Good Morning Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam - DAY 1

I have arrived!!! It was a fairly painless 16 hour flight...obviously flying first class with a lie down bed, champagne/wine, good food, first class service and being able to catch up on three movies really helped to pass the time. It was nice that I had enough miles charged on my credit card to warrant such a luxury. At the Los Angeles International Airport I met up with another Catalyst volunteer, Bruce (who flew in from New Jersey). Bruce unfortunately met his doomed fate by meeting me. After our arrival to HCMC and having to retrieve our luggage from baggage claim, I pointed out all my bags loaded with supplies. Bruce was quite horrified to see 1 HUGE suitcase, 1 HUGE box and a duffle bag filled with supplies. Even worse was how heavy they were. One was 70 lbs (originally 99 lbs) and the other 65 lbs and I had to improvise and use a packed duffle bag which was around 30 lbs and transfer some supplies over in order to not be charged the excess baggage fee at SFO. I also had two carry-on items to account for as well. Bruce and his wife adopted their daughter 8 years ago from Vietnam. He is here to help build homes and visit his daughter's orphanage. I have a feeling Bruce is going to avoid me as much as possible during this trip or at least until I can rid myself of the supplies.

I won't get much sleep tonight/this morning. I will be up around 3:00 am to head out to the airport to fly to Phu Quoc Island. We start work on Sunday.