Monkies, Swan Paddle Boats, And Roller Coaster?

First off, we found all of the mosquitoes in Vietnam, they are in Dam Long or what ever the name of the places is. Yeah, the rooms actually had mosquito nets in them. Of course, I was too lazy to put mine up, let’s hope I don’t come back with malaria, but I guess we will know in the next 48 hours.

Spending time with the kids from SS4 was a lot of fun. The second they arrived we broke up into a couple of different groups, and began experiencing all the resort had to offer. As stated in the title, mostly crazy monkeys, the deer Sam didn’t eat in Sapa, Swan boats, a roller coaster, and swimming. I got the kid that didn’t really talk much, but enjoyed trying to go as fast as he could on the paddle boats, this followed a little girl that liked to hit me for some reason. Still, it was a blast. The kids kept trying to feed the monkeys, and then ran away when the monkeys chased them. It was an interesting experience, in the sense that now several people have an idea of what it’s like to establish relationships, and build them up like we have with the Birla kids. Tomorrow, those who started relationships with SS3 last year will be able to see how those relationships have progressed. The greatest part of everything was that many of the kids knew a little bit of English, so with our little Vietnamese and their English we were able to some what communicate.

It was at lunch, I was able to sit with some of the translators I hung out with the night before, and some of the kids that I’d been hanging out with that allowed me to get a better understanding of what it is we’re actually doing here. Yeah, we’re having fun, but we tend to miss the little things. At one point one of the kids made a comment, and I asked one of the translators what he said. Apparently the food at the resort was richer than the food he was used to. I never thought of it that way, because I’m used to even richer food at home. We began to talk about the differences in our backgrounds, and how he believed that just hanging out with the kids this one day actually makes a difference. We talked about how even the richness of the food motivates the kids to do better in school and to want something better for their lives. Here I’m just eating the food that is in front of me, but someone else is getting something from it. Without over exaggerating each little thing, how many other little things do we miss that actually makes a small impact on another’s life? After lunch we swam for a little bit, joked around with the kids a little bit, threw some of our own group members into the pool, threw some of the kids, and just had fun as if there weren’t really any barriers of having just met. We got cleaned up, and then had a few last minutes to hang out with the kids before they left. They fed us some rice cakes; which were like cardboard with caramel that stuck to your teeth like super glue, but it was still better than the dried fruit MiMi gave us. We took a few last photos of them, and then they headed to the buses to head back. Some of the kids immediately got on the bus, but others said goodbye and asked us to write them. It was a great experience, and went much better than I had anticipated.

I hope the little time that we’ve invested in these kids lives had made some kind of difference. It would have been nicer to have been able to spend more time with them, but you do the best with the little time you’re given. This portion of the trip took us out of our comfort zones just a little bit more, but it was very rewarding. Hopefully people don’t overlook at the things that can be taken from this experience. It has also helped me become closer to the translators. I was happy to hear one tell me that at the beginning I appeared to be a cold person, but once they got to know me, I was both funny and fun to be around. It’s nice to know that the people here don’t seem to judge you on their first impressions, but are willing to spend the time to get to know you. A lot of times you don’t really get that second chance. I wonder who feels more privileged to know one another, us or them? I’m fairly certain it’s them over us, and we’re hear to server them. When does the server become the served, and do we really notice it? They’re here showing us how wrapped up in our own little worlds we are, and we’re still to blind to see it.

We’re now back in Hanoi preparing to see how our relationships with SS3 have improved.