Goodbye Jo!

Our last January volunteer left yesterday and man, we're going to miss her. We really connected with Jo and we're all gonna miss her so much, especially Audrey. They really adored each other. She's coming back in a week, after traveling a bit with her boyfriend that's visiting from Australia, so the goodbye wasn't too sad yesterday, but the next one will be so hard. I honestly could her integrate into our family and be thrilled, but alas, she's going back to Australia and we'll just have to try and stay in touch.
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Welcome to Tam Ky City! As of 1 February, it's official. Tam Ky is now a city. It got approved as a city in November, but this marked the beginning of something bigger for the place. The flags are up, lights are strung around businesses, there was dancing and music that night.

Add in the fact that it's the anniversary of the Communist Party in Viet Nam and Tet is in two weeks, and you can only imagine the flurry of activity here. Businesses are getting re-painted, food is being bought up, houses are being cleaned and clothes are being ordered (including an ao dai for Audrey, at her request). It's refreshing and I can't wait to see this place after Tet; it's going to be lovely!

The rice fields are already absolutely gorgeous, with the green grasses fluttering in the breeze. Every day our trip to the Baby Orphanage gets nicer and nicer as the rice grows. We still haven't been able to figure out (or have it explained to us) exactly how the rice is harvested, but I might just have to sacrifice the time and do an internet search.

Talking of rice reminded me.... yesterday on our ride to the orphanage, I saw an old woman walking along the side of the rode, bent at a 90% angle to the ground, unable, after years in the rice fields, to stand up straight again. I couldn't help but cry just a bit for this woman, physically transformed by difficult labor, knowing that she is just one of so many. Maybe it's having a cold that makes me a bit weepy, but really, it's moments like that that impact me the most and make me realize how grateful I am for the luck of being born in a time and place that gave me options in life, limited as they are. I still am not destined to work, bent over in a field, mud up to my knees, picking rice for hours to be sold for mere cents, every day of my adult life, despite the pain. I am thankful, yet melancholy.