In Tinh Khe

Finally found an Internet cafe by spotting the many, many bikes outside...boys play war games all day-sigh. For awhile Xmas tunes were playing...but the Internet works. Amazing since it is a storefront on a dusty road in a small village.It's very rural here so a whole new world of adventures, frustrations and fun. Marge, Tinh and I are teaching 3 & 4th grade and having a lot of fun. I can't wait to find a way to post photos of these very cute kids who surround us and practice their English everywhere we go. The English text and curriculum is geared to passing a written test (sound familar?) so we are focusing on spoken English and we have managed to throw in an Old Mac Donald and a few other songs and plays. The school which was built by Madison Quakers is bare bones but a huge improvement from the old school (My Lai Primary) now called Tinh Khe,and so much nicer than what the district could build alone. We've also held our worship on Sunday at the My Lai Peace Park, been swimming in the south China sea and eaten great sea food here. We're very busy and there are many needs, but it feels right to be here and we are warmly welcomes with many small and large gestures of friendship. Yesterday, the Headmaster invited us into his office to drink coconut milk right from the coconut.

Our lodging is a fading resort that looks out on the sea. We've had a lot of funny mishaps. This morning Marge was locked out of her room at 5:00 a.m. They ended up taking off the entire doorknob to get her in. When we complain about anything-like no water-they tells us, "well it's not a three Star hotel you know!" But is is reasonably clean and I did I mention-it overlooks the sea.

My Lai is a shadow here of course and not everyone is happy to see Americans-why would they be? But two old smiling ladies are tolerated and even enjoyed I'd say. Of course everyone is thrilled when Marge rattles in Vietnamese. more, much more about Tinh Khe later.