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Published: June 29th 2008
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Project Uplift
This is our first group photo! All dirty and sweaty! Day 4 & 5 - Building The School
First of all, as soon as we got to the hotel everyone had already had dinner and it was time to go to the technical college nearby to talk with tourism students so off we went. We had about 8 students in my class. The Vietnamese don’t show much emotion so we had a little course about emotions. When to smile, when to be sad and what your expressions should convey when you speak. We sang “When you’re happy and you know it clap your hands” and switched the words around to different emotions. They thought that was fun. We broke off into smaller groups and talked about our families. It was more to get them to converse in English than anything. There are a few that understand English more than the others so there is a lot of interpreting going on. One of the young men in my group was 18. He wakes up in the morning around 3:00am to study for 1 hour then to the sea to swim, then off to school.
Everyone here exercises. They wake around 4:00am to begin their day because the heat and humidity is brutal
The school
The is how far they had already gotten on finishing the school. We're now digging trenches around the perimeter. later in the day. Because our room is by the sea you can watch everyone exercise when you get up. They play badminton, hacky sac, run, swim in the sea, group calisthenics, pretty much anything. And it’s not just the young. There is a pair of older women, I would say in their 60’s, that play badminton each morning in front of our hotel. They’re pretty awesome at it too!
So our day begins at 6:00am for breakfast, then to the bus at 7:00am sharp to head off to the school sites. Thuy runs a tight ship, so if you are not out to the bus in time, they will take off without you. We left someone this morning so he had to get a taxi to the school. Our typical breakfast here is scrambled eggs, toast, ham, fruit salad, pho (rice noodles, meat with a beef broth and then you add cilantro, mint, sprouts and lime. It’s awesome!) So we get to the school site about 7:45am. It’s already 85 degrees or so with a humidity of 80-90 percent. We are all sweating before we even get started. The first morning we headed to the school that Ted help
build 3 years ago. They were making a concrete walk way into the school. We needed to chip up old concrete, shovel it out of the way, mix concrete and wheel it over to the workers to begin smoothing it out. They mix concrete in small piles on the ground then shovel it into wheelbarrows and move it to where they need it to go. We finished around 11:00am and headed back to the new school for lunch. Even the locals don’t work at this hour. It is too hot and you run the risk of heat stroke. The local community already had begun on the school about a month ago so the walls were up, the roof was on and the tiles had been laid. They left the trench digging for the Americans. Day two was digging trenches. It’s insanely hot so you take breaks often. The group has finished about half so far. They’ll eventually lay concrete to set up a fence around the school.
The kids are so cute here. They show up at the school with their backpacks and books all ready to being learning. The Vietnamese are beautiful people. Not just their politeness but their
Rice Field
This was a rice field next to the school. physical features as well. They have beautiful brown eyes, flawless skin, and great smiles. I love hanging around people that are as tall as me!
Kelly brought candy to hand out to the kids today. They said “Thank you” in pretty good English. Each one gave Kelly a kiss on the cheek and two of them sang a song for her. OMG! Too cute! One of the little ones came out in front and did a little dance for her. I could have taken her home. My niece, Jessica, has braces and they just love to look at her mouth. They also look at Amanda because she is so tall and has long blondish brown hair. They love to look at her blue eyes too.
Yesterday after working, we stopped in the sea to swim. I’ll get the name for you later. I’m really too tired to move that far. The water was about 75 degrees. It was like bathwater. It was refreshing as it was 95 degrees in the sun. I guess there is a kind of heat wave here this week. It’s usually 85-90 degrees each day. Yah… that’s much better. We drank beer and ate fresh watermelon.
Little Girl Dancing
This was one of the kids that came to the school to watch us. She was dancing for the candy she got. It could not be better.
Off to the hotel to shower, nap, get dinner then back to the college. We did have a great surprise for Tu, Thuy’s brother just after dinner. Three years ago, Tu’s daughter, Vy, came back with Thuy to Longview to go to school. She hadn’t seen her parents since that time until last night. It was such a great surprise for them. They had no idea she was coming. It was awesome to see.
As we started our college classes a thunder and lighting storm started. It lasted about 2 hours. It was amazing to watch. It was more lightening than thunder. It was great to feel the wind as it was still 80-85 degrees in the evening and still humid. Ted and I ran back through a rain shower. It’s odd to be sweating during a rain storm.
Well, I’m going to finish this and get it posted. We have one more college class tonight then it’s off for a 3 day tour of the north with the group.
Thuy’s brutal so it’s at the bus at 6:00am sharp.
I keep mentioning Thuy so I should explain who he is. He own’s VO Printers
Two Girls Singing
These two girls sang us a song. They were too cute. in Longview. He has put this project together for years now to build preschools in the small villages in DaNang. He and his family here have arranged all of our hotels, travel, meals, entertainment, you name it. They’ve done a fantastic job!
Since we are leaving on a 3-day trip, I probably won’t be posting until we get back. See you all then!
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