- Thursday, March 20th -- Fly out of Harrisburg at 6:55 a.m. My trip will take me through Chicago and Seoul before landing in Ho Chi Minh City.
- Friday, March 21st -- Arrive in HCMC at 10:40 p.m., local time. By the time we get through immigration and customs, and travel to our hotel, I suspect it will be very late.
- Saturday, March 22nd -- Up bright and early. I will be joining a handful of people on a 5:55 a.m. flight to Phu Quoc. We'll be there by 6:30 a.m. After that, it will be a rest day, which will be nice after the long trip. I hear that Phu Quoc is beautiful.
- Sunday, March 23rd -- Up early again for a 7:30 a.m. flight to Kien Giang. (Our rest time is officially over for the remainder of the trip!) It's a short flight....we'll be there by 8 a.m. Then it's time to meet the rest of the Aid Expedition volunteers and spend a couple of hours sorting through the donations that we've all collected, so that we've got them organized for the following days. We have a dinner that evening with local officials.
- Monday, March 24th -- This is a for-real work day for the teams. We'll start with breakfast at 6 a.m., and I'll work with the medical team from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. (All of our "work days" start with breakfast at 6 a.m., with us on-site by 7 a.m.)
- Tuesday, March 25th --Another exciting work day in Kien Giang! We'll wrap up around 2 p.m. though, because we have to travel to Dong Thap that evening. It will be a 6-hour bus trip.....we're expect to arrive around 10 p.m.
- Wednesday, March 26th -- A full-blown work day in Dong Thap, with a dinner with local officials that evening.
- Thursday, March 27th -- Another work day in Dong Thap!
- Friday, March 28th -- We'll be working until 2 p.m. this day and then hopping on a bus at 4 p.m. for a 5-hour drive to HCMC.
- Saturday, March 29th -- I'll work with the medical team until noon, after which we'll travel by bus to Ho Coc. We should arrive by 7 p.m. or so.
- Sunday, March 30th and Monday, March 31st -- I'm a little fuzzy on these two days, but I think they are the days that we put on a camp for the children of the area. The medical team will work during camp, doing exams of the children, but there will be lots of chances to show the kids a fun time as well! There will be 250-300 kids at camp.....these kids have probably never been given a gift (and we'll have lots!), had a full belly, or been able to just sit there and laugh.....for them, I'm hoping it's simply two days worry-free days in their young lives.
- Tuesday, April 1st -- Up bright and early! We get back on the bus and head to HCMC at 6 a.m. We should be there by 10 a.m. I'll have the day to finally do some shopping in the markets and shops of HCMC!!! Then, it's off to the airport. I've got a 11:50 p.m. flight out of HCMC, through Seoul and then Chicago.
- Wednesday, April 2nd -- Land in Harrisburg shortly after 4 p.m.!
And there you have it.....it sounds as if we'll be moving constantly. As I look back up at the itinerary, I can't get much beyond, "Wow!!!"
