Day 2, church and Dragon Bridge

Across from our hotel was a K-Mart, think Circle K. We spent a lot of time there buying water. I loved looking at the different types of foods. These squid were among the delicacies available, along with chicken feet and the like.

During our afternoon break, our kids got in touch with their American lives, with a little screen time.

 The first thing we did was go to church. The church was down this alleyway and up the stairs on the right. It is located directly across the street from a government building that was guarded by heavily armed guards watching everyone's coming and going. The congregation has met with quite a bit of opposition from the church. Everything from not being able to secure a meeting space, to persecution of the native members.

Afterward we walked to a restaurant, where John had the world's largest Stromboni. Notice it is out in the open, as there is no A/C in most places

 That night, we walked down to the dragon bridge and ate dinner.

Tons of motorcycles everywhere! The traffic was amazing, it was packed!

 Every Sunday, the Dragon Bridge breathes out fire.

 and then it spews river water

Such a cool experience and glimpse of Vietnam ways of life.

2nd night- International Fireworks Festival- June 8th

Danang was the host of the International Fireworks Festival while we were there. Orphan Voice had rented a restaurant for the kids to come and see the Fireworks. We got to go to watch with them. This was the first time we had gotten to see the kids. They were all so friendly and immediately taken with our kids. The fireworks were magnificent, nothing like we had ever seen. Even as spectacular as they were, I found myself nodding off as jet lag started to kick in.

The traffic and crowds were overwhelming!

 On the way to the fireworks a local news organization interviewed John.

He quipped, "I had to come across the world to find someone who actually wanted to hear my opinion!"

First Day in Vietnam June 8th 2019

We arrived around 10pm. As we stepped out of the airport to wait for our vans, we were hit with a wall of hot, humid air. At 10 pm, it was incredibly hot and stuffy. That remained throughout our whole trip.

We slept pretty well, and when we woke up we went downstairs for our included breakfast. Which, ended up not being much like the breakfast we are used to. Abbey and John ate a fried egg, but Elijah and I couldn't find much of anything besides toast that we could eat. The coffee was cold. They offered to heat it for me and brought it to me 3 times before it was lukewarm. John couldn't even drink it lukewarm. It had a very pungent taste. We later discovered a coffee shop close by that had "Coffee American", which we visited each morning. It was quite pricey, considering the price of most of our meals.

 Tony met us back at the hotel and took us to the market. He was getting some apples for lunch. It is apparent there is no FDA requirements in Vietnam.

 Elijah drank Nuocmia. A drink made of sugar cane.

After a meeting and lunch at Tony and Cindy's house, we took vans to Monkey Mountain. The van wasn't strong enough to take all of us, so the driver took us half way and made several of us get out and wait for the others to get to top. He then came back for us.

The view of the ocean and Danang was magnificent. 

The guide told us this represented a move that couldn't be beat.

 All of our kids

The love of my life, no matter where we are!!