So when I was in Vietnam in May I blogged on facebook. Always meant to copy them over onto here but never got round to it... bad Rach. I'm thinking better late than never though, so here's the first few... apologies for the chatty style, they were written straight off with no editing for friends and family so may be a bit sweary/colloquial!

Vietnam, Part 1. 4th May 09.
Ok, so I'm on day four of my Vietnam adventure. Today was the first day I went to my project - where I'll be working for the next four weeks. It's much further away from where I'm living than i thought it would be, and I had to get two buses. I can get a taxi if I like, but it's more expensive. Gonna get a taxi tomorrow though, ease myself in gently! I work from 8.30 in the morning until about 1pm, which is nice as it means I have the afternoon free to explore the old quarter of Hanoi, which is where my project is. It's a much nicer area than where I live, which is pretty much in the middle of nowhere and full of local people who all stare at my bright white skin! I've learnt how to say hello though so am hoping the longer I'm here and the more I say hello im Vietnamese, they'll stop looking at me so much!
So, my project. There are 3 classroms: the first is for the younger children, from 3 to 8 years. The other two are for the oldrer children, who range ringht up to their mid twenties - one for the more able students who learn basic maths, vietnamese and social skills, and the other for those who don't have the ability to join that class - they draw and play games. I went into all three classes today, but will be mainly based in the younger kids class, which I'm happy about. When I first walked in a little boy came straight over to hold my hand, then another sat on my knee while another stroked my arm and kissed my t shirt! They were all very sweet, but then another kid (who was, how should I put it - a little large for his age) scooted over and snatched the corn I was eating from my hand and stuffed it in his own massive gob! Think I'll have to watch him! The lady in charge is called Vu and she was having such trouble with my name (they find the "ch" sound very hard out here) that I told her she could call me May if it was easier (David used to call me that when he was little). She seemed much happier about that, but it soon turned into My, which looks like it's going to stick... so I'm My for the next four weeks!
Changing the subject, everything that you've heard/seen about the roads out here is true. They are totally full of scooters and very scary to cross, especially for me! Everyone honks their horns, all the time, for no reason. It's exactly like that top gear special! Talking of which, I saw deep fried birds for sale today, on the side of the road. Didn't buy any but may give them a try before I leave...
Anyway, am going now as I'm knackered and need to eat something before passing out in bed. Will try to write about the guesthouse and people I've met next time I do a note. Everything's fine though, no real drama to report!

People and Places. 6th May 2009.
I am staying in a guesthouse in the Cau Giay district of Hanoi. It's quite far from the traditional traveller area of the Old Quarter, which is good in some ways and not in others! It's nice to experience "real" Vietnam and local life and culture, but also would be cool to be in a hostel in the Old Quarter where there are lots of other westerners and more of a social scene! It's close enough that I can go in for a night out though, as I did yesterday. There are 5 other people staying at Orient Star with me - Caroline and Emily who are sisters, Georgina, Rosie and Len. The girls had made plans to go to Hanoi Backpackers last night, a hostel in the Old Quarter, as there was a Mexican theme night. They invited me along and it was a great night - we moved onto an Irish pub afterwards and were chatting to lots of people and drinking Vietnamese beer :) I felt a bit rough when i got up for work this morning but it was worth it! Everyone at the guesthouse has been really welcoming which I was relieved about, and they've really made an effort to include me which is great and very appreciated! We cook dinner together and I've been eating lots of very un-Rach things like veg and actually enjoying it! Deep friend sparrow next...
The people at my placement are also nice, although it's difficult to communicate with them as they don't speak any English and I can't speak Vietnamese! There's lots of smiles and pointing but it can be frustrating and sometimes I feel a bit silly, but I'm sure we'll get into a pattern once I've been there a while. I already have my favourite children at the project, and because I don't know their real names (or how to ask!) I've given them pretend ones... Ben (because he was wearing a Ben 10 tshirt when i first met him!) is about 4 and very cute. He likes to sit on my knee and point at things. Anything really, as long as you're pointing he's happy! Then there's Miles (because he smiles all the time) who is about 2 or 3 and likes to dance and is a bit of a cheeky bugger, trying to play me up; and Aiden, who is about 5 and got named that because I'm going to steal him and bring him home to be my son! He is very very cute and tries to talk to me - looking at me very seriously and talking in Vietnamese, then when I say I don't understand and talk in English he pats my hand as if to say "never mind, strange white girl with the funny language, I'll be your friend anyway." Some of the older children are a bit intimidating because they grab and push and are very strong, and there is another little boy (Damien, because he is a devil child!) who likes nothing better than running around smacking the other children and laughing when he makes them cry! He's smacked me in the face already, such a lovely boy, but all the staff seem to think he's the sweetest kid there! He does look very cute most of the time, but I'm not fooled ;p
I am going on a trip to Halong Bay this weekend, I'm really excited. It's the place that was in Top Gear's Vietnam special - the bay at the end where they met on that floating bar. It looks gorgeous in pictures and I can't wait. I'm going with the girls from the guesthouse and George's sister and her friends are coming too, so there will be 8 of us in total plus whoever else signs up. We're hoping for some nice boys!
Off to make my dinner now, will try and write more another time soon xx

One Week In. 8th May 2009.
As of today I've finished my first week in Vietnam - it's gone so quickly! I'm trying to plan the rest of my time a bit more so that it doesn't fly by too quickly without me getting in as much as possible. It turns out that my finish time at work is actually 11:30am which is great as it means I have my afternoons free to explore. I stayed at work for lunch yesterday, and ate with the other staff - rice, cabbage, and what I suspected were pig trotters. Down the hatch, yum yum. Try not to think about what it is too much, that's the key ;) Then I went into the Old Quarter to meet Rosie and George for dinner, which actually turned out to be drinks at Hanoi Backpackers with some friends of Rosie's who'd just arrived. We stayed there pretty late talking to loads of random cool people and I was pissed by about 8pm, not a good look alongside the fuzzy hair and red face but I didn't care and had a great time. Because we're off to Halong Bay really early tomorrow (got to be up at 6am!) I'm having a quiet night tonight, sensible girl that I am. Work was a bit odd today because there was a massive storm so nobody could go outside and lots of the kids got scared by the loud thunder and lightening (so did I to be fair, never heard anything like it!!). I got scratched by the big kid who stole my corn on the first day, I really don't think I like him much! Big red marks down my arm is not a good look for the weekend! I have started to bond a little with "Damian" though, he seems to like me a bit now and even gave me a brief cuddle. He still likes smacking people, but he seems to have got to me the same way he has the other staff - he's a little charmer!
Another importnat thing is that yesterday I crossed my first big roads solo! I did the whole putting my hand out and just walking out and all the scooters really did drive round me, like Peter said they would! It was still pretty scary stuff but I feel much more confident now and get the bus back from work instead of a taxi. I have to get two buses so need to know when to get off and so on. The second bus involved walking through a depot and getting on the bus to wait for the driver, and when I did this yesterday there were about six conductors all sitting around on the bus having a fag and a gossip. When I got on everyone looked at me curiously (as usual) but they were all laughing and pointing and kept saying "hellooo madam!" and giggling. Harrassed by a group of teenage bus conductors, brilliant. I gave them my best "Xin Chou" and tried to look as much like a local as possible, but failed miserably.
Anyway, off to Halong Bay tomorrow so will hopefully have some more exciting stuff to talk about next time. Hope everyone else has a good weekend too! xx

There's more, and I'll post them another time if anyone's interested?!

• Vietnam
• Hanoi
• special needs children
• food