Pho for breakfast, Pho for dinner

After a long nights sleep, I woke up not feeling much better than the few days before. I’ve come to the conclusion that my body is simply rejecting all the pollution that’s going into my lungs here in Hanoi (it’s a dusty, dirty city). I sound terrible, constantly coughing and blowing my nose, however neither cold meds nor allergy meds do anything to help. I sure hope it gets better in Hue!

This morning we had pho for breakfast at a small corner “restaurant” if you will. Ahh, it was so yummy! I’m also quite keen on Vietnamese coffee, which can be served with condensed milk. The coffee itself is very different from American coffee, with a very different flavor and consistency.

Breakfast pho

Dinner pho

After breakfast we visited a successful NGO in Hanoi called “Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation” (www.streetkidsinvietnam.com). Blue Dragon was started about 8 years ago at a completely grassroots level and has grown in size over the years. They aim to give street kids, the poor, and trafficking victims (kids/teens) a safe haven where they can further their education, have a safe place to play/sleep, and become independent adults. Last semester I took a seminar on Grassroots Leadership and organizations. While listening to James (one of the paid staff) talk about the organization’s history and beginnings, my studies at MIIS came flooding back. It was so great to see an organization that has done so many of the “right” things, and realize (and avoid) so many of the things that can go wrong when operating an NGO in a foreign country.