Some Happy and Not So Happy Good-Byes

February 12th was a sad day for Da Nang. We had to say good-bye to our good friend Melanie, whose three month term was up in Vietnam. She is from Australia and was here for her summer break but is now heading back to begin her next semester. Although we were sad to see her leave, we were definitely happy to have her here. In her last few days, the sun came out and we were able to go to the beach! We also had a dessert party for a final farewell. One positive about her leaving is that she will be home in June...meaning there is a possible chance for a trip to Australia at the end of the year!

Mel receiving her words of encouragement cards

Acting silly with Jillian

We are definitely going to miss this one

We had fun skim boarding and eating lunch at this cute restaurant

As for the guest we were more than delighted to see leave....The morning that Mel was leaving, a group was getting together to have breakfast. Lily and I were waiting around for our rides when I noticed a large black spot in the corner by the door. When I got closer, I realized it was not the mold I was hopping to see but the largest spider I have EVER seen! Just at that moment, our friend Stephanie came by and we decided on a plan. We moved the desk and our shoes away from the wall and planned to knock the spider off the wall and attack it with Raid when it hit the floor. After two failed attempts at hitting him and after the toilet paper we were trying to hit him with, landed right underneath him, we scrapped that plan. I then got an even better idea!...why not ask the unsuspecting guy who is sitting outside on his motorbike. Knowing inviting him in was probably way culturally inappropriate, I had to ask him twice with my puppy dog eyes. He was a little taken aback but eventually came inside and I immediately pointed to the wall. The poor soul gestured for something long, since it was in the top corner of the wall, and after a few tries, knocked him down. Instead of killing the spider he swept it outside and sat back on his bike like it was no big deal. I, on the other hand, had nightmares later that night and still scour the room every night before I sleep, to make sure there aren't any in my bed. Needless to say, we were not sad to see him go.

If you do not like spiders, do not scroll down for the pictures but because I do not know how this will post...I am sorry in advance if you do see them.

This first picture is for perspective. I was in our kitchen and this is not zoomed in at all but you can still see a black spot in the right hand corner of the wall.

I even squirm posting this picture....eeek!