catching up again .....

LIFE RETURNS TO “NORMAL” 5TH – 8TH OCTOBER

Returning back to Hoi An via Da Nang, Lee and I were a little bit apprehensive as to what we were coming home to. But the towns have stood their ground pretty well, considering. Yes, many of the trees, and bushes have gone (they are now being cut up by the locals for firewood, we in Oz, would probably throw it all into the “green”bin). Yes there is dried mud caking the roads and footpaths.
So Lee and went to visit work in the afternoon, for Lee to tell Robyn and all the others that she would be leaving, and for me to take the bag of “goodies” that we bought in HCM for everyone … now they are calling me Willie Wonka … It’s amazing that a few chocolates can bribe people into thinking that they LIKE you …. Hahahah! But it works! Chocolate does not need translating! Everyone sad that Lee is going, Robyn asked me if I could take on her projects as well … Of course, I said, I can do it all … BADLY… which made them all laugh … So, I’ve got an increased work load now, and need to increase my days again …. It’s OK now, cause we have been into Cambodia, and because I’ve suspended going to the orphanage until Cheryl comes back. Can’t go there alone, there are just too many children for me to handle …. There really needs to be about 4 people going there at once, to be really effective.

Woke up Wednesday morning to see the Army working on the courtyard of the religious site across the road. It must be about 3 inches deep with dry mud … so out come the shovels, and the cane brooms (they are so soft, and I’d love one of these back home) …. And all is being swept up into cane baskets … while they were working hard, I couldn’t see much of a difference when they moved to different areas. And by this morning, I could not see ANY difference.
Went back to An Bang beach again last Thursday to have dinner with Linda and watch the movie of the week. And just got there before sunset, and saw the damage to the beach. Most of the beach huts / umbrella’s and chairs are gone, so much sand is now on the land or has blown way down (south ?) to Cua Dai Beach. Many of the grass hut business restaurants (if you call them that) .. are also damaged, some beyond repair, we would say; but they will rebuild over winter (we are coming close to winter now here) and re-open as soon as they can.

THURSDAY 15TH OCTOBER 09 … AND I’M WELL AGAIN

Unfortunately, I’ve been flat on my back for the last three days, sick as a dog. Think I got the lurgie from a drink that the girls in the market made for me when I was getting a hair cut. Now, it’s not that often that you are GIVEN anything in Vietnam, so you should not offend … so I drank it … and it tasted a bit dirty … and by that night had a roaring sore throat, which gave way to a fever and a chest infection … really really fast …. Must have looked like something that the dog dragged in, as everyone here was concerned, and when Robyn phoned late in the afternoon, she called a doctor.
Thank you Dr Mai (aussie lady doc who has been here 4 years) .. who did a hotel visit, on her motor bike with her doctors back pack. She had all sorts of Doctors things in the back pack and luckily had a bottle of cortisone tablets … and she also came back again the next morning to see if I was OK … Tablets opened up the airways nicely … good to be able to breathe without coughing … talk without coughing, and after three days of absolute bed rest, I’m feeling human again. AND looking forward to going to work tomorrow morning. Have had great treatment and care from everyone …. And now think that after 6 weeks of being on the go every day, the body has done particularly well to hold up this long without succumbing to anything.
It’s now raining outside, the first rain that Hoi An has had since Katsana … it may wash away some of the dust that the mud has turned into. The next typhoon Parma … which got stuck in the Phillipines for a while, eventually made it’s way over to Vietnam, but headed much further north than here and when it hit over Hanoi, was just a tropical depression, bringing much rain.
Being bedridden, and only having the TV for company, the Aussie channel makes you forget that you are not actually in Oz, until you go outside and hear the traffic and noise and get a face full of the dust again and it brings you back to the reality that you are ½ way across the world in Vietnam. On the news tonight, I really felt like I was home, when there was a report of the bushfires in Brooms Head and the surrounds … I hope that everyone is safe back down there and they get the fires out quick sticks.

It's now Friday 16th October 2009, and I've just returned to work, after nearly the week off with what-ever-it-is / was .... will just be glad when I've thrown the whole thing out of my system .... but very pleased to say that feeling much better! So hi to all back home in Oz and elsewhere ... and hugs to everyone (again) .... TTFN