March 24, 2011: a day that will live in infamy as the day I was thrown and trampled underneath the feet of an angry, savage ostrich. Indeed, during a seemingly innocent trip to the beautiful Mango Gardens in the city of Vuon Xoai, I was subject to this near death-by-pulverization experience. Here follows the thrilling tale of today's endeavors:
Following a lengthy bus ride from Ho Chi Minh City, the group reached the Mango Gardens and was given the opportunity to "tame the beast," so to speak, by catching a ride on the back of nature's largest bird: the ostrich. While simple in theory, as we have all entertained dreams of riding magical creatures at one time or another, the process of ostrich riding is far more difficult than first presumed. First, there is the fact that you are several feet off the ground, which leads to the all-consuming idea that one is liable to fall from several feet off the ground (quite a distance). Then there is the tricky process of gripping the ostrich's wings with your hands,
while squeezing the body with your knees, while leaning back to drive the utterly un-drivable ostrich forward. Despite all of these difficulties, my comrades fared extremely well. I will never cease to applaud Hayley's phenomenally successful trip around the pen, complete with an equally admirable soprano shriek. I admire Maya for remaining firmly seated on the great beast for the entire duration of her ride and Mandy's managing to fashionably ride down the pen, sporting aviator sunglasses. Likewise I commend Emily's neat and calculated dismount resulting in her landing neatly on her feet and Sara's graceful spin around the ostrich's
neck, which befits her elite ballerina status. Finally, I respect Logan for being the first among us students to attempt the mount and Mr. Dang for being our first fearless rider, losing a slipper in the process. I, on the other hand, paralyzed with fear realized with a sinking feeling soon into my ride that I was unable to maintain the necessary death grip on the black feathered wings and would soon gracelessly meet the damp sand and leaves that covered the bottom of the pen. Figuring that the impact would be no less traumatic if drawn out, I shut my eyes, grit my teeth, and toppled from the back of my ostrich, hoping for a painless end. First I felt solid ground telling me that I had indeed survived. Next, shockingly I felt a weight on my back as
something walked over me. Later I learned the ostrich had, after heartlessly pitching me off its back, tripped over me and made its way across the pen. After brushing away the sand and, yes I admit, tears, I pronounced war on all ostriches and the group proceeded to the grass sledding hills and crocodile farms further along in the gardens. However, now in the safety of my beautiful room at the Allezboo Resort in the city of Mui Ne, though I am still finding sand behind my ears, I must admit that, after a talk with team chaperone Ms. David, I would
rather have had this experience than not, as it is one like no other. When else in my life can I say that I was nearly trampled to death by an ostrich? This is the reason why Viet Nam has as of yet been such a valuable trip: the many adventures have been utterly unique belonging under the "once in a lifetime" division. It also helps that on the bus ride away from Mango Gardens to Phuoc Thien Orphanage the group enjoyed ostrich eggrolls.
(Emily):
After the Mango Garden, we went to the Buddhist orphanage, where we made frames for the photographs we took of the children there, and decorated them with the children. When we realized that there weren't enough frames for every child, we didn't know that a better alternative would come along: stickers. Due to Sara's large supply of various animal stickers, we were able to entertain the children for a renewed amount of time. It was really rewarding to be with them because, even though the children at this orphanage, unlike the first orphanage we went to, didn't speak any English at all, we were able to "communicate" with a combined language of various hand signals understood by all. I loved being able to peel off stickers while the children pointed to the ones they wanted on their picture frames.
It was heartwarming, to say the least, when babies were picked up and carried around by other children not much older than themselves, because the babies couldn't walk around on their own. As we were about to leave, with half of us already in the bus, I turned around and saw a couple people blowing bubbles, which were immediately a hit with the children. Once again, Sara's donations were received with the utmost love and happiness, and it was with the air full of bubbles that we left them for another long car ride to the Allezboo Resort and Spa.
When I heard resort, I didn't realize it meant this! The hotel is so fancy, with a huge fountain, and an even bigger swimming pool with a view of the ocean. Tomorrow, I believe, will be a spa day at the resort. I'm excited for our remaining days in Vietnam, and eager to do some more bargaining, which, as I have figured out in the past few days, is tons of fun once you learn to not get offended and that you have to walk away anywhere from 2 to 7 times in order to get a good deal.
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