Catch up

I am now at home in Vermont, but wanted to update the blog and tell you a little about our last few days in Vietnam.

6/15 Before leaving Dong Ha we went to the CPI office to say thank you and farewell. This is taken from my journal: " I felt the closing with the CPI staff was important and letting them know how much we appreciated their time with us. Chi recorded most of our final visit, including Chris singing his signature Vietnamese song. I am sure we will see it on the website. Our group sang "Old MacDonald" one last time. It was so great to be with the CPI staff the past couple of days and make the connection between us stronger. I feel like now I have a greater understanding of the organizaton on a whole because I have seen the support that they are able to give to victims and their families. I have now met those families and feel honored to have heard their stories."

6/16 We traveled to Ha Noi today after saying good bye to the hotel family and all the wonderful people who took care of us there. When we landed in Ha Noi the first thing we did was go and eat Pho, a speciality. It is noodle soup with pork that stews in a bug cauldron for hours. It was an experience just as all our food consumption here has been. Ha Noi is a whole new world compared to Hue. Much bigger and busier streets. A few of us walked around and saw an old Catholic Churth that was build in the beginning of the French occupation of Vietnam. We played soccor with some kids on the street outside the church all the while dodging motor bikes and other various vehicles.

6/17 We were able to visit the Friendship Village this morning, which was long anticipated. It is an organization and community that works with children and veterans who suffer disabilities, both physical and mental, that are a direct affect from contamination of Agent Orange. Our visit there was so wonderful! It is amazing to see a community that has pulled together their resouces in the best way possible to serve their benificiaries to the best of their ability

In the afternoon we went to see the Water Puppets. In order to fully understand this, please ask the people you know who went on this trip, it is difficult to put it in words for this.

6/18 It is my birthday in Vietnam! The group through me a great party and i was able to spend the morning with Ho Chi Minh at his moseleum! I was fantastic!

6/19 10 am we send Jill and Angie off to Cambodia
12:40 pm We begin our journey home