Monday Nights and Coffee Days

Monday night is one of my favorite nights in Vietnam because it means getting together with our friend Janell to watch So You Think You Can Dance. Normally I take the bus out to her and we spend the evening eating delicious home cooked meals and watching one of the best shows on TV but this past week she came to us. Carolyn prepared wonderful homemade mac and cheese and fried okra and we ate in front of the TV, watching some of the world’s best dancers.

It had been a perfect night, even though one of the dancers we liked got kicked off, but as Janell prepared to leave and as Carolyn was at the sink, the pipes started leaking. After a while our floor began to become covered in water. As Carolyn went to find help, I stood in the kitchen pushing the water into our laundry room with our mop. Not long after, one of our security guards took his place under the sink while another turned off our water. In a matter of minutes the pipes were fixed! I mopped up the rest of the water and took advantage of an already wet floor to mop the rest of the house. Now this could have been a stressful experience but instead of making us upset, all we could do was laugh. So the perfect night was a little tainted but all was still well.

To top of the night though, we had a power outage and with no power comes no AC while we sleep. We had to sleep with the windows open which is my least favorite thing to do since the last time I had my windows open for a long period of time a little buddy decided it was alright to join me…that little buddy being a GIGANTIC cockroach! Luckily, the power turned back on at one and I took the opportunity to shut my windows and turn on my AC. Despite the inconveniences, the night was great.

Today, Wednesday, I began the day with my normal routine, coffee and reading. While I was at our coffee place a girl from a nearby house came over and sat with me. It’s days like these that I would really like to know how to speak Vietnamese. We just sat there and said what little words we could but both of us were content with just sitting there. While we were sitting there, Coffee guy came over to me with a phone and handed it to me. Coffee guy’s nephew, the guy on the other end of the line, invited Carolyn and I to Coffee guy’s, mother’s anniversary party of her death, two Saturdays from now. It was the funniest conversation and I couldn’t help but laugh as he tried to understand my schedule on Saturday. When we got it all figured out, we came to the conclusion that the break in between my classes was definitely enough time to stop by. These are days that bring me so much joy!

Coffee Alley

Quick Update

The week after Tet (what the Vietnamese call the Lunar New Year), I had only five classes. Because one ended that week, it dropped me down to four classes this week. Knowing I had all that free time I became anxious. How the heck would I spend all that free time? Well not that it helps fill the gap, but I did get one more class added to my schedule putting me back at five classes. It still gives me a lot of free time but I am happy for the filler.

I was a little nervous starting a new class. I know I am going to have this class until the end of my time here and I really wanted it to be a class that I liked....especially since I have had a difficult time with some of my former classes. But I was pleasantly surprised when I found out I was teaching a class Carolyn has had before. This is the group that we spent Christmas Eve with and who has taken Carolyn and I out to coffee. Being able to start a new class, already knowing the students was such a blessing. I am really excited to see how the rest of the year plays out with them and I am pr*ying that the rest of my new classes are just as good!

Ok so just the boys on the right are in my class but who knows, the others may be there next class too.

On a random tangent now...this story is going to be about the closeness of our relationships with the locals.

When Carolyn and I first got here we began going to a local coffee shop. For a while though, we lessened our visits and eventually, we were not going at all. It was recently when I decided to go back and plan my lessons as I had coffee. The first time I came back I was greeted with a, "It has been so long," from the owner. Since then, I have been going almost every morning. And since the return, the wife has been bringing out plates of fruit for me to enjoy as I spend at least and hour and a half at their place. If all of that doesn't show love and acceptance then the next story does.

Coffee couple

Today I went to coffee, planned my lesson and read. Before paying, I decided I wanted to buy some noodles for lunch. I handed her the money, not sure if it was enough for the coffee and noodles, but she took it and walked away to get change. When she came back I had already put my wallet away, thinking I would just put the change in my pocket but she pointed to my bag so I brought it out again. From there she proceeded to go through my money and pull out change for the 10,000 she held in her hand. She took out a 2,000 and shoved the rest of the money back into my wallet. I walked away laughing to myself. There is no way in heck I would let the majority of people search for their change in my wallet but because of the relationship we have developed with this couple, I know I can trust her completely. How blessed I am to have made such relationships with these people. It just goes to show that despite language barriers, His love conquers all. He provides divine interventions so we can develop relationship such as this one.