First a big HELLO to Steve!!! So sorry that I haven't emailed but I don't have your email address anymore because it gotten taken away when I left GS (as did my income and anxiety)! Miss you tons and see you when I get back!
So I don't think I mentioned why I smell like wintergreen in my last post, which may have made the title a bit mysterious. I'm sure all (3) of you were frantically searching my post for more detail and I apologize for the oversight. While Vietnam definitely has cortisone cream and allergy medication, the Vietnamese seem to prefer rubbing something similar to tiger balm or a mysterious green oil called "Eagle Oil" on anything that ails them. Being the hypochondriac that I am (I have not 1, but 2 medical packs on me filled with OTC and Prescription medications), I just had to try.
Well, the first thing that I thought was, "Now I know what that fragrance is that my grandfather wears." No kidding, this is exactly what my grandfather smells like ALL THE TIME. Add to that my new $1.50 white, rubber "house" flip flops that I wear all the time, and you could probably mistake me for my arthritic grandfather, wandering around the house somewhere, looking lost (either actually lost in the living room or just lost in thought). However, if you can get past the wintergreen fragrance (there it is), I think that the green oil actually will cure what ails you! Got a headache? Rub it on your temples. Ear aches/itches? Rub some behind your ear lobe. Sinus problems? Rub some on the back of your neck. Mosquito bite? Rub some on to help stop the itching. Feet swollen from standing all day, dripping with babies from every appendage? Maybe go to a Reflexology place and have them rub some into your feet for an hour with the whopping price tag of $4.00. I kid you not, this stuff is a miracle elixir. Warning: it doesn't mask the smell of baby drool or any other baby bodily fluid.
Tinh & Meat Pie Update:
Tinh is my little superstar! She has made so much progress this week!!! We've only worked with her therapist 2-3 times, but she catches on so quickly! She now has amazing movement in her left arm. She had a fever of about 100 this week that put me in a small state of panic. She's been to hospital before for respiratory infections, and apparently is prone to viruses and bugs. We put a cool patch on her head to try and bring the fever down, which apparently annoyed the hell out of her. All of a sudden, she starts to get really agitated and with her left hand, she rips off the cool patch!!! Now, this was definitely not a good thing because she needed to keep it on. Yet, part of me was SO excited because this is a huge movement for her! To literally grab the corner of the cool patch and then pull it off her head takes a level of coordination that she has never exhibited before! Even while sick, she still managed to do this, which gives me so much hope that the work we're doing with her is truly affecting her future development. And thankfully, her fever dropped later that afternoon and within 2 days time, she was back to her usual self, laughing up a storm.
Still have no clue what Meat Pie's name is:P Sorry, Heather!!! I will tell you that Meat Pie's favorite activities seem to be either eating, sleeping, or passing gas with the intent to poo.
I wish I had more of an update, but unfortunately we don't work in the Baby Room at the Social Support Center anymore. We spend our time their working with disabled children in a playground that one of the former volunteers in our program gave funding to build. Apparently, before the playground, these children were literally tied to fences and cribs. The playground is beautiful, but unfortunately, hasn't been kept very well. There are only 2 elderly Center "Mothers" to care for all of these children, most of which were abandoned by the side of a road somewhere at a very young age. These children are anywhere from 10-15 and cannot use the bathroom and for the most part, cannot communicate with anyone. They are left in the playground, often unsupervised, and sometimes just relieve themselves where they are sitting. Some of the children seem to have taking to playing with their waste, as you can see hand prints of waste around the colored fence.
I am so sorry to be so graphic about this, but I just couldn't believe it when I saw it. We walked in to this playground, which smells like a port-a-potty, and saw children tied to the fence, covered with flies. The first thing we did when we came back was to clean the entire playground. My friend and I mopped the entire thing and cleaned each fence post. As bad as it sounds to do something like that, it was surprisingly easy to do when we realized what the alternative would be for these children. I wish I could say that I enjoy coming to this center, but it's physically and emotionally exhausting. There are times when I am actually a little scared because some of these children are very big and very strong, and when upset, can be intimidating. I don't go now without a male volunteer or the physical therapist, just because it can get a bit out of control if you are the only person with the 9 children that are usually there. However fatiguing it can be, though, it is also incredibly rewarding at the end of the day. Yet I've gotten to lying awake at night unable to sleep because I feel like what we're doing to help is so infinitesimal sometimes and I wonder what will happen to these children in the long run.
Sorry to bring the mood down, but this week was definitely harder and more eye-opening than last week. However, on the fun side, I wanted to write a little about what's going on in my life outside of work. I live in a house with 7 other volunteers, ranging in age from 20 - 45. It's pretty evenly spread out age-wise. For fun, we usually end up drinking beer at a bar next door where the owner has adopted our Scottish housemate as her son. This is pretty interesting to see as she is about 5'4", 110 lbs, and he is about 6'2", 250 lbs. And obviously, she's Vietnamese and he's Scottish, which also makes the mother-son idea pretty ridiculous. We usually go drinking with Mr. Khai, or trusty, drunken, always sleepy, house guard who watches over us at night. Mr. Khai usually yells in Vietnamese, "No drunk, no home!" What a motto, especially since Mr. Khai usually shows up to work smelling like a brewery. To be fair, it could just be residual from the previous night... yeah... that's it... But there is NO better person to go drinking with than Mr. Khai, who makes no sense in either English or Vietnamese, and will randomly chime into your conversation with, "Yeah yeah yeah," followed by hysterical laughter:) FYI, the toast in Vietnam goes: "Mot, Hai, Ba, YO!" which translated means, "1, 2, 3, YO!" I know, it's poetic:) The night usually ends with a drunken rendition of a song that has a chorus of, "Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh! Vietnam! Ho Chi Minh!" There are lots of other words, of course, but those are the only ones that seem to stick with us.
We also go to Hoi An, the local Beach Town, on the weekends. We had an amazing time at a party that runs all night on Cua Dai beach at a bar/club that has a lighted pool area. The pool is very refreshing at night, but nothing beats swimming in the ocean at night and looking up at the starry sky. There are also phosphorescent little creatures that live in the water, so when you move your arms around you, you hit them and they light up. It looks like amazing, sparkling water surrounding you. The water is tepid at its coldest, goes only waist-high, and the sand is soft and smooth under your feet. It's such an amazing experience to walk through the water and then float on your back and try and spot a constellation. The water is peaceful and comforting, and is the closest (but not at all equal) thing to going to sleep next to my husband at night that I have ever experienced. (I'm sure this last line will get some "aws" and a lot of "blehs," but I don't care!)
I miss you all and can't wait to see you when I get home:)
Much love,
mindy
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