A Sweet Reunion

The highlight of my trip--all 7 months of it--is nothing more than the sweetest reunion with the sweetest girls I have ever met.

In 2005 I went to Vietnam to teach English for a summer with ELIC and it profoundly impacted the next 3 years of my life. These girls accepted me, loved me and inspired me to do more and live more. I went there thinking I was going to just "teach English" but instead I fell in love with Vietnam.

This photo consists of only 10 of my 15 girls. It was taken near the end of our time together. We went on a photo scavenger hunt and my class won! The prize was ice cream with the all the teachers--on us! It is probably my favorite memory from the whole trip.



And here they are (well, 5 of them anyway), three years later. L-R: Tra, Linh, Yen, Me, Nhung, and Linh. We spent the afternoon at Nhung's house, eating dinner and catching up on old times. But before dinner, we went for a walk in one of the new housing developments in the West Lake District. It's CRAZY nice!! Like a Californian suburb!



This is J and I with Nhung and her grandfather. He was the sweetest old man ever! And though he couldn't speak any English and our Vietnamese is non-existent, he still sat with us and tried to talk with us. And of course, chuckled a bit at Jeremy's lack of hair. hahaha. Even grandpa has more than him!!



Part of the fun was getting starfruit out of the tree in Nhung's backyard. It took a lot of skill, a good arm, a long metal poker, and a big basket. Lots of laughs!! But so worth the effort because fresh starfruit is yummy! Here Yen is cutting some up just before dinner.



Ngoc was in the kitchen helping make french fries and nem (spring rolls), though I can't say she made much progress--they barely left the pot before they hit our mouths!! Such a great cook! In the back is Nhung and her mother, the nem masters of the night!



The night was full of laughs and Jeremy had a good time seeing a REAL Vietnamese home, eating AUTHENTIC nem and experiencing TRUE Vietnamese hospitality. Here Jeremy tells Yen, Linh and Linh a joke while sneaking french fries from Ngoc.

On another night while I was in Hanoi, we met with some students at Pepperoni's to eat pizza and share our memories with... Will Rope! My old Vietnam teammate who is now teaching in Vietnam long term! He's been there July (I think) on a one year contract with ELIC's VTF program. What a treat to not only see my old students but to see them along with a fellow teacher!! It's truly amazing what that first trip to Vietnam did to us, our little team of 6. Will came back to teach for a year, Melia came back to teach for a year and I came back to visit (though seriously considered teaching there for a year at one point too). Needless to say, something special happened three years ago, something that has kept us coming back...



We also had time to visit my old school where the girls were going to college while I taught them. Now they are going to Hanoi University--one of the top schools in Vietnam--in pursuit of the teaching degrees. Some have gone directly to rural classrooms and weren't able to make to to the reunions (busy with work), but these girls sure had fun seeing their old stomping grounds. I think it had been two years since they last visited! Here Linh and Yen are laughing and pointing out that the skirts in the display photos keep getting shorter and shorter! hahaha.

Ngoc, Linh, Tra, and Yen: four of my best friends. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to see them again. When I left Hanoi more than three years ago, I refused to say goodbye through all the tears at the airport, and instead I promised to be back with a "See you later." I honestly didn't know if I would. Every part of me wanted to return but money and time are big hurdles to get over. I didn't know if I even could make it back. But I did. And here we are, us 5 girls, reunited after three years and an ocean between us, gathered in front of the school that brought us together the first time.

Seeing them again has assured me that all the love and friendship I found in Vietnam three years ago was real and that hard work pays off. I fundraised $3,000 in order to make that initial trip happen three years ago, and though surely their language has grown exponentially more without my help, I must say that I did get to play a major role in bringing passion to their lives. And in turn, these girls have brought passion into mine.

I love travel. I love Vietnam. I can't wait for the next trip back.

To see more photos from the reunion, click here.
To see more photos from my first trip to Vietnam, click here.
To see all my photos from Vietnam, click here.