March 6th and 7th - Hoian, farming lesson and orphanage

March 6th - Hoi An:
This morning we flew to Danang, then took a one hour bus ride to the beautiful village of Hoi An. I have been trying to figure out why I have had nothing to say in my blog, and I realized that I have had no time for me. Being a leader of a group of 34 people, and the responsibility that entails, is so different than my sabbatical year abroad. I changed the itinerary this year, adding a village homestay outside of Hanoi, and another day in the minority villages in Sapa, which meant fully packing each day in Ho Chi Minh City.

We arrived in Hoi An around 4PM, then got on our bicycles and rode the 3 miles to the beach. We will be here for 5 days, going to lessons in small groups each day - farming, fishing, cooking, and lantern making. Everything is close by, so we will have a break from the bus, and ride our bikes to our lessons each day.

Sunset on our way back from the beach

It is the newness of a foreign place that engages all of my senses, as if shouting at me, "Wake up," as if I had been only half awake, sleep walking.

March 7th: farming lesson and the orphanage:

Something shifted for me today. Maybe it is finally getting back into "travel mode," or maybe it was the bike ride through the rice fields to the farming lesson, or maybe just the change of pace in Hoi An, so different from the hectic pace of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), but I noticed for the first time everything slowing down, and the chatter in my head becoming quiet.

shrimp farming pond

On our bike ride to our farming lesson

One of my students riding a water buffalo

Our farm

religious shrine in the middle of the farm land

bug net (this is an organic farm)

farmer with his watering cans and laundry in the back ground

more laundry, still attractive to me

After a tour of the farm, students were taught how to hoe up the soil, lay down seaweed collected from the nearby ponds for fertilizer, then plant cabbage seedlings.

student attempting to use the two water can system on the seedlings

We then had a cooking lesson at the farm house.

Our cooking teacher with this delicious appetizer of pork, shrimp and mint, tied together with a scallion. Dip it in spicy fish sauce and wow - so delicious!

The farmers then prepared for us a delicious lunch. This is sesame seed rice with banana leaf fish.

In the afternoon we all went to a nearby orphanage. We purchased rice, noodles, milk for the infants, and snack food to donate to the orphanage.

Eli, on of the trip leaders, with a orphan in the baby house.

The orphange was established during the French period. In 1975, with the communist victory, the orphange was turned over to the government. There are currently 70 children in the orphanage, ranging from new-born babies to high school students. 25 of the orphans are physically or mentally disabled. Most of the orphans were given up by their parents. The government provides 360,000 dong (approximately $18) per child per month for food, housing and supplies. The rest must come from donations.

a student with an infant

This baby crawled over to me and held up his arms. He wouldn't let me put him down, and I didn't want to. I held him until he fell asleep.

This boy loved our cameras. He squealed with joy every time he viewed a picture he took.

Our whole group with the able-bodied children, who we met when they returned from school. We played a rousing game of soccer and Vietnamese hacky-sack with them.