Cambodia

Our last weekend in Vietnam, Molly and I decided to take a trip to Angkor Wat in Cambodia. The bus trip was about 12 hours and very uneventful (on the way there...a whole other story about the way back:) As soon as we crossed the border, the atmosphere changed. The structure of the houses were poorly made, more children with inadequate clothing running around and the Cambodian people were very skinny and malnourished looking. However, with the recent horrific history of the country it was not surprising. The average income a year is $320 per family. The estimated number if killings during the Khmer Rouge Era is over 300 thousand and out of 65,000 monks only 3,000 survived....a staggering number! Even with all of this painful history the Cambodians spirit survived and though they are one of the poorest countries in the world, they are trying to rebuild their nation with smiles on their faces!

We arrived in Siem Riep at night time and found a guesthouse for about $6 a day. The next morning we woke up at 4:30 am and biked to Angkor Wat to watch the sunrise. We had to bike in the dark on Cambodian roads because we forgot our headlamps; needless to say, we had a couple of laughs and thought our dads would not be happy if they knew we were biking around Cambodia in the dark!! We made it to the temple around 5:45 am and it was amazing. We could only see the outline of the ruins because the sun had not yet risen and the stars were still in the sky. As we crossed the moat and went into the entrance a crazy feeling passed over me. To walk into the courtyard of Angkor Wat and have the massive ancient ruins just meters away was inspiring and overwhelming. Just like in Machu Picchu, nothing really prepares you for something so glorious. At the moment when the sun was rising over the five magnificent towers, I just wanted everyone I loved to be standing by my side to experience the joy with me!

After the sun had fully risen we explored Angkor Wat and all its glory. The temples five corn-cob shaped towers held us captive for awhile, until we decided that we had to move on if we wanted to see everything.

Most people were on motorized tuks-tuks, while Molly and I were pedaling around. I am not going to lie, there were moments when all I wanted was a tuk-tuk and some shade, but at the end of the day we were really glad we biked on our old Cambodian bicycles. Near the end of the day we went back to Angkor Wat and sat on the ancient wall and listened to our I-pods and just tried to take it all in. It is a moment that I will forever remember and tresure

Da Lat

Molly and I went to Central Vietnam and really enjoyed our time there. It was about an 8 hour bus trip north into the mountains. On our way, a bus side-swiped our bus and we swerved off the road. Everyone was talking loudly and looking out the window; of course, Molly and I had no idea what was going on. So, we got off the bus and looked at the damage. Nothing major just a broken mirror and some scuff marks; however, we were stuck on the side of a mountainous rode for about an hour with random cows running around everywhere!!
The city of Da Lat was beautiful and the weather reminded me of Michigan Falls (which I am really missing)! It is located high in the mountains and is surrounded by many beautiful flowers and waterfalls. The first guesthouse we went to had a room for $10 and internet, so we decided to stay. It was a great choice, because the woman owner was very helpful and the breakfast was amazing!! I got to try every kind-of fruit that Vietnam had to offer, and as most of you know, I LOVE fruit!
On our first day we decided to ride motorcycles with men called "Easy-Riders." They are a group of men that drive tourist around a teach them about the area and Vietnam. To become an "Easy-Rider" they have to take classes in English or French and also have to pass a test in tourism. We only went on a one-day adventure with them, but they offered anywhere from a two-day to a 16-day adventure all around Vietnam!! They took us to waterfalls, silk factories, pogodas and even let us hike up a mountain. My "Easy-Rider" taught me a lot about Vietnam history, the health care system, and the politics in the country today. Even though there have been a lot of rough patches in Vietnam's history, he was extremely proud of his country and all the changes it has made in such a short period of time. I thought about how much my mother would have enjoyed having her own personally tour-guide for the day. She would have asked every question in the book!!
That night we decided to delay our bus trip back to Saigon and book a canyoning trip. We were so glad that we did! We first learned how to rappel down a small hill and then went down an 85 meter cliff!! I was very surprised how easy it was and how both Molly and I just went down without even blinking an eye. We then went down more cliffs and even jumped off some into the water below. Plus, we got to rappel down two waterfalls, which was very interesting and fun. It was a totally different experience rappelling down something that has a ton of water coming at you. The tour was suppose to take 6-8 hours and it took us four. Our guides told us both numerous times how impressed they were that two girls all by themselves were doing this and how fast we went. Who knows, maybe they tell everyone that....but it made us feel really good!! Afterwards, our hotel owner let us take a shower in her bathroom and then we were back on a bus for our 8 hour journey to Saigon.

Saigon

The city of Saigon (aka HCMC) is a crazy city!! I have never seen so many motorbikes, cars, buses, and people in one area before... not even in New York City!! There is never a quiet moment- horns honking, people yelling, horns honking, dogs barking, horns honking, music blaring, and yes more horns honking. Street-side vendors are every couple steps. They are there in the early morning when we wake up and still there in the late evening when we go to bed. My favorite food has been from these vendors. Each vendor sells something a little different, so it makes it interesting!

At moments, Molly and I have almost gotten hit by cars or motorbikes. There are no lanes in the city so motorbikes go every which way without stopping or slowing down. A "one-way" street is never really a "one-way" street. The only reason drivers get pulled over by the cops is for not wearing helmets. However, only adults have to wear helmets, kids are exempt from this rule. We have even seen a man driving a motorbike, with a women breastfeeding her baby on the back!! We heard that an estimated 30 people die each day, because of the crazy traffic.

Crazy Male Foreigners

I am amazed and saddened at how many single old white men are in the city of Saigon. I don't want to generalize and say that they are all bad, but we have seen our fair share of them acting in manner that makes me frown in disgust. Most of them will hang out by themselves in front of a bar or restaurant drinking beer, waiting till a woman or a child approach. We have seen many occasions where a man will be sitting with a cocktail and three or four children surround him, while playing weird and inappropriate games. UNICEF estimates that there are close to 1 million child prostitutes in Southeast Asia alone... and that is just an estimate. Every night we see the same situation and I really try to restrain myself from approaching them and asking questions, or just taking the children and giving them money for the night; however, that really doesn't solve the problem because they will be back in the streets the next night. It is difficult to wrap my head around the concept of people taken advantage of a poor child in such a demeaning way. There is no excuse for this horrible situation...what do we do????

Mekong Delta

This weekend Molly and I went on a trip down south to the Mekong Delta. It was really nice to get away from the noises of Saigon and see some sites.
The Mekong River flows thru many countries; Burma, China, Thailand, Cambodia, Loas and ends in Vietnam. Our first stop was Can Tho where we saw how the people of the river make candies and rice paper, which was very interesting. Rice paper is extremely hard to make, and takes a long time to perfect. We then went on a boat ride down canals and stopped for lunch and a bike ride. I told Molly the last time I was on a bike in a foreign country, I ended up in a hospital for a couple of days. Luckily that didn't happen this time and we rode up and down many side streets, while kids yelled "hello" and slapped us "high fives." Afterwards, we found some hammocks and rested before our boat trip to Vinh Long. There we met an Aussie couple, who were very nice and fun and we ended up spending the rest of the weekend with them.
The next day we went to the biggest floating market in the Mekong Delta region. The boats are all anchored in a bay and people just float up alongside them and buy goods. While floating around I bought a pineapple from one of the vendors and he cut it up for me. It really was the best pineapple ever, so fresh and juicy. Most of the people live in their boats on the river. Some boats look like they could only house one person, but families somehow pack in!

Jung

We arrived at the clinic on Thursday and Jung (a young man) was not doing very well. When we left on Wednesday he was sitting up and eating dinner and talking more then usually, but on our return his breathing pattern had changed during the night and he was not arousable. Sister Theresa thought that he wouldn't make it till the weekend, but seeing how much he changed overnight Molly and I knew that he wouldn't make it thru the day. Around 12:00, his breathing pattern changed again, so Molly and I sat with him and talked to him. The sisters came by and decided that they would baptize him, seeing that his condition was declining rapidly. I asked Sister Rosa if one of Jung's wishes was being baptized and she said yes. The previous night, he stated that if he was close to dying, he would like to be baptized so he could go to heaven and be with his uncle. The whole ceremony was very touching and moving. The sister brought music in and chanted prayers over him. About 30 minutes later he past away. Some of the older children left the classroom and came into Jung's room. At first I didn't understand why they let the children come into the room; however, when watching their faces and hearing there prayers, I understood. They live with this disease everyday and our faced with many challenges. Death is a part of life and the sisters do not want to shelter them from that fact. With the right love and teaching, the children learn the skills they need to cope with death and the disease that they have. It was a very powerful moment to watch a 5 year old standing at this man's bedside saying a prayer very loudly and strongly...it brought us to tears.

The Clinic!

Our first couple of days at the clinic were very interesting. The children are in school during the morning hours, have lunch and take a nap, then are back in school till 4:00 p.m. Meanwhile the men and women help clean the grounds, or prepare the meals, and just do their own thing.
The language barrier is difficult. We do our best with what we know and so do the nuns, but our questions never get fully answered. We don't really have a schedule, so we do our best to help out where needed; however, we don't feel that our skills and knowledge are being utilized at the moment. One man, Jong, is close to dying and needs more attention then the others, so we mostly take care of him. We are hoping as the days go by and they get to know us better and begin to trust us, they will give us more tasks.

Vietnam

We arrived in Vietnam after a very uneventful plane ride (besides the fact that I was sitting next to three elderly Chinese men who were very friendly and loved to talk)! After leaving the airport our program coordinator was there to greet us. She was friendly and talkative, which made us feel very welcome after a long flight. We took a taxi to our guesthouse and Thanh (the coordinator) dropped us off and told us she would meet us at 9:00 a.m. for a little orientation process.

As Molly and I looked around the room, it was more then we expected. There were two twin beds, a nice size closet, a T.V. and minifridge. The shocker was an appliance above the shower that heats up the water, so alas we get HOT water!! We both thought that we were going to have cold showers for 2 months. The only down side was random ants on the floor, but that can easily be ignored.

The next morning Thanh and her friend met up with us after breakfast and we were off to see our place of work. We found out that we were going to be on a bus for 4 hours a day ( 2 hours there and 2 hours back) and we needed to change buses half way thru. When I asked why the clinic was so for away, I received an interesting answer. People that have AIDS are not suppose to be in the city during their end-stage of life, because the Vietnamese people believe that if someone with AIDS dies, they need to be burned in the country far away from the main population. As for the children, if the city knows they have the virus they are not allowed to be in the school system. The stigma that these children live with is overwhelming sad, due to the fact that many people are uneducated about the HIV virus.

When we arrived at the clinic it was nap time, so we didn't see many of the patients, but the supervisor showed us around. It is a very clean and peaceful place, with a calming feeling. We were there about an hour and then headed back to the city. On the way back our coordinator taught us useful Vietnamese phrases and other important "inside" travel tips. We got back to the guesthouse and crashed at 5:00 p.m.....the jetlag caught up to us!

The next day we just bummed around the city and learned our way around. We went to a great market with beautiful fresh fruits and veggies... and amazing orchids!! It was really nice to get more acquainted with the city and the people. We are excited to start work on Monday and see what it brings!

(p.s. I don't get to use a computer much, so things might be a little late sorry...plus I have to type fast because people are waiting so sorry about the spelling!!) Much Love!!