Some of our Vietnamese "Family"

Since our return from Thailand, we've been overwhelmed by the warmth and generosity of our friends who have wanted to cook meals and share activities with us before Phil leaves Tuesday night.

Last Wednesday Tran Xuan Duy came to our room and on one burner in our bathroom, cooked an amazing meal for seven of us.







Saturday morning we went to the market with Huong Hoang Thi. She spent the rest of the morning cooking, with her brother's help, another remarkable meal for us.



Knowing Gail's love of flowers, she also gave us a beautiful bouquet for our room.



Saturday evening we were invited for dinner to the home of our friend Kim Chi Vu, who taught geography at MU last year. Unfortunately we don't have any photos. We were so busy enjoying the conversation and food and marveling at her son's English vocabulary that we forgot about photos until we were driving home.

Sunday we took an excursion to the Truc Lam Tay Thien Monastery north of Hanoi with our friends Do Thi Minh Duc and Nguyen Viet Thinh who have been so kind and supportive of both of us during each of our visits to Vietnam. Before leaving the city they hosted us for an excellent hot pot meal of black chicken and mushrooms. Then we had a wonderful day trip seeing one of the largest monasteries in Vietnam and learning more about the history, culture, geography and economy of Vietnam. They both are Professors of Geography at Hanoi National University of Education and have a great deal of insight on these topics. Nguyen Viet Thinh also is the President of the university and a member of the Vietnam National Assembly! We saw him on TV the other night and told him we felt like we were traveling with a rock star!!!



In the evening we joined them at their beautiful home for a delicious meal with their family.



We have truly been blessed to have friends like these, and Phil feels more comfortable leaving Gail knowing that she is surrounded by so many good friends.