This post features student writing.
Hi! Bonjour! Xin chào!
Reporting to you live from Bình Thuận is Ali! A little bit about me: I am from Philadelphia and I’m half mermaid. Pretty cool right? I chose to go on this trip because I know that an opportunity like this is truly once in a lifetime. I have never had an opportunity to travel so far away from home and experience a culture that is unlike anything that I could ever experience back at home. When you add in the fact that a bunch of awesome kids and community service would be part of the trip, I made sure to bring up the subject with my parents every chance I could. Eventually they said yes 🙂
As the challenge of the day, I asked the group to go out of their way today to make someone smile. It seems like a simple enough challenge, but with a language barrier and shy kids, making a connection with someone and getting them to laugh at something other than our inability to speak Vietnamese is harder than you would think.
Yesterday, July 7th, was a really special day since it was Nick’s birthday! To celebrate, we got a karaoke room for a few hours and sang and danced for most of the night. A few members of the local youth union even came and performed songs in Vietnamese. During our nightly meeting, everyone in the group wished Nick a birthday wish (many wishes were wished), and then we sang happy birthday and ate some cake. All in all, it was a very fun night.
Cheers to you, Nick! Happy Birthday!!
Today, as the battle between plaster and teen continued, we were able to tackle the challenge of the day by playing soccer with some of the local kids. This ended with lots of laughter, piggy-back rides, and smiles! Later at the beach, we continued our soccer games, started a game of volleyball, climbed on top of some rocks with beautiful views of the ocean, and enjoyed the waves with the company of our new friends.
You put your left arm in…
Plaster masters!
Julia and Mila are naturals!
Beach time!
As we approach the two-week mark of our trip, the realization that only two weeks remain is a harsh reality check. Looking back on the first half of this trip, I can’t pinpoint a favorite moment. I know this sounds cliche, but every moment and experience brings a new feeling and memory that I would never want to forget or replace with any other event. The entire trip has been a whirlwind of one breathtaking moment after another. So for the next few weeks that will probably only end up feeling like a few days, I look forward to all of the new moments that are coming our way!
Stay classy America and France,
Ali