The Danang International Fireworks Competition

For the past two evenings, Danang has hosted a fireworks competition. It is a very big deal, even though this is only the second year for the event. This year, five teams competed: Vietnam, Phillipines, Spain, Australia and China. Each team has about 20 minutes to present a"choreographed" presentation of music and fireworks, shot from a boat in the Han River, near the bridge. Hotels have been booked solid for over two months, and a large bleacher section built along the river sells tickets for 125.000 dong each ($7-$8 US dollars), which is an expensive ticket here.

We planned to watch the fireworks from our 3rd floor balcony. On Friday night, Mr. Bo and 10 of his friends planned to watch from our balcony as well. It was a bit crowded. Mr. Bo brought chairs and a television set, so we could hear the music for each presentation. The Phillipines,Vietnam and Spain made their presentations on Friday night. Because I couldn't see very well, I can't tell you too much about it. Vietnam's display included the Christmas song, "Carol of the Bells." Duc was here. When I told him it was a Christmas song, he just shrugged and said, "The fireworks went with it well."

On Saturday night, only Mr. and Mrs. Bo came to watch with us. It was a great evening. China's presentation was spectacular. Their music was from "Romeo and Juliet" and they used a lot of red and white bursts (also some that opened in the shape of a heart). At the quieter moments, they used fireworks that seemed to float in the air, sparkling colors drifting down in silence. It was beautiful.

Australia chose a mixture of music, beginning with an aboriginal style of drums and stringed instruments, then incorporating classical music. It also had some narration. When they announced the results of the competition, they began with what the announcer called "the encouraging awards" (everything was translated into English). Those were the 4th and 5th place, which went to Vietnamand Phillipines, respectively. Australia was 3rd, Spain 2nd and China received 1st place. Well deserved. Throughout the evening, the announcer would say, "Give a big clap for ..." It was cute.

In preparation for the competition, the Han River bridge has been closed off and on for the past 10 days. At times, no traffic could cross. Other times, bicycles and motorbikes were allowed, but no cars. Even when it was open, it was like an obstacle course, with large trucks parked in the right lanes (or both directions--it's a 4 lane bridge) while the crews worked.

One other observation I made today. Bee bought paper towels. They have a lovely printed pattern on the bottom border. Unfortunately, the pattern faces the cardboard tube, so you cannot see any of the colors until you actually remove the paper towel from the roll. I don't know what the reasoning behind that move was. I told Jillian that the paper towels were just part of the mystery we call "Vietnam."

I hope you, too, have just enough mystery and quirky situations in your life to keep it fun.

Grace and peace!

The Lazarus Experiment

Chau, our teaching assistant and office worker, has been a great addition. She is now our "roach catching hero!"

I have to write about today's adventure in homeschooling. I am not a "bug
lover,"but we are studying insects in science, so I have put my
disdainful shivers aside for the good of education (yes, children,
straighten your back, lift your chin, and sniff for the old college try).

Any way, our book encouraged us to try "The Lazarus Experiment" to
demonstrate the remarkable ability of insects to close their breathing
apparatus (called spiracles, located mostly in their abdomen) in order to
survive a deluge of water. Here's how the experiment works: place a
living insect in a bowl of water and submerge it with a spoon. Keep it
under the water for 3 or more minutes. Take the "dead" insect out of the
water and place it on a paper towel. Cover it with salt to absorb the
extra water more quickly. Soon (within about 10 minutes or so) the insect
will "come back to life." Of course, in actuality, it was not dead, but
closed the spiracles and went into a kind of "hibernation."


So, armed with a live (large) roach this morning, we attempted to make our
mark in the field of science. Within 5 seconds of opening our container,
the room was filled with screams as the roach escaped. A battle of wits
and will ensued, the likes of which are the stuff of legend. After 4 or 5
attempts to submerge the creature, Chau and I banished the girls from the
room until we could catch it again in peace and quiet.


In the end, we prevailed. The experiment worked as outlined, and the
roach has now been adopted by Elizabeth who has decided it is cute. She
has named it "Catcher."


How wonderful...our friends have returned from New Zealand! Jillian was
so happy that Lucia is back, as we all are happy to see the family. The
girls and I spent most of the afternoon there. All the kids went swimming
in the pool. A lovely end to a good day.

I appreciate your prayers, as I am sharing the message at the
international church this Sunday. This is the last week of a series on
the Book of Galatians, so I will be sharing from Gal. 6.


I hope your week has been one in which you have felt the love of God in
your life in tangible, particular ways.

Grace and peace!

Double Take

Daddy tries to tell them apart: Faith is on the left, Joy on the right.

True love

One day there was a business here, the next day...gone!

Hello, all--
Faith and Joy have decided they want to really be twins. A couple days ago, Joy said, "Faith, I want my hair cut like yours so we'll be twins." I thought it was just a passing thought because Joy has always loved to brush her long hair, and turn in front of the mirror so she could see it down her back. But, two days later, she was still asking me when we could have her hair cut.
So, today... The results are adorable. The girls are thrilled. They are having too much fun telling all of us that Faith is Joy and Joy is Faith. It has given us all a lot of laughter.

On another note, there seems to be a habit here in Vietnam that amazes me. When a business moves, they not only take their inventory and furniture, they take their building! I first noticed this when the motorbike repair shop next door moved out, doors, walls, roof and all! Now another business has left--a cafe on a corner in the next block. It is so surprising to have a building on a lot one day and the next day, the lot is empty.

Of course, I realize that for everything that I find to be strange or inexplicable about the Vietnamese, they are observing things about me that surprise them as well. I'm sure we are a curiousity to many.

Lord, help me to appreciate differences without judgment and enjoy the diversity of your beautiful world!

Grace and peace!

Put THAT in your piggy bank and smoke it!

Hello, all--

Tony and I rode 100 miles today on the motorbike. I am sitting gingerly, moving slowly and feeling every minute of my considerable years. Owwww.

During our trip (which was to attend a meeting), we stopped at a roadside cafe for a cold drink. We shared a soda for the whopping price of 8,000 dong (about 50 cents). Tony paid with a 20,000 dong bill. The cashier did not have any 1,000 denominations, so she used what she had--she gave him a 10,000 bill and two cigarettes! (I had to get a picture of Tony--it is on the blog.) It is not unusual to receive a piece of hard candy for small change, but the cigarette is a first. :)

Speaking of using what you have, I had an interesting conversation recently. I was talking with a missionary to another country. She has four children--all a little older than ours. She was "encouraging" me to make the girls "independent and responsible" so I could leave them with the housework, cooking, and preparations for guests while I went out to do "important work." But for me, the girls ARE the important work. This is what God has given me. I want to be faithful in it. As I do that well, I am confident He will send others to me to love in His name.

Of course, 100 miles on a motorbike gives one some time to think. Somehow I got to thinking about my growing up. My parents were divorced, so there was no father in the home, or really in the picture at all. I was pondering how that living arrangement affected my walk with Father today. Maybe because I felt securely loved, I have not questioned His love for me and I am able to give my love to Him. But I think that I am more self-reliant than I might have been, which has tended to make me independent and perhaps too tied to my own ways. I hope He deepens my prayer life and draws me close and quiet to His heart. I need Him. I need His voice. I need His strength and peace.

Today, I pray He calls you to Himself and speaks the words you most need to hear.

Grace and peace!

Milestones

Tony and I beside the Han River.

It has been an interesting few days here. I have now begun to use my Orphan Voice email account. My new email address is cindy.brewer@orphanvoice.org. Moving the address list was a challenge for me, but, if you are reading this, I have successfully completed the task!
Other recent milestones ....
1. I have now ridden Paddy (the motorbike) with two of the girls as my passengers. All was calm, all was bright. Jillian says my next step is to either ride with one of the girls in front of me, or to have an adult passenger. Hmmmm, we'll see.
2. When we moved here, three of our girls still used the training wheels on their bikes. Now, Faith is the only one with the extra wheels--much to her frustration. There is no teacher like your twin having her training wheels removed. I expect soon we will have only "2 wheelers" in the house!
3. Awhile back, Elizabeth bought a toy iron that plays music at the push of a button. Not surprisingly, the button broke off, leaving a myriad of tiny wires inside, but no music. Yesterday, Anna Mei "hot wired" the iron, and once again, it whistles while Elizabeth works.
4. We are anticipating the return of Enoch and Marissa tomorrow afternoon. Today, Faith prayed that they would "come home safe."
5. I am blessed to have a new helper, Chau ("chow") who is assisting me with homeschooling in the morning, and will help in the Orphan Voice office in the afternoons. The girls love her. I will introduce her more fully soon.

As happens so often in life, I experienced a trial recently where everything within me wanted to rise up and deliver a grand defense (peppered with a few personal jabs of retort). I was hurt. I was angry. I was ready to let another individual have "a piece of my mind." Tony wrote me this poem...

No matter what they think or say

My love for you is still the same

The love command I bid thee follow

T'will all be well upon the morrow

23 years of marriage and he starts writing poetry! Any way, you can imagine how that message did so much to calm my heart. I have certainly vented...but to the One who can change me and the situation. I know I am happier because of it.
May we all follow the path of Jesus' love today--
Grace and peace!

Silk Worms

Feeding the silk worms

Along the river at Hoi An

A street in Hoi An

To coincide with our science unit on insects, today we visited a silk worm business in the town of Hoi An ("hoy ann"). It is known as "The Ancient City" and is full of shops selling all things silk, art, shoes, jewelry, etc. Very touristy. It is about a 30 minute motorbike ride from Danang. We were quite a caravan on our bikes: Duc, Linh, Sally and Elizabeth; our friend Chau with Jillian and Joy; Bee with Anna Mei; Tony with our American guest Chris; and me with Faith.

Silk production is very interesting. It takes more than 100 silk cocoons to make just one tie.

The girls were able to see silk worms at 2 days, 2 weeks and 4 weeks old, plus the cocoons in all states of progress. Then we saw how the silk thread is removed, and woven together. We also learned about three different qualities of silk and what makes the taffeta silk so special, and the raw silk so rough.


Our textbook credit Christian monks with sharing the secrets of silk making with the world. Chinese emperors carefully guarded this knowledge and executed anyone who tried to export the knowledge. The monks carved out the inside of their walking sticks and put some silk worms inside, then walked out of the country. Pretty smart, eh?


The Vietnamese people love to eat the pupa, the silk caterpillar inside the cocoon. It is killed when the cocoon is place in hot water to make it easy to get the thread off. The people then fry the pupa and eat it.


Up through about 3 weeks of age, when they are mature, the silk worms are fed mulberry leaves every three hours. The worms are kept in a heap on a large, round, flat basket. The woman at the plant brings out a large cutting board, a butcher knife and a pile of leaves. She chops the leaves into tiny bits and covers the worms with the food. They literally eat their way back to the top! They are fed every 3 hours during the day, and twice through the night.


After the thread is removed, it is woven into cloth. Using a handloom, a person can make about 3 yards of cloth per day. With the automated version, they make about 10 yards per day. They also use the silk thread to make needlepoint-like pictures. They are exquisite.


So, that was our day. Before we came home, we all enjoyed a bag of iced sugar cane juice. Most cafes put cold drinks into a baggie with ice, then rubberband it to a straw--no cup needed!


The wonders of God's creation are truly amazing. What a creative and brilliant mind He has! May we all notice His handiwork with new eyes today.


Grace and peace.

Fish

The fish have arrived! Oh happy day! There are 20 of them. I can't keep track of all the names...Shinestein, Pinky, Sky, Shark, Ariel, Shirley Temple...these are just a few. But they are so beautiful to watch. I have had to hide the food, of course. And there have been more than a few threats made about taking the top of the aquarium off to "stir" the water with the net! But it is a wonderful addition and we are enjoying it.

For those who like to keep up with cost differences between here and the US, the aquarium, filter, light, rocks and decorations, fish, and the table (made to our height specifications) all cost about $60. In addition, for about $5 per month, someone from the fish store comes to our house twice per month to clean the tank, replace plants, etc. Is that a bargain, or what?

Hope your life includes some beauty today. Things here are going swimmingly!

Grace and peace!