I would say this was my
first bad night sleep since arriving, mostly because I was waking up every 30
minutes with a combination of “did I oversleep and miss the whole day” and “I
am so tired how much longer can I sleep”!
We knew we wanted our
day to start early as we needed to hit both “orphanagi”. Mom and I
had talked before this trip about it potentially being our last. How
does one know when to end something like this? It has been, and
continues to be on this trip, such an amazing experience, but it’s also a lot,
on so many levels! I think we are both sort of feeling like the fact
that our kids are now split between two locations, and neither of them feel
like they have in the past, it may just be time! Mom asked if I felt
sad thinking this could be our last trip, and I don’t really think I
do. I hope and pray that we have given these kids beautiful
memories. And I feel like we don’t have to decide this minute if or
when we are coming back. If in 6 months we feel like we need to,
again in a year, or 10 years, then we’ll just come back!
Ok back to our
day. After breakfast we packed up some more supplies for the kids
and got a taxi to head to orphanage 2, the older kids.
The driver
had no clue where he was going and had to stop for directions a few times, so
finally we just had to direct him! I don’t really understand how
this works, but even on airplane mode maps works on my phone and this orphanage
is right near the river so we could get him where we needed to go! He
was very sweet and somehow communicated that he would pick us up if we
wanted. We assumed we would have the woman who spoke some English
help us get a taxi again, but the thought of this guy coming back for us
(especially since we were on a tight schedule) seemed fantastic! I
didn’t realize it, but he just ended up waiting for us!!! We joked
after that it was probably because he had no idea how to get out of the area
and needed us to get him back where he came from! Anyway, that was
so nice and saved us some time of waiting for a taxi.
 |
| Our waiting taxi |
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| Panoramic view of the orphanage |
Our kids were just
finishing up eating by the time we arrived so it’s was a perfect time to sit
down with Kap, George and Dorothy. Mom and Dorothy are SO BEAUTIFUL
together and they have such a fun time playing games on the
iPad! Mom will say all these nice things about me (and now Erin) but she is SUCH A ROCKSTAR! She will do things I won't - she is down on the ground rolling around in dirt to make the kids laugh and they love her so much! I am so amazed to see how she interests with them and feel so blessed she's MY mom! George loved playing with Erin with sounds, and Kap was just
causally playing some backgammon. After everyone
gets cleaned up from eating they get organized for naps so it felt like it was
our time to go! 
 |
| Goodbye hugs! |
Yen was very sweet and
gave us big hugs (not common in Vietnamese culture). We headed back
for some food and well needed showers! Erin was in search of a massage,
so we made our way out to explore! The first place we found could
only do two neck/shoulder massages but the Wilson’s girls are a packaged deal
(see below for our sweet shirts) so we took our business elsewhere!
 |
| The Wilson girls! |
We felt nice and relaxed
after and then made our way to meet up with Long for dinner! Long
works at Christina’s which is a really cool place that started off as an Air
BnB and now also does tours and is just getting into the food business as
well. It was so nice to see him and meet all of his work friends and
see where he spends most of his time! It was also awesome (and kind
of crazy) to talk about our 10 years (yikes) of memories and all the different
friends we have had visit (I am talking about you Jemma, Wullie, Charli and
Sarah!) Mom and I always thought it was funny when we hosted more friends in
Vietnam than at home!
This is also when we
learned that we were among a Vietnamese celebrity in Long, when he explained he
was chosen to be on the Best Ever Food Review Show, a YouTube channel with
Sonny Side. He showed us the video and it was AWESOME! He
and Sonny went to a restaurant that served Lobster Pho, whereas most Pho is
served with either beef or chicken. Long was a great host and made
us some coffee and tea while we caught up and then we walked about 5 minutes to
a place he recommended for Pho (chicken or beef, he said he didn’t particularly
care for the Lobster Pho). The restaurant was packed with locals
(always a good sign) but we were able to get a table on the second floor and
Long ordered our Pho. It was so nice to catch up with him and hear
all that he has been doing (he is a busy guy) and fill him in with our
lives. He wants to know why our gentleman aren’t with us (I’m
looking at you Dan, Scott & Dad!)
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| BFFs |
We learned a little bit
about Vietnamese wedding traditions, one being that about a month before your
wedding you get dressed up in your wedding dress/suit and go around town taking
pictures with your fiancé and photographer. Then you take your
favorite picture and have it blown up and it sits on an easel for when your
guests enter your wedding reception. Dan, I am thinking we need this
wedding tradition!!!
As we were getting ready
to walk out of the restaurant I noticed a few non-locals sitting at another
table. All of a sudden one of the girls got up to say hi to Long – I
figured maybe she was staying at Christina’s or had been on a tour with
him. However, then the other girl started saying how Long was famous
and they had seen him on the Best Ever Food Review Show with Sonny and they are
from South Africa but after watching his YouTube they wanted to come to
Vietnam! Um, WHAT! It was so crazy that we were with such
a famous dude! So, that was pretty cool!
Long got us a taxi back
to our hotel so we could pack up for our flight to Hue in the morning.
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