After riding motorbikes to the pottery village and eating lunch at a goat restaurant
, we dropped by artist Minh Son's place for continued fellowship with him and to admire his art. Maybe one day we will own one of his paintings. Minh Son and Sherman Chau provided the motorbike adventure and Minh Son would have nothing to do with our offer to buy lunch.
We ended Monday at a truly 5 Star dinner that our friend Tan's wife prepared for us. It was an unbelievable Vietnamese meal, exceeded only by the fellowship enjoyed with Tan's family. It was humbling to climb 5 stories (no elevator) in an area that would frighten most Americans, to a 400-500 sq ft apartment for a family of four and to hear Tan tell us of his desire to be able to help the poor more. While their home may be small, there is nothing small about the love and happiness we experienced there. Tan's wife is an attorney and an extraordinary cook.
Minh Son and Tan have become genuine friends...what a blessing to know them.
Our trip to Vientiane started with a plane ride from Hanoi. The guy sitting next to me...from Ft. Worth and a friend of the lady who interviewed Steve and me on Lao TV.
There was/is much uncertainty about our trip here. We had no set appointments with government officials prior to our arrival. Within minutes of landing we received an email that we have two that we most wanted and a third in the works. O ye of little faith... We are having dinner tomorrow night with Dr. Intong, who we met in May. I'm hoping we duplicate that dinner at a restaurant on the Mekong River overlooking Thailand.
Dave and I got lost while walking around this afternoon, but did manage to find a Joma Coffee and Bakery. Two kind students, who appeared to be young teens, led us back to the hotel. The girl didn't want to accept the small offer of 30,000 kip as a reward. "I just wanted to help you." It was touching and we finally convinced her to take it.
Looking forward to the next couple of days here in Vientiane. We have meetings scheduled with the Department of Social Welfare, and the Department of Retirement, Disability and Handicap. We will also be going to two places that work with these people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also working to get us an appointment with the Ministry of Health. Later today we will be meeting with Dr. Intong, who we enjoyed dinner with on our previous visit. He is an excellent resource.
, we dropped by artist Minh Son's place for continued fellowship with him and to admire his art. Maybe one day we will own one of his paintings. Minh Son and Sherman Chau provided the motorbike adventure and Minh Son would have nothing to do with our offer to buy lunch.We ended Monday at a truly 5 Star dinner that our friend Tan's wife prepared for us. It was an unbelievable Vietnamese meal, exceeded only by the fellowship enjoyed with Tan's family. It was humbling to climb 5 stories (no elevator) in an area that would frighten most Americans, to a 400-500 sq ft apartment for a family of four and to hear Tan tell us of his desire to be able to help the poor more. While their home may be small, there is nothing small about the love and happiness we experienced there. Tan's wife is an attorney and an extraordinary cook.
Minh Son and Tan have become genuine friends...what a blessing to know them.
Our trip to Vientiane started with a plane ride from Hanoi. The guy sitting next to me...from Ft. Worth and a friend of the lady who interviewed Steve and me on Lao TV.
There was/is much uncertainty about our trip here. We had no set appointments with government officials prior to our arrival. Within minutes of landing we received an email that we have two that we most wanted and a third in the works. O ye of little faith... We are having dinner tomorrow night with Dr. Intong, who we met in May. I'm hoping we duplicate that dinner at a restaurant on the Mekong River overlooking Thailand.
Dave and I got lost while walking around this afternoon, but did manage to find a Joma Coffee and Bakery. Two kind students, who appeared to be young teens, led us back to the hotel. The girl didn't want to accept the small offer of 30,000 kip as a reward. "I just wanted to help you." It was touching and we finally convinced her to take it.
Looking forward to the next couple of days here in Vientiane. We have meetings scheduled with the Department of Social Welfare, and the Department of Retirement, Disability and Handicap. We will also be going to two places that work with these people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also working to get us an appointment with the Ministry of Health. Later today we will be meeting with Dr. Intong, who we enjoyed dinner with on our previous visit. He is an excellent resource.
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