Hello again :) sooo have now spent my first week in Vietnam, which has been a rather mixed experience to say the least! Despite all the forewarnings, it's still taking me a little while to get used to the fact that organisation here is done to a very different level (i.e. barely at all) than anywhere else and, Vietnamese being a tonal language, learning enough to sort myself out is not really going to happen... All in all, this has been quite a tough week but everything is slowly coming together and my ability to put things in perspective (an essential skill out here) is improving every day!

Nevertheless, I am still enjoying myself and Vietnam is a great place to be. Had a few free days when I got here so spent a good few hours wandering Hanoi, which feels like a a tranquil retreat after Delhi, soaking up the atmosphere and storing up knowledge of good shopping opportunites for when I get some money! The food here is great as well and we've been eating in street kitchens every meal. Call me picky though, but eating rice, noodles (which are made of rice) or rice soup for every meal is starting to get a little tedious. Particularly after India where the menus in even the cheap restruants are all as long as a short novel. Thankfully, the French colonisers left behind a legacy of a few impressive buildings but also, and far more importantly in my opinion, a whole host of amazing bakeries which are a life saver when the rice is just getting too much!

Anyway, having seen a little of Hanoi, we eventually came out to Hai Doung, where our project is based, in the largest welfare centre for children in the north of Vietnam. The children we are working with are all disabled to various degrees, many of them still affected by agent orange, and it's not the easiest thing to have to see and deal with. Also, despite the prison-like atmosphere, anarchy reigns supreme and it takes about 5 minutes during "lessons" before the children are all in the corridor screaming, shouting and playing with whatever they can get their hands on. As they can't really learn anything, our role comes more to trying to make the lessons interesting enough that they want to stay in the classroom rather then head off for the chaos outside, the only disadvantage being that we are inevitably swamped by children from other classes - they all clearly want occupation - and once again, chaos takes over. The teachers are also no help at all, and have been locking themselves in the staff rooms for a series of "important meetings", involving a lot of tea and feet on the table, every time we appear.

Having said that, the children are definitely the main reason I'm still here and really want to stick it out. They are so genuinely affectionate and friendly, always grabbing you by the hand and running up to hug you if you cross the play ground. This was particularly touching after we saw the condition they live in the other day - a thin reed matress in dirty rooms and bathrooms not fit for animals. I have not since complained that us volunteers have no hot water, no shower and are living up 10 flights of stairs in what feels like a prison camp. The other aspect I'm really enjoying is working with the international volunteers. At this centre, our group consists of me, another English girl, two Koreans and three Vietnamese. There's also a French girl and two Danish here, and, back at the centre, I was living with French, Japanese and German volunteers. Obviously, I have it easy as English is the one language everyone has in common, but it's been quite interesting chatting with everyone about their different cultures and experiences of Vietnam.

So that's me so far in Vietnam! It's pretty tough at times and the centre staff can be infuriating in frustrating all our ideas for the children, but I am genuinely having a good time (mostly) and still learning a lot into the bargain! Hope all is still good back in England and, for St Cats people, that the concert went well yesterday :)

lots of love xxxx