How do I begin to describe to you the experiences we have had during the past 24 hours since Mr. Minh picked us up in what I affectionately describe as “The Happy Bus”. We did not know what to expect but were very surprised when a 12 person tour van showed up. We were cheerfully greeted by a bus full of Vietnamese…mostly ladies…none of which spoke any English. Mr. Minh and one gentleman sat in the front with the driver and he tried to fill us in a bit on where we were headed and inform us of the stops we made. We were barely out of Qui Nhon when Mr. Minh said “We pray now for our safety traveling today”. There was a time of silence and then a soft prayer from the front seat where Minh sat. Following that the most beautiful voices all around us sang Vietnamese songs to bless us on our way. I felt like I was surrounded by “angels”!
As we headed east the roads were narrower, less paved and more populated than we had seen with the DOVE vans. The village people were herding cattle down the road and laying out their crops to dry in the sun. The number one driving accessory in Vietnam…the horn…was used often to warn others we were passing very near to them. Bicycles, motorbikes and carts all dodged every which way but somehow cooperated with each other in a very harmonious manner.
Finally we pulled off the road into a narrow driveway and were told this was the parish where they would be cooking a meal on Saturday for 2,000 people from the surrounding community. This was also the home of the priest who would be giving Mass. We were escorted inside. First order of business is always introductions and then locating chairs fit for American large bodies…I don’t think they want to have to pick either Gary or I up off the floor!
The priest knew about 5 words of English, all of which he used in the first sentence. The Vietnamese ladies who had been in the happy bus sat across from us on a wicker mat, the first time we had seen them face to face as it was our first time out of the van. The very hot Vietnamese tea was soon brought out. We watched as they did what comes natural to them. The short glasses were all on a metal tray. They first poured a bit of hot tea into one glass, only to swish it around and pour it into another glass. They proceeded to each glass all with the same “shot” of tea. We guessed it was both to scald and sterilize the glass, plus to warm it up. When each glass has been swirled, they cast the “used” tea out the front door into the yard and serve up the rest.
After tea, the workers had offloaded the items for use in Saturday’s meal for the villagers and it was time to depart. Once we were back in the van it was as though now that we had shared tea we were best of friends. The ladies wanted to know the standard questions, how old we were and how many babies we have. They are always impressed when Gary describes our TALL daughter. We have started sharing military pictures of Gary that we brought…always a good conversation point as well.
We were told by Mr. Minh that this group of people had traveled together from Saigon staying at convents along the way. They had just been in Qui Nhon visiting lepers and AIDS patients there prior to picking us up.
After 5 hours together in the “Happy Bus” we drove down a series of dirt roads through an old coffee plantation and were told we had arrived at the convent which was to be our home for our stay here.
To Be Continued
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