Good Morning Vietnam!

First of all, all the options on this blog (sign in, add post, etc) are in Vietnamese. That makes it a bit tough to navigate :) Anyways, I got in late last night and met Linh and Hang, who I'll be staying with. They are both as nice as could be. Extremely welcoming, willing to help me, and understanding that I may feel like a fish out of water. Ms. Hang is 39 and 7 months pregnant with their first child, a little girl! They helped me get my stuff upstairs, and went to bed pretty quickly (I got in at midnight this time!). I got to talk to Mom and Dad for a few minutes, which really helped me feel comfortable. The house is someone like a townhouse, and I'm on the second floor. I'll be sharing a room with 2 cots/twin beds with a 22 year old girl from Australia for a while (she gets here Sunday night and stays for 2 weeks). I learneed that this room has an air conditioner, which Ms. Hang said I could use when I'm sleeping, so that's really good news because it's hot and realllllly humid here! I got settled and got in bed around 1:30am Vietnamese time, but unfortunately that's just after noon in Dallas, so of course I couldn't sleep. I spent a good part of the night looking out the window, shocked by how many moterbikes passed in the middle of the night. I was bummed I couldn't sleep, but I'm going to take an afternoon nap after I post this, and hopefully I'll be adjusted after tonight's sleep.
This morning I got out of bed at 7am to shower and be ready to leave at 8:30am. Linh showed me how I'll get to work every morning. I walk down the street a bit to the bus stop, get on Bus 14, pay 3000 dong (about 25 cents), show the guy a paper Hang gave me with my stop, hope he remembers to tap me when we get there, and cross the street to the Orphanage. Sounds simple right? It's quite an adventure but I love it! First of all, here's the trick to being a pedestrian in Vietnam: put your hand straight up in the air to make yourself seen, take a deep breath, and walk into traffic at a constant pace, praying you make it to the other side. Whatever you do, DON'T look both ways or you might have a heart attack...motorbikes, bicycles, cars, and busses come pretty darn close to you! Linh laughed at me a lot and kept saying "you look scared." I had to gently explain that walking into traffic isn't the norm in the US - we have something called red lights and crosswalks. But the drivers here expect you to step into their path, and they'll kindly avoid hitting you. He promises I'll be an expert after a week. So I crossed the street twice under his supervision to get to the bus station and thought the worst was over. I saw bus 14 approaching and got ready to get on - it slowed down a little but didn't stop. Before I could turn around to ask Linh why it didn't stop, some guy on the bus grabbed my arm and pulled me in...while the bus was moving!!! Another new thing - busses here never stop. Instead, you raise your hand while it approaches, and the door guy leans out to give you a hand getting on the moving vehicle. I watched more and more people get on and got the hang of it...it's nothing hard, I was just caught so off gaurd!
I'm sure you're expecting this blog to talk about the orphanage since I went there today! I'm not going to go into toooo much detail because this was just my first day and I was only there for a few hours, and I'll be there a lot in the future, so you'll hear much more about it later! BUT, what I will say is that I know I'm going to love it. The part that I'll be in is a big room with about 50 metal cribs/beds. There's at least 2 kids in each bed - they range from age 5 to 20. Before I had even walked in, I was holding one kid, had one wrapped around each leg, and had a few more scooting on the floor following me from behind. Personal space clearly doen'st exist here! All of the children have severe physical disabilities, but for those of you who know me....that makes it even more right up my alley. The first thing I noticed was the lack of medical equiptment or aids. It made me realize how incredible the technolgoy is in the US - wheelchairs, walkers, leg braces, communication devices, etc. I played on the floor with a group of kids for a while and then it was mealtime at 10. I fed several children (lunch was rice, broth, beef, and some chopped fruit I think....all in stew or soup or sorts). I guess all else I'll say is that they are clearly some of the sweetest, most loveable children ever, and I know I'm going to love working with them every day!
Ms. Hang made me lunch and I ate with Linh and his mother. It was rice, pork, cucumber, some green veggie, a boiled brown egg, and pickled onions. I thought it was very sweet of her to make me lunch...I havne't really gotten the whole 'where and what do I eat' question figured out yet. I came up here to take a nap and I feel myself rambling on more and more, so I guess that means it must be nap time! ps - i'll try to be shorter and organized in future posts :)