Cam Ranh/Nha Trang

We left for the airport after visiting the American war museum in HCMC. The process of getting checked in, through the airport, and into the Vietnam airlines flight to Cam Ranh went smoothly, and after a 45-minute flight, we were back on the ground in a warmer climate. From the airport we went straight to House of Love, an orphanage that Brittany's Hope works closely with. The orphanage is run by sisters and all of the children there have a sponsor and received gifts at a ceremony on Sunday evening. On Saturday, we only stayed for a few hours to get to know the kids. I held some babies and then spent most of the time talking with two girls who are currently in university and came back for the weekend and to help out with the kids and be there for our visit. They were super sweet, but didn't speak much English. After spending a few hours at HOL, we made the hour (or so) drive to Nha Trang, passing by the resort built for the 2008 Miss Universe competition. The view was beautiful as we saw the moon rising along the coast. We were all pretty tired at that point, but we ate a brief dinner and gotto meet Peggy & Bob's sponsor daughter before checking into the hotel. She's inher third year of university studying English, and in the process of applying for a visa to spend her 4th year at etown. How cool is that?!
Our hotel here is awesome. The whole city has a great vibe to it. There is a large Russian influence/tourist contingent, and someone said there are also a lot of Aussies that come to this area for the surf. Either way, I like it. We're right on the water, and I went for a walk Sunday morning before we left. Early morning is the busiest time of day here due to the high temperatures, so there were lots of people out and about during my morning walk; selling snacks/breakfast on the streets, riding their motorbikes, doing stretching and dance-like exercises along the beach, and a lot of people plying badminton. It was a good break for me to be up and away from everyone, even if it was only for an hour.
When we left the hotel, we went to a rural community about 20 minutes away from HOL to deliver cooking oil & rice. We pulled up in our coach-style bus, along a dirt road that was barely wide enough. Needless to say, we attracted a lot of attention. Mai-Lynn and Hong said they've never had anyone or any aid groups visit them, so this was a big deal. Some government officials came with us to distribute the supplies and have a presence. One of the sisters and some older kids from HOL came to help out. It was very interesting to see the village and the people. We only stayed in one section, and just saw the main little strip with its few houses, but the similarities between village life in different parts of the world were amazing. We stayed there for a while, helping to distribute and taking photos of everything going on. When it was time to go back to HOL, the kids climbed into the truck to ride back, and Mai-Lynn did too. They motioned for me to go too, so I did.  We had a lot of fun, and the older girls were very cute trying to take care of me when we came too close to trees. The day at HOL went by quickly. We spent it eating lunch, playing with the babies and kids, sorting gifts, helping the kids decorate frames for their sponsor families, and just hanging out. Another group of kids came from anoth orphanage run by sisters not too far away, and they were even cuter!  All the kids seemed fascinated by my facial piercings and they like to point at them and then my earrings. Cute. Our day there ended with the gift-giving ceremony, dinner, and some performances by the kids. They sang, danced, and did a modern version of Cinderella, with references to Internet and beauty competitions! Overall it was another great day!
This morning is our last day here with the kids, and we are taking them on a field trip to the beach!  This should be interesting!!!!