Time off...

so i finished work early Friday afternoon and we decided that we should go shopping for traditional vietnamese dresses called Ao Dai...we went and chose the fabric, not as easy as that sounds..then off to the dressmakers to get measured and plead with her to have them done within 4 days...this is usually not a big deal but as Tet is coming (which is the Vietnamese or Lunar New Year) everyone is getting new things made and the dressmakers are really quite busy....3 hours later we finally get back to the house and we are all excited about the fact that we will have our traditional dress ready for a wedding that we've been invited to attend on Tuesday night....can you believe it, i'm here for 2.5 days and have already been invited to a wedding...
Today being Saturday we decided to go out for breakfast...we arrive at a place called Tech where they have 70's and 80's Western music playing...the menu is all in Vietnamese so it take quite a while to choose a dish...eventually i choose chicken...(just so you know i am seriously not well, my nose is blocked up my ear still feels like it needs to pop, my throut is 10 times worse than the day before and even breathing hurts.....i am so tired from lack of sleep on these incredibly uncomfortable beds and i just plain grumpy...) all i feel like is chicken soup but there is no soup that has chicken in it..you can get seafood or beef or pork but not chicken....i opt for a steamed chicken and am happy with that....5 minutes later i am told there is NO chicken at all....i don't have the stomach for anything else so i just have my coffee (which if i haven't mentioned before is seriously the BEST tasting coffee ever!!!)...we sit around for a while and then decide we should stop at the shoe shop as none of us have shoes to wear with our Ao Dai....5 girls, 2 scooters and one bicycle later we are happily trying on shoes and as they are only $7 i decide on two of the same style in differnt colours...yes one is black!!!...we come back to the house and figure we may as well eat out for lunch as well...there is a great resort directly on the beach (no accommodation just facilities like 2 pools, great gardens and two restaurants)...the four of us volunteers hop on our pushbikes and take an easy ride along the beach road. We reach the resort and they are overly nice...like right ontop of you....(this becomes the theme of the afternoon)...we order and i decide on a seafood hot pot...everyone gets there meals and i am told mine will be another 20mintues...not sure why....anyway i hang in there and eventually they bring out a portable stovetop...then a large pot filled with broth and onions...everyone comments on how nice is smells....unfortuately i can't smell anything....i then get a large plate of raw seafood and am happy to start the process of cooking my lunch...except that the waitress is hovering and each time i go to do something she takes it from and asks if she can do it....(i can cook and it's only broth...you just chuck the stuff in....right)...i let her take over and she chucks the seafood into the pot (now that was a no brainer!!) she then comes over with this large serving platter filled with green leafy vegetables (of which i am unsure any of it is) and asks if i want that too....you could guess my answer...me and green vegetables...hell yes!!!...she chucks that into the pot as well....i wait a few minutes and then go to serve myself some of my lunch and she is quickly by my side fishing out the seafood and putting it on a plate for me and then putting noodles into my bowl (which i didn't actually want)....ok, ok....i know it sounds ungrateful but seriously, i'm 38...i know how to serve up my food....i am half expecting her to pick up the food and start saying..'open wide...here comes the aeroplane'...once she and i have served my meal she tell me that the meal is actually for 4 people!!!...would have been nice to know that when i ordered it!!!...what a waste of food....i could hardly eat...mostly stuck with the greens and the broth....just wasn't interested in the seafood in the end....
We finish up and bike back to the house, the others decide to go further and have a look at the Chan tower...my body just can't do it....i just want to collapse....i try and nap and just can't do it...i hop on the internet to try and find accommodation for my last 3 nights as i don't fancy taking the 9.5 hour bus ride back up to Hoi An....all i want is a little villa like the one i had booked....sounds easy but to get anywhere from here is a few hours on a bus or train....i like the thought of Nha Trang and they have a resort on the Silkworm Island that has villas...it's much dearer than the original....still haven't made up my mind but do know that i want to have something quite and luxurious for my last 3 days away...
Everyone comes back and we have dinner and talk about the structure of the volunteer progam and how we can make it better....i have to admit that at this point i am feeling very much out of it...i'm not sure half the time what they are talking about as it's all in the content of teaching but nothing was gelling for me...they talk about a process but i didn't see how or where the process begins....
i end the evening feeling very useless and completely out of my depth....not to mention no closer to any kind of structure for my next class on Monday night with the Home of Affection children....i'm definately not happy about being thrown into the deep end with these kids and feel it's even more unfair on them that we don't have a simple guideline and structure so they are progressing....hopefully some of the things that were discussed with fall into place tomorrow..lots to study up on tomorrow...yeh for me!!!
oh, and tomorrow no matter what i am getting a friggin mattress....i can't deal with this anymore!!!
ok, had my sook for the day....
P.s. i really need a mummy hug and a nice hot lemon drink...I hate feeling like this....my first weekend here and i can barely do anything!!!
love to all...
xx