Green mangoes

We had dinner tonight with a friend, a lady that is doing the course with Matt. Such a nice person, she's from the UK. 11 months ago her husband was offered an engineering job here, and she'd always wanted to travel to Vietnam so they came. They sold everything and moved to a quiet coastal village called Hoi Anh. She does some volunteer work teaching students that otherwise wouldn't get the opportunity. It's amazing how we have met so many people that just pack up and go! She seemed grateful for the opportunity to be here and it sounds like she is loving it. Experiences definitely enrich our lives in ways we can't imagine. The fear we may have initially about embarking on a new phase or experience can dissipate once we realize how wonderful an experience it really is.

The kids had a wonderful day today. We went back to the nice playground, Alex found 3 boys his own age and it made my heart so happy so see him interacting and speaking to other kids...Ashah rose to a new level of confidence on the play equipment, she managed to go down a fireman's pole all by herself. They played for about 5 hours, it was really good for them.

Matt is trying his best to keep on top of things, and is really doing a good job with his lessons and assignments. I can see thought that he is worn out by the time he comes home, he has dinner with us and after the kids have gone to bed he begins his work again, preparing and completing tasks. We knew it might be like this, but we are committed to getting trough it...

After the kids fell asleep tonight, I felt like getting a snack, the streets still busy at 10pm, buzzing with activity, it's so nice to be able to walk outside your door and be out on such an amazing street. I thought I was going out to get some chocolate for myself, but instead I was drawn to the lady sitting on the curb selling unripe mangoes, she peeled it, cut it up and put it in a bag with a red salty spice...it was good.

Thanks again to all the people that have written comments...and also an apology for so many food photos, its just that we seem to be doing a lot of eating! Eating good food. Last night we had street food for dinner, loved watching the lady cook it up in her portable wok, 3 dishes for under $3 fed all of us. So far we haven't had any tummy troubles, we are trusting God and praying before we eat (brings saying grace to a new level). Really the food is good and safe. We have found this great place called Stella, it really is a star, because the Italian food is authentic, it's the best we've had, some dishes are even better than home, the owner is Italian.

We look forward now for my mum and dad to come...it's going to be good to see them and share this wonderful and beautiful place with them.