Tuesday in Tam Ky

We woke up early Tuesday morning, drove the motorbike into Hoi An, and had an early breakfast of com qua trung (rice with eggs) and Vietnamese coffee with Mai.  We then headed off in a hired car (thanks to Mrs. Hanh) for Tam Ky.  This is a location that Jen and Carrie used to go to with GVN and there is a baby orphanage there as well as a new home called Peace Village that opened recently by the South Koreans for handicapped children.  The ride to Tam Ky was a perfect example of the chaotic Vietnam traffic situation.  Bikes, water buffaloes, motorbikes, cars, tour buses...all sharing a two lane road and driving like they are all in the biggest hurry ever.  Ironic coming from a culture that takes a 2-3 hour afternoon nap! 

The first stop was the baby orphanage in Tam Ky.  Carrie recently purchased some shades for the baby room because the sun was beating in and it was about 110F during the afternoon.  When we got there, it was about 90F out and the room felt much better.  Such cute kids, all enjoying their new allocation of about 6 bikes and scooters.  They were racing each other around the inner area of the orphanage (shaped conveniently like a race track) and just dripping with sweat with huge smiles!

We played with the kids and got to look around the orphanage a bit before 1030 nap/down time that the kids have.  As we left, we headed back to Tam Ky and a few hours at the GVN house.  Mrs. Hanh had prepared an amazing meal for us for lunch!  A feast of fish, shrimp, noodles, salad, rice...totally amazing.  Mrs. Hanh is opening a restaurant in the future...she has received loans from friends to build a structure on the road from Hoi An to Tam Ky on family land.  She is quite a funny lady...kid of like the Jewish grandmother you may have never had!  "why you no call?"  "eat more"  why you so fat?"  Ah yes, the "honesty" of Vietnam!  She did take Jen and I down the block and bargained the pants off of the optical shop guy so Jen and I could get 5 new sets of glasses made between the two of us...for about $25 bucks a pop!  Prescription!  We came back after our lunch and rest and the guy had taken a nap and "forgot" to finish the glasses!  Classic!  Needless to say, we got them on Friday via some of the volunteers coming to Hoi An who carried them...so funny.

We the headed to Peace Village before going back to Hoi An to get the motorbike.  Beautiful facility with beautiful kids...sad that they are underfunded and probably will have to shut down if the South Korean government cannot fund the project.  Weird situation...the building is gorgeous and 2/3 unoccupied.  Nicer than most homes.  All with air conditioning and nice furniture.  But, the funding ran out there.  Probably someone got their "gold star" for the project and then got out.  The kids love teeth brushing time, dance party in the afternoon, and school.  Several of the older boys and one older girl are taking computer classes for job skills.  Mr. Sun is Carrie's favorite, and soon became ours, with his excellent English, sense of humor, and great attitude.  Awesome kid!  He received one of the wheelchairs from Giving It Back To Kids that helps him get around.