so yes. i feel great. it was amazing and rewarding and miserable all at the same time. and i would do it again in a heartbeat (we’re already making plans for the next trip) and i recommend EVERYONE try it at least once in their life: Habitat for Humanity Global Village 

and yes, louis vuitton was right: the journey is life itself. (btw, GREAT video campaign, but then again, it IS LV.)

so now, it’s back to everyday life and the things that i didn’t realize i would miss so much until they were out of reach:

-pizza (esp. the cheap little trader joe’s ones that take like 2 mins in the microwave)

-carne asada tacos

-my dog (of course)

-a toilet that flushes

-MY shower (MINE. ALL MINE.)

-TIVO

-sunday football

things that i will miss from asia:

-funny (but good!) flavored doritos (cockle flavored anyone?)

-pho, noodles, whatever you call it: long starchy strands of gluten & flour in various broths (preferable served on a folding table with a wobbly stool.)

-dragonfruits, li-chis, sweetsops and really really frickin good pineapples

-being at one (and victim to) mother nature

-never knowing that will happen that day

” The goodbyes were emotional as the neighbor whom we’ve used the house of to eat lunch started to cry as we took farewell pictures. Our family was sad to see us leave but I think they are overjoyed with the prospect of their new house being nearly completed. While I cried my goodbyes and walked down the dirt road, I came upon the nighbor’s house again. The woman was sitting in her kitchen crying alone. She had left the big goodbye scene for fear she would break out in sobs. Indeed, when I went to hug her goodbye, the waterworks came. Naturally, mine followed. For two weeks, everytime I got homesick I would go sit on this woman’s porch for a little while and watch her black puppy play with her kids. This chubby little dog named “beep beep” brought me a lot of comfort when the sun and humidity and mosquitoes challenged my physical strength. And this woman’s amazing bright smile and spirit brought me comfort when the magnitude of this experience challenged my mental strength. Halfway around the world, I found a dog-lover like me, whose hospitality and kindness is matched only by the width of her smile. And without ever exchanging a word, we’ve formed an odd bond.

As we stood and cried, she told Annie that life is quiet in a small town and how happy and eventful we’ve made the neighborhood. And now to leave after two weeks would make her really miss us. We told her that we would always try to keep in touch with her. She wanted us to come back again and told us that whenever we do, it is most likely she would still be living there.

And so it is, that the memories of this build, of these families, of my teammates become another stitch in the fabric of my life and my being, never to separate from who I am. And that is more than anything I can ask for.”

Hi friends!
 
It’s the end of Day 8 in Vietnam. There is a lot of stories to tell and a lot of pictures to show you. The main points? it’s REALLY hot and HUMID. and we’re making great progress on the house i am building with the teams.
 
The Habitat for Humanity group consisted of 16 people. After we arrived in Vietnam, we split into two groups of 8 people each to build two “love” houses for two selected families. “love” houses are a small sector of Habitat’s international work, which offers qualified families labor to construct houses but requires the family to provide cost for materials. (a larger sector of habitat’s work is building houses for qualified families and having the families repay with mortgage at no interest.) One love house is for an elderly couple who have been sleeping under a structure constructed of wood planks and plastic tarps. The second love house (the one I am assisting in the construction of) is for a couple with two children (one disabled) who have been living in a one-room shack constructed of tin walls and a thatched roof.
 
We arrived with just the foundation set for the house, and now at Day 8, the brick walls for the exterior and dividing walls for the interior of the house are towering over us. We have made exceptional progress through elbow grease, sweat, deet (mosquitos are RUTHLESS) and sunscreen. There isn’t a workday that goes by where the team doesn’t leaved the site DRENCHED in a mixture of mud, sweat, sunscreen, water and deet (and whatever else we’ve put on ourselves.) We’ve split the work up to make efficient use of our time and do everything from transporting building materials (brick, sand, rocks) in wheelbarrow to mixing mortar to laying brick walls to pouring concrete for support columns. It is TRULY backbreaking work (already had 2 massages) but incredibly rewarding. The homeowners and their children work side by side with us and makes this experience really worthwhile.
 
Now….the road is by NO means smooth (and i don’t mean the road we wheelbarrow materials through…) We’ve had team members going down left and right. The first ailment to inflict was a heat rash…which affected three of us. the second ailment to hit was stomach pains (probably from the water and maybe the pho we ate stooped on the side of the street…) that hit like 5 team members. and than there’s me: i have the heat rash, the stomach ailment and i, only i alone, acquired a Ste in my eye. But really nothing some skin cream, Cipro and eyedropes (and giant sunglasses) can’t cure. and today a bug crawled up by shirt and bit me about 4 times on my stomach. But I’m still alive and building thanks to these Vietnamese pharmacies that don’t require perceptions for purchase! *wink wink nudge nudge*
 
Over the weekend we visited a school, a coconut candy factory and we tours a few neighboring provinces including Ben Tre and Canto.
 
Anyhow, it’s been a great experience thus far (ailments aside) I’ve eaten lots of GREAT food and meet a really interesting array of people. I look forward to the rest of my trip and sharing ALLLL my pictures with you upon my return.
 
Love and Misses!

(additional blog sidenote: since the email, i’ve also FALLEN and bodyslammed myself into some marble stairs. and have a giant bruise on the lower left side of my body…)

enough jabber, here’s pictures:

the main street where we enter our worksite everyday.

day ONE: just the foundation and some concrete columns

day THREE: bunch of rookies learning how to lay brick…

laying brick: easy. getting the whole structure to be level: not so easy

day 5: lots of practive makes perfect; janet and i looking sweaty, tired and proud

day 5: begining of the R&R weekend started at a school, thank god i brought my antihestimine for my allergy against children

day 6: they kind of boat like they drive…traffic jam in a canal

day 7: floating market in the Cantho province, the only thing they didn’t sell on a boat was used cars

day 8: end of day progress for the interior of the house

day 8: end of day progress for the extrerior of the house (you know you’re impressed)

lunch everyday is a styrofoam container of rice and a bagged side of meats and/or tofu

our walk into the worksite every: jungle-licious.

regardless, we landed without anymore humor at my expense. at immigration, the officer made me wait in line with nobody else in it so that this group of four next to me me could find their passports and proceed BEFORE me.  he kept saying, “they were here first” and made me stand there with my passport in my hand while they searched through all their bags. and then, there was the fun game of luggage carousel fishing. you know, the one where you viy for a prime spot to see when your luggage comes out? and to make sure no one snatches it? yeah…only mine never came out. it must have liked taipei because it stayed behind…. thankfully the airline has now informed that they have found my precious cargo, and i will not have to spend the remainder on my time in vietnam in an ella moss baby doll dress and leggings. (not so great for building houses in the humid country side.)

trying not to let the luggage error hinder my first and potential only full day in Ho Chi Ming City, i dragged my stinky, jet-lagged ass out and about:

it’s like find waldo, but with street signs.

vietnam is not unlike other asian countries in this sense: lots of mopeds, no systematic driving etiquette and lots of street vendors!

taking a ride in the bicycle rickshaw. it’s annie & patrick in front of me. sooo…the great story about this is that we ran into these guys while we were coming out of the ben thanh market and they promised us a bicycle tour of three tourists destinations for 15,000 don, which is less than $1 USD. so we agreed, since it would be a great way to see the city (if you don’t mind being honked at…) our first stop was the war remnants museum (which was suspiciously devoid of actual vietnamese people.) they waited outside while we toured the museum, but it looked like it was about to POUR. so we hustled back to cancel the remainder of the ride and pay them for the trip up until then. EXCEPT, they told Annie that they quoted her 150,000 dong. so after much argument, slamming of cab doors (to prevent us from leaving) and threats to call the police, i told Annie (shouting through giant droplets of rain that were about to pick up) to just give them each 100,000 dong and call it a day. annie was obviously pissed, but it was worth the $5.98 USD to get out of the rain and stop arguing with people who were obviously out to scam us. (this is your travel channel tourism warning

anyhow, dinner’s not even here yet but already much has happened. and if the rest of trip guarantees to match today’s excitement? they’ll be lots to write and read about!

i don’t think i’ve been so excited about a trip in such a long time. i’ve saved and saved and saved and now i need to buy everything to get me through two weeks of habitat for humanity and one week of my parents (therapy sessons?) toolbelt, small portable digicam, more draw-string pants (when in foreign country, EAT!) alright, and maybe some new sturdy Frye boots to trekk through it all.

i look forward to finding greater meaning than what the glossy cushy lifestyle of orange county provides for me. (pressure to be skinnier anyone?) i know it’s out there…but sometimes i need to be reminded, that life is lived with purpose greater than the latest louis vuitton monogramed canvas etoile bowler. happily, i’ll have annie to get me though the rough-callus-ridden adventure. hopefully this trip will give me much needed perspective and a kick in the ass to get back to all the things i’ve wanted to accomplish!