Vung Tau- what a holiday in Vietnam can be!

My very good friends, Elizabeth and Huy Luu, were so generous to let me tag along with them on Friday to Vung Tau. But I'm going to back up... Thursday and Friday were Vietnamese holidays and one of the perks of this job is that I get all American and Vietnamese holidays off!! Thursday I made the mistake of going downtown near where I work. There were a ton of Vietnamese lining the streets looking like something really exciting was about to happen. So I thought I would treat myself to a cultural experience so I stayed. I stood waiting in the mobs of people for 40 minutes . While I enjoyed every minute of watching the people I began to get a little anxious to see whatever everyone was standing around to see like a parade or something. Every once in a while a really fast motorcycle would ride by and the people would get really excited. Then there were police and committee members keeping the people behind the barricades that were quite entertaining. But in the end all the hype ended up being the finish line for a bicycle race! I was so mad at myself for staying but I don't think I was the only one who didn't know what was going on. One thing that I've learned in Vietnam (and China) is that whenever there is a crowd it multiplies just because... people like to congregate. Anyway after that I treated myself to a nice massage and a late lunch in a french cafe with friends!! That night my friends got together for a dinner and we watched "This American Life" Wow... if that didn't bring things home I don't know what will. Thoughts on that later!!

Now on to the perfect day off... Well it was almost perfect except for the part of waking up at 5. But my wonderful motorbike driver woke up that early too and took me to the port. I met Huy and Elizabeth right before 6 to board the boat to take us to Vung Tau. We stepped off the boat around 7:30 and made it to a really nice resort to have breakfast by 7:45!


Jesus was the next thing on the agenda. Here there is a statue of Jesus Christ that is the 2nd largest in the world besides the one in Rio. Back in the day Vietnam was colonized by the French Catholics. So off we were to climb the 1000 steps on the most humid day I can ever remember in my life. All along the trip we saw statues of different saints and angels. We were the only foreigners (besides some Japanese) that were there. It was quite the pilgrimage.

Jesus as the great shepherd...

We're almost there... Ah the flowers were so fragrant

Hello, Jesus! I love that His arms are outstretched inviting all to come to Him and he has the burning heart along with the Asian robes. His eyes are so loving, gentle and welcoming.

Now the trick was to walk up inside to get the view from his arms! We took off our shoes (you have to do that anytime you go inside anything religious) and proceeded to have some quality time with the Vietnamese. We were all so sweaty and the staircase inside was really tight.

We were looking down and these guys humored me and did the "V" so I could take a picture of them. I don't know what it is about the Asians but they like their "V". The Vietnamese are some of the most friendly, outgoing people I've ever met. They like to say any English word they've ever learned to us as we walk by! I wish I were that brave with my Vietnamese.

We were on Jesus' arms to get up and personal with Him.

Then we were able to spend about an hour and a half with all of the other Vietnamese at the beach. I love how they do their holidays. They don't just bring a sandwich picnic, they do full on hotpots on the beach! Like I said before we were the only other foreigners on the beach and when we got in the water they were all watching to see what these white girls were going to do. One brave Vietnamese guy told me wanted me to swim and he got a bunch of laughs from his friends so I indulged them and did some freestyle. I got claps and thumbs up. Then I told the brave Vietnamese guy to swim so he copied my freestyle and then I did the motion of the butterfly. Oh man... that got some gasps from the spectators. Game on... as far as I was concerned!! He tried his best and I've got to admit, he did a pretty good job. So then they started taunting me to do it. Butterfly can be tricky going into the waves especially without goggles to see the waves coming but I'm not one to back down from a challenge so I did it! When I looked up after wiping the saltwater from my face, they gave me the thumbs up but then left me alone after that. Haha!!

We barely missed the storm that snuck up on us (the rainy season is here!) and spent the rest of the rainy afternoon sipping coffee and eating Turkish food. I was glad to get a great breakfast, Jesus, an hour of sun on the beach and a great Turkish late lunch in all in one day!