Cham Village and Chau Doc

Hello All,
I just returned this evening from the town of Chau Doc. We first visited the Center for Individuals with Social Evils. This agency was basically a drug/alcohol rehabiliatioin center with vocational training as well. The director of this agency was in my collaborative group this week at our workshops at An Giang University, which I learned a great deal from. We were able to learn about drug rehabilitation in this country and meet with several of the "learner" at the facility. Music is a huge part of their recovery and free time, so they treated us with some songs, which were absolutely beautiful!
After this, we ate lunch at a roadside cafe and visited a pagoda that is dedicated to the female godess where this temple complex is visited by thousands of people a day...as it is thought to have healing properties. One experience that I had there was that many women came up to me and a couple of other females in our group and wanted to touch us. They wanted to feel our skin and because we are not skinny, wanted to hug us. They even patted us on the rears and touch other parts of my body. Personal space is NOT well recognized in this culture, but I have to say that we are like movie stars over here with the attention and staring that we get on a regular basis. When first experiencing this, I was stunned, but I have grown accustomed and interact more freely now! Its kinda nice to be seen as a "star!" We then traveled to a Cham village where we visited a Mosque and were invited to one of the follower's homes where we were shown beautiful embroidery linens.....Just wait to see what I got! The hospitality was amazing and this is one of the first times a group such as ours was permitted to visit this village!
Gotta go for now....more to come.
Peace ~ Ash