We found a woman selling the best tea in Phat Diem and bought some. The tea is not processed at all. It is grown in the mountains in the central part of Vietnam, each leaf picked by hand. The leaves are then dried and packed in large bags. That's all there is to it.
To make the tea, one merely puts some of the tiny dried leaves into a pot, adds water, lets it steep for a minute or two, then pour into small glasses. Here is Quang helping us to buy the tea.
Tea is best to drink when it is cool enough to drink, so small glasses are best. That way you can have many small cups that are at the perfect temperature. No Starbucks ventes that have to cool down forever. Nam enjoyed bargaining with the merchants.
Quang, Eddie, and Evan look over a woman selling all sorts of china.
Tuan is helping Teacher Kyle, Eddie, and Evan find just the right souvenir to take back to the States.
Mike and Tino making decisions for gifts while Eddie poses for the camera.
No reason for this picture except that this woman smiled all the time.
Just a cat sleeping in front of a dressmaker's shop.
Carlo, Tien, a friendly shopkeeper who sold Michael his new hat, Nam, and Michael. It's amazing that we can make friends thousands of miles away. I always remember that old saying: There are no strangers, only friends I haven't met yet.
Walking home we passed by a monument to all the fallen soldiers who have defended Vietnam from China, France, and the U.S. We in America call our war the Vietnam War, they call it the American War. Being here is giving us a different perspective on the world.
Here is Nam Vu working his keyboard. Now entering 8th grade, he is quite the conversationalist. It's hard to believe that I have kn...