Tuan's Family and Visiting the Sick

This morning I took my annual trip to spend time with Tuan's family and with some of the neediest of Van Hai parish. Here again I visited Ba. She just got back from a month in the hospital in Hanoi. She is getting very tired, but still has tremendous charisma.

Chao is, of course, the best. He lights up the room. We had a great talk, not just about the weather, but some personal things too.

Here are his sisters and his father. We all laughed a lot and really enjoyed just hanging out. Seeing Chao and and his family always makes me feel good.

Then we went to see one of the elders of the parish. Thu is now 100 and has difficulty hearing, but not in speaking. He made me promise I would pray for him because he was going to pray for me. That's a good deal. Oh, and this is his granddaughter who likes to speak English.

Next we went to see Ngoc. Since he was a child, he has a condition where his muscles contract and finds it difficult to move. In spite of this, he is always smiling. In fact, his parish priest calls him Mr. Smile. This is his mother and his niece. He is a great guy.

Next we visited Dong. As a teenager he lost one leg, then another had to be removed when he was in his 30s. He is a great talker who likes to joke and, like everyone I know, smiles all the time. This is is mother and father.

We went back to Tuan's house and had a wonderful lunch. Tuan thought I might like some cheese, and some of his nieces and nephews tried it. A whole new experience.

Not only cheese, but a cheese sandwich. About half of the kids liked it, the other half just smelled it then gave it away.

This is Tuan's youngest nephew. He slept during lunch, but was wide awake for the talking afterwards. He's all of six months old.

Picture of the some of the boys and then more of the family. The third picture is Tuan with two of his brothers and his mother.

Finally, the whole family. It's become a yearly thing that we all want to continue. It's always good to come back to some home cooking and good friends.

The Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul

Each year I'm in Phat Diem for the celebration of the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patron saints of the cathedral. Here if Fr. Minh walking towards us.

Some of the kids hanging around before mass.

More kids.

The priests and altar servers getting ready.

One of the boys from summer school.

The bishop joins the group. He waits until the last possible second to get dressed. The temperature at 10 a.m. is 95 with a heat index of 112. Dang hot!

The seminarians are altar servers for this important mass.

 Fr. Bo and I posing.

Girls from summer school. I tried on their hats but they said I didn't look good in them. Oh, well.

Down the center aisle for the cathedral. The entire archway is cut stone.

More boys from summer school hanging out in the shade under the bell tower.

 A full on view of the cathedral from inside the bell tower.

Looking out  from the bell tower to the lagoon opposite the cathedral.

These guys wanted their picture taken...best friends.

View from my seat in the back of the cathedral. You can see the beautiful carved wood and the door along the side.

My Pronunciation Pals

Every evfening after prayer, Bon and Huy join me for pronunciation practice. Tonight, our last lesson, they brought me a good luck egg with a painting of the Phat Diem cathedral on it and a post of the bell tower of the cathedral. The saying on the bottom of the  poster is: "There are many places to go, but only one place to come back to." Thanks, guys.

Sr. Kim Lien and Japanese Curry

 Sr. Kim Lien is a Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart. She is Vietnamese but is stationed in Japan. Sister has been coming to my English class. Tonight she made real (REAL!) Japanese pork curry. It was incredible.

I had eaten so much junk food at the party that I could only eat one, very delicious bowl. However, Nam (whose name means five) had five...and he finished the bowl. Now that's the way to eat, my friend.

The Last Class and Party Time

The last day of class. I  let them vote all the activities for the day, so, of course, hangman had to be high on the list. They also wrote poems to their parents, six-word stories, and we sang The Hokey Pokey. Kids!

We've been playing Whoosh Bong!, so they wanted to end the class with a game. Lots of laughing and everyone was so loud.

They played tournament style, with those who made mistakes going out and being replaced by those in line. Way too crazy (see the video at the end of the post).

Then it was time for the party. There was soda, cookies, chips, candy, and fruit (fresh watermelon). The class gave me this present as a going away gift.

It's and inlaid picture of a typical Vietnamese farm scene. I have never seen that shade of red before in these pieces. Very beautiful.

And here's the bunch. Crazy, funny, and ready to work at any time. You gotta love these kids.

We did lots of single shots.

Another...

And another...

And another...

Yet another.

You gotta take a picture of the paparazzi.

Then we were invited to the elementary class next door where we all performed the Chicken Dance. You'd think it was an American wedding.

Posing with the little ones.

More Than Just Soccer

I was taking a stroll during free time and found that there were games other than soccer. These girls were playing a game with stones, throwing them up and catching them, sort of like jacks.

This guy decided to channel his inner artist and make a heart from those same pebbles.

This game involves a can of Red Bull and everyone's shoes. It's a long playing field and I can't even figure out the rules.

One team throws their shoes down the field, apparently trying to hit the can, while the other team stands ready to run toward them. Life is full of mysteries.

Update on the New Construction

The new building next to the present entrance is really shaping up. Here they have finished the drop ceiling. All that is left to do here is hang the doors, shutters, and then paint.

 I took this picture of the garage because you can clearly see the roof. First the length-wise timbers are put up, then a lattice of cross rafters. Then a layer of small, thin ceramic blocks which is covered in the outside tiles.

 In the second classroom, you can see the drop ceiling going up. Bamboo is put up across the void. It only bears the weight of the thin ceiling that is merely sandwich fiberglass...easy to clean, lightweight, and helps to insulate from the hot sun.

 This is the men's room being worked on. On the left is where the two urinals will go and in back are the two toilets. From the floor to about 6', everything is covered in tile. Easy to clean.

Just Thanh practicing. He's in the porter's house just next to the new construction.

At the end of the day, they finished the ramp to the garage. Within a month it should be all done and then it only needs to be painted and the lights put installed.