#15

Some more from my friends in Vietnam

"Hello! I hope you are having a good week!

For Teachers’ Day a couple of months ago, the university gave us some silk in order for us to get ao dai made. They are the traditional pants outfits for women in Vietnam. One of Hannah’s friend’s sisters is a tailor, so we decided to go get some clothes made with our gifted fabric. When we got to her friend’s house, they told me that I would have to wash the silk by hand with shampoo, dry it, put it into the freezer, and then iron it. I think not!

Right away, Hannah knew that I wouldn’t want to, or even know how to do all of that. So, her friend traded her cheaper, washable silk for my more expensive, but “touchy” silk. The best part was that we were both happy! She got expensive silk and I got beautiful, pink, easy-to-care-for silk. We also decided together that I really didn’t want another ao dai. I do not have the right body shape for it. So, we decided that I would have two dresses made instead.

While at Tam’s house, I made the fatal mistake of complimenting Hannah’s sweater dress that Tam made. Tam immediately insisted that I have one, too. She said that she would make it just like Hannah’s. I tried to explain, in a polite, indirect “Vietnamese” way, that I could not wear a sweater dress with a turtleneck and long sleeves. I would die of a heat stroke. After lots of discussion, they finally “allowed” me to have a boat neck and ¾ length sleeves. I knew that I needed this dress to be comfortable since I’ll need to wear it a lot around Tam.

Our next stop was the Tam’s sisters shop at the market. They took my measurements, and were so surprised that they had to repeat them twice. I wanted to add, “Yes, I really am THAT big.” Haha! I got a kick out of their surprise. After getting measured, we went to eat banh beo, which is of course, another type of spicy rice dish. It’s actually really good. Then we went to eat che for dessert. It’s a hot, sweet bean soup. After all of that, I was really tired, and thankful that I had the night off from teaching.

Since volunteering at the university, I’ve made lots of new “friends”. The classes ask for my phone number, and I just can’t seem to learn to say no. I spend a lot of time every day sending text messages to students that I don’t even remember meeting. So, since I’d been sick the last couple of weeks, a lot of these text messaging friends wanted to meet for coffee. This week was full of coffee dates. I don’t know how many times I’ve talked this week about my family, why I live in Vietnam, and various other “get to know you” questions. I really love my family, and love being in Vietnam, but I think I’ve told my story enough for awhile. It’s nice that we have Hannah and David, who are close friends that we can have deep conversations with, as well as new friends that we can get to know.

Thanks so much for all of the beautiful Christmas greetings! Aren’t I blessed to get to celebrate Christmas in January?! I feel truly blessed.

Thanks so much for your thoughts and pr*yers! We appreciate each of you! I hope you have a blessed week!

Love,

"Yogi"