We are always so impressed with how industrious and creative the Vietnamese are! Pictured above are only a few of the many products that we have seen on the backs of bicycles and motor bikes. on their way to market. If you click on the picture you will see a larger version of these quite spectacular feats. How the riders manage to stay balanced with such heavy loads is miraculous. Equally amazing is that the take home pay for these loads is only pennies a day. But they are undaunted, repeating the exercise 6-7 days a week.
When we are in Hoi An, we feel obliged to try to match these Herculean efforts, but we are merely 60 something Westerners, softened by the luxuries of our lifestyle. We rise before dawn, it's true but by mid-afternoon we are ready for a nap! Perhaps we should be working on our "staying power", getting fit for longer days of toil!
We are working here at home our projects for Reaching Out...consulting with Binh on a new Business Plan and creating an Employee Handbook for the sales staff in the shop. Our attempts at learning the language are still rather futile, and we will have to remain dependent on the help of others to translate for us and the patience of our Vietnamese friends while we pantomime our intentions.
Despite our limitations, we are buoyed and looking forward to our Journey of the Heart 2009.
Please Note: There is a new feature on this blog. On the right hand side, at the top, you will see a small picture. It changes every few seconds and is our slide show of this year's trip. If you click on the picture you can enjoy the full screen show. Once you are on the album site, watch for the slide show icon which appears above left of the picture. I promise, I will replace this show with pictures from Journey of the Heart 2009 as soon as they are available!
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