very sad day....

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well this is it my second to last day of the program!!! only today and tomorrow left and a new volunteer arrives at the house tomorrow ( her name is carrie) i really cant believe how quickly it has gone and i want to stay for much longer! it seems pointless to go back to uni when i could be doing so much better here! but as long as one person leaves another person arrives and it really doesnt make that much difference to the children because they are so used to change anyway! the most important thing (i have come to realise..) is that while you are here you are making a small difference to their lives by teaching them and having fun with them! its so hard to leave after such a short time though!!

I've just had my last home of affection class with my four children - Thuong, Linh, Trang and Sang (brothers) and it was a pretty good lesson which is a relief to finish on!! just before the lesson i bought the boys some battery powered cars and the girls some pretty flashing tiara's and hair bobbles... which they all loved. at least its something to keep them entertained for a while and something different for them. saying goodbye was really difficult (for me anyway) and they all understood but its not really a big deal for them..they'll just have someone new with different ideas,games....
it's national day here in Vietnam on saturday (where they celebrate independence) and apparantly all the kids make dragon costumes, which is one of the sacred animals, and dance around the streets in them, the home of affection kids have made some costumes and will no doubt turn up at our house so that will be fun!!

so now i only have the baby orphanage this afternoon and tomorrow morning and thats it! finished! : (
Last weekend I travelled up to Hanoi which is in the north of vietnam (i am in central) so i flew up their with erika for a long weekend which meant missing a couple of my classes and i really wasnt sure whether to go or not but on coming back to tam ky i learnt that on friday it was the last Tam Thanh class!!! I did not know this before i left and neither did liane so i was really upset that i hadnt got a chance to see the children their again because they are wicked! it was easily my favourite project and they really were a blessing to teach! they were just so eager to learn. On saturday before i leave GVN have organised a scholarship presentation ceremony for 105 of the kids at Tam Thahn school so we will all be going to that. Basically GVN are awarding 105 of them scholarships so that they can attend school.

Other news is that there is a another volunteer called Donna, who is from new york, who arrived a couple of days ago and she will be staying in tam ky for 3 weeks while the paperwork goes through for her to adopt a little boy from da nang red cross orphanage. She is really cool and a lot of fun!and its really interesting to learn about her experience with the adoption process here! (especially for abbe and robin who are thinking of adopting a family at the baby orphanage)

Hanoi was so much fun, it was like being in a different country because it is so different from being here. Its a lot more green but still just as hot! the french influence is very apparant from the buildings/arhcitecture to the people speaking french! Erika and I stayed in the best hostel ive ever stayed in ( it was called The Backpackers Hostel) and it was run by two australian guys who were a lot of fun and a great place to meet people right in the centre of hanoi. We stayed in the old quater, which is made up of 36 streets that all sell different things, for example a steel street, hat street etc.. and the names of the street correspond with the things that they sell.

Some experiences from Hanoi which will stick with me are walking across the road which is like nothing ive ever experienced! its such a thrill because u really dont think your gonna make it to the other side but you always do because they are the best drivers! - but i would like to point out that I came close to injury/death by nearly being crushed in between two buses which was the result of a rather cocky driver and the general craziness of the roads! Also eating out in the most amazing restaurants for a fraction of the price you would pay in England - Bobby Chin's was amazing! and also finding Koto - a restaurant set up by an australian vietnamese guy (Jimmy Pham). He set up a restaurant with the aim of employing less fortunate children and street children from Hanoi. When asked by Jimmy what they wanted the kids said that they needed skills to find a job. It such a lovely place to eat and the people that worked there were so friendly and smiley.

Anyway i think i have blabbered on for long enough if you have even got this far!?
I will add some photo's later as i know i havent for ages! (but it takes for ever here!) Hope everyone is okay!and that the weather has improved back home,

lots of love charl xxxxx

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