... no problem - there's always plenty to do over the internet ...
By midday the rain had gone, so I went for a walk to get some lunch. Even though it was only 12:30 most of the street food vendors had shut down, so I went to the market down on Lạch Tray and bought tomatoes, cucumbers, mangosteens and bananas. The banana lady was really friendly and we laughed a lot as her neighbour tried to sell me pomellos and I protested that they were too expensive "Đắt quá !!" I will revisit her, and we will become friends, I think. It was very hot and humid as I carried my purchases home.
In the afternoon, Tuấn Anh picked me up and we went out for coffee to this absolutely delightful courtyard garden... Such a beautiful place to sit and chat. He is now the monitor for the Nam Phap Church Class and is doing an excellent job keeping things flowing smoothly. We had the place all to ourselves as we laughed our way through an hour and a half. as they say: time flies when you're having fun!
Tuấn Anh dropped me off in time for Tuyền to pick me up and take me back to his place for dinner. His room is down the lane behind my dentist's place. He is on the third floor, and he shares this room with two others - Trường and Trưởng, who cooked for us tonight. Tiên joined us too, and we had a delicious meal. I never would have imagined that green beans and liver could be so delicious!!! I must find out how he cooks it because it tasted so good.
Theirs is a luxury room because they have a kitchen and bathroom across the hallway which they don't have to share with anyone else... but with no hot water, Tuyền said taking a shower in winter is a noisy affair LOL.
We didn't want to rush dinner, so we were a little late to the next event for the evening - the Freshmen Welcome Party at PEEP Vimaru English Club. I joined in here a few times last year, and several of the leaders are students from NP Church class, so there were more familiar faces among the sea of new-comers. I don't know how many were there, but I reckon over a hundred. There were some speeches of welcome. The Deputy Chancellor of the university was speaking as I arrived (in fluent English...). I was invited to say a little too and then they played some games, sang songs and did a break dance demo... then the Macarena ...
After that the party started... with lots of photos!
Haianh, Linh, Hoàng and Hà have all graduated and are working now.
Hà
Tuyền 
Khang (Tiny) 
Hiệp (Tarzan)
Trung Ho
Huy (Kevin)
Nhung
Group photos!!
When I got home there were many more photos on my camera, (taken by lots of different people) but in all the excitement, many of them were too blurry to use. No problem... I hope to enjoy Sunday nights at this English Club many times while I am here.
After all the excitement died down, Hà invited me to join her and her friends and go for a drink. I had nước mía - fresh squeezed sugarcane juice - so refreshing on a hot night!!
Haianh, Linh, Minh, Hà, me, Hùng, and Hoàng.
We had been there for about 15 minutes when a rowdy crowd of bikes drove up... and it was a mob from the English Club, celebrating a successful evening. They were still partying when Haianh took me home ...fun and laughter...
And so ended my first weekend back in here in my second home ... Aaah, it is so good to be back here!
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