Moving on

So my 2 week stay in Saigon has come to an end and I leave for Dalat and the highlands tomorrow. The whole experience here has been fulfilling and I am so happy I decided to volunteer. Working with the disabled children challenged me and took me out of my comfort zone, something that I wanted to happen during this year. It was hard not to be affected by some of them but I just hope that some of time I spent with them brought some joy; I certainly shared lots of cuddles and giggles and smiles with many of them. I have learned lots and I want to build on this in the future.

I've also really enjoyed spending time with Amber and Nhi and I look forwards to  meeting up with them in the UK in the future. Never has getting a hairwash been such a luxury.

My favourite smile of the day

Hai in a rare still moment

Cuon in a thoughtful moment

Nhi and Tchieng

butter wouldn't melt

The boys with their new building set

musical accompaniment

Love Chinh's killer smile

Ty poses as Ba looks on

Ba checking out the wheels again!

The expert puzzler

Nhi, Amber and Britta

My breakfast cook-makes me look like a giant

Nha Trang

Amber and I left work on Friday and caught the sleeper bus up the coast to Nha Trang, probably Vietnam's number 1 beach resort. I slept very little on the bus but still managed to get on a boat at 7.30am and spend the morning snorkelling. It is a nice place, a pretty big city by the sea with a lovely white sand beach. It was much bigger and busy than I had imagined but that has been the themeof my whole trip really. The snorkelling was good and and well organised but the water was not as clear as in Malaysia and I didn't see as many fish. Amber was completing her Open Water Diving qualification and her instructor Han was really friendly and took us out in the evening to a cool restaurant where you make your own spring rolls...lots of herbs, pork and rice paper.

on Sunday I spent a day on a sunlounger reading my book...bliss. After a week at work I felt that this beach day was a deserved one. Nha Trang is actually full of Russian tourists and there are many direct flights there from all over Russia, so I was a lone Brit on the beach .I ended my day with a lovely sea food meal.

I caught the non sleeping day bus back to Saigon on Monday and ironically managed to get in quite a good nap.We stopped off at the smaller seaside resort of Mui Ne before reaching Saigon in the early evening.

There is no teaching this week because all of the children have exams so I shall be spending lots of time in the therapy room.The moany volunteers have left and so the atmosphere is good. Nhi invited some of us to her aunt's for delicious Bahn Xeo  this evening and we are planning some other post work excursions later this week.

Time flies

I can't believe I've been here for a whole week. Time really has flown by yet I feel as if I have been here for much longer. People recognise me in the street on my way to the Pagoda, I have a regular breakfast spot, I can cross the road like a local, I can say a few words in Vietnamese.,..

Highlights since my last post.

1. Getting a big hug every afternoon from Chinh 1 in the therapy room and watching him look out for Chinh 2 as we walk around the grounds. Chinh 2 loves being taken outside and seeing him laughing and smiling warms my heart, Chinh 1 makes sure that we go the right way and puts the hood of the pushchair up if it is too sunny. both real favourites of mine before I knew that they shared the same name.

2. Communicating with Hay, the cheekiest of the kids in the therapy room about how he likes to eat...bananas must be mashed, soup must be blown on first, rice should only go in the mouth and not on arms...and being given a thumbs up sign when I get it right.

3. Talking in English with Thay, my strongest and keenest English student, about school and sport and watching him copy up his notes into a notebook: I have longed for students as motivated as this.

4.Laughing with Amber in the Ho Chi Minh History Museum about the seemingly random collection of objects on display, eg here is a stool that someone involved in the Tet offensive once sat on!!

5 Finding an opticians who can replace my scratched varifocal glasses for a pair of distance glasses and a pair of reading glasses for £65 ( believe me this is a massive bargain...varifocals  were no cheaper)

6. Spending lunch time today getting a mini facial, head and neck massage with a hairwash...all for less than a £1

7.Meeting Nih, a German born Vietnamese volunteer who instigated 5 and 6 and introduced me to delicious iced Vietnamese coffee....only had a sip so far but may have to have a whole cup very soon.

8.Eating lots more delicious food, including Bahn Xeo, fish Lau  and a sort of oyster omelette

Lowlights

1. Trying a mouthful of unknown meat in a local restaurant only to discover quite quickly that it was inf act
cat :(  The sign outside, featuring a black cat rather prominently some how failed to give us a clue.

2 .The constant whining from a couple of the other volunteers (not Amber or Nhi) about the poor children we look after and how sad it is and how they could have a different life....if they weren't disabled or  if they weren't orphans, or ..if they lived in another country, blah blah. they are disabled, they are orphans and they live in Vietnam....there is no point making comparisons: I have no idea what orphanages are like anywhere else...I have no idea how an average Vietnamese person lives but these children are here and they will still be here when we have gone back home  so let's just get on with  caring for them as best we can...as I've said before they are clean, well fed and there is a lot of laughter and joy here.

So as you can see the high light exceed the lowlights. I haven't taken any photos of the kids yet because I want to spend time with them rather than spend time photographing them but I will try and get some next week. I've also visited another orphanage today run by SOS Orphanages, which is an international charity. it was really interesting and a very different model to the Pagoda but it only takes able bodied children.

Saigon

I feel like I have been here for weeks but in a very positive way. I don't know what it is about the place but I have just settled in very quickly and I feel at home.

My first full day at the Pagoda was tiring but interesting. I met my English students in the morning and had to cobble together a hasty lesson on the spot when I saw their text book. This is not ideal but I managed ( a PGCE and years of French teaching stood me in good stead). They are all 12 -13 year old boys, with a range of abilities and attention span. My role is more as a tutor to back up what they do in school so I'm going to try and do some games and more creative stuff with them...not sure how this will go down but I'm only here for 2 weeks so I'll give it a go. it was strange to have to think about lesson plans again, but also quite nice to engage my brain. I need to raid the local stationery shop for some materials too.

My afternoon was spent in the therapy room and I started to see the routine a little more clearly. I don't know any of the kids' names yet but I have started to work out what some of them like and what some of them can and can't do. The language barrier is an extra obstacle but some of the nurses and staff are helpful- they really have their work cut out and it must be an added stress for them to have to deal with a bunch of unqualified 'do gooder' Westerners.

My neighbour and fellow volunteer Amber have bonded over our love of food and have already started to try out as many different places and foods as we can. She has been here for a month already and so has lots of good tips. One surprise is the food at the Pagod-delicious simple vegetarian food.

I spent Saturday morning with a national volunteer who took me on a tour of down town Saigon, on the back of her scooter. This was an experience, I spent the first half of the journey with my eyes firmly closed, clinging to the seat, remembering to breathe...however I soon realised that despite the amount of traffic and what looked like chaos, there was in fact a system and Vy knew exactly how to negotiate the roads. I'm actually very pleased that I did it. She showed me the War Remnants Museum, the Reuinification Palace and the main post office. The city centre heavily influenced by the French and it is impressive, it is what  I expected to find in Pondicherry.

Before heading out for a night on the town with Amber I returned to our hotel and wandered around our local area. People recognise me in the street now and I met the lovely Mr N a furniture store security guard in his 60s desperate to practice his English with me ( he told me he learned it when he worked for the Americans but you never know how many questions to ask about this). I also discovered a fantastic local market tucked away in some streets behind the hotel. This was full of fresh food, fish and meat, as well as clothes and houseware. it was great to wander around and such a contrast to the city centre.

Amber and I spent the evening drinking cocktails at the Sheraton where the view over the town was quite spectacular and the cocktails were £3 each ( actually that is expensive for here) and then we followed a Lonely Planet recommendation and ate in an upmarket restaurant nearby. Needless to say we were disappointed...as so often happens the surroundings and the price (13 for 2 course...very expensive for here)   were not an indication of the quality of the food. It was a good experience but we a sticking firmly to street food from now on.

First day in Vietnam

My flight here was very easy and straightforward and I was picked up at the airport by Thu, the coordinator for Vietnam Volunteers. I booked into the hotel and had a wander around the area, which is known as district 12 GoVap. My first impressions were good, it is busy and I have never seen so many motorbikes and scooters on the road but it is friendly and easy to walk around.

This morning I had a huge noodle soup for breakfast with Thu and she taught me some basic Vietnamese phrases, talked me through my schedule and gave me lots of useful advice and tips. She is a very bright and competent young woman, only 23 but very good at her job and interesting to talk to, we have covered the war, linguistics and sex tourism already. We did a quick tour of the Pagoda and met some of the key people. The temple part of the pagoda is ornate and very gaudy, I liked it a lot. The orphanage rooms are not as grand but they are clean and well maintained.

I was very intrepid at lunch time and ordered some street food near the Pagoda...I have no idea what  the dish was called, it  resembled Dim Sum steamed dumplings but cold and it was absolutely delicious-photo below. I then spent the afternoon helping in the 'therapy room' with a range of children from about 1 year to about 16 with a range of different disabilities. I thought I would find this much more difficult than I did . I was particularly taken with a couple of young boys with cerebral palsy who just had beautiful smiles. There were 4 other volunteers there from Germany and Australia and we helped feed the children and took them out into the garden.It is probably not as' touchy feely 'as a European institution would be and some of the staff were quite severe looking but the children were well looked after and although it's not the life any of us would chose for our own children it is certainly a much better life than these kids could have had. It is however only my first day and I may feel different after 2 weeks.

Tomorrow I teach English to some of the mainstream kids at the orphanage...don't know what I'm teaching or where but I'm sure everything will be ok....I might have to do some homework tonight...I also have to learn my Vietnamese numbers because Thu said she would test me!!

So far it feels like a good decision to have come here and to volunteer.

Goodbye Singapore

I'm just coming to the end of my stay here in Singapore and although I am excited about the next stage of my trip it is also going to be sad to leave. I have loved the time I have spent here with Annabelle, Richard and Sam and I'm really glad that I didn't rush off  toVietnam straight away. One of the things I wanted to do this year was to spend time with friends,  I've been so lucky to spend time with Richard in Africa and Sally in Swaziland and this extended stay in Singapore has allowed me to reconnect properly with Annabelle.It is great to be able to visit so many places but the best parts of the trip have been just spending time with friends old and some new.

We have not been lazy this week however. We have walked in the Bukit Timah nature park and been cycling on Pulau Ubin. We have spent the day at a fabulous water park on Sentosa Island, Go Karted at the West Coast Park and shopped in Little India.  We've fitted in some foot reflexologyI and a pedicure as well as a couple of swims at the British Club. I have continued my Pilates classes  and have learned loads about how to strengthen my bad hip.I almost know my way around now and I'm already planning my next trip.

So tomorrow will be a bitter sweet day for me. I fly from Changi to Ho Chi Minh at 13.45 ; it's only a 2 hour flight. and I shall be met at the airport by Thu the coordinator from VIVPS, who will take me to my accommodation near  the Ky Quang Pagoda ready start my 2 weeks of volunteering the following day.  Here is a link to the organisation with which I have arranged my placement. I
http://www.vietnamvolunteer.org/vivps-programs/programs-at-a-glance/ho-chi-minh-city/phuoc-hoa-pagoda-program.html

I've then pencilled in a 5 night tour of the Central Highlands and the Mekong Delta with these guys
http://www.vietnam-easyriders.com/home/view_tour/4. I just need to confirm my start date.

I'm not sure what my internet access will be like for the next few weeks, although based on my previous experience there will be some, so the above information is just in case I'm out of touch ( yes mother I'm talking to you here :) xx)