Its 4:56 am and I am sitting jet lagged in a hotel room with my family in Pennsylvania totally shocked in disbelief that I am back in the states.
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| Duc, Vinh, Khanh and Truong |
Our last few days in Da Nang were amazing and we got to spend a lot of time with our kids at Mary's House as well as see all the sweethearts at the Pagoda orphanage again. On Tuesday afternoon I went to have a little visit with the kids at Mary's House and 4 of the boys ended up taking me out in their neighborhood for a little walk and showed me the best place in the neighborhood to get Pho. I totally adore all of the children here; they really are the nicest. It was the sweetest thing having them holding my hand and leading me around their neighborhood. It is also so nice how much freedom the kids have even though they live in a home. They are allowed to go out and explore the market and have some free time outside of Mary's House. Its really lovely.
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| An, Connie and Phuong |
We spent Thursday afternoon just hanging out with the kids at Mary's House which was really, really nice. We have been taking them out on big trips, which is also really wonderful, but it as fun just going and playing with them at their house. We got to see them a bit in the classroom and they are all so motivated- most of the ones in class didn't even come out to play with us until after they had completed what they were working on. I think that this was the day that we realized how sad it was going to be to say goodbye to these children. The last few weeks have been so jammed packed and flew by so quickly that we never really had time to process what it was going to be like to leave. Even the day that Anne Stuart left was so full that although we were heartbroken to see her go, we didn't really give much thought to what it would be like for us to leave. However, we will be back soon so it doesn't even remotely feel like goodbye.
We had another big adventure with Mary's House on Friday and took them all to the arcade. We spent a bit more than an hour watching the kids go crazy playing all of the different video games as well as bumper carts (yes, bumper carts INSIDE the arcade). At one point little Ut, who is hardly tall enough to see over the game tables, was driving around in one of the little cars, running into everything and having the time of her life. Liv managed to climb into one with two of the kiddos, which was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. We ran into another group of children visited the arcade from another house run by Giving it Back to Kids, so that was nice seeing some of the other children that we haven't met before. After the arcade we tok them for lunch and ice cream at a place called Lotteria which is kind of Vietnam's version of KFC and then took them home to get some rest. Friday night we were able to spend some time with our friend Hong who was an intern at GVN the first time we came over. We also got to meet her fiance (Olivia had already met him when she spent Tet with her family last year) as well as see our friend Tam who had visited the Pagoda with us the week prior.
On Saturday morning our friends Hong, Tam and Rosanna took us by motorbike to spend some time with children at the Pagoda orphanage. We had a few little things to give them such as infant diapers and wipes and then we got to spend the morning cuddling with absolutely adorable new born babies. It was really sweet, at on point one of Liv's students from 2011 cuddled up right next to her while she was holding a sleeping baby and went over her English with her. It really is the sweetest thing have these beautiful little newborn babies cuddle right up and fall asleep on you. I also love seeing how the older children interact with the babies with so much care. Everyone there is a caregiver and they are so kind to eachother. I am amazed at how well this place runs with all of the people that live there. Everything really is a group effort and like I said before, they all take care of each other. The age range of people that live there is incredible; people of literally all ages because some people spend their entire lives there. We were invited to stay for lunch which is always a treat. They eat all vegetarian and whatever they put in front of you is delicious. I'm really glad that we got to spend another morning there- its hard because it is so far away so the only practical way to get there is by motorbike. Luckily we had friends willing to take us!
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| Huy! |
We went to Mary's House in the afternoon and ended up taking the kids out for ice cream in the market. We walked over with one of the house mother's and all 24 of the kids packed around a little table for their treat and them we walked around the market for a while. We didn't realize it then, but this was actually the last time we got to see the Mary's House kids this trip. We went by Sunday morning but most of the kids were out and when we went on the way to airport on Monday we were heartbroken to find that they had all been taken to the dentist. That was definitely a huge disappointment, but I am so happy for the time we got to spent with them and I know we will see them all again before too long. We also found out that some of the kids have e-mail accounts, so it will be fun to stay in touch that way.
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| Liv, Dave, Connie at Cu Chi |
We spent Saturday in Hoi An doing a bit of souvenir shopping and then had an amazing dinner at our friend Tony's house. After that we met up with some friends for a bittersweet farewell. On Monday morning we left for Ho Chi Minh and met Olivia's friend Dave, who she will be spending the next two weeks traveling with. We had an incredible day on Tuesday and say the cu chi tunnels as well as visited the War Remnants museum. It was one of the most powerful things I have ever seen in my life. We've seen the results of agent orange in all of its devastating glory first hand on our trips here, but it was still unbelievably heartbreaking seeing the images and reading the stories. There is so much history here! We had a great last night in Ho Chi Minh City and said our 'see you soon's' on Tuesday. It just really doesn't feel permanent- I know that I am going to be back soon. We also have a lot to work on from home, so I don't feel disconnected from Vietnam. I will write more about the trip overall later, but it has been an incredible month and I couldn't be more grateful for the time I got to spend in Vietnam. Everyday had an adventure and the children we were lucky enough to spend our time with are so phenomenal. It definitely feels strange being back in the states. I am excited to head to a family wedding in Ohio today, though- it will be really nice to see the whole family. After that, back to school and onto planning the next trip!
More soon.
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| Liv, Connie and new friend Jen at War Remnants Museum |
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| Chau! |
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| 2 week old baby! |
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| Liv and Ut at Ice Cream |
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| Ice Cream at the Market! |
We had another big adventure with Mary's House on Friday and took them all to the arcade. We spent a bit more than an hour watching the kids go crazy playing all of the different video games as well as bumper carts (yes, bumper carts INSIDE the arcade). At one point little Ut, who is hardly tall enough to see over the game tables, was driving around in one of the little cars, running into everything and having the time of her life. Liv managed to climb into one with two of the kiddos, which was one of the cutest things I've ever seen. We ran into another group of children visited the arcade from another house run by Giving it Back to Kids, so that was nice seeing some of the other children that we haven't met before. After the arcade we tok them for lunch and ice cream at a place called Lotteria which is kind of Vietnam's version of KFC and then took them home to get some rest. Friday night we were able to spend some time with our friend Hong who was an intern at GVN the first time we came over. We also got to meet her fiance (Olivia had already met him when she spent Tet with her family last year) as well as see our friend Tam who had visited the Pagoda with us the week prior.
On Saturday morning our friends Hong, Tam and Rosanna took us by motorbike to spend some time with children at the Pagoda orphanage. We had a few little things to give them such as infant diapers and wipes and then we got to spend the morning cuddling with absolutely adorable new born babies. It was really sweet, at on point one of Liv's students from 2011 cuddled up right next to her while she was holding a sleeping baby and went over her English with her. It really is the sweetest thing have these beautiful little newborn babies cuddle right up and fall asleep on you. I also love seeing how the older children interact with the babies with so much care. Everyone there is a caregiver and they are so kind to eachother. I am amazed at how well this place runs with all of the people that live there. Everything really is a group effort and like I said before, they all take care of each other. The age range of people that live there is incredible; people of literally all ages because some people spend their entire lives there. We were invited to stay for lunch which is always a treat. They eat all vegetarian and whatever they put in front of you is delicious. I'm really glad that we got to spend another morning there- its hard because it is so far away so the only practical way to get there is by motorbike. Luckily we had friends willing to take us!
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