So Monday and Tuesday we had 2 days of torrential rain and occassional thunderstorms here in Hue. It started raining Monday morning and hasn't really stopped much, so the wetness and cold is a nice change from the heat and the humidity. Today it has brightened up a bit and, and the sun is poking through the clouds again, but the heat of last week is yet to return. Hue in the rain is beautiful, all the mist rises from the river and everything looks really spooky.
The Vietnamese whip out their huge ponchos and just carry on with whatever they're doing. Some of the ponchos have holes for two heads, so the person behind on the motorbike can see. Others just disappear under the poncho and it's impossible to tell how many people are under it unless you count the legs. It's good fun. Actually, if the rain comes back and it lasts longer than 2 days I'll start hating it, but for now I will say I was quite glad it rained for a bit!
I've had a busy few days, I've started on my two placements. The Hope Centre, a vocational training centre, is opening a shop to sell it's handicrafts very soon, so we've been busy designing new products and trying out various materials etc. And, to our delight, one of the restaurants in the touristy area as offered to sell our goods, so we'll probably be stocking them with handmade cards soon.
My other placement is at the Hue Children Centre, a shelter for orphans, half-orphans and children whose families can't afford to support them. There are 36 kids there, ranging from babies to 18 year olds. Hue Help,the organisation I work for, and one of the government departments co-financed the building itself and Hue Help still financially supports the shelter. A year ago they invested in a library, but sadly without supervision it had to be locked. So Kim and I are responsible for it now and open it on 4 days in the week so the older kids can come and read or study. At weekends we organise activities for the kids. We're trying to introduce a book of the week scheme, where the activities would be based around a book, but we're not sure how that would work in practice.
This sunday we're having a birthday party for all the kids whose birthdays are in March and April and next week we're having a Royal Wedding party, which will be filmed and shown on Channel 4 on the 30th. I'll get more details on that soon and you'll get to see me and my work on telly!!!!
Yesterday morning I dragged myself into the office to do some work and spotted my Vietnamese family and a police officer hunched over the big bath-tub like fishpond/bonsai tree pot. The bonsai tree, worth 80 million Dong (4000 USD) had been stolen! The thiefs had climed over the locked gate and taken a huge bonsai tree! Thankfully the police found the culprits and the tree, so the family and tree will be happily reunited next week after paying the police for their services.
Bonsai's are of incredible sentimental value as it is widely believed that the soul of the family lives within the tree. So when the tree disappeared, so did the family's soul. Ong, the 95 year old, was searching up and down the street for it, and he seldomly leaves the house! So I am incredibly relieved that the tree is safe and the family's soul will be returned.
"One day it started raining, and it didn't quit for four months. We been through every kind of rain there is. Little bitty stingin' rain... and big ol' fat rain. Rain that flew in sideways. And sometimes rain even seemed to come straight up from underneath. Shoot, it even rained at night... "
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