Update

Caleb's fever has been on and
off, and he is still coughing and having diarrhea. We are in the wait and see mode. Please ask for endurance for Caleb and for us as we wait upon His timing.

Here are another two pictures of Dalat: 1) The 5-way intersection at the bottom of the hill from the University (I often make a 10-minute walk down here to pick up household and grocery items) and 2) a view from campus overlooking houses and a distant huge white statue of some sort.

Andy continues to meet with students on a regular basis outside of the classroom. Caleb likes to sit in on these sessions sometimes.

Birthday

Thank you all for sending birthday wishes through FB. I am overwhelmed by your thoughtfulness. This 41st birthday of mine has been a memorable one because Caleb got sick with a 103-degree fever. He's been coughing again, and this time threw up quite a bit and is not keeping much food down both ways. So please do lift him up. Thanks! We've been singing "The lily of the valley" this week and he loves the chorus: "He's the lily of the valley, the bright and morning star, he's the fairest of ten thousand to my soul..."

Writing Chinese

The past couple of visits to Hong Kong have somehow piqued Caleb's interest in learning how to write Chinese characters. He sees them on signs everywhere in the streets. So my mom bought some notebooks with big squares used for writing Chinese characters for Caleb. He's started learning how to write some very simple characters these days as part of his homeschool.

Town pictures

Here are a few pictures of Dalat: 1) View of Xuan Huong Lake from beautiful park, 2) Statue at town center, and 3) Person sleeping in cauliflower basket at the Dalat Market.

Good "Pho"

Each time we ask for a recommendation of a good "Pho" place to go to, we are referred to some hole-in-the-wall type of eatery. We did sample a couple of them and they are indeed very good despite the sanitation. At these places, it is an option for trash to land on the floor or in the basket by each table. And their pet (cat shown here) will make sure nothing is wasted. What's more appetizing is the recycling system of the veggies and herbs shown here where leftovers are tossed back into the veggie bins to be served the next customer.

Nem Nuong

Here's a picture of a favorite Vietnamese meal of mine--pork sausages (nem nuong) wrapped with green veggies and herbs and pickles in rice paper dipped in special peanut sauce.

Some pictures of breakfast at the canteen

taken by a student.

Office hours

Here's a picture of one of Andy's "office hours" which changes every week because the class schedule changes every week. The students would either meet him at the canteen for breakfast or at our home in the afternoon. They've all been eager to come and chat.

Canadian Thanksgiving

We just enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner hosted by our Canadian teammates tonight. The Rowleys made delicious ostrich meat (in lieu of turkey), mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, lemon meringue pie, and more! Our in-country personnel director happened to be in town for this grand feast. And we had the company of our next door (A16.4) neighbor Tony who's also a first year English teacher here and who also happened to be our neighbor (from a few blocks) back in San Jose! What a small world!

A little visitor

We were told a toad/frog came in through this shower drain one time last year during a teacher's shower, and hence blocks to close up the opening after shower and dish washing (don't ask me why there is no real drain in the bathroom). Caleb had been eager to wait for this to happen each night during his shower. However the little visitor chose a different point of entry, our backdoor that was left open while Andy went throw garbage last night. The toad hopped in and went straight for our bed. Andy tried to shoo it out from under the bed while Caleb watched in excitement. It finally hopped out and in to the front room and on to Caleb's bookshelf. By now, I was hiding under a blanket on the couch with Caleb finally hopping up the couch too. I didn't want a toad up on my head! All I know is Andy finally shooed it out the front door after chasing it around the room with the broom and dust pan.

Tết Trung Thu.. (mid-autumn festival)

...đốt đèn đi chơi, em đốt đèn đi khắp phố phường...

NOT!

Trung Thu nầy nghe nói ở Đà Lạt downtown rất vui, nhưng cả nhà đều bệnh, nên nằm ở nhà luôn. Tuần trước mình có ra chợ mua 2 cái lon sưã bò để làm cái lồng đèn cho Caleb, nhưng chắc để dành cho năm sau vậy.

Meet my other class

This past Saturday, I finally got to meet my other Speaking class. There were about 60 in this one. The students were really nice and friendly, and both students and teacher enjoy our first class together, despite my sore throat, scratchy voice, and short-breaths. I thank God for carrying me through it.

Fever came back

Caleb's fever came back today with lots of coughs. I'm hanging in there and have been making soup for both father and son...

Mid-autumn festival

It's mid-autumn festival tomorrow. Here's something we saw at a local bakery for the festivity. There is supposed to be parades downtown this weekend but it's been raining almost every single day here! We'll be home anyway keeping warm. Unlike other parts of Vietnam, Da Lat is known for the cooler weather up in the mountains. I've already had to use my portable heater from last year! Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!

Update

Been having problem connecting to blogspot, but facebook is fine. We are grateful for all the intercession made on our behalf. Caleb's fever broke today and he is slowly getting better. I did not get worse. Andy's recuperating slowly. This is unusual for our family as we usually get sick for at least a week. We truly experience the power of your interceding. Unto Him be all glory!