My birthday!

I had an amazing birthday, which stretched over a whole week! Firstly, I returned to Phu Quoc, the gorgeous island, where you stay in mud huts on the beach (complete with sunsets, sunbathing, scrummy food, cocktails, massages etc!). 

Then, on my actual birthday, we went for a gorgeous meal at Shri, with amazing views overlooking the city. The menu and drinks had even been specially picked out just for me!

On the Friday a group of us stayed in and had a games night, then on the Saturday it was BBQ time! Whilst Lucy prepared food, the girls took me for a massage in District 2...bliss!

The BBQ had been a right nightmare to get hold of, as the ones for sale in the city all seem to be gas or electric, and people who had charcoal ones had told us they'd ordered from Amazon in advance! Anyway, after what seemed like millions of random trips in taxis following people's advice and addresses they'd given to us, a lady at school offered to hunt me one down! She'd warned me it would be big, but I was so relieved to have finally found one (after inviting 30 people to a BBQ!) that I was over the moon with it!

Knowing that I loved ice cream, the CP lot had all chipped in and bought me a Baskin and Robbins ice cream cake. Such a lovely thought, however they ordered it for Friday, forgetting that nobody had a freezer big enough to store it in! We all enjoyed digging it to the slush regardless :-)

The day was fab, and we followed it by karaoke and drinks in town. I had cards and gifts sent over from UK too which made it even more special!

27th February- Year 3 sleepover

From Year 4 upwards, the children get to go on residentials, both in Vietnam, and abroad. To prepare them for spending time away from their families, in Year 3, we have a sleepover! The children played games, went swimming, had pizza, took part in a best dressed teddy competition, and watched Mary Poppins! Although they weren't overly bothered about mine and Rob's choice of film, they all had lots of fun, and even managed to get some sleep! I managed to get about 5 hours, which was fine, although by 3pm on the Friday, after 32 hours at school, I was more than ready to go home!

22nd February- A visit to a nearby orphanage

Today some of us (teachers and students) visited a local orphanage, Ky Quang. It is situated around a pagoda and is mainly for children with disabilities. It apparently didn't originally start out as an orphanage, but became one over time, by default, as more and more children started being left there. They have little in terms of resources- babies supplies, toys, clothes, medical supplies, or trained help are all extremely limited or non-existent, and lots of the help with playing with the children and assisting in the day to day running of the centre is led by under qualified volunteers. It was so sad to see so many children cramped into such small spaces, mostly with very visible physical disabilities, some tied to beds etc.

We worked with the physically able children and had planned activities, which the children rotated around. I taught them to make friendship bracelets, which they loved, although I wasn't quite so prepared for so many young faces, who were all eager to make several, and take more threads away to make more...so I'll know to take a larger box of resources next time!!

9th Feb- Picnic in the Park

Today we randomly decided to go for a picnic in the park! After what seemed like hours of driving to find a piece of grass we were allowed to sit on, we found a random area with a lake to sit near...it was the next best thing to what we'd had in mind! The day came complete with games, a stray pig, men fishing, and a random act of kindness in the form of a mango (given from the fisherman who had caught a whopper!)

Community crafts

This term at school I've been running a community crafts club. Children from years 5 and 6 from TX plus children from a local orphanage have been working together to make various things. They planned the club themselves so chose the activities, which included baking rainbow cupcakes, making Hama bead key chains, making friendship bracelets, and working with the school Eco Scouts to make pencil pots and other items from recycled materials.