There is a new road getting build on the way to the orphanage. Our driver, Mr Huong had to get out of the car and direct people. It was a bit mad.
Here is the playarea that will be getting covered soon with a shelter that we are paying half of. $1100 is still the share from us but we are getting a bigger shelter. Another volunteer is giving money for the rest of the cost.
Freda and I. My head looks like it is too big for my body in this pic. Looks like someone has stuck it on!!!
I bought a ball and the children were practising throwing and catching with each other. It was really nice to see them sharing.

At the Home of Affection.

The girls with Hoa and Huong - our interpretors. We are going to get some of the swing chairs fixed and maybe repainted.
The children enjoy playing with the cube jigsaw that I bought with fundraised money - even the older boys.
The children have a great time playing Twister.

On the way back to Tam Ky.

There were no seats left on the train, so we hired a car with a driver (Mrs Hahn's friend). The journey was about four and a half hours long but the views were fabulous.

Eight course dinner in Hue

It looks like I ate the dessert first. I should have put the dessert picture on first. The first course was the spring rolls which were on the bird.

Eight course dinner in restaurant - Hue

This was an amazing meal. We were in this restaurant for quite a while. We shared a lot of the courses. There is no way I could actually eat an eight course dinner!!

Emperor Gia Long laid out a vast citadel which comprised of three enclosures surrounded by a huge brick wall (1805 work started and finished 30 years later). We looked around The Imperial City and the Forbidden Purple City and most of it has been badly neglected and wartorn by the battle of Hue during Tet in 1968.

We visited the Mausoleum of Tu Doc next. Emperor Tu Doc was a weak ruler who liked to hide from the world. The surroundings here were stunning, beautiful lotus flowers in the lakes. Picture of Kendall and I.

Will put the rest of my weekend pictures of Hue on blog tomorrow. It is a bit slow tonight.

The Mausoleum of Khai Dinh

Weekend to Hue

We woke up to rain on Friday morning. Later that morning we all took the train to Hue for the weekend. The view was fabulous but was ruined a bit by the rain. Will hopefully take some good photos on the way home.

The Mausoleum of Khai Dinh - Nguyen Emperor. This Emperor was short and had all of the stone figures made smaller than him! He only ruled nine years but the mausoleum took eleven years to make. Ruled from 1916 - 1925.

On Thursday afternoon at Tam Thanh my class really enjoyed using the talking postcards. They recorded themselves saying "I smell with my nose. I taste with my tongue" etc. We had been talking about bodies. The other picture is of the beach at Tam Thanh.

Carpentry at Tam Thanh.

There is a new carpentry class at Tam Thanh. I am hoping to maybe get the boys to make some tables and stools for the Baby Orphanage. It will be good for them to follow a specification (sizes) and for them to get paid for their work. I could maybe get them painted nice primary colours and then we can use these for different activities at the Orphanage.
Today (Friday) we treated some of the children with lice shampoo and then combed their hair. The kids were great. Hopefully we managed to get all the lice and eggs. We are all scratching our own heads and checking each other, so far we are all ok!!!

I did a lot of shopping yesterday. I bought a new keyboard, some picture atlas books (on animals in world, how earth is made up and sea creatures), vietnamese to english dictionaries, cube jigsaw, children's scissors and special boards to draw/write on.
I took the boards to the Baby Orphanage today and the children really enjoyed drawing pictures on them, writing their own name, writing numerals. The children are starting to share a bit better and realise that they will get a turn - they just have to wait.
I walked back from the supermarket with all of these things and when I got home Mrs Hahn gave me a row for not asking her for a ride on her motorbike!

We all had our palms read last night. I've never had anything like that done before, it was very interesting. I also had my first ride on a motorbike - on the back of Mrs Hahn's bike. She drove very carefully although her fellow drivers did not! I would hate to drive here. There seems to be no rules other than beeping your horn so that the person in front gets out of the way.

At the Home of Affection

The children enjoy skipping and using the parachute that I brought with me. (Thanks Claire D)