We traveled to the city of My Tho in the Mekong Delta today. We left at 8 o'clock this morning and returned at 5:30. Jackson had a big day and proved to be quite a ladies man...the Vietnamese ladies and the Aussies that we met loved him. Everywhere we went, they wanted to hold him. One great custom in Vietnam is when you go into a restaraunt, the hostess will hold your baby for you until you are finished eating. It sure is a nice perk.
About the tour in the Delta: our guide was a veteran of the Vietnam War, aka the American War, aka the Civil War...it just depends on who you talk to as to what you call it. We went to a coconut farm where they harvested the fruit, make coconut candy, and maintain a python snake...and yes, we held the snake... Larvae one day, python snake the next. We canoed a canal in the delta, 1.5km with rice patty hats and all. It reminded me of the Dragon Boat race last year, without the speed. We were in a tight, muddy, coconut rooted canal. Canal boat drivers earn 1 dollar a trip and they canoe 2 trips a day. We finished the day at a nice restaraunt where they served up a nice meal that featured fried elephant ear fish (it still had the eyeballs). My clear cut favorite food in Vietanm is the fried banana which by the way I had for dessert at lunch.
When we returned to Saigon, we came to the hotel from a different direction. I saw a stadium nearby which had 15 sporting goods stores side by side. The row was 1 block from our hotel...I ran over to the shops before they closed. My purchases were: 1 rugby ball which was made in Vietnam ($3 here, it would cost $25 or more at Dick's if they sold them), 3 hackey sack shuttlecocks and an Adidas golf shirt ($5). My shopping was rushed, so please know that I will return.
Some notes of interest: teacher salary avg: $200 per month, nurse salary $300 per month, China ruled the country for 1000 years, from 1975 to 1986-all students had to take Russian, the weather is 88 degress in the daytime, Saigon is getting 10 Walmarts next year, KFC is battling Lotteria (Korea) for Chicken supremecy in Vietnam, they bury their dead on the family land to keep their children from selling the land/they worked the land very hard and they want to remain there, the police may pull you over for no reason.
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4 comments:
Sounds like you guys are having a great time and really getting to see a lot of Vietnam. What great memories and stories for little Jackson. So glad to hear you found some shops for you too Lamar!! Enjoy!
Hey Lamar...have you tried the steamed silkworms or the half cooked goat with lard? How about the fresh turtle blood and bile? Yum yum...memories, memories.
Dick & Cheryl
IAAP
Jackson Than is so precious.......and baby makes three!
Brenda and Shirley shared photos of Jackson with their RMS students today. The students thought he was so cute!
We can't wait for you guys to return, so we can see Jackson, see the photos, and hear the stories of Vietnam.
B Love and S McDonald
We have loved so much being able to follow and share in your big adventure. Cannot wait until all of you are safely home, no longer eating strange stuff and handling snakes.
My comments below are actually to your son. Please forward.....
Dear Jackson,
It will be about a week before you arrive here, but I want to welcome you to Ringgold, your new home. I want to welcome you into our lives – so very many of us. Someday, when your parents share with you all the things written and recorded during this incredible journey, I hope you will be able to feel even a hint of the excitement and wonder that we are all experiencing. What an abundance of love is waiting here for you! You have two wonderful grandmothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, lots of family and extended family, and so many friends who feel like family. I can’t remember when one little person’s existence has brought so much excitement to so many people.
You will find in your lifetime that we often use the word love in a trivial way. I love spring. I love football. I love chocolate chip cookies. You, little Jackson, exemplify what love is really all about -- real love. Your birth mother loved you enough to allow someone else to do for you what she was unable to do. Your parents loved you enough to travel halfway around the world to claim you for their own. Your new family here is eagerly waiting to shower you with love. This community of friends cannot wait to extend the love they feel for your parents to you. The bible teaches us that God is love. I believe God is pouring out His love in abundance in the creation of your new little family.
So many wonderful things await you, not the least of which is my Christmas party. I fully expect your ornament to be the most highly sought after this year. What a road of discovery is ahead for all of you! May there be smiles and giggles and laughter in what is already a happy, loving home. May your life together truly fulfill the promise of this day. And… may you, your mom, and your dad, always find your greatest joy and the best life has to offer, in each other.
Once again, welcome to Ringgold, Jackson Than Brown. Welcome home.
Love,
Beverly
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