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Friday after thanksgiving we had a really relaxing day and sat in hammocks along a local lake... We had fried fish and chicken with rice for lunch and also (pictured) sticky rice with beans that was sold in bamboo (was less than $1). It was so so nice to just hang out for the day and talk with the girls.

Short video but this was during one of the "circle dances"... The music was so good(:

Took a bus to Cambodia last weekend to spend Thanksgiving with Sasha and Leah, two of my friends from home. It was like 20 hours of traveling total, but was good for the $50 round trip ticket... On the way I sat next to a young man named Gustavo from Brazil. He was so so nice and we talked a lot about our travels and some stories we have. Once we passed the Cambodian boarder our bus broke down (only for 20-30min)... It was a little funny to watch them try and fix the motor... They had huge metal sticks they seemed to just bang around within the engine but it seemed like this has happened plenty of times in the past because it didn't take long for them to fix whatever the problem was. Although the downside is the air vents didn't really work after so it became a very hot and sweaty bus ride very quickly (but Gustavo and I joked about the ordeal so it was okay). The views I saw while on this bus ride were some of the most beautiful I've seen on this trip... The pictures I took do little justice.

We also got to feed alligators for less than a dollar... This was one of the more scary situations I've had on this trip but still very cool... You have to watch to the end with this video... (;

So many monkeys (:

Myself and a couple other volunteers went to Monkey Island last weekend and it was an awesome experience. There (obviously) were so so many monkeys (: I'll post videos as well!

Last Friday Vietnam had its National Teachers Day which was so fun to watch and be a part of. The college we stayed at started blaring music at 6:30am and it went on until 8 at night. At the daycare some of the moms brought us cake which was so so delicious. One of the girls who can't speak but is very very very smart, Trinh, made me a card which was so sweet and is now hanging next to my bed. The final picture is of a poster I pass 4 times a day... It's really interesting to see how many government socialist posters there are, basically everywhere. It's especially interesting that a lot of them focus around the time of the war, while it seems (at least to me) at home there are no public displays about war... It's honestly very sad to see how much the war affected this country and how they still seem to be recovering. For one, land mines are still a HUGE problem and people are still loosing limbs and even being killed by them today. Also, it has been proven that Agent Orange has caused disabilities in recent generations, and I have seen this personally and would not be surprised if the kids I work with have some of the problems that they do because of the chemicals used during wartime. It's really really sad to think about... It makes me think how our country would view war if it happened on our soil.

Here are some pictures of the beautiful, intelligent, and kind humans I work with. The two in the second picture flirt with each-other all the time and it is one of the sweetest things to watch. (I'm still not familiar with names). She is very smart, and seems to just be non-vocal with a slight twitch at times while he has cerebral palsy and is so smart and way too sassy (: The next picture of a girl with the red crown is one of the sweetest girls. She is completely non verbal and can only move her eyes and sometimes her neck. It's one of the BEST things getting her to smile... I found she likes to see and touch Legos when I put them in front of her eyes so she can actually see what's going on. She also likes when I put the marker in her hand and the paper I front of her eyesight so she can draw (how she made her crown). The next boy in the orange shirt is so incredible smart and is also pretty sassy. He makes fun of me constantly, and is always anxious to go over the alphabet. His spoken English isn't very good but it seems like he can understand most of the things I say. I also sign to him when I talk and I think that helps. The next pictures are with the girl in the yellow crown. She is so so sweet and always smiles when she sees me. She loves to roll around out of her chair but can't use her legs at all. Finally is another craft I made with the kids... Paper crowns (: so simple but so much fun. Really happy that all the kids enjoyed the activity.

I have been really trying to create projects and activities that will actually help the kids. So, thanks to Pinterest, I found this awesome activity that just involves paint, cups, and Popsicle sticks (or chopsticks haha). I got 25 pairs of chopsticks, 5 cups, basic pant colors, and our coordinator Khan to help me with Vietnamese. The activity involves the kids sorting the painted chips tips into the right cup, and this is helpful with 1. Learning colors 2. Learning English 3. Motor skills. ALSO!! Little known fact I know basic sign language (my Mom didn't even know this), so I was able to teach the signs for the colors with the kids who are non-verbal. It's been awesome using sign with them.. they learn so so quickly. Majority of the kids have Cerebral Palsy, so motor skills are really important. I'm so so thrilled the project went over better than I thought. All the boys with Cerebral Palsy LOVED it and we're getting really into sorting and signing the colors. One of the youngest girls who has Down's syndrome, pictured, absolutely loved loved this activity even though I thought she would loose interest very quickly. I'll post a video, but I was so happy to see her so excited and wanting to learn at such a young age. The look of pure joy she had and all of the kids eagerness to learn is the reason why I'm here and it really has been one of the best days I've had in awhile.

#ivhqvietnam #ivhq

This weekend I took a 2.5 hour bus ($10) to the Mekong Delta with two of my volunteering friends from Canada and Norway. It was incredible! We stayed in an awesome home stay/hostel for $10 all night that included dinner, breakfast, and free bikes. Vietnamese coffee is also VERY good and I usually dislike coffee. Saturday we just biked around and read our books in such a quiet place (VERY different from Ho Chi Minh haha). Sunday we took a boat tour from 6am-noon. This included going to a floating market and going on very thin boats pushed by these very strong older women. We had such a good time and I hope to return with my dad when he visits. I highly suggest visiting this place if you ever get the chance.

#ivhqweekends #ivhqvietnam

Last week I finished my time at the orphanage and said goodbye to all the little rascals. I was only there a week, and I feel guilty knowing I got so much more out of my experience than they did but it has encouraged me to advocate for adoption and hopefully adopt children myself someday. Here are some pictures... As you can see there is always a large range of emotions going on. (: I've moved on to work at a daycare in a hospital that cares for kids with various disabilities. It's been a solid 3 days there and I can't wait to work with them for the next 3.5 weeks. I'll post more about my first three days shortly!

One of the main caretakers who is so grateful and kind towards us volunteers, but can be (and usually is) very harsh with the kids... But it makes me feel better to have captured this really beautiful moment she had with them.

Honestly trying to figure out how/if I could adopt from here and bring one of the kids home with me... The boy in my 1st, 3rd, 4th, and 5th pictures is so insanely sweet and gentle. But today was insanely difficult and I think I am still processing what really happened. So I was cradling with him (last picture) because the babies here never get to fall asleep while being held and cuddled. (There are so many children and only a few caretakers, so individual attention isn't really a thing here). He was so happy to be loved and I didn't want to let him go, but one of the caretakers noticed he was asleep and it wasn't nap time so she started to hit him as he was in my arms. He had a very hard time waking up so I was trying to talk loudly and move around to avoid having him hurt by the caretakers but they ended up taking him anyways and basically throwing him on the ground. He obviously woke up after this and just stared and cried for me to pick him up but I couldn't because the women were watching to make sure I wouldn't let him sleep again. It was one of the hardest things to see him looking up at me with his insanely beautiful eyes and little hands and I couldn't do anything. And standing there I knew this wasn't the first time but worse than that I knew it was far from the last. After a couple minutes I picked him back up and rocked him and he didn't fall asleep which was a relief. He started to cry as I left and I had to walk away quickly to avoid watching the women punish him for crying...I wish I could do so much more... Majority of the kids have bruises and cuts on their heads and it's hard to come to terms with this social norm. But as I say this, and it might be hard to believe, the caretakers genuinely care for the kids. You can see it in their eyes when they feed and wash the kids, or when we are reaching English and the caretakers look on with smiles. At the same time... It's hard to watch them smiling one second and shoving colored pencils down their throats the next second... If I didn't make it clear; disciplining children by hitting them is extremely common here. Many of our coordinators have said they were hit as kids and learned from it, but it obviously is something that is very foreign and difficult to watch for me.

For some reason tumblr is not letting me upload all my pictures so I'll try again tomorrow (war museum/tunnels and orphanage especially)... Going to eat this mango (I bought 3 at the local market for 10,000 dong =0.45¢) (Swiss army knife has been a huge help when it comes to fruit... Really lucky I haven't needed it for anything else)

Last weekend we went to Da Lat, which is 7 hours north of Saigon. Myself and 10 other volunteers went and it was incredible. - we took a night bus that left Saigon at 10:30pm-ish pm and arrived around 6am on Saturday. The bus was only $10 - once arrived in Da Lat we checked into an awesome hostel (Dalat Sky Hostel) for $4 per night. - Saturday we took a 7ish hour tour for $15 and saw so many amazing things in the countryside. It's 10:11pm here and I'm feeling really tired (some of us went to a yoga class earlier and it was really really difficult) so I will probably post more details tomorrow, but Da Lat is incredible and I highly recommend going someday! But the last pictures defiantly show a highlight of my travels so far. It was so incredible to see how beautiful and strong the water was. I encourage you to look up "elephant waterfalls Da Lat"... You won't be disappointed (: We also went to one of the most beautiful temples I've ever seen... So many Buddha statues and incense! P.S the man in my last picture is our tour guide who never stopped smiling and insisted that we call him "Happy" (:

#da lat #vietnam #ivhqweekends #ivhq

Independence Palace - here we learned more about the Vietnam war/Indochina war/Resistance War Against America. I encourage everyone to learn about it because many monumental events occurred here. Food!!! Learned how to make really good spring roles (:

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