Confirmation - Part 2

During the first part of the mass, I wandered the grounds of the parish. Here is the small quadrangle of the rectory, the kitchen, and the meeting rooms.

Another view of the quadrangle. The smaller bonsai were mostly ficus which grow easily in this climate.

This s the oldest section of the rectory and is over 100 years old. It was built before the church was built and is still in great condition.

Here is a relief on the side of the church. It is the Holy Family and the painting is weathering to light shades.

Next to the church is a grotto that you can walk in to, surrounded by a small moat and accessible by three small bridges. At the top is Mary as she appeared at Lourdes. Inside you can see a creche where, at Christmas, Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus are placed. It is illuminated by small colored lights.

A single lotus blossomed in the moat.

This is s front view of the 100-year old rectory. All it needs is some minor repairs and some paint and it would be its former self again.

Across the road from the church are rice fields that seem to go on forever. This is a very poor village and most people are farmers. The rice from these fields have already been harvests.

Here you can see four sections of rice. The dark green on the left is a row of newly sprouted rice plants. The lighter green row is rice that is almost ready to be transplanted to plowed fields. The next row is a field that has been harvested but not fully hoed yet. Finally, on the right is a row that has been hoed and almost ready to be flooded and transplanted.

This is our driver, Mr.Hoa. He wanted a pose at the grotto, so here you are, Mr. Hoa. The grotto is made of limestone taken from the hills in the area. Water makes the smooth markings and also hollows out the rock into beautiful shapes.

Not to be outdone, Mr. Toan got his picture taken, also. This time it was taken inside of the grotto where the Christmas statues are placed.