Day 1: The Foundation

Today was our first day at the build site and what a treat it was.  Before we arrived in Vietnam we were given profiles of the families we would be working with.  The first week we will be working with one family...a mother, father and their two daughters.  They are currently living with her sister and their house is being built next door.  The husband is a fisherman and will be out at sea the entire time we are there, but she will be helping throughout the build.

The day started off with breakfast at the hotel and a short drive by taxi to our boat.  What an amazing journey to work.  All eight of us, with water in hand...we need to drink 4-5 liters of water a day...boarded our long tail boat. This was quite a feat in itself as we had to walk up a plank with all our belongings, onto one boat and over to our boat...and we all survived with no stragglers overboard!

Our journey along the river was about an hour long and unbelievable.  Houses upon houses lined the shoreline...everything from shacks on stilts with tin roofs and siding, concrete homes, gas stations, boat building, construction...you name it.  The river had some people traveling on it in the morning, but not a large amount.  You would see cargo ships, motorized taxis, long tail boats, paddle boats, large container ships and ferries both large and small.  The sad thing about the river is the pollution and the huge amounts of garbage in it.  Many times our boat would need to stop and unwrap plastic from the propeller.

After the most exhilarating boat ride we finally arrived at the build site.  Once there we were introduced to the family, as well as the foreman and the project manager for the build.  Once we got instructions on our build plan for the next 4 days...foundation and rebar work...we were ready to go.  Well almost...not before we went to the washroom.  Ngan mentioned we would be using the washroom at a home owned by a member of the Women's Union, which would also be where we would be having our lunch.  It was almost a 15 minute walk, so Ngan took us on her motorbike.  The washroom was your traditional squat toilet, but in excellent shape...a huge improvement over our washroom in India for sure!!

Once we got back to the build site we were ready to go.  Most of the team ended up digging trenches for the foundation and a few of us started to work on some of the rebar.  To say it was hot, was an understatement.  Those who were digging had absolutely no shade and the sun was out from the moment we arrived.  Needless to say water was a must...and everyone did a great job of keeping hydrated.  I tried to master bending metal to create rectangular pieces that would eventually be tied onto the rebar to create columns.  I think I did this all morning and quite enjoyed it.

We had a mid morning snack and then by lunch were ready for a good meal and a bit of a rest.  We all headed down to the home where our meal was being prepared and arrived to a lovely table set for eight, with lots of shade, a fan and tons of food...this is becoming a trend!!  We had vegetables, ribs, rice and morning glory soup, with bananas for dessert...delicious!  Once we finished our meal, the ladies put out the mats for us to relax on and have a bit of a rest before we headed back to work.  In Vietnam we are quite a spectacle with most people pointing at us and then waiving with huge smiles on their faces.  Many of the adults and kids would come around the house when we were there and say hello and wait for our reaction.  It is an odd sensation to be recognized like this, but after a while you start to get used to it...and everyone is so friendly it's really kind of nice.  It's quite funny to watch us trying to communicate with the local people who know no English and we know none of their language either...lots of hand gestures and just nodding our heads.  Makes me laugh every time I think about it.

In the afternoon I changed up and did some digging.  The soil here is very hard and it takes a long time and is a slow process to dig a trench, but with eight people all pitching in it went really well.  During the afternoon, one of the cousins arrived home from sea and was pretty excited to see not only his family, but also all of us who were working away.  During our afternoon break we had a bit of fun with him trying to learn a little bit of Vietnamese and he was trying to learn a little English...he actually did a great job of saying all our names.  By about 3:30pm we were all exhausted and decided to finish up for the day.

We cleaned up the work site, packed out bags and boarded our boat for another amazing cruise along the river back to Rach Gia.  This time the river was full of people coming and going since it was rush hour.  I love how the river is used so extensively by most people to either travel somewhere or to transport materials.  Everyone appears to be very accustomed to being on the water or knows how to navigate a boat.  Along our travels home you could see all kinds of people out in their hammocks on their decks, preparing dinner, washing up and  cleaning clothes.  What a vibrant  place the river can be.

Once back, we caught a couple taxis and headed back to the hotel.  We were all very exhausted from the day in the heat.  We all met up for dinner at 6:00pm and headed to a restaurant around the corner from our hotel that Ngan had arranged for us.  This was great, because she would pre-order our meals and everything would be ready when we arrived.  Tonight we had yummy Vietnamese pancakes (4 plates worth) that came with the most gigantic bowl of lettuce and herbs I have ever seen...perhaps better described as a floral arrangement!!  In addition we had  3 plates of rice, 2 plates of vegetables, 3 plates of fried tofu dumplings, 2 plates of chicken and finally 2 plates pineapple...I have never seen so much food on a table in my life.  In fact at one point when they kept taking out more and more food we all started to laugh. Our waitress also took some time to show us how to prepare the pancakes...this seems to happen every time we sit down for a meal which is quite funny.

With our meal over and our bodies tired, we headed back to the hotel around 7:30pm for an early night and some well needed rest.  What an fabulous day with a fabulous group of people.  I can't wait for day two!!

Until tomorrow...
Lisa