First Day at the Orphanage

I've gotten into an early morning routine: the rooster in my neighborhood wakes me up with it's cock-a-doodle-dooing at about 4am, I go back to sleep, I wake up again starting at about 5 because the sun lights up my room despite the existence of drapes on my windows, I attempt to go back to sleep, and by 6 I just suck it up & get out of bed.

I left the house with my roommates at about 7:15am, and the streets were already crammed full with motorbikes and an occasional taxi. Bob went to go work at a clinic, while Traci & I took the buses to the orphanage. Although it's been difficult trying to order food without meat in it, the walk to the bus has solidified my vegetarianism. There are tons of food stands on the side of the road, & the fresh fruits & vegetables look amazing. However, I have also seen all sorts of meat at all stages of butchery. For example, I saw live chickens being sold by one woman, then dead ones, then skinned ones hanging by wire around their necks, then ones literally on the chopping block, then marinated, seasoned, & cooked ones ready to be eaten. I won't even go into detail about the dog meat I saw...

Anyways, when I walked through the gates of the orphanage, I was given a warm welcome filled with "Xien tao's" (Hello's) as well as getting my silly bands ripped off my wrists. At Thien Phouc, Traci & I play with the kids & help feed them, & we also help with physical therapy. PT is hard because they don't have that much equipment to work with & the kids aren't that motivated. We put some of them in Forrest Gump-type leg braces, & other ones on body boards with velcro straps to engage their muscles used to stand up. A lot of them can't walk at all by themselves, so we also have to carry them to & from their walkers. Today was super hot, so it got harder as the temperature increased & the sweat accumulated on my face & back. I spent most of the PT hour helping a girl, Tien, walk back & forth along two parallel bars. There was a metal divider on the floor in which she would walk with one foot on each side. She used her upper body strength to prop herself up on the bars, but the point was for her to use her lower body as much as possible. It was hard to keep her engaged for the whole time, but she seemed to think it was hysterical when I would puff up my cheeks & cross my eyes at the same time. Only then would she run the length of the parallel bars.

While most of the kids there are pretty cute, one 16-year old boy was especially charming. He is in a wheelchair, but he's mostly there mentally. In his wheelchair, he carries around a little notebook, pen, & "Learning English" book. Apparently he's been teaching himself English, & speaks it beautifully. Just as I find Vietnamese sounds nearly impossible to vocalize, I'm sure the people here think similarly about English. Thus, I was super impressed with this kid's clarity & level of understanding. I could probably write a paragraph about each of the kids there, but I thought I would just highlight a couple. Kids are kids, & the kids at this orphanage are so eager for love & attention. I'm glad I can give them some affection & move their muscles a bit during PT because something is better than nothing. Nevertheless, this experience is going to be just as difficult as it will be rewarding.

After Traci & I arrived back at our house around noon, we showered & hung out for a couple hours. We met up with a Vietnamese girl (20 years old) for a late lunch at a cute restaurant called "Country House." This girl has been a contact for the past few ELI volunteers after randomly meeting one a couple months ago. Her English is amazing, & she's super sweet. It'll be great to have her around to help translate & show us cool things to see & fun places to go. After lunch, the three of us took a taxi to the airport to retrieve my found luggage! I was thrilled to have it back in my possession because that means I now have my underwear, tennis shoes, Keens (which would've been great for the rain today), bug spray, and Cliff bars. I have been struggling walking as much as I have been in only my Teva flip flops. Plus, I'll finally get some protein in me even when a restaurant or food stand doesn't have tofu :) I really am going to attempt to try as much cool food as I can, but I'm pretty turned off by the meat, fish, & anything else that was once running around when I'm paralyzed by the stench of all those things raw every time I step outside.

The Taxi driver waited for me at the airport, & his meter rang up a drastically lower fee than the company we usually take. Dieu & Traci were talking to him throughout the ride & said that the bigger companies usually take the longer ways & over-charge. He seemed super friendly & was trying to say some words like "airport" in English. Then, he proceeded to talk about his who kids. He said his 10-year old son is learning English in school & that he would love to talk to us. I know this may sound kind of sketchy, but I can assure you, it was safe. The people here aren't out to "get" or scam each other, nor are they trying to take advantage of foreigners. The driver asked us if we wanted to go anywhere else tonight, so he waited on the main street off our alley as I dropped off my bag. Then he took us to the Westernized/touristy coffee shop, The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, in District 1. I like coming here because there are is always a variety of people here. Yesterday, I talked to a guy from London whose grandparents moved from India to Uganda & then moved to the UK after Idi Amin kicked them out. It was cool to hear about his travels as well. Driving all around the city with this particular driver basically ended up being far cheaper than the other cab company would have been. I think Traci & I now have a set, trustworthy driver. He said he drives every other day & lives kind of near us, so we might help him & his son learn English while they teach us Vietnamese on his off-days! I am definitely planning on committing myself to learning at least some of the language because it's way too hard to get around- & order vegetarian- without knowing any Vietnamese.

I almost forgot- there are frozen yogurt places on every corner, so I WILL be able to survive here. While it doesn't compare to the actual Fro Yo or Pinkberry, I think the frozen yogurt here will suffice.