Our New Pad

Our Move

This week we moved one floor up in the same apt building we moved to last Oct. It is hard to believe that it has already been over a year since our coming to Vietnam. We were very content in our old apt but our friend came to us in Sept and said that he had looked at an apt in the same building one floor above us and it was the same size as ours but the rent was $100.00 cheaper. Well cheaper sounded good so we went up and had a look. It was in the opposite corner of the building from our current apt so the view was a little different but.... it had a balcony that we could actually walk out on, the current one had four huge plants on it and was a bit smaller. Now all we need is a barbecue, do they even have them here? The layout of the kitchen was also different, more open, they also had a big fish tank with one gigantic fish in it which I am sure was probably going to be dinner. Some extra benefits were air conditioning in both bedrooms and the kitchen. The living room had a couch, to sit on, we have been fighting over the one chair that we had bought last year and company usually sat on the cushions on the floor, better them than me. The walls in the living room were painted pink with a sort of glitter in it but for cheaper, we can live with it. Before we decided to take the new apt we went to the owner of our old apt and asked her if she would consider lowering the rent. This went on for several weeks without her believing that we would move. After we signed the new lease we gave our notice and she begged us to reconsider and lowered the rent a bit but not the amount we were going to pay. We felt bad but we did give her a chance and any savings would help with our living costs. Since being here the food and electricity and water rates have all increased and they say they will go up again next year. Back to the move, I had been told that some of the English students we teach would come and help. We were to move Monday. We arrived back from a conference in Singapore on Sunday afternoon and began the preparations for the move. We really did not have much but we have managed to accumulate stuff in our time here. Our friend called Monday AM and said he had a meeting and would be over in the afternoon to help us move, he had the key so we could not even begin ourselves. Finally at 5 PM he comes and says we probably need to clean the new apt before taking our stuff up. I wondered where our help was but did not say anything. We went up and I began dusting and mopping while the men started bringing things up. By 8 PM we were finished and I was exhausted, still no help had arrived but our friend kept saying it was good exercise. I guess he does not know that I hate exercise !! And I still had to clean the old apt so we could get our deposit back. Our lease was up on Tuesday so at 7:30 Am I went down to begin the cleaning process. I made it to the second bathroom when the nozzle broke off the hose by the toilet and water began spraying everywhere. I stuck it in the toilet, so as not to flood the apt again and the nozzle came off completely and went to toilet heaven. After several attempts to get the hose to stay in the toilet so I could get to the kitchen to shut off the water, I finally succeeded by closing the toilet lid and putting something on it to keep it down. All I could think of was another mess to clean up and forgetting that tile gets very slippery I proceeded to fall and slide through the dining area to the kitchen. I don't recommend it. Now my dilemma, how was I going to finish cleaning without water? No problem there is a spicket in the hallway of each floor where the cleaning people get water to mop the floors each day. After multiple trips to the spicket I had almost made it to the finish line when Mark came in, STOP, I shouted, I am just finishing the floors. Then for some reason the security guard and another workman were at the door. Then some other friends were there to take the bed down, we were giving the frame to them. Each of them took their shoes off at the door but they still managed to track in a mess. Oh well what can you do? Finally when I was alone again, I mopped one more time and locked the door on my way out, it was time for lunch. We had to pay these workmen somehow and we wanted to find out what the new restaurant was serving for lunch. They only had a menu in Vietnamese. They had been advertising this lunch special for only $2.00 US. It turned out to be a lot of food and good and they even presented us with a menu in English. I guess they were getting more non Vietnamese speaking people so they had one English menu printed up. We bought 9 people lunch for $20.00. I still am not sure who they all were but I do know one was the driver of the truck that took the bed away. He just needed the sign that says, will work for food !!!

Feeding the Poor

On Wednesday Oct 7th we flew to DaNang. We were headed there to help give out some food to the people affected by the recent typhoon. On our way from DaNang to a smaller city we saw quite a bit of damage. Roofs blown off, signs broken in half and trees blown down. The area had also flooded so there was lots of mud and muddy roads. Our first night in the small city we were introduced to a gentlemen and his wife who were in their late eighties and he had been instrumental in starting many of the home groups in different villages and was also a teacher and he spoke English. He went with us to several of the villages and had stories to tell about many of the people that came for support. We were able to go to three villages, the fourth we only got so far and then they had to send the motor bike brigade to us to take the food back as the road was too muddy to make it in with our van. With the supplies we had we were able to feed seventy families for a week. One lady we met was blind in one eye and only had two fingers on one of her hands. The elderly gentlemen told us that her son was rich but left her in a small hut to fend for herself. It broke our hearts. Another story we heard from our new neighbor, was about her village, one of the ladies who owned a duck farm was drown trying to save her ducks. That was her livelihood and she needed them to survive. In each village we took the bags of food into a home and the people came there to pick it up, we did not have enough to feed whole villages and we did not want to start any trouble. Our last stop we took the bags into a couple's shoe store. We ended up waiting there for our friends who had gone to see someone further out. While waiting I decided to try on some shoes, what do you know they fit. I ended up with three pairs. The owner gave me one pair as a gift and as I paid for the other two you would have thought she had won the lottery. She gave me a big hug. I only paid $18.00 for the two pairs, what a deal. I felt so blessed to be able to help them out. The reward so out weighs the little things we go through to help. We are privileged.

Typhoon Damage