Sunday + Clinic!

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Hello!
Am back again after a good night sleep!
After our little lake fiasco we made our way to Ho Chi Mihns mausaleum - a pretty amazing building- but we couldnt go in because it is closed for these three months while his body is elsewhere being touched up!
We met a friend of Alisons whom she went to Hildas with for lunch -her friend is from America but is working here for a year as an English news editor (basically corrects mistakes in the Vietnamese-English translations). She was able to give us a few tips, although I think we have started to sort it all out for ourselves!
Spent an hour or so after lunch looking for a new hotel to move into later on next week for a bit of a change - ended up walking around in circles for an hour! Next thing we knew the rain started pouring down and none of us had rain jackets- thank god for the 50c ponchos on the side of the road (I'm pretty sure if we'd bartered we would have got them for even less than that!)
Had dinner at a restaurant called Silk - hidden away up the top of a silk shop with a really tiny and steep staircase. Met an english couple who have been working in Sapa with the street children - they are a charity called TLC (Transforming Lives of Children), and sound like they do some great work. They were the first Westerners who we've talked to and they gave us some fantastic info on what we should and shouldnt see on the way down the coast to Ho Chi Mihn.
The last two days have been pretty much clinic - but very different to anything we've done (as I had imagined!). The language barrier is massive-the head lady Dr Ha speaks English but is quite slow which makes it hard to follow her - and we dont spend any time with her.
The hospital is made up of many old and run down buildings, of which we are on the bottom floor of one (called the '8 storey building'!). The rooms are very basic and they have very little equipment. The rehab department we are in is made up of physio, OT, Speech and orthotics -and treats mainly outpatient cerebral palsy and autistic kids.
I was in electrotherapy by myself on Monday - pretty confronting as the lady couldnt really communicate with me! They seem to do some pretty outrageous stuff- and none of us are sure if it is really the right way - but i suppose that is what this placement is all about.
The morning finished at 11/1130 and we went to find the 'cafeteria' - paid 70c for a massive tray of lunch - but the only thing we could eat was the rice! Went for a brief walk to the lake nearby but quickly decided it was too hot and returned to the hospital where everyone was lying down in their consultation rooms on the floor! We plonked ourselves on the floor in an empty room - and stayed there until 130 when work started up again - a three hour lunch break!
We are spending our afternoons in a place called the Hope Centre which is about 3km from the hospital - almost like day care centre but for Autistic children aged 2 - 13. We have all had very different experiences so far - Caths constantly climb up the wall and wont sit down, Alis pee their pants every 5 minutes, whereas Ange and mine are pretty well behaved (relatively), and are so cute! But it is very sad - very socially inept and pretty much dont speak at all.
Yesterday was pretty much the same - I'm sure we will continue to see new things though!
Be back soon 😊

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Photos

Ho Chi Mihns Mausaleum
An amazing site from the outside - but we werent allowed inside...his body is currently getting a wax touch up in Russia somewhere!

A colourful fruit store!
Fruit is one resource that is never ending in this place! If the banana lady is stalking you on the streets - you can buy at her store! We've managed to bater down to $1 for a rather large bunch of bananas!

Nap time at clinic!
When the clock strikes 1130 that means lunchtime, which also means lie on the floor for 2 hours rest! And so thats exactly what we did!

The '8 storey building'!
Our directions to the clinic were to get to the 8 storey building - not hard when you see this sign!

Comments

[Alice d]

oh belle everything you describe sounds awesome, even if it is challenging! Sure beats studying! Hanoi is so beautiful. It sounds as though you are enjoying and exploring alot! Have fun Love alice