MORE paradox!

     February 14th was our 15th wedding anniversary.  Bernie was on an airplane headed to Viet Nam on that day.  So after her arrival on the 15th she conspired with My Hoa for a reservation at the fanciest restaurant in Da Nang....right on the Han river.  I am including pictures below followed by Bernie's comments.

So I have arrived safely.  The flight was long and tedious.  The food was pretty good, real food, not what you get on westerners flights.   On the flight from Korea to DaNang, I was surrounded by 10 Viet couples who were coming back from a vacation.  The woman seated next to me offered me a piece of candy.  Giving gifts is a common thing here so I gave her a candy I had brought.  Then the other woman gave me this wonderful hand made piece of chocolate so I gave her a chocolate heart.  Chocolate is expensive here.

This week I helped in the English Class.  We talked about travel and then the group I was with discussed shopping opportunities and sites of interest. I hope to have some help when going shopping.  We also visited two families with children effected with birth defects.  The description of poor was enlightening to me.  I saw more of a country environment with very few items in the home.  The homes were sparse and I saw the love and devotion to family.  I also saw how the neighbors come to observe the visits.  Everyone knows each other in the neighborhood.

The dinner last night, as the pictures show, was just what I had imagined, so I was very pleased.  I played the typical westerner, choosing to use the forks and spoons, rather than chopsticks.  I am slowly learning to pronounce the names of the people around me.  The actual words for things, not so much.

When/if you should visit Viet Nam be sure to bring brand new American dollar bills.  The banks here have given me trouble with accepting some of my american dollars by refusing to exchange them for dong the local currency.  Luckily I brought plenty so will just take some home.  I have had Jim use more of the Visa Card and will just add the money back in when I get home.

Breakfast food is soup or small subs with meat and fruit with tea as well.  I am getting used to not having my morning cup of oatmeal.  The tea is ginger and green tea.  Also not what I would prefer.  I hope to go shopping at a grocery store today.

I brought brownie mix with me and made a batch yesterday afternoon.  They are quite the hit here even though I burned the top in the toaster oven.  They don't have a regular oven here, it is after all the tropics.
I have one more batched to make and the Tuesday night English class has requested them.  So Tuesday afternoon I will try again.

The chicken eggs come in 2 sizes here.  One size is about the size of robin eggs and the other is the size of small eggs that we think of as chicken eggs.

I am going to check out a book store at some point.  I need to get post cards and that is where I can find them.

That's it for now and have a great day,  Bernie