City of bridges

So, apparently DaNang is the city of bridges. I am told it has 7 in total. I can usually see 4 at once, so I will have to make an effort to go find the other 3.

First: the bridge I cross pretty much every day. I think this one is called the Han Bridge. Which a pretty uninspiring name, considering it is the Han river.

It is hard to really display how cool this bridge is in photos, because it is a constantly changing light show, with different colours and patterns of lights running up and down the bridge. I am also led to believe that this bridge swivels in some way and opens up so that boats can go through. But I think that only happens in the middle of the night.




The second bridge I will mention tonight is called the dragon bridge.



Not only is is shaped like a giant golden dragon (it's gold during the day)..... it has colour changing lights the cycle through lots of colours, and change one little segment at a time, from the head all the way down to the tail.

Which seems pretty cool for a bridge. I mean, you have already designed an awesome bridge, but for DaNang... it was not enough.

So the dragon breathes fire



It also sprays water out of it's mouth..... but I had put my camera away before that started.
So yep, ok DaNang, you have a giant dragon shaped bridge, with multi-coloured lights that breathes fire and water on special occasions. No still not enough, the bridge does it's fire breathing show on Saturday and Sunday nights every week, as well as special occasions and perhaps also Thursday nights (we had conflicting stories about the bridge light time). So 2 (or 3) times a week the traffic stops for about 15-20 minutes while the dragon does his thing.

Alright, I am suitably impressed by the insane bridge!

I will endeavour to photograph that other 2 bridges nearby.... and try to find 3 more! As a hint, one is called the rainbow bridge, one the sail bridge :)

Tet.... take 3

Tet (New lunar year) falls over the 31st January, 1st and 2nd February this year. Yet somehow we have already been involved in 3 different Tet celebrations!

The first was last weekend at the volunteer house.
We set up a table loaded with food, rice, some sort of mung bean based custard, chicken, fish, pork, green tea and rice wine.
Lit incense and prayed to the ancestors, then waited for about 15 minutes (with occasionally topping up of the rice wine and tea.)
This is to give time for the ghosts and ancestors to eat and drink.


We also burnt paper symbols of clothes and food and all the things our ancestors need in their afterlife.

Then we sat down to feast! (I should point out, this was at about 10am..... after a 7.30 breakfast. I didn't really to feast!)
There was also plenty of opportunity to mot, hai, ba, YO - drink!

Then, Last Thursday was our last day at the Hoa Mai Clinic (a school for Autism, and we use the ground floor as a physio clinic for kids with disabilities who live with their parents). We ended early and next second, there is a row of low tables on the ground and food gets piled on!

So we shared another celebration with them. Then while trying to leave kept being given more and more of the leftover sweets or dried fruit. I ended up with a hand full of dried coconut sitting on a paper towel that I had to nurse the whole way home!

On Friday we go to the family house of our night watchman's father (and house coordinator's grandfather!) for Tet. I am really looking forward to it! apparently it is in a small village about 20km out of town.

Also, now that Tet is closer I get occasional glances of someone driving around with a large tangerine tree in pot on the back of their motobike. And regular glances at people with one or two large flower pots. The tree is meant to be lucky, but is also very expansive.... so lots of people opt for flowers instead!

Teaching English

Tonight was our last English lesson with the kids from the home of affection before they go home for Tet to visit their families.
We also found out it was the birthday of one of the young boys.

So, we have a half length lesson, took 2 cakes along and also a bag of sports equipment, puzzles and English kids books we had decided to donate to them after discovering that while they did have lots of books..... their toys were 2 tennis balls and that's all!
Last time we took some puzzles just for the night, the kids loved them so much that even the teenagers were happy doing puzzles designed for 3 year olds!

We gave the kids 4 badminton rackets (not the crap plastic ones that had been used once before and immediately broke!) a soccer ball, lots of books, skipping ropes and puzzles. These gifts came with a discussion about looking after them and not leaving them out in the rain! They were so excited to get new games and their own soccer ball.





The lure of cake and candles meant most of the toy exploring was delayed.



Somehow the cake turned into a food fight. Which was hilarious fun! and awesome to watch the kids just loving running around and chasing us, chasing each other.

An evening walk

So, on Sunday after dinner we decided to go for a little walk.
Partly to show the newest member of our little volunteer house around, partly to look around the neighbourhood.
Seeing as the beach is only about 300metres away, we ventured into the little laneways behind our house.

As you get further from the main road it becomes a smaller, dirt road. With low houses, much more of a country village feel!

We walked past one house (that we could hear from miles away!) who were having a Tet (new years - celebrated in line with Chinese new years) party. They (like everyone else on this lane!) shouted hello and waved as we went past. But they also dispatched a group of people to come out and follow us, and invite us in.

when we walked in to the party EVERYONE clapped and cheered! I felt like some sort of hero, not a complete stranger! there were probably 30-40 people in this back yard cheering for the 3 of us!

So we drank and were greeted repeatedly, hands shaken and cries of mot, hai, ba, YO! (1,2,3,cheer!). After we drank half our beers, they somehow decided that Sally and I didn't like beer (a true assumption, but I was drinking it so I didn't look rude!)I turned away for a minute and when i went back the beer had been tipped out and replaced with coke. Dan had to keep drinking beer, and everyone was doing their best to get him drinking as many as possible in the short time we were there!

Dan was the first pulled on stage to Karaoke. Which, I must point out is some sort of advanced level Karaoke where there are no words, or screen. Just a guy playing keyboard! Dan's rendition of "Happy Birthday Vietnam" went down well. Sally and I finally agreed to sing some old and faithful lion king "can you feel the love tonight" - with the aid of googling lyrics on a phone! We came unstuck however, when they keyboard player listened to the intro of the song.... and just played that. So there was no real lyrical tune!!!

We gave up after a struggled verse and a couple of belted out choruses (because, everyone can do the chorus!) and redeemed ourselves by doing a quick Rudolf the red nosed raindeer - songs that don't need music are much better!

When we left, the teenager who was the main translator (not that you could hear over the music anyway. they had 3 giant speakers- each more than a metre tall stacked up) walked us out and explained that tomorrow they are having a party at noon (11am) and we should all come.
Unfortunately that is the time our cook serves up lunch, and we had some jobs to do over lunchtime. However, I will definitely be making it a mission to wander down that road again.

I do have some photos..... but i can't be bothered finding my camera right now!
so you can wait :P

Da Nang Baby orphanage

More photos.....

On Friday morning's we visit the Da Nang baby orphanage. They have only 10 children at a time, from new born babies up to 2/3 years. but hopefully/usually they get adopted by this time.
All the kids are developing typically (no disabilities), so we go just to give them extra attention, play games, give cuddles.

The kids in their room

This little baby is aparrently 3-4 months old, I thought she looked tiny and they explained that she was born weighing only 1000g. (I assume probably born premmie, but couldn't confirm that. Thinking about how much care and support in NICU our kids get when born that early - this little girl spent 2 or 3 days in hospital, then came to the orphanage. They all kind of thought probably she would die being so young and tiny, but she rallied! I am very impressed by her health and growth now!

a story about Ngan

This is Ngan,
she is the most determined, beautiful little person i have worked with! She is 9 years old and has cerebral palsy (crouch gait, not sure if it would have developed anyway, or is because the did archeles lengthening surgery - she has so much dorsiflexion range it is ridiculous! ironically Has contractures preventing plantarflexion as a result of the casting post surgery!).
We are working on getting her walking, made much harder by the impossibility of trialling walking frames etc (have to just get them made by the metal works whe we decide what would be best), and the impossibility of getting any sort of AFO to support her ankles!

At the moment we use knee brace that the family have and use a basic 2 wheeled walker. lots of practising those ABductors and extensors to get her standing up as straight as possible. Ngan is incredible, every time we walk with her, she refuses the rests and keeps on going for one more lap. When we do side-stepping at the rails she keeps going until she pretty much collapses, then will be starting to pull herself up almost straight away! I have to enforce breaks!!

Having a rest break with her knee braces on ready for more walking! We were doing laps of the room behind us (and about a metre more in front of us), she would do 3 or 4 laps each time before having a break!

Practicing using both hands together. Ngan's left hand is quite difficult for her to use (actually, both arms and legs are affected, but the left side is worse!) so we are practicing using that left side as much as possible. This means I always make her use her left to reach into the bucket for more pieces of the toys or more beads.... she is a cheeky monkey and if if i am distracted at all will use her right hands.... then grin at me until I notice!

More 2 handed play, I look weirdly evil in this photo..... but Ngan has such a beautiful smile!!!

Standing to put balls through the basketball hoop, or do side-stepping.... Sometimes Ngan plays jokes like throwing the ball up through the hoop instead of down, or cheating and putting the balls straight into the bucket underneath instead of stretching up - then she laughs so hard she almost falls over!

I also must apologise to her, I do not have the ability on my computer to put the little haat above the "a" in her name... on the first day I met Ngan I was testing all her skills, and she aced drawing basic shapes, so i wrote N g a n on the paper, she immediately added the little hat over the a and gave me a hilarious little pouty face! It was soon after this, and being impressed by her copying of patterns with the beads that I realised not only can she communicate and write (albeit with some difficulty due to the stiffness and dystonia in her arms)she is actually bilingual and has some English! (colours, numbers, greetings, probably more than I even know about!).
I have to check on Monday, but I think this all might be considering that she actually doesn't go to school.... The father of a 5 year old we see told me the school wouldn't accept his child due to her disability, like Ngan she is purely physically disabled and sharp as a tack!

Ngan also comes in to see us every day that she can, If we are seeing another little person she and her mum will happily sit downstairs doing fine motor activities by themselves, just happy to use the resources available at the clinic. I assume this means she mustn't be attending regular school.

Weekend adventures

For the weekend I ventured down to Hoi An.
It is a beautiful town.... very visually stunning, but so full of tourists! and full of people trying to sell you things, trying to get your attention. I just can't handle it! But just about every other tourist I meet anywhere says they love Hoi An.... So maybe it is just me!

We spent Saturday morning at a wedding,
very different to out weddings. The party was on Saturday, apparently with 500ish people! It only went for 2-3 hours. Basically lunch and extremely loud karaoke. Then as soon as the meal was over everyone just disappeared! I assumed it would go on with drinking and singing all day. Apparently on Sunday morning they had a ceremony during the church service, and then a party for the "old people" at the groom's parent's house, and a party for the young people Sunday evening. Sounds like a lot of organising to have 3 separate meals and set up of music, decorations etc.

Also worth special mention was the MC who performed magic tricks during the wedding (and apparently the exact same tricks at the second party on Sunday) and the use of fireworks in the immediate vicinity of a particularly flammable looking wedding dress and a whole lot of people in satin and silk!

On Sunday we got a bus up to My Son, the Cham temples to wander around. I really enjoy the bus rides through little towns and the countryside. My Son was busy (as i assume it always is). But it did start raining, which meant most people scrambled for cover and so if you didn't mind getting slightly damp you could wander and occasionally not see people :)
Unfortunately a lot of My Son was blown up by American bombs after being used as a hide out, so while some are standing lots of the walls and carvings have damage or bullet holes. I am keen to go the the Cham museum here in Da Nang, apparently a lot of the most impressive statues and carvings were moved the the museum before the war, so didn't get damaged.

Sunday afternoon we got the local bus home (at $1.50 each for a 40 minute bus ride it beats walking!).

Back to the orphanage monday to finish our last few wheelchair modifications!