I was not made to be a tourist. Two museums and my brain is nearly dying.. We had a good time, though and I think it is important to see the Vietnamese side of the story about the Vietnam War when I am living here for so long. Before I start telling you a dull story about what I have been doing today, I want to take you with me on a time-journey to yesterday.

Yesterday was the longest day so far. We had a têt gift ceremony at the Thanh Long school at 8 am in the morning. The children were singing, dancing and giving speeches. Têt is like Christmas and the ceremony resembled what we always did before Christmas holiday when I was in school. It was very fulfilling and great to be there, so no big deal that I had to get up at 5.45 in order to reach my bus etc. Well, after the ceremony, Lydia (my Irish friend) and I went on a walk to her district where we had a nice breakfast and waited for the biggest emotional challenge so far. We were going to a government center for elderly and disabled people to give têt gifts and apparently sing for the inhabitants in the center. I cannot describe how awful it was. It was like a dream that suddenly seemed way too real. The rooms were dark and filled with steel beds, nothing but a thin bamboo mat on top. There was a slight and in some cases strong smell of drain and old urine. The smell was strongest in the back of the room close to the toilet door. On the beds sat old women, men with no arms, no legs, or strange shapes, staring in different directions. In some rooms the people would start clapping as we entered the room and when we went around to say hello they would try to make us stay for just a short while longer. The center had 54 people, most were men. We were told that they only have one meal a day, which explains why they nearly ran towards the dining hall when the bell sounded.

There are so many impressions to process from this visit that I cannot put it all into words, but I can only express my deep felt anger towards the way these people are stacked away like animals in cages with no privacy and no freedom. Some were perfectly normal mentally, but were put there because they lost a leg or suffered from polio or other things that made them look slightly different than other people.

When we left the center, it was time for a beer. The beer became many and it ended up being a good night after all.. I will post the photos from the center in a separate album – if you cannot take strong pictures, don’t open it. Nighty nights..