By Isabella Cam. and Chloe
We began our day with bread rolls, omelette, sausages and tomato to fill us up for the big day ahead of us. Today was our final day in the village and completing the house, so we explored through the market and saw the complete opposite of what we had expected. There were dogs heads, pigs ears, pigs heads, hearts, liver and many more interesting meats that the locals eat.
We continued to walk through and purchase goods for the family we built a house for such as cutlery, pots and pans, cups and a stove. Whilst carrying all the goods, we were sweating so much and were very relieved once we had arrived at the village. We were welcomed by roaming cows, chickens, goats and dogs which was very different from our usual lifestyle. Hammering the walls on the house was our last job and only took an hour and half. Whilst this was happening Claire and I (Bella) created a sign for the family to nail onto the front of the house. We sketched coloured beach boxes and a large tree onto a plank of wood then coloured the drawings in with different paints. We finished this off by signing all our names on it.
Lunch time was well deserved and consisted of rice, tofu, chicken and beef. We then had free time to have a quick snooze or explore the village. We played games in the sun with the local kids and then took off to purchase the cow we were going to give to the family.
The family had always wanted a cow because they are very beneficial for the family and after a year it can have calfs to help make money and help them with their everyday jobs. A young local boy showed us a shortcut to the other village to get the cow and bring it back to the house. The path we took was very narrow, muddy and had the occasional encounter of buffaloes as well as their poo.
Arriving back to the house was such a surprise as they had prepared food for us all to share as well as lay out matts for us to sit on. Mr Noi shared his story with us about his experience in the Vietnamese Army that he was a part of for 30 years and his time during the Vietnam (or what the Vietnamese call American) war. He showed us his medals as well as photos and certificates. This gave us a first hand insight to what the war was like as well as how it affected future generations such as the baby boom which increased the population by 63 million. After his story we presented the family with gifts we had purchased earlier and showed their gratitude through tears of joy and happiness that was shared between us all. We said our final farewells as we set off for our walk home in the hot and humid weather.
At night we were visited by a group of traditional Vietnamese dancers from the White Thai group. They showed us five different dances. The first was a dance where the ladies sang and danced with coloured scarfs. The second dance was one with bronze money; a small instrument that when shaken it makes the sound of money coins which is said to bring good luck. The third dance was telling a story about the love market that takes place every month in Vietnam where people go to to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend. The lady carried a beautiful red sun umbrella as she danced with her male partner. It’s safe to say that everyone enjoyed the last two dances the most, one was called the friendship dance and the other we called the goodbye dance. As we all laughed and smiled we held hands in small groups of people and danced through the moving bamboo, the final goodbye dance included everyone standing in two circles while dancing, clapping and singing.
Today was a very emotional and extremely fun day full of new experiences. Missing you all very much, lots of love Bella Cam and Chloe xxx