Happy late Halloween! We had a great Halloween out here in Tra Vinh. Anh-Thu, Iria (new Spanish volunteer) and I decided to have a Halloween party at the orphanage we have been going to. Our idea soon became much bigger than just us heading to the Orphanage. We worked with some students and arranged a good party for the kids. We had about 40 students/teachers/friends that came to help out. We had the kids decorate masks and bags for candy and then had them run around trick or treating. It was a bit of chaos, but the kids had a great time and so did all the volunteers. A great Halloween in Tra Vinh.

All is still well out here. I really like Tra Vinh, it is a beautiful tree-lined city with not too much traffic or pollution. There are also almost no tourists, so us foreigners are a unique sight. There are about 12 foreigners in town, including a Canadian couple with 2 small children. We have been hanging out more with the other foreigners, which is nice to occasionally speak English at a normal pace.

This weekend was a huge festival in Tra Vinh, called Ok Om Bok, the most important festival of the year. It is a celebration of the Khmer people, who make up 30% of the population in Tra Vinh province. It is also a good way to show everyone what we have to deal with out here on a daily basis. We kept asking when it would start, and we always got a different answer. I was finally told it is on the 15th day, of the 10th month in the lunar calendar. Me: "Ok, when is that on the normal calendar?" Everyone I ask: "I don't know." And so it went… On Sunday afternoon, we were told that boat races would happen that day. Nope. On Monday we were told they would be at 11am. Nope. Luckily they did start at about 2pm. We roasted in the sun for a while, but we saw the long boats race in the canal (see the photo's I just added). We were also told the main part of the festival (a massive, overcrowded fair) would end on Sunday. Nope, Monday was the last day. In the years past, they have sent lanterns into the sky (big pieces of paper that float into the sky with a small fire lit in them…see video I just added), but we were told they would not do the lanterns this year. Wrong. We went on Monday to see them release some lanterns into the sky. This is what happens everyday; you ask a question to 5 different people and you get 5 completely different answers. I am learning to just go with it, and have some patience.

Anyway, I am happy here and enjoying life. We are not too busy teaching, so it gives us more free time to work at the orphanage and plan other events. Another volunteer is organizing events for HIV awareness and Anh-Thu and I are trying to get some students to work on a community service project, so we are all staying busy. Sorry I have been bad updating the blog. Hope all is well back home.