Museum, markets and a birthday

Our last full day in Vietnam started with a walk through the Chinese food market the smell of dried fish was interesting!  We then visited the Lady of the Sea Temple in China town. The temple was very old and built from donated money when the Chinese first emigrated to Vietnam. They believe that the sea goddess protected them in their journey. 

We then jumped on the bus and went to the War Remanents Museum. This was very thought provoking and reminded everyone of the horrific results of wars. The exhibits told the story the French invasion and treatment of the local population and also the war against the Americans and the effects of agent orange.   The prison or Tiger Cage as they were called, was a little confronting.  

Next stop MCDONALDS!  Yes finally McDonalds has been allowed to open in Vietnam with the first two shops in Ho Chi Minh City. I have to say I barely ever visit in Brisbane but it was lovely to have chips with salt on them and a Big Mac!  

After lunch we hit the markets.  Bargaining was the aim of the game and I think we all have our souvenirs and presents sorted.  

Tonight we celebrated one of the tour guides birthdays. Victor turned 23 and had never celebrated a birthday. We had a cake and all signed a card. Happy birthday was sung at least 4 times to make up for lost years. He could not believe we would do this for him - I say any excuse for a party! 

Tomorrow we check out at 9 then visit a shopping centre before lunch at the Pizza Hut and check in at the airport. 

Our flight details are AK532 from SGN to KL then D7206 from KL to OOL arriving at 7.25am we then board the bus at 8.30 and travel to Lauries hopefully arriving between 10 to 10.30am. I will ask everyone to call when we hit Loganholme so you know of our progress. Please google flights so you know whether we are on time or not as communication may be difficult from KLif we are running late. 

As this is the last blog of this trip I hope you have all enjoyed following our journey and the experiences we have had. My overseas children have been fun, challenging sometimes (they are teenagers after all), homesick occasionally and hard-working and I will miss them but not next week :) 

Farewells

Today we checked out of our hotel and went straight to the deaf school to attend Mass. We were welcomed at the gate by the students and again made to feel like rock stars. Every Father and Sister in My Tho attended along with the local Bishop. The Bishop made special mention of our work in the area and thanked us for our charity in English. The only part of mass we could understand apart from An! 

After mass we participated in the school concert, the deaf children danced and put on a traditional play and one boy played a keyboard. Amazing to keep rythem without hearing. We sung Home amongst the Gum Trees and actually remembered all the words and actions!  The school had been decorated and there would have been 300 people in attendance this included the local clergy, university students, parents and helpers. 

After the concert we all sat down for a very interesting lunch. We have been telling the students to be travellers and not tourist however on this occasion we turned into tourists. Lunch started with eggs with half grown ducks inside. This was removed from our table immediately the next course were pawns - all good for the seafood lovers.  Then came out beef stew with intestines -that didn't get  eaten either then some stir fried venison. I don't think calling it Bambi helped! We all ate some bread and the chocolate ice cream. A massive slab of birthday cake was next and you got a spoon each and dug in. 

We then gave Sister Elizabeth some gifts for the school and said farewell promising to be back again next year. 

The building site was next for farewells the family was given plaques from both schools to hang in their new house and a special name plate was unveiled. All students were given a certificate of merit and a letter of thanks from the Vietnam government. After many speeches and some sad farewells we once again boarded the bus and headed for Ho Chi Minh City. 

Tonight we went on a dinner river cruise after running though a torrential downpour and some accidentally boarded the wrong boat but we all ended up together in the end and on the correct boat! The streets here flood easily in a downpour but also drain quickly when the rain has stopped. We enjoyed some local entertainment with some of us participating playing cups and tambourine. 

Tomorrow we visit the markets, china town and the War remnants museum. 

Last day of work

The students are to congratulated on their hard work over the last two weeks. We have enjoyed the activities, our tour guides have become our friends and we will miss them when we return home. 

Last night we went back to the Summer Cafe to have Pizza and the owner, Ha, conducted a language competition.  She would get so carried away instead of English she would say the word in Vietnamese, I don't think I have laughed so much all tour!

We have loved the food and drinks over the last few weeks, but at Summer the virgin cocktails and pizza were delicious, staff very friendly but more importantly we developed some wonderful friendships. 

Tomorrow the deaf school celebrates their 10th anniversary. We have a mass at 9 then a concert at 10am and a combined lunch with students and guests of the school including the local Bishop. We were involved in the final rehearsal this afternoon and have mastered our song and added some extra actions to assist the deaf students to understand what we are singing about.  After lunch we return to the building site to say farewell and give the family gifts along with plagues from both schools to hang inside when the house is completed. We then head back to Ho Chi Minh City. 

Today Mr McDonald and I visited the family we built a house for in 2013. The changes to their lives is incredible. The family consists of a single mother and two children. Mum looks so much healthier and now does not worry about her children's future.  Her son has finished high school and Innoviet, who coordinates our tour and house building, also organises sponsorships so that poor students can get into university. Hopefully her son will attend uni next year. The daughter is still in secondary school. It was amazing to see the house painted and tiled and them living there instead of the humpy they had.  Our plaque hangs above the main door and photos dot the house of our time with them.  I can't wait to return next year to see the difference we will make to our current family. What a privilege to be involved in this project. 

Giant Buddha

Today we split into two groups most boys went to the building site to finish the last ground level work and try their hand at rendering. The rest of us went to the deaf school to make the dry boxes for the students hearing aids. We also assisted the audiologist with their patients collecting and delivering them back and forth to classrooms and keeping them occupied while waiting their turn.

We then helped in the dining room to feed the preschool and year 1 students. 

When the children finished their lunch and went to the dormitorys for their midday sleep we began some serious practice of our song. After lunch the practice continued with the work site boys joining in.  Certainly getting better remembering the words. 

We then took taxis to see the giant Buddha. It turns out their are two one happy one and a recline Buddha that has reached nivana. An amazing sight only 3km from the hotel. So beautiful and peaceful, the monks also run an orphanage here. 

Back to work

Another day on the block. We have completed most of the work at ground level, tomorrow only a few boys will go to the building site to finish one of the brick walls the rest of the students will go to the school to make the dry boxes for the hearing aids and practice our song for Thursday. 

We have organised a visit to a Buddhist temple tomorrow afternoon instead of working for a break in routine. 

Last night we attended mass it's a very musical event with nearly everthing being sung. Outside the church is a beautiful statue. We then visited the Lotteria again for dinner. We are still debating whether the beef is truly Australian or even beef!