Bobby's Fam

Happy Easter

Happy Belated Easter.  We had a good easter weekend.  Friday evening we had two Good Friday services which was an experiantial communion service with a bleeding cross (yes, the cross was actually bleeding juice into a glass goblet… it was cool).  Then we worshipped our Easter service on Saturday evening, where Bob spoke on true transformation.  Sunday morning most of our neighbors hid easter eggs (in the freezing Texas weather) and then we went and had breakfast in our neighbors’ home.  We had fun.  The following video is incredible.  Yes, it really is 9 minutes long, but WELL worth the wait.  You just have to see it to believe it.

Incredible!

This event happened 4 days after we left Hanoi.  Just my luck, but I’m very excited it happened anyway!

Life Happens

So here I am.  Sitting in my Church and Empires class with a subsitute.  Dr. Williams is gone to who-knows-where.  Dr. Williams’ class is about as fun as a root canal… but this sub is like having a root canal with no anesthesia!  I haven’t understood a single word this guy has said yet simply because he is so dull and keeps saying, "Well, let me back up a little bit."  I think we’ve backed up from the Merovingians all the way to Adam!  Save me.  Please.

Back to Vietnam…

Ok, it’s been a few days, but I promised to get back to my journal entries from Vietnam....

Days 4 & 5

It’s 4:45 am and my roommate, Dr. Bob Garrett, and I are wide awake.  We both went to bed way too early.  I went upstairs to go read and get some coffee but there’s not a single light on or even a front receptionist!  So, I’m back in my room, listening to the rooster outside my window, the dog barking, and wondering how my life back in the States got so complicated.  Everything is simple here.  You work, you play, you laugh and don’t worry about terrorist attacks, mortgages, or car payments.  The people who live here are like family.  They live with one another, work with one another, and their community is their life.

In the U.S. we have neighbors who we don’t even know, but here it’s different (at least in Sapa).

Today we are going to go to Catholic Mass in a church that who knows how old it is.  It looks hundreds of years old, but I’m sure it’s not that old.  I have never been to Mass before so this is going to be interesting.

We hiked to these waterfalls called Cat-cat (unsure of spelling… but that’s how it sounds).  It was a brutal hike but worth it.  It made me so sad how much litter was down there.  I never realized how mad that kind of stuff makes me.

On the way back I was so tired that I caught a motorbike back to Sapa.  My driver "B" told me that he was a good, slow, easy driver… so I told him I wanted someone else.  He said, "No, no!  I drive fast!"  Once we got moving I encouraged him to pick up speed… he complied and we had a blast!  I so want a moped when I get back!

(Day 5)

The morning fog here is unreal!  It is incredibly dense and cold.  Here in Sapa we are within spitting distance of China.  The mountains here are gorgeous!  Unfortunately, because of the fog you have to catch brief glimpses of them and burn the image into your memory before you lose it.

We made a friend in our hotel manager.  His name is Dat.  He went out to eat with us last night and then joined us for a short game of Phase 10.  He loves that game!  We also met Moo, a 19 year-old friend of NorthWood’s who was our guide.  She was a blast!

In the village we were in yesterday we met a 13 year-old girl who is an aspiring tour guide like Moo.  Her name was Lao Mai.  Her english was better than ours.  She was so funny!  She kept calling Donnie a "lady boy" because of his earrings.

My village guide was named San Mai.  She has had a rough life, like everyone in the village because she looked like she was 60-ish but she’s only 38.  She showed me where everyone lived, told me how many people were in her village (2,500) and showed me their school.  Th ename of this people group is Red Dao (pronounced "za-ow").  At the very end of theri village is a cave that is 50 km long that comes out in China.  The Red Dao  would hide there when the French would attack several hundred years ago.  The very interesting part is they said they would hide from the Americans during the vietnam war… that is interesting because the U.S. denies EVER being in N. Vietnam… interesting indeed.

One amazing night

At our church last night we had a baptism service where we baptized 50 people!  It was the coolest thing I’ve ever seen!  After the baptism service we had communion… the first one for 50 people.  It was very cool.

I promise that I’ll post more of my Vietnam journal entries soon.  I’m playing catch-up with work and school… I’m barely treading water.  I’m going to need a hand before my head gets complete submerged.

Check out my Vietnam pics I just posted.

Just a short pause…

Just a short pause to mention the theme change of the website.  In honor of my recent adventure in Vietnam, I have temporarily changed the "theme" to a bamboo-looking, Vietnamese-feeling theme.  Enjoy.