Neighbor kids learn English. We charge them 50 cents per lesson.
My tutor Tin arranged the flowers and red envelopes for our new year's celebration. The watermelon are good luck. They also tasted good.
Kai and I watch the fireworks at midnight from our balcony
Everyone dresses their little girls in white dresses for the first day of Tet.
Tet flowers on the main street in Ho Chi Minh City.
Karaoke at grandma's house in the town of Cu Chi.
The most fabulous Tet dinner came out of this kitchen/bedroom. It was our neighbor's uncle's house in the countryside.
Karin singing karaoke. Tin, my tutor, laughs at my Vietnamese.
Gambling is only sanctioned during Tet. A type of Bingo is played with family members. 30 cents per game.
Incense and fruit honor the ancestors and Buddha. Tet dinner was on the floor of the uncle's home.
New Year's feast spilling out the door
Random alley in HCMC. Flags stay out for a week after New Year's.
Kai entertains babies at the orphanage. With supervision, I let Kai hold the babies.
Kai's a bit big, but it steadies the car for his orphanage companion.
Karin plays with baby Loc at the Go Vap orphanage
Popcorn and TV, Karin's favorite pastime, on our living room lawn chair
Kai with a pocketful of "tools."
Kai dresses up to visit Papa's school
Robin teaching English in Ho Chi Minh City
Trinh is 8 months pregnant. Robin is 12 months. (He stuck his out a bit more than it really is---or so he says.)
Large golden Buddha in Thailand. A person would be the size of his little finger.
Kai gets a Buddhist blessing.
What's left of my toe. It needed 2 stitches
Kai and friends play in a Saigon River tributary in our alley.
Kai and Karin at the Grand Palace in Bangkok
"I fly all the way to Vietnam and all I get is a plastic pig?" Kai with Lan and her mother
Kai at the Saigon zoo
Kai and friend at the zoo
Kuala Lumpur from our hotel room window.
Kai sits on my electric scooter
Robin plays a French soldier in a TV movie.
Robin the teacher of English
Hot glass jars draw out the toxins and are supposed to cure a cold. However, they only bruise your back for weeks.
Vung Tau beach specialty. Little cups of batter with shrimp in them.
Hoi An boat lady
Karin rides a bike in the ancient town of Hoi An
Tin in blue baseball cap. In Hoi An
Streetlife in Hoi An, a UNESCO world heritage site
Kai being cute
Hoi An parking lot at the river
Ancient body of Karin at My Son, ancient Cham ruins near Hoi An
Goofing off at the My Son Cham ruins
beach near Hoi An, Vietnam
Mountain top pagoda near Da Nang. Ms. Loan poses
Monkey boy in Bali
Karin in the monkey forest in Ubud, Bali
steep rice terraces in Bali
Hindu temple in Bali overlooking ocean
kai and turtle friends in Bali
Batman and Robin
Indonesian instruments played by Talia and Kai
800-year-old temple, 9-year-old Kai with sarong in Bali
Men and women are required to wear sarongs while visiting temples in Bali
bali houses
shopping area in Bali
bali birdies
blessings in a temple bath in Bali
bali temple
