This weekend was Hue's food festival. It was located just around the corner from my house, so I went every day! On Sunday we took 25 of the kids from the shelter to the festival and had a wander with them. It was unbelievably hot, so we tried to stay in the shade as much as possible. The Vietnamese are very protective of their skin, so they cover up wearing hats, gloves and long sleeves. I'm not sure whether it's to protect their skin from burning, or whether it's solely to stay white, as it's seen as a symbol of beauty to be pale.
I get a lot of people touching me and telling me I'm beautiful solely because of my scottish complexion. However, with summer approaching and temperatures due to reach close to 40 this weekend I doubt I will stay this pale for long. I've been wearing factor 50 suncream though and haven't burnt yet.
Monday and Tuesday were public holidays (Vietnamese independence day and workers' day fell on Saturday and Sunday) so on Monday we went on an outing with our landlady's family. 18 of us piled into a small minivan and visited a beautifully peaceful pagoda. From the carpark we travelled to the pagoda by boat and then climbed loads of steps in the morning sun. In the afternoon we went to a beautiful remote little beach and had seafood for lunch. I spent most of the afternoon in the water playing with a bunch of local kids as well as the family's kids.
So I've had a lovely few days. Just now I'm off to the hairdressers as I keep waking up because my head gets so hot at night. Hopefully they can thin it out without losing too much of the length!
Vincent also arrives today so won't be spending that much time blogging over the next few weeks but will try to post some pictures whenever I can.
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