hey
just thought i would write a little update...i have finished my first full week working. it was pretty tiring so i am glad to have the day off today. i am really exhausted as i have been having terrible sleeps due to the heat at night. and i have a constant headache. the temperature is average 105degrees daytime and only falls to 88 at night so it ALWAYS hot. heather and i share a tiny room and we only have one fan. i tried to sleep during the day today in the shade but couldn't.its still too hot there. i though about sleeping in the air conditioned bathroom floor but if i am caught i will risk being expelled from this hotel and that would be the end of things for me!!! hopefully tonight i will be so tired that it wont matter and i will just pass out.
anyway, work this week was good. i have had all my classes a couple of times now so i am getting to know them and their level of english which is quite good. i also volunteered to do the babies more often as i wasn't originally doing them and that has worked out well. the GVN volunteers really are the highlight of their day! i go in the mornings and play with them and give them their lunch unless i have another class to teach. i took the baby cups that i had brought over (you know just cups with lids that babies can hold themselves) and they had never had them before! they were a massive hit! i put freezing water in them and let them carry them around and they just continually drank for about an hour. they must have been so thirsty. the smallest baby there, who they think is around 2 (although i think she is younger), is teething and she just held the cup in her mouth so that the cold water could sit and cool her gums. she has perked up since i have been giving her lots of water to drink. its amazing that the smallest things are really appreciated. i also took them ice cream yesterday (although i'm not sure the mum was too happy as it was quite close to lunch time) which they loved!
the little girl louann is very clingy and seems to get upset really easily. she wants up the minute that you walk in the door and the poor wee thing starts breaking her heart if you put her down for even a second. its so sad that she just wants someone to cuddle her. she is stunningly beautiful, especially when she has tears in her eyes. i would bring her home with me if i could. my mum would love her. shes a sensitive wee thing and tiny but really smart and can do the jigsaws that none of the other kids can do.
for the older classes we have come up with teaching plans so we know what we are going to do for the next week. i really enjoy my class with the younger boys. they are a lot of fun. and at the university i teach an advanced class where i have been given topics to talk about. this week my class was supposed to be about 'job interviews ' (something i have A LOT of experience in now!!!!!) but when i got there my class had been cancelled and i got given a different class. the only problem was that they were very basic english and had only been learning 3 months. the organisation at this place is a shambles. it was virtually impossible for them to understand anything i was saying and guaranteed they thought i was completely nuts. so i kind of abandoned it and just asked them to ask me questions they had about it instead. big mistake! they obviously didnt realise i meant for them to ask about job interviews and instead they wanted to know in detail everything about my love life and family..... 'how many times have you been in love?' 'are you married?" 'why not?'(they said with concern) 'do you have a boyfriend?' 'what does he look like?' 'what are your top three important factors for a boyfriend?' 'what are yous plans for valentines day? ( i mean what!!???!!!!!!!???)' 'what specific activities will you do on valentines day?' when i said i didn't know i was told to imagine then and tell them!!!!! 'do you argue with your boyfriend because he has same job as you?' 'when are you getting married?' 'do you have a good relationship with your parents?' 'how did your parents meet?'. it was crazy. i had been warned about how the vietnamese people are very interested in that sort of thing and will ask bizarre questions but i was bombarded! its very bad luck here at my age not to be married, by 26 you are considered past it and no-one will probably marry you so i had to explain how its different at home and they seemed hopeful on my behalf that it wasn't too late for me.one even suggested that maybe my problem is that i stayed at university for too long and was glad to hear that i had finished now. also it is very bad luck to get divorced here so sorry mum and dad but you are still very happy together as far as the vietnamese are concerned! haha!
next week my topic is 'industry and money' so i think i am going to talk about the declining manufacturing industry in the UK and the subsequent increase in Asia...anything but more questions!
tomorrow we are doing a day trip to the DMZ. (De-Militarized Zone for those of you not up on your Nam terminology ;)) we get to go through the underground cave networks that people actually lived in, which i think will be cool, and i don't actually know what else because i stopped listening after that but it should be fun anyway. we are going by jeep rather than motorbike this time, although i am not sure that it will be any safer. they drive like lunatics here. i have to cycle to and from work everyday (yes i am fully aware how funny this will be to many of you) and i take my life in my hands every single time! one really good thing about being here in this capacity is that i am really living like a local which you could never do if you were staying in a hotel. and in that way its actually quite cool.
i am glad in a way that i have settled into a routine but it still feels like a pretty long time til i get to come home and the novelty is wearing off a bit. i am managing though and at the start i really didn't think i would make it this far.
I am going to visit Uncle Patrick in Indonesia on the 27th June til 2nd July then to Singapore til the 5th. trying to book flight to visit him is a real bloody palava (?? is this a word??!). I am going with an Indonesian airline called Garuda who don't have online booking so you need to call them and navigate round a complex automated system. this alone took me three attempts. and another two to find someone who spoke english. then you book the ticket without being told how much it is. this is apparently completely normal procedure!! next you are meant to go to one of their offices within 72 hours to complete payment as they wont take credit cards, the only problem being that all their offices are in Indonesia. I mean for God sake it doesn't take a genius to see that this is going to be a problem for a lot of people !!!! Luckily i am hoping that Ira can save the day for me and sort out from that end. It will be nice to do a bit of travelling after being here working and the thought of sleeping in an air conditioned room is total bliss!. not to mention my uncle pat's food...how exciting..any weight that i have lost i will definitely put back on there!
oh! one last thing...i have been meaning to say that when i got here i left one bag of donations in Da Nang and we unpacked them the first day. The women were going absolutely crazy for them! GVN just took on a new very poor orphanage there and they were in desperate need of clothes which is why i left one there. The second bag I have brought with me to Hue and have been distributing between the orphanages that we work in here. There are two which are sponsored by French and American NGOs and are really very good so I have been giving to the places I felt needed it most and the mothers are SO grateful. I was the only person to bring clothes ect as donations. I especially feel that the small baby orphanage is in need of some help. the three babies there eat boiled rice for one of their meals as they don't have much money for food although we take them milk and nappies as and when they ask. the babies sleep on the concrete floor( which is surprisingly cool) but obviously not ideal and there is a lot that I feel could be done for them. The kids barely even have toys. When I come home I am definitely going to continue fundraising and keep donating and hopefully make some sort of difference to the place. I just wanted to say though that all the donations REALLY helped and all your efforts were worthwhile. I wish you could all see the difference it makes to these babies. you should be very proud of yourselves.
well, i had better go.its getting late and i have to cycle back for dinner. i miss you all lots and hope that everyone is well and you aren't having too much fun without me!!
lots of love, victoria xxxx
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