Happy Halloween

While there were no costumes or candy- we did manage to stumble upon a "haunted house".

Bia Tu Long Bay

Our wonderful friend gave us some words of wisdom about what it means to have a home and I wanted to share those with you,
          
"Home is not a place, it is not the four walls that confine us.  You hold it in each other.  The Lord is creating a home in the space between you.  He is placing a kitchen there, with a pantry full of spiced tea and long grain rice. He has a study with all your favorite authors. He has a family room with a woven rug and the warmth of the fire.  Be empowered by this home that you and the Lord are creating."

The last three days we have been exploring the wide and vast ocean.  We have not had any physical home or even hotel to call our own.  We joined with a  family from France and a couple from Holland. The seven of us all lead by an energetic and spunky 22-year old Thuy.

She reminded me of myself in many ways.  She wants to please everyone she can, she always keeps a smile on her face and would turn each situation into something positive.  However, that desire to make people happy would lead to her making false promises to avoid any disappointment.  She had a wonderful heart and would burst out with what we were going to do and where we will go.  Her family are farmers but she came to Hanoi and studied in hopes of becoming an English teacher.

We all entered on board and set out for Bai Tu Long Bay. It was absolutely stunning.  You cannot see the open ocean because the horizon is so filled with gigantic rock cliffs that emerge from the water everywhere you look. After three hours we arrived at an island where arrived on a small island where we stayed in the home of one of the locals.  At dinnertime all the women were recruited into the kitchen to help with the dinner.  I was in charge of the calamari, which proved to be more difficult than I would like to admit. My weak hands could not pick up the slimy squid with the chopsticks and as I placed them into the boiling oil it sizzled and flew onto my hands leaving me yelling as it burned my skin.  Thankfully the family was there to help, otherwise that one dish would have taken me over an hour and we had about 8 dishes to prepare.

The dinner was incredible- in fact all the food has been, and following it we walked under the moonlight to the  beach where we spent the rest of the evening.

The next day we cycled across the island back to our boat, exploring the country along the way.  We stopping in the afternoon for kayaking that felt more like a check off the list then an area that really had much exploring.  I stayed on the boat but Tad made the best of it.  He came across a fisherman with a big grin pointing at Tad's eyes; he wanted his sunglasses.  However, Tad needed something to cover his eyes so the cut a deal.  Tad handed over the sunglasses and in return the fisherman gave up his hat: a ratted-old conical hat with a hole on top.  A fine deal we all agreed.

That night we changed boats and were shocked that we stepped into such luxury.  We had a large bed and private bathroom and we awoke to a view of hundreds of islands right from our large bedroom windows.

The final exploration was kayaking through a fishing village that literally sat atop the water amidst the islands. It is strange to be in a community that relies so heavily on tourism to support themselves but that is the reality that has been accepted. We paddled around visiting the school, locals blasting music sitting on hammocks, mothers and children paddling around on boats, and fisherman trying to catch some fish.

These three days have been void of any stable ground or home and in fact the last two months have also been void of a consistent home.  But the words about home have been sinking into my heart and I can feel our home come with us.  Walking around a lake in Hanoi reminded us of Greenlake, and a coffee shop by the water like Boulevard.  Our friends and family stay in our minds through prayers and memories and I feel so lucky to be so close to people I admire and love so much.

We have just arrive in Vientiane, Loas and even in the few hours we have been here love the peaceful and care-free atmosphere compared to the thousands of horns honking in Hanoi.  We also put up a lot more photos so be sure to take a look:      http://picasaweb.google.com/114718002461623465489

The Illusive Tasty Beer

This is for all you beer lovers back home.  Finally after a month and a half of light fizzy watered down beer we discovered BEER!!  Just thought I would share my excitement with all you people back home who get delicious micro brew all the time.  Our first encounter with the taste of real malty deliciousness was just outside of Mui Ne.  I passed by this place in search of an ATM machine and rushed back to tell Megan what I found.   It was as if we stumbled upon an oasis of flavor in the desert of tastelessness. We went to the brewery for lunch and enjoyed a couple pints of their dark ale.  I wasn't sure if we would ever find anything better then this, so we savored each sip. 

BUT THEN WE DISCOVERED THE LOUISIANA BREW HOUSE!!!!

This place had a seasonal called the Crystal Ale, which was made with imported Cascade hops!!  It tasted like the sweet nectar of the Pacific Northwest delivered straight to my taste buds.  It was a bit expensive at $3 a liter :) but I decided it was worth it!!

Vietnam

So here we are in Vietnam, this place is beautiful and full of surprises.  We have been making our way north along the coast by bus, stopping along the way at some of the major cities.  Ho Chi Minh was our starting point and as we wandered through the city trying to decide which tourist attractions to avoid, we ended up right in front of the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Megan and I heard an organ and a choir singing and without saying anything we both looked at each other and started for the door.  We sat along the side which I (Tad) was happy about because I wasn't sure if I wanted to stay for the entire service and I saw that we had a perfect escape route.  The harmony of the organ's pipes and the singing people filled the cathedral and created that amazing sound that only seems possible in that type of enormous space.  I looked at Megan and saw her appreciation for the music welling up in her eyes and she returned my gave with her beautiful smile.  We both enjoyed every second of the music as it filled our ears, but once it stopped and the priest began to speak in Vietnamese I was reminded of my escape route.  I nudged Megan and whispered my plan as though it was a top secret mission but she just said no and that she wanted to stay a bit longer.  I knew that I could be patient and so I sat back for the long haul, because I knew Megan meant that she didn't want to leave until the service was over.  It was at that moment that a younger Vietnamese girl sitting next to Megan slid over the tithing envelope with a note reading "Miss, You look so nice :)"  I could read it from where I was sitting on the other side of Megan and it seemed like a cute and kind gesture for someone to show a complete stranger.  As I suspected Megan didn't want to leave until the last words were spoken.  As we got up to leave we started to talk to the girl and found that she was going to a college close by for learning English.  Her name is Lien and she was just a few years younger then us.  She was so kind and outgoing.  She invited us to get coffee and a snack in the park across the street from the Cathedral. 

We ended up spending the whole night with her and her friends wandering to her school and seeing some of the student's art projects as we avoided the tropical rain.  As we continued to explore we were led upstairs and started to hear some dance music.  We got to the last set of stairs and saw two manocahns dressed in ski and ice skating gear. Not thinking too much about it we reached the top of the building and saw colorful strobe lights.  We walked inside an over air conditioned room and found that it was an "ice-rink".   We sat for a while watching as people skated around on the man-made plastic ice but denied the offer to try ourselves, that is until the owner spoke to us.  He looked at us with so much excitement and pride for his ice-rink, telling us how the plastic came all the way from America.  He told us we had to try and he was so insistent that he let us try for free. So we all put on the skates and made our way to the sticky, oily floor.  

It wasn't easy by any means but we were able to get our balance enough to let go of the wall and even twirl in a circle.  As our ankles and feet started to ache from the over-sized or under-sized skates, we decided that we had enough.  Just before we were leaving the owner had us pose for some publicity photos, holding hockey helmets as if we were experts from the states visiting his high-end ice rink. Afterwards, we went to the market and then got some dinner before the night was over.  It was such a beautiful welcoming to Vietnam and a refreshing experience amidst the normal day to day stuff that a we as tourists-in-denial usually experience. 

Stories from Coron

The first two days at Coron were amazing. We went on a overnight kayaking adventure to four of the surrounding islands.  We made a fire on the beach, slept on the sand, explored a stunning lagoon, and snorkeled in perfectly clear water.

After we got back to Coron town we decided to explore the city on a motorbike, however about 30 minutes into the ride our tire popped.  We tried to find a pump but discovered that the tube had been completely destroyed and unfortunately we had no choice but to try to make it back. 

After the ride we felt complete exhausted and defeated, we had little motivation left for the day.  In perfect timing we meet two Filipinos, Armand and Riza who invited us to go on a boat tour with them the next day.  We decided to join and that night we also joined them in a hike to the cross (a viewpoint of the city), a dip in the hot springs and dinner on a boat.  It was a truly amazing two days and completely unplanned. 

It was hard to believe but Coron was our last stop in the Philippines and on Sunday we flew to Vietnam.  We have been loving Vietnam so far and will be sure to share more soon.

Big Grin

Finding peace in life is not always easy, even for two people who don't work and decide to travel through Southeast Asia.  We are nearing the end of our time here in the Philippines and it feels a bit surreal to be leaving.  I (Tad) feel like a month is just enough time to be a traveler but it's not nearly enough to invest in community or the relationships you make along the way.  This wouldn't be too bad if you were travelling and then returning home.  It's entirely different when you are just finishing the first month out of a year. This is just one of many shifts to come within the expectations for our time, and I guess I was expecting those shifts.    

Time slows down over here and there's a lot of time for reflection.  I am beginning to see that this year will bring a lot of self awareness and I'm excited for the ways that I will be challenged.  I think that I need to release my expectations to find some long-term life purpose.  I want to open my eyes to each moment where I can choose to be a better husband and a better friend, to encounter life fully and love those around me.  I think that my head gets caught up in the idea that this year needs to bring some life changing moment which feels like a trap for being disappointed.  

The beautiful reminders which bring peace come from the small moments, the people we meet and the blessings and challenges that we encounter.  This boat captain is a perfect example, he brought us back to town on a wet and cloudy day.  As the rain started to come down he wrapped his head with an old coat and continued to smile.  His smile was filled with so much vibrancy and joy, we thought that we would share it with you!