I've got a couple bits of background information about Vietnam and my role on the Aid Expedition that I've been wanting to share, so here they are!
- It will be hot.....hot, hot, hot, hot, hot......in Vietnam. We'll be in the very southern part of the country, near the equator. The sun is directly overhead much of the day. March through May are the hottest and driest months of the year there, so we'll be in the thick of it. It generally gets up to around 104 degrees during the day. (After about 90, however, who's counting?)
- As far as time zones go, Vietnam is 11 hours ahead of Pennsylvania. (And to my Mom in Wisconsin, who is undoubtedly doing the math as she reads this, that means I'll be 12 hours ahead of you!)
- The Aid Expedition volunteers are broken down into three teams -- food distribution, home building, and medical. I was very happy to learn that I was placed on the medical team. (There are a handful of non-medical types, such as myself, on the team for crowd control, and to just generally help with whatever needs to be done.) My understanding is that we're planning to examine 500 people on each of our "work days". I have a feeling I'll be asleep before my head hits the pillow at night!
