This morning we had breakfast in the hotel again and then got ready for Vinh to pick us up. We are ready for this volunteering experience, but still somewhat apprehensive not knowing what to expect.

This trip is being funded for me by the Academy. About a year ago, they announced that the school would offer Global Travel Grants to faculty members to help expand everyone's experiences and in doing so make them better educators. I was definitely interested in that possibility. I applied the first year and was awarded one of the ten grants. I don't know how many people applied, but they did give out the maximum number of grants planned for the year.

I asked to do this project in a rural area of Vietnam where I could work on the Books to Live project which builds traveling school libraries. GlobeAware.org is the organizing force for this trip, and they offer a number of others throughout the world. This seems perfect for me. I can use my library skills, and I get a chance to interact with people in another culture. I didn't want to do this by myself though, and Philip is here to participate in the volunteering, too. He will pay his own way and concentrate on teaching English pronunciation and colloquialisms which is another one of the activities for the volunteers.

Before Vinh arrived, we went to the silk shop to pick up our clothing. We are both satisfied with everything we ordered. Vinh was on time and took us to another hotel for the week. We are staying at the Hoi An Phuong Nam Hotel which is north of the old city, but within walking distance. Our room is spacious and air-conditioned with an ensuite bath, bottled water and fresh fruit on the side table, and a king-size bed with mosquito netting making a canopy over it. We are just off the entry lobby. The price for the room is listed in English as $19.00 a night, but I imagine the organization is paying much less than that. They offer a hot breakfast every day and will arrange tours of the area as well as provide transportation into old town any time.

Vinh seems like a nice guy. He has been doing this work with volunteers from other countries for a long time. He introduced us to Deb and Diane who are also here to work on the volunteer project. They are traveling alone, but sharing a room at the hotel together. He is going to pick us up tomorrow to go to the first school.

In the afternoon, we went back into the old town for more sightseeing. Since it is New Year's Eve, we decided to go out to another tourist restaurant, Cargo Club, for dinner and a show. Deb and Diane joined us and the driver from the hotel dropped us off at Kim Cloth Shop which will be the meeting point whenever we want them to pick us up. We can call when we want them to come back for us. The dinner was delicious with lots of traditional Vietnamese dishes. One of them is cao lau which is noodle soup with meat and fresh vegetables and greens that was origninally created in Hoi An. To be correct, the cao lau must be made with the water from one certain well here, the Ba Le Well. I don't know about that, but we liked what was served. The vegetables were steamed, but crisp and fragrant; the meat was cooked just right; the desserts were sweet.

After the dinner was served buffet-style, several dancing groups and musicians performed. Some of the women wore brief costumes which surprised me. I thought the people here would be more modest and not show off much skin. In the U.S., their costumes would not have raised eyebrows, but here I expected something different. Perhaps since this is a tourist show, it is less traditional dress.

During the meal and show, we sat outside on a covered patio. We saw candles floating by on the river. The candles are to honor the memory of ancestors. The river looks like it is sprinkled with glowing flowers as the candles are set in cut paper bowls before they are released.