The Boys

[Tim]

An update on my guys:  The boys are both on-the-mend, I think.  Since roughly the beginning of September we've been in and out of tummy troubles and culture shock.  Sometimes it's hard to tell where one of those ends and the other begins.  Culture shock is not limited to "OMG they do THAT here???" reactions.  It's more like a trauma that can affect you in a variety of unanticipated ways, and depression/low-energy was especially worrisome for us with the boys.  Compound that with even a little bit of physical distress and you've got a sick kiddo.

Today they seem much improved over a week ago or even several days ago.  Their energy is back up, and their outlook on living abroad is brighter.

Here are some snippets of blogposts from them, and then random pictures that tell more stories.

[Michael]

The past few weeks were full of shells. It turns out that Da Nang beach is full of live starfish, white bait, mud gudgeons, and countless cool shells.
This is my current shell collection:

Unfortunately, most of the shells had little dead creatures inside, and so we soaked them all in bleach water. Some of my favorite shells were ruined. We found a lot of the shells in the aftermath of the storm, and also we found about 10 puffer fish, some of which were still half puffed up! There are a ton of clam shells, about as common as mussels on Beverley Beach in Oregon.


[Daniel]


Hello! Today we did so much adventures! Such as getting out of bed.... uh, too common, it's 7:00 in the morning. In that case I'll tell about thing that happened two weeks ago. Michael and I were at a several-days rivalry with chili seeds. Since I am a very competitive person, I grabbed a handful of chili seeds and rubbed my hands in the oil than I stuffed it in his mouth. Funny prank, huh?  At this point I realized this was a bad idea. Mom and dad were both mad.

Somehow, I got the chili oil on my face. And I mean my lips ... and my eyes. Some of you might know that I am extremely sensitive to spicy. Yeah, it hurt. We had to walk our bikes home that night 'cause I was completely blind.  Anna led me by the hand and my dad took my bike.

Michael being zipped into the Hamster Ball.

Daniel being inflated and sealed.

Hamster Ball meets Pacific Ocean. 

Youth group outing to the beach.  Add Hamster Ball for instant teen approval.

Group photo on youth group scavenger hunt.  Duck lips voluntary.

50,000 VND for a chilled coconut.  Shells are free if you can find them.

Beach combing for shells.  And supersized lightbulbs.

The chef, Lan, rocks it once again in our kitchen. We are GRATEFUL!

Our local tailor shop, posing with a Tim figurine.

Pancake breakfast at our house with a student.

Game night with the staff of Vision Cafe.