Lots has happened since I last wrote; changes in weather, scenery and experiences.
Hoi an - My new found beliefs in a non-materialistic life were sorely tested as we found that this beautiful old historic town, filled with old lanterns and bicycles, was THE place for tailoring - bras to boots and coats to jackets. Tailor shops dominated every street, was hard not to indulge in afew jackets, dresses and shoes! So talented the way that you could simply show them a picture and they're merry reply would be 'sure, why not!'
Our homestay here was beyond what we were expecting. The owner ling, her husband and her two little boys where the most hospitipal people I have ever met. Every night the whole family would sleep on a small mattress in the lounge room so that all the people staying could have comfortable rooms. She would work 12 hours a day and still come back home and fuss over cooking us dinner. Note to self, never complain about having to start work 'early' or finish 'late'.
One sunny day on the beach with a spaced out Vietnamese man who would not take no for an answer to his offers of rice wine vodka shots. The rest was constant rain! But nice to enjoy doing nothing and help the kids at the charity cafe with their English.
Then there was the memorable night train to sapa. One hard wooden seat (only seat left at the station!), 10 hours, freezing cold and crammed with vietnamese locals who dined on chicken feet and giggled at grants eye mask. They slept with ease!
Sapa - the beautiful mountain town where we will call home for a month of volunteering. Freeeeezing when we arrived and so much mist we could not see the surrounding mountains! The people who we are working with are gorgeous. Shu, the founder of the charity, peter, an initial backpacker who found himself living here and a lovely English couple and a fellow Aussie. Everyones enthusiasm at helping to provide the students in full filling their dreams is infectious. The students at the centre come from the minority villages and are usually forced into following their mothers footsteps in selling homemade blankets and other goods to tourists. Shu set up the school to give the minority people a better future than she initially had so that they can become trekking guides and work in cafes. This lady works so hard, depriving herself from sleep, looks about 10 years younger than what she actually is and is absolutely gorgeous.
The beautiful mountains dented with rice paddies are what makes this place so lovely, along with the local Hmong women,who, everyday walk atleast 2 hrs from their villages into sapa town. In their traditional dress of black velvet and embroided jackets and skirts and colorful headscarfs, they fill the streets trying to sell all their amazing home made goods.
Teaching has proved alot more of a challenge than I was initially thinking. With a lack of volunteers in the past the students with a very low english speaking ability gave me a couple of days of feeling overwhelmed at how we were going to best help them. It would seem quite easy to simply have class hours and after leisure time but this project, shus passion and hope for the future of these lovely children have contributed to my constant desire to be doing 'school work' ie researching the best resources and activities to most help the kids. We have been spending lots of time and brain power developing a structure so that volunteers who follow can teach the kids some valuable things. The kids are so grateful to be able to learn. It's hard to tell their age sometimes as they all look so young and little. I was playing a game with them and asked one of the girls to stand up from behind her desk. I kept on reapeating it, not knowing that she had actually been standing up the whole time! I went very red!

The past weekend was therefore very much appreciated! One of our students, Zu, took us on a trek to a nearby village which is hard to truly justify with words so I'll let the pictures do the talking. We saw teeny tiny baby pigs, buffaloes and endless rolling mountains, where if you squinted you could see dots representing the Hmong women planting rice and collecting hemp for their clothes. Zu was very puzzled by the fact that we had dogs as friends rather than for dinner, and that grant didn't have to have lots of money to offer a boar when he wanted to get married.

I feel so grateful to be here. The conversations with the friendly Hmong women (whose main priority seems to sell but then there's the youthful grins, the genuine want to know where you are from and the offers to take you to see their villages), the laughter had with the students when playing games and trying to pronounce words together and their love and respectfulness of learning.
So having gotten over the small hurdle of the behind the scenes work we put upon ourselves as teachers, it is great to now truly appreciate the children and their infectious smiles. This weekend happens to be my birthday! So we are planning on going to a homestay in a village called Taphin with the English couple we are volunteering with.

I hope you are all well, cannot wait to hear from you all!

Lots of love
Anna xxx