I think the best thing about my last couple of days has been that autumn is really starting to come here, so the tempurature is getting much cooler. When I first got here, my favorite part of the day was the two freezing cold showers I had to take. At night time I slept with two fans in my bed, wearing as little as possible, and was still unformfortable. But last night I actually used a blanket! Not that I really had to, I just like the security of blankets, especially considering I don't really have any idea what kind of insects and spiders could be crawling around outside of my mosquito net. But nonetheless, the tempurature is continually dropping, and although it is probably still considered hot enough to scorch any of you folks back home, after dealing with 35 degree weather for a week it feels like heaven.
When I leave for work in about an hour it will be my fourth day at Viethealth. Unfortuntaely, so far my commute has been about two hours each way due to the distance and the fact that I travel during rush hour. But to make it better for me my boss is allowing me to work from 11-6 to avoid rush hour, and I can work Wednesdays from home. So I'm really hoping that will make a difference in my travel time. Other than that, I'm really enjoying it so far. The people I work with are really nice and the work I'm doing is actually very worthwhile. I had a meeting with my boss yesterday and she brought me the preliminary information on the emergency proposal I'm going to be working on. We're trying to get funding to increase emergency health standards on every level from better training for emergency staff to offering first aid courses to people around the community. They're seeking about a million in funding, which is alot of weight on my shoulders, so wish me luck!
The funding is definitely needed though, as I witnessed first hand the other night. My friends and I were out at a karaoke bar celebrating someones birthday. We had a private room and were pretty much having the time of our lives with all of the ridiculous music we kept putting on. Unfortunately, the glass table in the room had a crack on the edge of it that had not been repaired and it sliced into one of my friends legs when she bumped into it on her way up to sing. It was a crazy situation because the Vietnamese staff spoke no english and had absolutely no idea what to do in an emergency. I ended up using my cardigan to stop the bleeding (it was extremely deep and there was alot of blood) because they had no first aid supplies and then drawing an ambulance on a piece of paper so they would call one. Even then they kept saying "taxi?" We had to call our program advisor to tell them that we could not carry her down three flights of stairs to a taxi. But in the end the ambulance ended up taking so long that we did have to carry her down the stairs because we were afraid to leave her for much longer. Luckily (or unluckily depending on how you look at it) the ambulance arrived right as we got her out of the building. Myself and two of the other girls then rode with her in the back of the ambulance to a really nice english speaking hospital where she ended up having to get surgery to repair the damage to her knee. Luckily enough she had travel insurance, but it was still a crazy situation to be in. But the positive side of it (if you can really find one I suppose) was that I got to witness what was lacking in the emegency system first hand and hopefully get my proposal funded to make some positive changes.
As I mentioned previously in this entry, my journey back and forth to work is quite long. So yesterday evening I decided to take a taxi home just to see how much it would cost. I flagged a cab and handed him the address, or at least what I thought was the address. The thing about VPV is that they have two dorms, one in the city where I live, and one about twenty minutes outside the city in the Vietnamese countryside. Once my driver got on the freeway, I kind of knew something was wrong. But once he pulled onto a dirt road full of barn yard animals, I knew I had gotten myself pretty lost. I managed to straighten it out by finding the real address in my bag, but it was a pretty hilarious situation to be trapped in the Vietnamese countryside with no clue where you are with a taxi driver who doesn't speak any english. When I got back to where I actually lived, it still only cost about $20 after an hour and a half in the cab. Money that I would like to have back, but hey, what are you gonna do?
Well, I suppose that's all for my blog today. This weekend myself and some of my housemates are heading down to the West Lake region for a wine tasting and maybe a night in a hotel. I'll probably have another blog up (maybe with some pictures!) on Sunday.
Until then, if you're in a foreign country with a non-english speaking cab driver, make sure you give them the right address.
Sarah
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