Hello All,

It has been some time since I have used this medium to report on the happenings here in Vietnam. I apologize. Let me start with last weekend...

On Sunday, we were fortunate enough to accompany Ms. Tuyet, who runs a sponsorship program for impoverished children and youth, to Ben Tre province in the Mekong region. We met about 50 children and youth in a Catholic church and provided some language instruction, sang songs, and played games. We also took canvases and paints, and the children painted images of their hopes and dreams. Often times, children in the countryside have, understandably, only short term ambitions--the point of this exercise was to assist the children in culturing long-term ambitions. The paintings were beautiful, and the children bashfully eager. We spent our last few minutes with them, waiting out a rain storm in an open walled room and eating sweet cake.

After teaching, we sat in a tin roofed kitchen full of bustling church women, and ate the most delicious meal I have had since arriving here. Clay fish, pork, sour fish soup, river prawns, etc.

I am now thouroughly engaged in Ms. Tuyet's work. She runs these Sunday classes, the sponsorship program, and is also active in many other community initiatives. Cheratien and I, after having discussed with Tuyet the possibility of travelling with her to some of the more remote villages, have kick started C.I.S's first clothing drive. My students have made posters and we have sent out letters, encouraging students and their family members to donate used clothes for us to take to the Khor minority people in Don Duane Village. We will be making this trip on October 10th. Some parents have become involved with the project, which was an added bonus. One mother is getting her business to collect school supplies and books.

Along with us were Kim's two good friends, Rose and Jenny. Both are lovely individuals. Jenny and I had quite lengthy chats. She has been given a job heading up Vietnam's first national/international cultural centre. The project sounds wildly interesting, and I was happy to glean some knowledge from her empassioned talk of Vietnamese culture.

En route to Ben Tre, we stopped in the countryside for a washroom break and snacks. We had some water coconuts and made our own sugar cane juice (which included everything from hacking down some stalks, to feeding them through the juicing machine).

Coconuts and coconut by-products are a big industry in the Mekong region. Many things are made with coconut. Many children are employed at a young age to assist with the processing of coconuts--payed a small fee for their work on a hundred or so coconuts.

Other exciting news, I have undertaken planning our first intermediate field trip. We will be taking the kids camping in Dalat (highlands,, north-east of HCMC) and to do various adventure sports and teambuilding excercises. This trip will be taking place in November, when the rainy season has died down a bit.

Last weekend, I began to feel quite comfortable on my new motorscooter. I navigated busy intersections with Cheratien as a passenger, and our several grocery bags tucked between us and at my feet. I have stayed safe through my many bike ventures, but did manage to incur a non-bike related injury. I slammed a large wrought iron gate on my heel, and now have a chunky and bruised foot. It is improving, however.

Cheratien and I now have membership for our apartment's gym, which allows us use of a nice big pool. Cheratien is teaching me how to be a more efficient swimmer..... I think that I will be a challenge to her.

Thursday evening, we met Thao Fam (one of the Vietnamese staff members) downtown for an amazing seafood dinner. We ate all manner of shelled creatures. She, then, took us to the distict where she used to live and look us to a street vender to enjoy a variety of Vietnamese desserts (mung beans and sticky rice, banna cake, sweet potatoes and musroom...of course, all covered in coconut cream. We sat on small plastic stools as the speedily-moving, sweaty server ladled our desserts into our bowls from pots sitting on the roadside. Delicious (Ngon, in Vietnamese), once again. We also had the pleasure of meeting some of Thao's friends.

Other little tidbits.... we have ant colonies in our home, as do most other people in Vietnam, I am sure. We have systematically discovered that lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and vinegar do not work in repelling the little guys. Tea tree oil, however, seems to be our best agent yet.

Yesterday night, we went to Jenny's very funky downtown loft and enjoyed a ladies' night. It was great to spend time with a group of beautiful, successful, and welcoming women. We concluded the night with dancing, of course.

Tomorrow, we are up early to go rock climbing.

We have purchased our air tickets for our October break. Jeremy, Cheratien, and I will be going to Hoi An and Hue, on the central coast. I am very excited to see more of the country.

Today is my grandma's 90th birthday party. Quite a momentous day to miss--makes me wish someone would hurry up already and produce teleporters.

So much more to say. So much I have forgotten, I am sure.

Much love,
K