Pics from Day 1

Heading to Rach Gia

We arrived in Rach Gia after a 6 hour bus ride. Very interesting to see the sights along the way and watch the view change from crowded, noisy, honking, motorbike filled streets, to all the varying shades of green in the countryside. As we progressed further into the delta, we crossed more rivers. Houses on stilts line the rivers and are pretty spare and sobering - open air, corrugate metal walls, palm thatching, and whatever else was available to make a shelter.

One thing I must say is that there are lots of hammocks in the delta. We passed many restaurants and all were open air and had as many hammocks as tables. I think I would have been quite happy to have taken a snooze in one of those hammocks. My friend Kristi, who is also here with us is considering opening a hammock bar in Atlanta.

It's always amusing to see what people are able to transport on their motor bikes. They are ingenious and often have buggies, carts or other contraptions attached. A few of the most memorable so far: a guy with a washing machine strapped to the back of his motorbike. Two guys carrying poles that must have been at least 25 feel long -- one guy on a bike at the front, and one on a bike behind. A guy with 4 full size pigs going to market. The pigs must have been trained to be very still on the back of his bike because they were not moving... I wish I had pictures of these - they are fleeting images that happen so fast it's hard to capture unless you constantly have your camera in hand. It may become my mission to just document all the strange and wonderful ways of transporting things on motorbikes in Vietnam!

Once we arrived in Rach Gia we headed straight to the school and proceeded to unpack the multitude of boxes and suitcases full of donations. It's amazing how much can be accomplished in such a short time. Our hotel is not quite the Saigon Mini 5, but passable. An Chi asked if we could have room service and it's not an option here.

Snake wine anyone?

The Saigon Mini 5 Hotel and Ho Chi Minh City

The Saigon Mini Hotel 5.



The view from our room.


Our hotel is called the Saigon Mini Hotel 5. It's not much to look at but was clean and friendly and is located in the backpacker district, which is really colorful. I wish we had some time to explore. One day here is not enough.


Purchasing a bobble headed toy outside the Ben Thanh market =
Gullible Tourist.


We went to the Ben Thanh market and did a quick walk through, and hired a cab to do a bit of sight seeing on the fly, but our timing was off and the few things we wanted to see, the Catherdral and a Pagoda, were closed. So we headed into the heart of district 1 and had lunch across from the landmark Rex Hotel. We would have eaten at their famed rooftop restaurant, but frankly it was too hot to sit outside. An Chi had a banana split for lunch and I told her she can have as much ice cream as we can find on this trip.

We attended the press conference at the Bong Sen hotel around the corner and apparently we are on the new throughout the week on the news stations.

After that, back to the hotel and sleep!


An Chi at breakfast, Kristi and Ashton in the background.

Finally here!

We arrived a few hours ago and are so glad to be off the plane. An Chi was a real trooper considering how long she had to sit in those airplane seats. We were all loopy by the time we got to Seoul and a green tea ice cream frapp from Starbucks set An Chi right. From being up in the air for so many hours, a horrifying new phenomenon has happened to me - my ankles swelled up and by the time we landed in HCMC, I had CANKLES! Oh the horror.

We are staying in the backpacker part of Ho Chi Minh city near the Ben Thanh market. Needless to say, shopping will be part of tomorrow's plans. Also we have a press conference tmorrow afternoon and I believe several news organizations will be there to talk and ask up about the Aid Expedition.

It's very HOT here and I must say that I am so thankful to the person who invented air conditioning.

It's late and we are all nodding off. Looking forward to a bowl of pho and a cafe sua da for breakfast.

From the air - polar ice cap

Two days and counting...

Packing has commenced.

Our friend Paula came over tonight and we got much of our donations packed up:

10 Boxes of syringes
Alcohol wipes
Two giant bags of toothbrushes
Two cases of toothpaste
Clothes
Shoes
Art Supplies
Stickers
Balloons
300 glow in the dark bracelets (yeah!)

Paula is getting a 50 pound box of medical donations tomorrow. It's from a source called Medshare and they give medical supplies to aid organizations.

We still need to gather our hygiene kits from An Chi's classmates and friends at Imagine Wesley International Academy. The fabulous Mrs. McConnell has been instrumental in helping us not only with the hygiene kits (a 1 gallon baggie containing shampoo, conditioner, soap, tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, comb), but also with letters to the first grade class at Vinh Quang Primary School in Rach Gia. The other day when I was in class, Mr's McConnell was reading some of the letters the girls had written to their Vietnamese penpals. They were very impressive and heartfelt. I was so proud!

It's hard to believe we will be leaving so soon!

10 days and counting!

Welcome to our blog! We are very excited about traveling to Vietnam and time is beginning to fly by. As many of you know we are participating in the Catalyst Foundation's 2010 Vietnam Aid Expedition. We have 80 volunteers, as young as 7 years old, traveling to Kien Giang (the southern most province of Vietnam near the Cambodian border). We will build a home and playground, provide medical assistance to over 2000 people and reach out to the 300 children the Catalyst Foundation serves in Vietnam.

Our fund raising efforts are well underway and we are close to our goal, thanks to the support we have received from near and afar. Friends, neighbors, co-workers, classmates, we thank you all for your generosity. I am touched by your enthusiasm for our mission.

An Chi has been offering up beautiful hand crafted dragonflies to her classmates for a donation. The dragonflies are bamboo and quite enchanting -- they balance on your finger tip. The girls in class love them and they, along with Mrs. McConnell (first grade teacher extraordinaire) have been particularly wonderful in helping An Chi meet her fund raising goals for the trip.

Right now the class is putting together "Hygiene kits" (tooth brush, paste, bar of soap, comb, brush) for the first grade class in Vietnam. I'm going to have everyone in class self address an envelope and hopefully the kids in Vietnam will send them a letter!

We invite you will follow our blog -- luckily we have wireless in our hotel room in Kien Giang, so we'll do out best to keep you tuned in to what we are up to.






.