Final Farewells

Today was our final day in Rach Gia and for a day that had little going on, we had lots of things happen.  We had our final team breakfast today at our usual 7:00am seating and then Liz and I went to the Citimart for one last stop at the supermarket.  We met up with Matt and Steve and decided since we had all morning to chill, we would go to the new cafe across the street from our hotel and have a coffee.  I must stay, after only 2 weeks in Vietnam, Matt has become a pro at ordering coffee...must that infamous phrase book he brought along!

After relaxing for a bit we all decided it was probably time for us to start packing our bags and finishing up last minute things.  By noon we had all checked out of our hotel and jumped in our cabs to take us to the airport.  You would think nothing could happen this late in the game, but along the way we were almost side swipped by an SUV and not two minutes later by a motorbike...this is the first time I've ever seen a near accident and it wasn't that exciting knowing it was my side of the car that would have been creamed...but we all survived unscathed.  Then when we arrived at the airport, Jennifer wasn't allowed in before she paid for the taxi...something we thought was already pre-paid...but we worked it out in the end.  When we checked in, Lise's ticket had the wrong spelling of her name and this caused a bit of confusion, and then security noticed a crack on Steve's suitcase and needed to have a chat with him before they would approve it for the airplane.  Good thing we arrived early!!

When you board the plane in Rach Gia you go outside and board from the rear.  What we didn't know was that we were going to be scoarched by the engines when walking up the stairs...pretty funny to see everyone's reaction when they reached the point in the line where the very hot air finally hit them...crazy boarding process.  Our flight was only 45 minutes and when we left Rach Gia it was extremely hot at 34 degrees...with a windchill of 30 degrees!!  However when we landed in Ho Chi Minh City at about 2:30pm it was only 22 degrees, very windy and starting to rain...in fact it was so windy we had a very rocky landing to the point where we were still tipping back and forth right up to the second we landed.  Finally our luggage all arrived, including Jennifer's Sharpe marker and water bottle traveling along the conveyer belt all on their own...great luggage service in Vietnam!!  Mission accomplished...

I think that's enough little events for one day...except for the heavy rain and thunder that started just as everyone was heading out of the airport.  Before everyone left...I'm the only one traveling on my own after the trip...I said my goodbyes to and headed on my way to the departure gates for my flight to Hanoi where I'm going to spend 3 days exploring Halong Bay, a World Unesco site in northern Vietnam.

It's been a wonderful experience once again with Habitat for Humanity Canada and I would without a doubt recommend this type of life changing experience to anyone wanting to learn about a new culture, give back to those in need and learn a bit more about yourself....something I do each time I participate.  The only question now is where to next...maybe Nepal?!?!

As I head up north, there are a few things about southern Vietnam that will stay with me forever...some I will miss and others I will not.  Here are just a few...

• I will miss the people saying "hello" with such excitement every time they saw us, as well as all the pointing and stares, and of course the big smiles...I guess this was our little taste of fame
• I will miss the extremely witty and funny HFHV Coordinator who made this trip extra special in so many ways....you will always hold a special place in our hearts Ngan
• I will miss the laughter I shared with all my team mates and cherish the memories we created together in Vietnam
• I will miss traveling to work along the river...so relaxing and awe inspiring
• I will not forget the helpful hands of our two Habitat for Humanity foremen and their genuine smiles everyday
• The delicious fruit...especially pomelo and the Vietnamese pear...and all the fresh vegetables will be missed everyday at home
• Although it was necessary, I will not miss carrying 12 bottles of water to the work site everyday
• I certainly had my fill of "scrambled" eggs each morning...looking forward to my basic english muffin and peanut butter
• The sounds of roosters have yet to leave my head...when will it end!
• Even though I tried all of them, gelatenous foods are not my favourite
• I will not miss being sweaty and dirty all day long...even though it felt so good to finally have a shower
• Rock hard beds and snoring are not my friends

But with all that said, I loved southern Vietnam, meeting the families and playing a small part in ensuring everyone has a simple, decent place to live.  Thanks to everyone who made this experience such a memorable one and I hope you all were able to share in the experience.

Until next time...
Lisa

Day 8: Final Build Day

Today  has been a very full day starting with our drive to the build site...our last one of the trip.  With all the strange things that people transport on their motorbikes, I think the one thing that stands out the most are ducks.  The phrase of the day has now become "ducks in a basket"...we've actually resorted to searching them out and came across two bikes almost simultaneously carrying ducks in a basket on our journey to the site.  Look closely and you might see them in the blur...the best I could do on the hectic roads of Vietnam.

Since today is our last day, we started the day off by visiting a local kindergarten....what a treat!  The children of Vietnam are so beautiful and beyond excited to see visitors.  We first arrived across the street at the school to meet up with the school officials.  As soon as we entered the courtyard and some the kids caught a glimpse of us all walking in, subtle pandemonium started to set in.  The kids gradually came out of their classrooms waving and getting more and more excited...they love to get their pictures taken.

Eventually we went over to the kindergarten to see the kids....there were two levels of students, ages 4 and 5 year olds.  Many of the kids were very shy and were working very hard on their writing skills in the older group.  We also walked past a couple other classrooms and came across two little boys who were very excited to play a bit of peek-a-boo with their new visitors....so sweet.  Finally we entered a large courtyard where the younger children were playing some games.  We took a little time to sing the hokey-poky and the chicken dance with them, followed along with one of their songs and then they showed us their jumping jumping skills.  Some of the kids had a great time, others weren't sure what to make of us, and others really weren't overly interested in us at all....just like kindergarteners at home.

After taking a few photos, speaking with the administration, and some of the team members leaving some school materials for the kids, we headed off to the local government office. We met with one of the head officials for the local area we are building in.  He was very interested in knowing how we enjoyed our time in the province, what we did on the build site and if we visited some of the local pagodas.  He also thanked us for offering our assistance to the people of his riding, as many are very poor and would have had sever challenges in ever acquiring a decent home without out help and support.  We showed him a few pictures of the snow out west and he mentioned he heard Canada was a very beautiful country.  I really enjoyed having the opportunity to speak with this individual and promote the great work of Habitat for Humanity...the government is a strong supporter of these builds in this province and a necessary component as well.

By mid morning it was time to head to the build site....and of course traveling through the market one last time.  We arrived at the site and Liz and I headed to the other house to do a little work, as we had not built there yet.  We spent the entire morning laying bricks.  I haven't had a lot of experience doing this before, but I think I started to get the knack of it by lunch time. The homeowners were also helping us and checking out our craftsmanship...I love how they always provide guidance and offer support when you're not necessarily sure what you are doing...which is most of the time. It seems like all the home owners have some form of experience doing all parts of the construction we've been doing...and they are all hard workers.

This build location also had the tiniest kitten who liked to drop by from time to time for a little cuddle.  There were lots of children around as well...including the sweetest little girl who loved to get here picture taken. I believe she was the grandchild or even great-grandchild of the home owners...they were taking care of her while her mother worked in Ho Chi Minh City.  When we first arrived she was actually helping out by carrying a couple bricks for us...very cute.  During out time at this house they also installed an iron window in the wall be were building.  I love the look of the iron in the windows and the bright colours of many of the homes in Vietnam.

At lunch we had an interesting treat...snake!! When we arrived in the morning we saw the women descaling the fish in the back....yuck!  It looked like they may have boiled the snake...you could actually tell it was snake because the skin was still on it and you could see where the scales were.  I decided to try a little piece of it and after taking the skin off I discovered it was full of bones and not all that much meat on it.  It tasted a little bit like chicken, but one piece was enough for me.  After lunch, instead of laying down, Jennifer and I went for a little walk up the road and found a water buffalo tied up next door...what else would you expect to find in Vietnam!

 Instead of returning to our house for brick laying, Liz and I went to the other home with the rest of the team to help mix and pour concrete....this is back breaking work and requires a lot of people to do all the work and create a long enough chain line to reach the back of the house.  We were supposed to finish early today, but when we realized we wouldn't be finished of the foundation in time, we decided to stay until the work was done...even if everyone was beyond exhausted by this point.  By the end of the day, there had been 8 batches of concrete mixed, carried and dumped in the forms and we finished up by 3:30pm.  What an incredible feeling to know we were able to help finish the foundation for this family...with our little team of eight.  We all let out a cheer when the final bucket was poured and high fived everyone for an extremely well done job.  I'm so proud of all our team members and the hard work that everyone put into the past two weeks on this build.  A truly fulfilling accomplishment and experience for sure.

After the houses were finished for the day...and after a necessary bathroom break of course...we had a short ceremony at each of the houses.  The family members spoke and thanked everyone for their support, we presented them with a gift and photo of the team and we also heard from the head of the Women's Union who have been so supportive of this entire build. It is always such and incredible feeling to know you have helped a family in need in some way and to see the joy in the faces of the families as they see the realization of a decent home in their future.  Thank you Habitat for another incredible experience.

 After taking our last boat ride across the river and getting settled in our van for our final drive back to Rach Gia I realized there was a rooster in bag next to me...will we ever escape these things!!  Interestingly enough, it didn't make any noise the entire trip back...although it did move a couple times during the drive...so weird.  Apparently one of the Habitat staff was taking it home to mate with her chickens...I guess a rooster's gotta do, what a rooster's gotta do.

We also saw quite the sight on the river along our drive.  A raft of ducks...possibly hundreds...being herded along the river.  It was pretty impressive to see all these ducks in a line just swimming for as far as the eye could see....the picture does not do it justice. Today we took a different way back to the city...and man the road was rough and our driver had a heavy foot.  Along the way we stopped at the monkey bridge.  This was a bamboo foot bridge that people use to cross the river.  Liz and Jennifer decided to walk partially across for a photo op...apparently it was fastened together with twine and perhaps not that safe....but fun of course.

We finally arrived back at the hotel at 5:30pm, jumped in the shower and headed off to our farewell dinner.  Ngan and rest of the Habitat staff we've been working with were all there.  We had another delicious meal...including ostridge.  After the meal we presented Habitat with a signed conical hat for their wall, as well as our Canada flag.  Ngan then made the most beautiful speech about her work with us as a team and presented us all with a memorable keepsake of our time in Vietnam...a certificate with personalized photos of our work on the sites...this is why she was taking all those photos over the last two weeks!!!  The best gift I could have received and certainly a keeper.  Ngan has been such a delight during this trip and added a whole new dimension to our time in Vietnam...she is definitely a keeper Habitat....and I will miss her wit and humour very much.

After dinner we then headed upstairs at the restaurant for what else, but karaoke!!!!  Vietnamese people are crazy over karaoke...there are karaoke locations everywhere you go.  You actually rent out a private room for your group and sing your hearts out.  We stayed for a good hour or more, sang everything from the Eagles to Madonna, including some Vietnamese songs...Ngan has a beautiful voice...and were only let down when we were are all psyched to belt out "Sweet Home Alabama" and the words didn't show up!!!  Oh we have such singing talents...at least we pretended we did for an hour in our own little world.

We paid up our bill and then said our regrettable goodbyes to our fearless leaders and headed back to the hotel for a final evening of drinks in Matt and Steve's room...we actually stayed up past 11pm tonight!!!

This has been an overwhelming day on so many fronts and it will be bittersweet to say goodbye to such fabulous team members tomorrow as we head back to Ho Chi Minh City where we will part ways.

Until then...
Lisa

Day 7: Little Surprises

Today we had breakfast with a group from the United States who are here with the YMCA building rooms in a school.  A much different vibe when the room goes from eight people to 26 people for breakfast....and Jennifer's hot water for her tea mysteriously went missing to the other end of the room.

We headed off to the work site at 7:30am as usual...this time with a new driver and van...and we actually made it through the market in record time.  Not sure if we are just getting better at this or they are more prepared for our arrival.  I asked Ngan if they were upset with us driving through the market and she said the first day we drove through someone asked where we were going and she told them we were volunteering to build homes...needless to say they were not upset with us intruding on their day.

Today I decided to stick with the same build site and work on the rebar.  It was definitely a test of my trying skills.  In fact at some point I'm pretty sure I started getting worse instead of better...still on my list of things I have no real interest to do again.  It did however become a joint effort with the local community, as several people joined our line of  rebar tiers...sure does make things go a lot fast.  We finished all four lengths by early afternoon.

Our final little helper was the cutest of all.  The homeowner's little boy...who is beyond shy...he sat up on the chair in front of the bending machine and was very intent on trying to figure out how that thing worked.  Liz and I tried to snap a few photos before he noticed...otherwise he'd be off hiding or looking for his mother.

We also took photos today with both families.  This was the first time we actually saw the homeowner's daughter get out of bed.  She had to be helped down for the picture as she has difficulty walking and then she spent the majority of the day on the hammock watching us and playing the local kids.  With the second family I wasn't sure we'd ever get the shot...every few seconds more of the extended family wanted to join in.  What a huge family!!

We had a great lunch again today...even had purple soup made with taro...and instead of a nap, Liz and I decided to have our toenails painted by the nephew of the head of the Women's Union....all for a whopping $1!!!  Jennifer had her toenails painted green the day before, Liz went with hot pink and I opted for purple.  All spruced up for another afternoon of sweat and dirt...isn't that what everyone does right after they have a pedicure?!?!!?  When our nails finally dried, we got to work finishing off the rebar, only to hear the ringing of bells on a motorbike.  Now last time we saw this they were selling liquid soap, but this time it was ice cream!!!  Mixed flavours...including durian, Liz's favourite... with condensed milk...this is used all the time in Vietnam...plus crushed peanuts.  And yes....we bought seven little cups.  Loved it!!!

Once the rebar was complete it was time to mix more concrete...god help me.  I think we are all getting a bit exhausted, so the thought of doing more concrete is a bit daunting.  I've found this build to be very tiring and what I found out today is that this house changed the type of foundation they wanted only last week and it was not supposed to include all the rebar and cement.  Since the foundation was going to be simple, they put us on two houses...this would have been OK if the plan didn't change...but now it's a bit much to have us split up in two small groups with so much mixing.  Today however, the homeowners and a few of the people in the community were able to help out and this made things go a lot faster...but we were still pretty sweaty by the end.

We finished up...the other half of our group did some concrete beams and also seven rows of bricks on one of the walls they are replacing...cleaned up, grabbed some water for the trip home and hopped on our boat and jumped on the bus...not before Jennifer almost fell in the river trying to get into the boat!!!  On the way back to the hotel, we arrived at the market only to find they were setting up for some type of carnival with a stage...just what we need, more things to maneuver around...tomorrow should be interesting.  We drove through the city just as school was letting out...the amount of people on the road at this time of day still amazes me.  In fact, the way people drive here amazes me...I'm not sure why they have lines on the roads, half of our drive is on the other side of the road as we squeeze and weave through the multitude of motorbikes, vehicles and bikes on the road...all while honking our horn to let people know we want by.  You wouldn't want to have bad nerves driving here...and back seat drivers would not fair well either.

Tonight we went to a local restaurant for dinner and it was fantastic.  Yummy chicken with some hot spices...with the head on the plate of course...vegetables with noodles, shrimp...most of the heads removed....the best strawberry smoothie ever and delicious pommello (a type of grapefruit that I love).  After dinner we headed back to the hotel...the evenings are so beautiful out here...and then headed to Matt and Steve's room for an evening beer.  Another great day...hard to believe tomorrow is our final build day.  Looking forward to tomorrow when we visit a local kindergarten.

Until then...
Lisa

market carnival

Day 6: More Rebar and Concrete

Today's journey to the build site was not so adventurous, although we still had to navigate through the market area...this time we had a pretty good idea what to expect.  We saw the typical sights like motorbikes carrying everything from mattresses, 10-12 cases of beer and of course a basket of ducks...how else would ducks be transported!

We arrived at the build site by 9:15am...just in time to have a water buffalo walk by us... and decided to pretty much stay in our original groups.  Today we spent most of the morning working on rebar.  I started out tying rebar in a square base, but as you know tying rebar is not my most advanced skill, so I then moved to cutting metal to be bent.  This doesn't really sound too difficult, but the roll of metal we are required to cut is very heavy and needs to be moved in a circular motion every time you cut a hunk of metal and that can make you very hot...what am I saying, sitting still can make you very hot in Vietnam!

By break, we had cut 120 pieces of metal in various sizes and by noon we had straightened all the pieces so they could then be bent into small rectangles.  This was definitely a group effort with Steve bending metal, Liz, Matt and I straightening.  It felt much less hot today since the sun was not out much...I think it was 34 degrees today...but I was still ready for a nap at lunch time.  Today we also had some duck for lunch...tried a bit until I heard a few people say they saw them plucking feathers from the duck when we came today.  I had a bit of a nap after lunch and when I got I realized that everyone except Liz and Lise...who were still asleep...had left and gone back to work.  This is except Jennifer who was having her toenails painted for 20,000VD ($1)...bright green at that.

The afternoon was all about mixing concrete.  This is really back breaking work if you need to mix the actual mixture of cement, gravel and sand....I can't do it, but Steve and Matt did a great job even though I at one point they were exhausted.  Over the next three hours we mixed 3 batches of concrete and lugged them to the 10 locations around the foundation where large beams will be erected to support the house.  By the end of the day, the other half of the team came to help...thank god ....and the home owners were also helping us...four people who are not used to this kind of work is really not enough larbour.  We also had some fresh coconut juice and skin to eat thanks to our foreman who cut them open with a machete.

Speaking of labour we were told today by our Habitat leads that yesterday some of the neighbours were wondering how the homeowners were able to hire foreigners to help build their home since they would be so expensive.  They were quite surprised to hear we were there as volunteers and very appreciative of our efforts.  In fact we seem to be getting big and big crowds each day of everyone from kids to adults sitting around watching us work.  Apparently there are a number of men around because it is not time to plant the rice yet, so this is their slow time of year.

 By 4:30pm we were cleaned up....now that's all relative...and headed back to our hotel.  On the way we stopped to let some people buy kits...people seem to be out every night flying kits and then met for dinner around 6:30pm.  Now we thought we knew where we were to go for dinner, but apparently not.  Instead of going to the restaurant we went to for dinner the first night we arrived, we went to the place we had lunch on the first day....no wonder the wait staff had nothing waiting for us and didn't understand what we were asking for.  After some discussion, Jennifer ended up ordering dinner for us and we had a great meal.  Unfortunately on our way back to the hotel we ran into Ngan looking for us on her motorbike because we didn't arrive at the restaurant...who knew I would need to take the emergency phone with me to lunch, but if we had we would have avoided all this confusion.

Once we got back to the hotel, a few of us went up to the guys room had a beer, chatted and headed back to our rooms around 9pm.  The morning comes early here, so I'm heading to bed soon and looking forward to our final full day at the build site.

Until tomorrow...
Lisa