Good Morning Vietnam!

Back to the hustle, bustle, colour and life of vibrant Vietnam - we love it!!!

There's so much to see every which way you turn, life is happening everywhere, it's fantastic!  We feel very much at home here and it is such a contrast to Bali. 

We were in Hanoi for 5 days staying in a nice hotel in a different area from last year so it took a while to get our bearings. For the first couple of days every time we went out we managed to get lost, especially at night where everything looks so different.  We walked miles and miles but it's all good, always so much to see.

Night time is the best.  We love going down little alley ways to see what's there.  The old buildings are beautiful and with the soft night lighting the colours and old textures are wonderful.

Eating on the street is the best.  You sit on little plastic chairs/stools at little plastic tables (bit like a children's tea party) and eat Pho (chicken or beef broth soup with lots of rice noodles and herbs, it's yummy).  The other night we cooked our own seafood hotpot on the street - they provide the broth in a pot on a gas cooker and the raw seafood and veg and you do the rest.  It's very tasty and very unique for us Westerners, but it's cheap and social for the Vietnamese so everyone does it.

Eating out

We caught up with our friend Giang and her family.  We had the most amazing day with them.  She has a Husband (Vinh) and two boys (Long 8yrs, and Huey 2months).  They took us to her Parents house which is semi-rural and we also met her Sister (Quyn) and her family.  They welcomed us like one of their own and we

had lunch and dinner there.  There was so much food and also beer and wine.  

We sat on the floor and ate, helping ourselves to everything (except the chicken feet!).  It was so yummy.  Giang, Vinh and Quyn were the only ones who could speak English but it didn't matter, her Mum and Dad could understand us through hand signals and head nodding.  Uncles and friends popped in from time to time for a quick visit and a look at the Kiwi's!





Giang's parents lease a piece of communal land at the back of their place where they grow veges to sell to the market.

There are many lot holders doing the same and it's hard work, everything done by hand, including watering the huge plot with two watering cans strapped to a piece of timber across your back.  Brent had a go at the watering, wading into the pond to fill the cans and then carrying the load to the plot to water the rows.  They all thought it was wonderful, everyone was laughing and nodding their heads, he was a hit!
Unfortunately I didn't get a photo as I didn't know he was out there and hadn't taken my camera with me.


Local grower filling the watering cans from the pond



It is a lovely spot.  Giang's Father was born there and they rebuilt the house around four years ago.  It looks very grand on the outside but is very simple inside.  As in Bali, they don't go in for nic naks or decoration like we do in the west.  It's simple and serves it's purpose.

After lunch they took us by motorbike to a beautiful old Pagoda (temple), about 1/2hour ride away.  It was fabulous.  It's the oldest Pagoda in Vietnam and was built in the 16th century.  It was amazing, beautiful old timber and huge carved and colourful Buddhas.  A very special place.

The ride there and back was great too, it was all on a concrete road which was raised like a stopbank so you got a great view of the farming and villages as you drove past.  It was awesome.

We got home around 10pm, very tired but what an amazing day.  We are very privileged to have had the opportunity to be invited into someone's home and it was a wonderful experience.





On Thursday 29th we flew to Hoi An to visit another dear young woman we befriended last year.  She calls us her NZ Parents so we get called Mother and Father :).  Dear Phuong (we call her Fo) is beautiful, both to look at and as a person and holds a special place in our hearts.  She works at the Hotel we stayed at last year in Hoi An and we stayed there again this time.

Phuong (Fo) and her Mum

Linh (middle) and her friends

 
She took us to Tam Ky (about 80 minutes by car) to meet her Mother, Sister (10) and older Brother (29).  Her Mother works every day buying and selling ducks (sort of like a dealer/agent for those that want to buy and sell).




Again, what a wonderful loving family.  Her Mother took time out from her busy day and made us lunch and then her Sister Linh (Lin) and her two friends did a little concert for us.  They were quite shy at first but soon came around.  We are the first Westerners they have seen so wern't too sure of us to start with.
We then took them all out for dinner at a local restaurant and had a bit of this and a bit of that.  It was wonderful.  We stayed the night in a Hotel and then made our way back to Hoi An the next day.

Hoi An is the best!  It's beautiful old buildings with lanterns hanging outside, river, bridges, boats, people, it's just stunning.  It has so much old world charm and character it's a photographer's paradise!!!  Yes, MORE photos!  I didn't think I'd take too many this visit as we took thousands last year, but no, just can't help myself, there's always something wonderful to take a photo of.

 

Beautiful lanterns at night



Also, the shopping in Hoi An is fantastic!  Lots of beautiful silk, scarves, clothes, leather and other souviners.  You can get clothes and shoes made if you want.  I can never make up my mind what I want so only got some travel trousers made this time and 3 pairs of summer sandles at $12ea - 2 of them leather so I was happy with that.

Wednesday 5th we went back to Thuan Tinh Island which we visited last year.  We enjoyed it so much the first time we decided to go again.  The man that runs it (Thai is his name), remembered us from last year and was very happy to see us, we are the first clients to do a return visit.  They do a cooking tour as part of the 1/2 day excursion so you go to the market first to buy all the ingredients and then take a 1/2hour boat ride to the island.  You then go by another little boat to a small village on the island and meet some of the locals and then back to the main part for the cooking school.  It's wonderful.  You make the yummiest food and it's very relaxed and informal (unlike some of the other larger cooking schools).  The staff are wonderful and the lovely cooking instructor (Mrs Thi) from last year remembered us too and gave us a big hug each, she was so happy to see us again.  We had a good group - 2 English guys, an American couple and us.  Once again it was a great day.

Our first 4 days in Vietnam were fine and very hot, a lot hotter than Bali but then a storm in the Philippines moved this way and it's been raining on and off ever since.  It doesn't matter, it's actually quite refreshing, it's the first rain we've seen in 4 months!  We just put on our coats and grab a brollie and off we go.

From Hoi An we were back to Hanoi for 2 full days and then back to Bali on Friday 7th.  Me to do my Writer's Retreat and Brent to go to Bunaken Island for Diving, then meeting up again to travel back to Tulamben on 16th and back to teaching in Tianyar on 17th for another month.  Time is going to go really fast now!

We love Vietnam and wish we could have stayed longer...we now have two more special families to visit so looks like Bali/Vietnam will be seeing much more of us in the future...

Tantrums and Tiaras

Wow, what a tumultuous two weeks we’ve had – one extreme to the other!

It started Thursday week ago (8th) when I taught the girls Sex Education.   

That in itself was a breeze and they all got the message – “No condom, no sex, no excuses!”. 

I explained to them the seriousness of STD’s and that they can cause infertility (you especially wouldn’t want to be Balinese and not be able to have children – life revolves around family here and the children are expected to look after their elders, they all live together.  Sons are very important and the men here are devastated if they don’t produce a son).   I explained HIV and Aids – there is no cure, you die.   

I printed some good information off the internet and gave it to them, including all the things they can say if the male comes up with excuses to not wear a condom.

I took along a packet of condoms to show them – you should have seen their eyes – they lit up like saucers when I took them out of the packet!  I then proceeded to show them how to put one on, using the neck of a large Bintang (beer) bottle – funny!!!!!  I then gave them the opportunity to have a go for themselves – about half of them did, the others didn’t want to touch them but were interested in watching their mates.

With that taken care of I went and found Ketut (the Yayasan Director) and told him what I’d covered.  He said, “No, no, now they will be confused and think they can go and have sex.  No, you must go and tell them they cannot, it’s against our beliefs, no sex before marriage.  They cannot go into the Temples if they have sex before marriage.  Please, you must put it right, tell them they cannot have sex before marriage”.

I was gobsmacked!  I said to him "You didn't mention that to me last week!" and "So no-one in Bali has sex before marriage?  You’ve never had sex?" (he’s 29).  He looked me in the eye and said “No, I’ve not had sex”...  I was so pissed off.  He hadn’t told me any of this when I had asked him the week before if he wanted me to teach the girls about sex education.  If they don’t have sex before marriage then what the hell did he think I was going to teach them!

I found it all rather unbelievable but felt obliged to put things right so went and found the girls and said that Ketut had just told me they are not allowed to have sex  before marriage (they all nodded their heads) and that what I had told them didn’t change that.

I was gutted.  I was really upset.  I thought about it all the way home on the back of the bike, worried that I had told them things I perhaps shouldn’t have.  But, no, I did the right thing.  Chances are very likely many of those girls WILL have sex before marriage (it’s only natural after all) and that what I had taught them was important and I just hope they remember it at the time.

HIV/Aids is rampant in Bali and we’ve also been told that 75%  of marriages in Bali occur because the woman is pregnant – so there you go – beliefs and Temples don’t stand a chance against human desire!

We had Budi and Yogi to stay the Saturday night (10th).  They came after school.  Yogi’s Dad brought them up on the motorbike, he loved the place and didn’t want to go home either!  We fed them up and went snorkeling and swimming again.  We went out for dinner. They loved it.

Sunday arrived and all was well.  Our neighbor Nyoman came over to clean the yard (he and his wife Iluh (Elu) look after the place for the owner).  Budi and Yogi were kicking a plastic ball around and Brent was having a chat to Nyoman about going fishing with him sometime soon.  Everything was fine and friendly.   

Next minute Nyoman told the boys to stop kicking the ball and to start sweeping the yard.  He speaks good English but told the boys in Indonesian and his tone was definitely angry.  Brent made a bit of a joke about the boys never having a break from cleaning and then told them to stop, it was their day off.  He said the boys are our guests, they don't have to sweep the yard.  Well, it was all on then!  Nyoman completely flipped his lid and went right off!  He said “Get out, contract cancelled!  You are not meant to have guests staying, I want you out - now”!

Well, we were flabber gastered!  Brent asked Nyoman what was wrong with him today, calm down, we’ve had the boys before and it wasn’t a problem, you knew they were coming to stay, what’s changed.  Well, he went on and on and we couldn’t get anywhere with him.  Brent told the boys to get inside, I was in tears by this stage because of the shock that this ‘gentle man and friend’ had suddenly turned on us in seconds, all over the boys not sweeping the yard.  It was unbelievable!

Anyway, we’ve stayed on.  Things are “tense” but we only had one more week to go.  We leave for Vietnam Thursday 22nd.  Obviously we will not return to the house when we get back from Vietnam, but we have found new accommodation for our return so all is good.

 

It’s all just a very sad and unfortunate turn of events and has spoilt our happy time in Tulamben to some degree. Nyoman and his wife Iluh have been very kind to us, and us to them.  We have shared meals and Bintang together, laughs, helped his girls with English homework etc.  Very, very sad.

  

Anyway, onto brighter things…

It was Brent’s Birthday Friday 16th...

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We started the day with two dives at the USAT Liberty wreck at 7.30am in the morning.  I’m enjoying the diving now and am much more relaxed about it all.  Actually, I’m now the one hanging behind as I like to stop and look properly at fish, coral and anything else that takes my fancy – much like shopping – haha!  It’s very annoying to have to move and catch up with Brent and Made (Marday) when I’d rather keep watching the fish!  

The colours, shapes and sizes of the fish are amazing.  There was a huge school of Trevally (hundreds) in and around the wreck that we swam through.  We saw 13 Bumphead fish that look like mini whales just cruising past. 

Made stopped at one point in the wreck, took his regulator out of his mouth, opened it and let 2 large shrimp climb inside – all I could see were their feelers sticking out of his mouth!  Funny – good party trick - haha!!

Amazing Fish

Garden eels

Towards the end of the second dive we came across a patch of Garden eels.

















These guys are like lots and lots of long, thin snakes coming out of the sandy bottom all at once.  As soon as you get close, they pop into their hole and disappear but it’s so cool to watch them all standing up together catching whatever is coming their way.

Around lunchtime we headed to the Yayasan as they were putting on a concert for Brent’s Birthday.

We expected things to start around 2-2.30pm but in true Balinese “island time” it didn’t start until 5pm as they spent hours getting ready!

It’s usual of Balinese to pay exceptional attention to detail, time does not matter. The girls spent an age getting their hair platted and makeup on.   

Most of the boys had makeup too (this is usual for their performances) and they all looked stunning – they are all such beautiful children.
It was worth the wait.  It was unbelievable and totally overwhelming!

The children all did singing, dancing and acting.  Each group all did something different.  It was wonderful.

The Little A’s (age 5-7) were gorgeous.  They did a “Fashion Parade”.  OMG did they look so beautiful and man did they have the fashion model moves down pat!  They had watched TV to get the right moves, it was so cute and so funny so watch them strut their stuff, they did so well.  I’m sure given the chance some of these kids would be great models in the future!

A natural model!

Some of the Group A dancers

Group A (who Brent has been teaching mostly) did two different performances.  One group (mainly the girls, with a couple of boys) did a choreographed dance/exercise routine which was great. 

The boys did a very funny performance based around Brent and myself.  These kids are around 8-10 years old.  Resta (one of the boys) got dressed up as a girl, including a padded bra, long hair and makeup – this was “Paula”.








They all sat down in a circle and sang a song, then “Paula” and “Brent” got up and danced around each other, swinging hips and looking very provocative!  It was hilarious!  While still standing in the middle of the group “Brent and Paula” had the microphone – “Paula” said “Happy Birthday Brent” and “Brent” said “Thank you Paula”, then “Paula” leant forward and kissed “Brent” on the cheek – well, everyone exploded into laughter, it was fantastic!

                                                  

Group B

Group B sang a couple of lovely songs, one of which Brent had wrote a few weeks back about the Yayasan, their groups and volunteers.  It was wonderful and a joy to see it now a living song that they remember and will sing again for future volunteers.

Group C

Group C (my girls) sang three songs.  One song had all the girls, bar one, singing quietly in the background while Suriani did a speech to Brent, wishing him lots of love, a long life, good friends, etc. (all in English).  It was fantastic.

The boys from Group C took part as well - Suandi was MC and he did a fantastic job.  He loves to be a showman so was a natural!  Chiko did a huge "Happy Birthday Brent" poster which was stuck to the front of the classroom block and Juliwan (who has 50% hearing loss and struggles with learning because of this) got especially dressed up and looked absolutely cool and handsome - I didn't recognise him!
 

Juliawan looking his finest!

Chiko's artwork

 

The Group D girls (age 16+) did some songs and then a “school” skit.  They all looked wonderful and Kartini looked particularly smart dressed up as a school teacher!

We also had three beautiful traditional dance performances which we always love.  They look absolutely stunning in their costumes and are beautiful dancers.  One of the dancers is Amik, my friend Andrea’s sponsor child.  

Words cannot adequately describe Amik when she dances.  She is stunning, tiny and flawless, both in her looks and her dance.  The other solo dancer was Kadek.  He is amazing too, very talented and dedicated to his craft.  The dances are complicated, with lots of special hand and eye movements, there is a lot to remember and they perform flawlessly.

Stunning Amik

Kadek

Ayu, one of 3 dancers

They all sang Happy Birthday to Brent and even had a cake for him and gifts.   By this stage it was completely dark and we were meant to be in Tulamben having dinner with friends!

It was an amazing day and all very emotional for both of us. I took video footage of it all on my camera so we have the wonderful memories to keep as well as many, many photos. God knows what it’s going to be like on our last day!

We TXT our friends to say we'd be late, we made a mad dash home, threw on some clean clothes and out the door again.  Yet another Birthday cake (more chocolate - yum) was introduced after dinner, Dawn having made it herself in the afternoon especially!

On Thursday (22^nd) we are off to Vietnam for two weeks.  We are looking forward to a change of scenery and meeting up with our two lovely friends we met last year.  Then we are back to Bali/Indonesia - me to do a Writer's Retreat in Ubud and Brent to do a week's diving on some Island. I may get to blog, not sure, so you’ll just have to be patient until you hear from me again!

I will leave you with some more images of the beautiful children of Widyasari Yayasan on Brent's Birthday...until next time…Arohanui xx

Komang & Iluh

Ani

Putu

Sari

   

Kadek

MC Suandi

Amik

Mums and one Dad came for a sneak peek on their way to a Ceremony.  
They came back later and watched the whole thing.

   

Comfy Shoes...

I'm starting to look back on my time here and see how far I've come personally.  I was so out of my comfort zone to start with, it was really painful. 

Yes, I've finally found my feet with the teaching and my group of kids (age 14/15).  I'm really, really proud of them.  They are going from strength to strength.  I've had them consistently since I got here, unlike Brent who has been given different groups which makes it very hard to get things flowing.  I have been teaching them English - constructing sentences, using capital letters, punctuation etc.  I can now also have a conversation with them and they can understand me.  When I first got here they didn't have a clue. 

I've also taught them some Microsoft Word and Excel on the computer and taught budgets and the importance of saving.  We've also covered health issues, like drinking water and not smoking plus looking after the environment - not burning plastic (which is a rampant practice over here), recycling etc. to help keep Bali clean and beautiful.

I'm also teaching them to "touch type"  (type without looking at the keys). They are going great, I just hope they continue when I go cause it's only practice, practice, practice, that cements the skill.

Now I'm about to do something that I never ever thought I'd do - teach sex education!!!    On Thursday I'm going to teach the teenage girls at the Yayasan  about the absolute importance of condoms.  They have to know and no-one here is going to tell them.  Apart from pregnancy and STD's, HIV and Aids are rampant in Bali/Indonesia, so it's just not an option to not use one.  Having no children of my own,  I never thought I'd ever be in the position to tell kids about sex, but there you go - never say never!!

It just reinforces how much EXPERIENCES change you and make you stronger and I'm so very grateful for this experience and all the growing pains that have gone along with it!

While we were away on holiday I left my group with a little project.  We had done some lessons on hobbies and I told them mine was photography and scrapbooking…I made two examples for them to know what I meant and so while I was away they all did a little scrapbooking page about themselves for me.  They are fantastic.  I love them.  They did a wonderful job and I will treasure them always.

  

Girls from my group

We have also been having groups of children (around 8-12 at a time) from the Yayasan to come for a visit on Saturdays.  One of the local bus drivers brings them down after school on Saturday (yes they have school on Saturday until lunchtime), waits 4 hours (has a snooze in his van by the beach) and then takes them back.  We take them swimming and snorkeling and then they come back and have a hot shower – something they don’t have at home, and we cook them fried bananas and ice cream.  They think our place is a palace as it’s so far removed from how they live themselves.  They love it and it’s great for us to be able to spend time with them out of the Yayasan environment.

Mix of boys from our classes

Brent went to his first (and probably last) cock fight a couple of weeks ago.  It sounds pretty gruesome as they tie special razor blades to the birds feet…use your imagination.  The losing cock gets his life ended (if it isn’t already) and then they cut off one of it’s legs and that goes to the winning owner (I suppose it’s his trophy…).  Then they pluck it (there are a lot of real feather dusters over here) and I suppose the next step is the cooking pot.  Lots of betting and drinking goes on and it’s definitely a male only thing.

Brent’s vege garden at the school has grown heaps.  He has picked many cucumbers, the first two being divided up between the children to have a taste.  The bayam (like spinach) has grown well and has been picked for a while now and just keeps growing.  Watermelon are starting to appear on the vines and there’s heaps of flowers still to turn.  The tomatoes are growing well and have just started fruiting.  He’s really pleased with it all and so are the locals that walk through the school every day, they always give us the thumbs up and a big smile as they pass through.

The time is drawing near when we will leave this experience.  It is going to be so very hard.  There have been many times in the early days when I was ready to give up and head home but now that the end is coming I'm realising exactly how much this experience has impacted on me and especially the love of the children...it sneaks into your heart so that when you go a little piece you stays behind and a little piece of them goes with you...