Quotes of the Day:

Ân: Em ỏiiiiiiiiiii…

 

Hoài: Would you rather lose the pleasure of food or the pleasure of sex?

John: Sex.

Hoài: What? Sex is so good. But food is more frequent.

 

Friday morning brought pouring rain. Even though it was only the third day, the team’s ability to wake up slowly decreased.  For fear that the mentees would arrive before us, we took taxis to the school and ate breakfast there. Once all the mentees arrived, Selena and Ân ran the first workshop—an introduction to Service Leadership. The pair used a mixture of questions, activities and lectures to explain not only what service leadership was, but also how it is important. In one activity, each mentee-mentor pair was given a ball of clay. One person was only able to use his hands, the other his eyes and voice. Together they had to form an object, such as a flower or a pig. The goal was to illustrate how neither the hands (service) nor the voice (leader) could have completed the task alone. Ending with an inspirational question—”Are you the next Ghandi or Mother Teresa”—we took a break for lunch at the school. By one, the mentees were back, mentors were fed, and we were ready for round two. The second leadership workshop was on CoLeadership and Teambuilding with a focus on communication and feedback, led by Hoài and me. Through a series of activities the mentees learned how to communicate with each other positively and lead within a team setting. The last activity was Blind Corral in which everyone, mentee and mentor, was blindfolded and led into a “maze” and given the goal to find the exit. If they needed help they were just to raise their hands. The maze in reality was a roped box without an exit so asking for help was the only way out. After the workshop ended, we left 15 May for the hotel to shower before dinner. After dinner we headed over to a karaoke bar. From bad cult classics like YMCA to pop Vietnamese songs like Kathy, we bonded over terrible singing and tambourines. Not only were we successful as singers but for Ân the night was successful in more areas. Upon leaving the bar, he called after a girl in a tone that no man will ever be able to recreate. Then he proceeded to try his luck on the receptionist… who happened to be male. Later that night we had spotlight where John was given the terrible dilemma of choosing food or sex. He chose food to Hoài’s chagrin. Finally, at midnight, we crashed, satisfied and exhausted.

–Martha Smith