Sunday, December 02, 2007 @ 2:41 pm
just returned from vietnam last night. love the trip so much. when i woke up this morning, i wished that i was still in vietnam, and still desperately trying to hold on to the feeling of being in vietnam and with my friends. been such an enriching experience for me, and i am truly thankful that i managed to convince my parents to allow me to go on this trip. thankful to the people who have made this trip possible, the parents of PAACT, the group leaders and various i/cs and everyone in the group who are tremendously fun and energetic. miss the vietnamese YMCA volunteers too, they are such warm people and radiates joy (not the brand of the bottled water) as well as optimism. helped us in numerous ways and they played wonderful hosts throughout the whole trip. especially Tigon, Vy and Dung (pronounced as Yung). made new friends across different levels and became closer to my old friends. loved everyone and the ever-shining spirit of the team. each and everyone is so enthusiastic and the whole team never fails to rise up to every challenge posed, especially during the construction work. i guess we are talented construction workers in disguise. haha. well it just goes to show that nothing is impossible as long as u have the heart and the willingness to do it.
the best parts of renovating the classroom are many. memorable ones include climbing the 3.2 m scaffolding without any of the OBS-like harness and such. the boys and their 60-cm holes (also known as digging their own graves). shovelling and carrying sand. scrubbing the walls (ROAR- exhausting beyond words). whitewashing, especially sitting on the funny wooden structures with ur feet dangling down to the riverbank underneath while painting the exterior of the school. weeding the weeds (which will grow again); scrubbing tiles under the sweltering sun (was dehydrated and started talking rubbish unconsciously). and varnishing the wooden furnitures, making them as good as new (the smell was unbearable though. and i really really mean UNBEARABLE.dunno how we persevered); scrubbing the floors (don't u feel like cinderella?) oh and the best part was watching how they level up the ground by pumping sand mixed with river water to fill the place. they loaded sand into a boat which travelled down the Mekong river, and had this pump and huge pipes to transport it into the frontyard of the school, filling up the empty space immediately without having to carry the sand or anything. the water then just drained out on its own. it was truly ingenious.
didn't shop much in vietnam coz a lot of things were almost the same price. but the most prized item which i bought is the Ao Dai that Tuan's mum took us to tailor-make. can't wait to see it =) still in vietnam now in the process of making. haha. i hope it turns out good! =) bought a bag and some DVDs as well as lotus tea. bought some gifts too. lotus tea is good =) bags are good probably good bargains there in terms of price and quality. the night market is wonderful too, only we had too little time and didn't manage to haggle and buy the nicey necklace =( ahhh..... not fated! haha. haggling for prices was fun and probably a good experience. Vy was really nice and helped us to translate and bargain good prices for us. Trent managed to piss off the stamp lady coz he haggled beyond the price the lady wanted to sell, and took a super long time too. haha. Tuan was pretty skilful too. haha. and Abby loves shopping! =D apparently u need to acquire skills to get good bargains. haha. not bad overall.
the things that struck me most about vietnam are the people. in the villages, the younger kids were really special. their faces radiate nothing but joy and excitement all the time. somehow they are able to find happiness in the littlest of things, such as jumping into the holes that the guys dug, stepping on the sand pumped into the school, collecting empty plastic bottles and many many more. u'll never see kids of the same age as happy as they are in singapore. although they are not well-off financially, they are truly a joyful bunch. the adverse side is that they often come to disrupt our renovating works and loves to crowd around the bearer of the digital camera. haha. the villagers are pretty warm too. the closing ceremony was particularly significant, and the whole village gathered around the simple school to watch the closing ceremony. the kids put up performances which were really cute and heartwarming. although the shows were in vietnamese and we didn't understand anything, i could feel their appreciation for us, and i truly appreciate their hospitality and the numerous things that we've learnt throughout the trip. when i look into the bright, shining eyes of the children, i felt "young and innocent" again. haha. how do i put it, they are very "polos" (in indonesian). and i simply love them.
i adore vietnamese food too. the vegetables in vietnam are beyond fantastic! everything is fresh and so so good! a million times better than subway vegetables. haha. and they eat very healthily such that the dishes are not very oily (except when they cook omelette). goat meat was disgusting though. just beware of what the meat is before u eat. u just never know. the gross thing is, the villagers eat grown-up cats and dogs. that's why u dun see a lot of grown-up animals a lot. after they finish their reproductive cycle, they'll be on the dinner table. thank goodness they didn't feed us that. they were basically farmers and fishermen. had lots of ducks, chickens and dogs running around. some have pigs, and most have fishnets and crabs and prawns. they lead pretty peaceful and stress-free lives. felt very relaxed and focused there.
made lots of new friends throughout the whole trip and as a group, played bridge, watched enchanted (and fell asleep), talk and gossip, shopping and so so many more. got to know a lot of wonderful people and really treasure the friendships forged during the trip. Cultural Night was a great success and everyone did extremely well. thank you so much for being such a wonderful and joyful and enthusiastic bunch. really wonderful to dance with u guys. especially eugene my dance partner and larissa, who braved through her cough to perform. the indian/malay dance was fantastic and fun! so proud of all of you! guess our hard work paid off after all.
i really miss vietnam. the people, the vegetables, the environment and all. learnt lots of things over there. must especially 'thank' Trent and Andrew for succeeding in annoying me and raising my blood pressure beyond threshold. you guys are a "nightmare before christmas". hope the 2nd group will have a fantastic trip too! =)
i shall proclaim my love to Baoru and Bingxin(my lovely daughters), Sarah, Abby, Sue Ping, Liu Xuan, Larissa, Jasmine, Lee Jing, Arthi, Gwen, Cheryl, Estella, Tigon, Vy 1 and Vy 2. regards to the irritants Andrew and Trent, plus Eugene, Tuan, Han Dong, Chian Siang, Jonathan and the 4 parents =D