Saturday

Saturday morning Soy and Kamhien took us to a favourite phô shop for breakfast. The owner recognized us!

They dropped us off at our old home which is now the home of the current rep. A lot has changed.

The most depressing change was the obliteration of all soil. The palm tree that I had planted in the front lawn is now gone, replaced with cement.

The office is still the same-ish. The mango trees in front are big now (not pictured) and most of the interior walls have been repainted.

A bigger change was to see a huge apartment building where Larry and Jane's house used to be.

In the morning we had a chance to see the Mittaphap group in action. It was great to see Soy's son as a leader of one of the groups.

We sat in on a number of classes and saw some really interactive learning going on. We started this group in 2006, and were very glad to see how it has taken off.

We were taken out for lunch at the Vietnamese Spring Roll shop. It turns out that Erik can't find this kind of Vietnamese food in Hanoi.

Walking back from the restaurant we saw T-shirts with an odd message.

We met with some of the Mittaphap trainers after lunch to share stories and learn from each other. We are grateful for the time these busy young people gave to satisfy our curiosity.

This used to be our office. 

Erik was pleased to be able to meet with another SALTer, and around our old dining room table no less.

This young family were service workers with us in Laos and have lived here for most of the years since we left. Their eldest was under two when we last saw them. It was great to reconnect with them.

Our evening was spent with Hien, whom we worked most closely with while we were in Laos. Her daughters and grand daughter are grown now. They took us out for East Indian food and treated us like royalty. 

Hien had fun talking with Erik in Vietnamese.