just when i thought...

i would not be getting a call tonight...thinh called!!! he was excited to tell me about the home where he lived that they went to visit yesterday. he laughed because it is not what he remembered. he wasn't sure if it was because he was little, but he said it was much smaller than he remembered and the ponds around it had all dried up and they took the house off the stilts and built it on a platform. a cousin now lives in the house. another uncle just cried and cried when he saw thinh because of all the years that have gone past without seeing him. again, thinh mentioned how poor everyone is there, but the people are so friendly and laid back. for example, it would have taken 10 minutes to get to his childhood home if travelling the way americans do, but it took over an hour in the bus because just stop in the middle of the road to talk to each other and just go any which way they please. thinh also talked about how many of the jobs are farming and they just hang out and wait for the harvest or if they are shrimp farmers, well that takes 4 months for the shrimp to grow big enough to sell, so they just hang out in hammocks or chill with family drinking coffee. no worries, no stress, just enjoying life money or not!

the house he is staying with this week has 10 people staying in it right now. no screens on the windows and a wide open doorway. i asked about bugs and he just laughed. yesterday he saw them with a tennis racket or so he thought was one. here it is a bug zapper thing to get the mosquitos and other creatures i don't want to even think about! mai did his laundry today also. one bucket to wash, one to rinse and hang to dry! how "green" is that!

they are going back to saigon for the weekend and wait for another brother to fly in on sunday. then next week they are going to the beach...he can hardly wait for that! he says he misses us like crazy...we sure do miss him!