Day 4

March 28, 2008

Today we started out our day by visiting Sister Bong's convent again. We worked some more with the girls and we let them ask us questions. It was really fun to switch from teacher/student mode into friend mode and be able to have conversations with them. We were there for about 3 hours in the morning and then we had to leave. We all had lunch at the hotel or slept for an hour before we were to leave on a day trip to a hill tribe about 2 hours from Hue. On the way there I had an oppurtunity to finally process what I had been seeing and hearing and smelling. I also was able to listen to my iPod for awhile which was suprisingly healing for me. I hadn't realized how much I had missed my music and I had forgotten how important music is for me to be able to think about things. When we arrived at the hill tribe, which was actually just a few houses on the side of the Ho Chi Minh trail, I felt more prepared to continue my experience. The houses that we were able to visit were minimal and literally falling apart. It was heartbreaking to witness. The children were very timid probably because they haven't been exposed to foreigners very often if ever. Their eyes were mezmorizing though and although we didn't speak the same language it was easy to see that they were hurting. On they way back from the hill tribe we went to a school for the blind funded and run by Sister Bong's convent. A blind man sang us a song and played the guitar for us and it was beautiful. Then we drove the 2 hours back to our hotel, had dinner, and went to sleep fully exhausted.