Haiphong, Vietnam

This past weekend I went to Haiphong, Vietnam. It's Vietnam's 3rd largest city, and is around 60 miles from Hanoi. SJ Vietnam offered to send us to work with school children there. We spent the day visiting a museum of the city, talking to the children in English, and leading games. I even taught them how to place "duck, duck gray duck". (Those to satisfy the non-Minnesotan's, we called it "duck duck goose", which somehow transformed into "duck duck fish" by the kids!)

Chiara, Carola, & Dan - The other SJ Vietnam volunteers

In the afternoon on Sunday, we got to explore the city! It was so much calmer and quieter than Hanoi. We visited the English club of one of the girls who hosted us. As a lesson, they had each learned about a part of the city and acted as a tour guide for the group. Which made it a perfect day for us to attend and learn about the city. Here are some pictures from our exploration, including our trip to the opera house and a few of the many gardens!

Bangkok, Thailand

After our amazing day with the elephants, we made our way back to Bangkok, Thailand! We spent most of Monday touring the big sites

The grand palace was built in 1782. For 150 years, it was the home of the Thai King, the Royal court and the administrative seat of government. The detail on all of the buildings was incredible. The palace itself is quite complex-there are many buildings, most famously the Wat Phra Kaew (Temple of the Emerald Buddha),which contains the small, very famous and greatly revered Emerald Buddha.

Wat Pho: The largest reclining Budah which is 15 m high and 43 m long!

Overall we really enjoyed Bangkok. The food was great-so much flavor! We had a mix of Indian, Japanese and Thai food which were all delicious. Such an incredible experience!

Elephants!

Hello again!
I recently returned from a trip to Thailand with one of the other volunteers, Kessi. At first it was looking pretty iffy if we were going to be able to get out, as a typhoon was predicted to hit Hanoi. We left hearing news such as "The death toll from Typhoon Rammasun -- the strongest typhoon to hit China's south in decades -- was raised to 46 on Tuesday, increasing the overall toll to 151 people dead in three countries just before Typhoon Matmo hit Taiwan and takes aim on China." But luckily, we got out of Hanoi safely. Its amazing how different it feels to think about a typhoon hitting the Phillipines when you live in Minnesota vs. when you live in Hanoi and it's coming right toward you. It prompts interesting morality questions reminiscent of my course entitled "Science, ethics and religion" from college.

Once Kessi and I arrived in Thailand, we headed for Kanchanaburi. (Traveling in Thailand was an adventure because they don't use the same Latin alphabet, which makes everything so much harder to recognize!) Arriving in Thailand was an incredible food adventure. Vietnamese food is pretty bland-rice or rice noodles with almost every meal, some sort of meat and largely new veggies. Thai food has got some kick to it though! So delicious. :D

On Sunday, we spent the day at Elephants World-a sanctuary for old or injured elephants. Did you know that elephants spend 16 hours per day eating 330 pounds of food?? We spent  most of the day feeding them (whole watermelon, bunches of bananas, whole squash, rice balls etc), planting food, and harvesting food. And the best part? We even got to go swimming with the elephants! 

*Next blog will include the rest of our time in Thailand!

Sapa, Vietnam

Hello!
I got in this morning from a trip to Sapa, Vietnam. Sapa is in northwest Vietnam, where several ethnic minority groups such as Hmong, Dao, Giáy, Pho Lu, and Tay live. Getting there and back was an adventurous nightmare. In Vietnam, they do not limit the number of tickets sold on transportation to the number of seats available. Thus, although everyone paid the same amount, around 20 people had to SIT on the floor for the 9 hour overnight bus ride. There wasn't even enough room for everyone to lay down. The bus was so crowded! And although we stopped around every hour, where they turned the lights on and often loud music, we were only allowed off the bus once to go to the bathroom. And it was a grass field. 


Once we finally arrived in Sapa, we headed out in the pouring rain on our 16 kilometers (10 miles) of trekking, it was absolutely gorgeous. Incredibly messy since the whole trail was one big mud slide though. Here are a few pictures of our trip through the rice fields:

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NGO Placement

Xin chào! (Hello in Vietnamese)
Where to begin? I feel like so much has happened so far, and yet I have only been on the ground for three days. The city of 7.1 million people is constantly busy (crossing the street is always a terrifying adventure) that I cannot help but feeling so many emotions all at the same time. I guess I'll start with some basic updates.

Living:

I'm living in an apartment with other international volunteers. I'm in a room with 5 other girls-Henna (London), Mikayla (Australia), Paula (Spain), Charlotte (Australia) and one other girl I have not met yet who is from the US. There are 6 of these rooms spread out between two neighboring apartments so there are always people buzzing around. 27 of us started our placements this week so there are a lot of new faces which is fun. The apartment, like the city, is incredibly hot. I've never experienced the type of humidity they get here before. Yesterday was especially fun since we lost both power and water-a rough combination. Luckily I have a friend, Duy, in Hanoi (studied at St. Olaf but is Vietnamese) who graciously let me stay with his family for the night. The power is back on though so we are back to very very hot instead of very very very hot. :D

Volunteering:
I'm working with an organization called Hagar International. They work with victims of human trafficking and domestic violence in Vietnam, Cambodia and Afghanistan. Both of these are rampant problems in the area, so I am looking forward to aiding the organization in whatever ways possible. I expect to be spending a lot of time working on fundraising opportunities and grant writing. Plus, the office is air conditioned which is a HUGE plus. :D

Arrived!

I am now officially in Vietnam! After 3 very long plane rides, (MSP to Chicago to Japan to Vietnam) I have arrived. An although my body is still very much adjusting to the 12 hour  time change (why am I up writing this at 5:30 am?!) I am here, which feels absolutely incredible. Next on the adjustment schedule-crazy high humidity. I'm settling in for a few months of big hair :D

I'll be living in a apartment with other volunteers. So far I've met two of my five roomates-Henna and Mikayla. Here's the view from out my apartmartment's deck.