I couldn't resist and I wanted to let you all know where we are. Ho Chi Minh City or Saigon is our temporary place of residence. We have decided to stay in Vietnam for 3 weeks but let me tell you, I wasn't feeling that way when we first crossed the border.
Side note - I'm a paranoid sceptic from South Central LA, I'm as observant as a cat when my environment is unfamiliar and I rarely trust anyone who says hello then lingers for too long.
With that insight into my personality I found myself running for the border gate to find anyone with a working international cell phone. When I tried to speak to the guard in English he wanted no parts of me. Mateo was back at the main building steps about 150 meters away holding my passport and pack. I only wanted to walk past the gate arm to plead with our bus mates for a phone. I thought the guard wouldn't let me back in but I broke for it anyway. Not knowing a sole seated in the cramped little restaurant bus depot I spoke out in a loud confident way "Does anyone have a phone that calls internationally?" They all just stared at me "Welcome to Vietnam" the tour guide said with a smile. "Yeah, thanks" and I continued on with my business. One really nice lady from California offered up her cell phone and we immediately started running back to the border building. The guard didn't stop us and when we finished our sprint I walked right past Mateo letting him know the bus had just pulled up. I made it back to the American I so desperately wanted to help.
Mateo and I met her on the bus and it was she who must have recognized our slow American accents when she asked "where in the States are you from?" We later sat with her and her friend on the Cambodian side of the border. Trying to cross the border was where the problem started. She didn't realize her visa was not valid for multiple entries and the officials were doing nothing to try and help her out. In fact they were all laughing and the language barrier was both the biggest disadvantage for her and the greatest tool of torment for them. We did everything we could to help her and I felt horrible heading to the bus. I told the guide the situation and it turns out that she may have made it over the border later that evening. This brief description doesn't even give you an idea of the official scam we walked right into at the door of the border building when the men in blue with official badges tried to charge us 15,900 dong for filling out Mateo's arrival card. We had the guards up and simulataneously sang out "for what?" when he said $1 the Vietnamese equivalent for that amount of dong. Needless to say I was determined to help this lady because I was afraid of what other scams they might try to run if we were all gone and she and her friend were there alone at the border.
We don't have any volunteer jobs lined up just yet but giving has to do with a lot more than joining an organized group. Today we went searching for a school that gives free education to street kids. We didn't find it but we bought some apples for some street kids. Tomorrow we'll be back out again trying to give of ourselves. Some times the situations present themselves and sometimes we have to seek them out. We'll keep you posted on the status of our search.
Joronda
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