor was moving and I had an instant migraine. We opened the windows and went for a walk with Summer, Tamra, Aiday and Hailey. Da Nang is much calmer than Ha Noi and was easy to walk around in, but proved to be a city that lacks much interest.

Except for the dilapidated amusement park that we strolled through. It was like a Twilight Zone episode, honestly. There were bumper cars that sat idly in their cage. Street kids touching my kids and asking "money, money." A row of caged animals were to the left: monkeys, a bear, two crocodiles, and an empty python cage. Strolling further, we came across an exercise area with large, welded things that resembled the equipment at the gym, including an ellptical, a treadmill, weight machine and others things to work your arms and legs. It was very strange. And throughout much of it sat an empty monorail track. The kids enjoyed themselves, but I couldn't help being slightly weirded out by this place that time seemed to have left behind, yet there were still a few people hanging out there.

Then we met the children. "Hello!" "Hello!" they all call out and we smiled. The five or six girls joined in for play and everyone had a great time on the old merry-go-round and the strange, extra-wide swing. Then it became tiresome to our girls to be followed constantly, so we decided to leave. Problem is, the girls continued to follow us, even as we split ways with the rest of our group. Right out to the main street, across the traffic and into the supermarket. Then they waited, watching us from the end of each aisle we passed. They weren't allowed into the store area, so they waited for us by the checkstand, then followed us again as we began our walk back to the hotel. They left us about halfway home, a relief as were were all a bit creeped out by it at this point.

Our hotel was still stinky, so we asked for a room change via Viet and hours later (and had an increased price) we got a new room. We no longer had the mildew, though we had acquired a lizard. That we could deal with though and sleep came easily despite the warmth.

the perils of travel

Stuart noticed them first and thought they were roasted pigs, but on closer (not too close) inspection he realized they were the infamous dogs. You know, the ones that the Vietnamese eat and that everyone warns you about before coming here. The market had several booths selling them, often chopped in half through the belly with the guts removed. There were plenty of animals in other states of dismemberment and it was test of strength for us all to walk through there without making faces or even many comments from the kids.


We also had our first horrific taxi ride and I have learned the importance of keeping a city map with you at all times. We'd taken the taxi to Trang's home for dinner, but the kids were (quite literally) falling asleep at the table and we needed to go back to the hotel. The taxi was called, but it took forever for them to arrive, so another taxi was called. Finally, one arrived and I climbed in with Audrey sleeping on my lap and Stuart beside me. The ride went well and I began to recognize the area as we passed the theater, then St. Joseph's Cathedral and we were within blocks of the hotel, but then he turned left and I thought perhaps he was going around the block or something, but I was soon to be proven wrong. Instead he kept driving and I had to stop him and tell him, via gestures, that the target location was behind us. The roads are not square blocks here, so changing direction isn't very easy and he got himself all turned around. He kept referring back to the business card (with a small map of the hotel area) that I'd handed him after the initial wrong turn, but he didn't seem to have any idea where he really was. I dug out my little map and searched the map for the streets we kept turning on and finally I found the road (Hang Ba) and told him to head straight. Problem was, we were now heading straight in the wrong direction. So, again, we try to turn around, but it's not so easy. Finally, I find us on the map again and start giving driving directions to the hotel. Luckily he followed my pointing finger until we reach Hang Manh and being a one-way, he couldn't turn down the street. Instead he turned around and drove backward up the street. Yeah, in reverse. What should have been a 20-minute ride had turned into an hour.

After a long day and climbing those 89 steps up, yet again, we fell into bed and I actually slept for a miraculous eight hours. -insert angelic choir here- A good beginning for a Happy New Year!