Day Three...

Just when it seems like it can't get any hotter here...the sweat starts dripping off your nose..(and that's when you're standing in the shade!)

To tell you a little about a typical day here in Bien Hoa...

We're up for breakfast in the hotel at 7am, then hop on the bus at 7:30am. We drop off one team at their site and then the other...

Work goes until about 11:30am when all of the skilled workers leave for lunch...We then have lunch and aren't suppose to go back until the workers come back...Since they usually take about a two hour lunch, you'll see a lot of hammock pictures while we wait for them...

It's then back to work until about 4-4:30...(by that time, you are essentially covered in sweat and dirt and ready to pass out from heat exhaustion...)


Each night we then head out to a different Vietnamese restaurant...

Here's some highlights from today...

Michelle P and Paul V moving dirt...


Katrina moving rocks....


(I'm not sure if you noticed, but we spend a lot of time moving things from one spot to another...In Canada, we call that "Make work projects" lol )


Toshi trying to get some coconuts down...




Toshi showing off his coconuts....




Paul checking out Toshi's coconuts...



Katrina brick laying....


(although she's missing the hat and fag...)



Michelle P waiting out the long lunch....

This picture is just in case you thought Mich P just laid around in hammocks all day....

Did I mention that we wear nametags in case we get inspected?

The best part of any build is the kids!

I ended my day with a card game with the guys....And got my butt kicked. Then as I was leaving, they ran over to give me some cards...I think they think I need practice!

Day Two...

Day one of any build is usually pretty exciting...New people, new tasks, fresh muscles...then comes day two. For many of the team, the jetlag starts to kick in and you discover all kinds of sore muscles that you didn't even know you had....The good part is that you start to make bonds with the local people and realize that even without words, you can communicate with each other...Our construction supervisor, who I can Sep (boss in Vietnamese) even laughed at my jokes today...I think he's holding back on us on how much english he knows. Either that or he's just laughing at the silly Canadian girl trying to speak Vietnamese...(BTW Tamarra and Fatima, I can now count to ten in Vietnamese! Although I have somehow forgotten it in Arabic already...)

Today's work consisted of shoveling, moving dirt and rocks, mixing concrete….and pulling nails from old lumber….

Here's some Day Two pictures....


Our fearless co-leader...again...

I think she was the one who was suppose to keep Paul inline...or why else would he be out playing pool?

Next to one of the sites, they've been digging a six foot grave...supposedly for someone who hasn't even died yet...(we're hoping that they're not saving it for one of us??)

Sometimes it feels like we've gotten 30 years of hard labour....

Today we ended our day with what might seem like a simple task...but it turned out to be the most strenuous, exhausting thing....Using a hammer and crowbar to remove old nails from a pile of wood...

And the worst part is that we only got through about 10 boards so this is the pile that awaits us tomorrow...ugh...

Day One...

Our team met up on Saturday night...spent the next day touring the Mekong Delta....And then on Sunday night we drove about an hour from Ho Chi Minh City to Bien Hoa...(pop'l 100,000)...the sight of our builds. We're working on two houses...Day one involved a lot of digging, moving rocks and brick hauling!

Check out the pictures....

Team photo...

Kelly pounding some "rebar"

Margot and her cyclo....

Our fearless co-leader...

Peace Chi....

Paul does not look amused...

Meet the Habitat Team....

Enzo from NYC...

Michelle P from Oakville, Canada...

Margot from San Fran...

Kaye from Michigan....

Toshi from Japan

Paul G from NYC...

Paul from Houston...

Michelle B from London, Canada...

Katrina from Bermuda...

Kelly from North Carolina...

Stephen from Philidelphia...

Sheldon from Milwaukee...

Just another day at the office...

So for all of you working in Liaison, you know what I’m talking about when it comes to having a crazy day on the road. You’re rushing from school to school; lugging boxes around and arriving just on time while trying to look calm and collected as you give your presentations…. I don’t think those days will ever seem so hectic after today…

This morning I dressed in my coolest outfit (temperature wise not fashion wise), threw on my high heels, grabbed my backpack filled with viewbooks and then jumped on the back of the motorbike!



I keep wanting to buy a Vespa at home...If gas prices keep going up, I could save Western some $$$ during the Fall Travel Season...

Good Morning Vietnam!

Everytime I travel, I have no expectations and I'm always just so thankful that a friend, (or sometimes a friend of a friend) is willing to put me up. So meeting up with Rob and Vanessa at the airport, armed with my sleeping bag and travel pillow, I was ready for anything... Little did I know I would be spending the week in the lap of luxury...They live on the tenth floor with a view of the city...with tennis courts and a pool...(they're lucky they're moving next week or they might be hard pressed to get rid of me...)

Ho Chi Minh City

If I had to sum up Ho Chi Minh in one word...it would be Motorbikes! It is the craziest, most surreal experience and I'm not sure if I can even describe it....but here it goes...

For those of you from Vancouver, picture the start of the Sun Run...all 50, 000 people. Now put them all on motorbikes, add in a dozen bicycles, a couple of rickshaws, some psycho pedestrians and some cars (that have the right of way) and that describes the streets of HCM. Transports lay on the horn as they speed through intersections to let you know they're not going to stop. And the craziest thing happens when you want to turn left across traffic...You actually don't wait for a clearing (as you'd be there all night) so you just drive into the oncoming traffic and somehow you stop and go and weave your way through. I generally just close my eyes. Good thing I'm not driving! I was going to try and videotape this but I'm afraid I might show up on some reality show for filming my last moments on earth!
Vanessa, Rob's girlfriend, has been touring me around and I think the first time we were downtown, I thought I was going to snap her in half...(I'm at least twice her weight, and I'm no where near 200...) The good news is that as of December, they now require everyone to wear a helmet so there's been a drop in the usual average of 30 fatalities per day...




The funniest thing is watching what is actually on the bikes...I've only seen up to four people but I hear you can get up to six...(can you imagine JP, Ang, Eddie and Anna driving through downtown London on a moped?) Also saw some guys carrying two eight foot trees...It's not unusual to see TVs and computers on the back of a bike. And to top it all off, I watched a blind man cross a busy street. He just waved his cane in the air and people all went around him...Amazing to watch!