Day one in Duc Linh

Sweet old Vietnamese lady at the church this morning, holding my hands: "WHERE YOU FROM?"

Me: "New York City!!"

Sweet lady, with a big smile: "AHHHH!! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Today we woke up bright and early, headed over to the church (it's a two minute walk down and across the street from where we are staying), had breakfast and went out to meet some of the kids and review the teaching material a bit. The program doesn't officially begin until Monday, but the church is the center of this town and a lot of the kids ride their bikes over to play! Usually there are two or three kids riding one bike together. They are all generous with their smiles as they pass us by. I like to wave and say "hello!" and usually I get a nice (adorable) "hah-low!" back. Little Huy (remember him from yesterday?) likes to give high fives as he passes by on his bike. At the church there are classrooms (where we will be teaching), basketball courts, soccer fields, and two swimming pools - the Father of the church cares a lot about giving the children things to do. There are some nice statues and pagodas around as well. I spent a little time under a pagoda in the rain this afternoon, doing some yoga and meditating while the kids swam at the pool - they jump right in fully clothed and ride home in the rain when they're tired (no towels). It rains BUCKETS here! It is so loud on the roof - the perfect sleeping sound. Good thing I brought my rain boots, jacket and umbrella. The majority of the other volunteers are Vietnamese and live here in Vietnam. They have commented on my "matching" outfits and of course my height - one of them said to me this evening "I don't need to go to New York City to see a New Yorker, the New Yorker came to me!"

I made friends with the big fat baby who lives where we are staying (you can see him on my Instagram). He is maybe two years old and quite rotund. We all crack up when we see him waddle around. The first day we got here he was wearing one of those mesh tanks that some of my fabulous gay friends might wear to the club - we got a kick out of that. He had fun hanging out with me, playing Shakira on his phone (quite consistent with the mesh shirt), and taking pictures of me on the phone. I was amazed that he could work the phone so well! He would take a picture, then show it to me, point out that it was me, and giggle. Then I did the same thing on my phone. We did this for about twenty minutes - taking pictures of each other, showing the other one, and giggling. It was very silly. So many stories and tidbits to share!! But for now, photos will do: