Memories of Ba Ria

I haven't posted much about our 7 weeks in Ba Ria, because I didn't have internet access at the hotel or the orphanage. I'll post some stories in the next few weeks.

Our days in Ba Ria took on a regular routine. I'd get up at 5:30am to shower, eat and dress before Molly woke up. I had to wake her up about 6:15am to get her ready to go. We would catch a taxi to be at the orphanage by 7am.

Molly was fed cereal as soon as we arrived, as she was usually starving by then. The other kids were waking up and getting fed, and we all played on the floor. 10am was bathtime. It was quite an event! The two nannies would take one child after another, strip them, hose them down, soap them up, rinse them off, then dry them off, dress them, put them in their cribs with a bottle for a nap. I always offered to help, but all I did was dry, dress and lay them down for a nap. By the time all 20 kids were bathed and napping, I had only helped out with 3 or 4 of them - the nannies are fast and efficient. I'm not!

Most of the kids don't wear diapers - just the older ones with messier poops. The kids pee their pants, and we just wipe up the puddle and put clean clothes on them. Baby pee is supposed to be pretty clean, but it took me a little time to get used to it. There is a lot less diaper rash, and a lot less disposable diapers going into the garbage too. So when I say we play on the floor, the 3 toddlers that can walk, will run around creating havoc. The kids Molly's age 'commando' crawl all over the room, and the younger babies lay on a reed mat in the middle, and learn to roll over. So when I see wet pants, or I sit in a puddle, or the baby I'm holding pees on me, I deal with it and put clean pants on the kid. However, when a kid poops, for the longest time, the nannies didn't let me clean it up. Nice huh? Not even Molly's poop. They take the baby - clothes, poop and all into the washing room, and hose them down under a tap. So play time did consist of playing, but a lot of it was just a constant changing of pants, feeding of bottles and rocking of cribs.

Molly's schedule was always off, because I woke her up at 6am, instead of her usual 8am mornings, so when she slept, the nannies always made sure I laid down for a nap too. I grabbed a pee-stained pillow and layed on a bedframe covered by a pee-stained reed mat. This is where the scabies, ants and mosquitos ate me. I always woke up scratching.

Lunch was about 11am. The nannies would bring me the same food that was served to the older kids at the orphanage. It was always a bowl of rice, with a serving of meat and a serving of vegetables in pork broth. This was the best Vietnamese food I have eaten here. I loved the chicken curry, and there was often a vegetable dish that had bean sprouts, okra, shrimp and onion stewed in broth. These were my favorites.

After lunch, most of the kids were napping, and the nannies also napped as best they could until about 2pm. The afternoon nap is pretty common in this country. (Vietnamese tend to start the day at 5am, sleep in the afternoon when it's hot, then head for bed about 11pm.) So Molly and I were always awake by then, and I tried to tend to all the kids so that the nannies could sleep.

The afternoon consisted of "an dua hau" which means "eat watermelon" and a Vietnamese language lesson. I found early on that watermelon was a big hit with the nannies. I often went out in the mornings to a nearby fruit stand to buy myself bananas and other fruit, and I almost always brought back a small watermelon to share with everyone. Some of the teachers would visit, and communicating with them meant bringing out the Vietnamese/English dictionaries and slowly trying to understand each other. It was a bit of a struggle, but I really enjoyed it - I have picked up a lot of Vietnamese vocabulary.

Molly was free to leave about 5:30pm, so I would put a diaper on her, grab a couple of bottles, and we would take a taxi or motorbike back to the hotel. A bath for Molly, a bottle, and I'd play with her until she fell asleep. Then I was able to eat, shower, wash dishes in the bathroom sink, handwash some clothes in a bucket, then lay down beside my baby and sleep until she woke me for the 2am feeding.

Ok, so I'm whining a little bit. It was a grueling 7 weeks, full, exhausting days covered in sweat, pee and sometimes feces. But what made it all worthwhile was Molly. I was with her everyday and it was this time in Ba Ria where we first got to know each other, and started to attach to each other. I wouldn't have done it any other way.