dads

In order for today's story to make sense, I have to let you in on a little something about myself: I love watching men interact with their daughters. To see any parent delight in his or her child warms my heart like nothing else can, but especially dads and daughters. I saw this for years at camp as I watched my little campers joyously run into their fathers' arms at the end of a long week of fun. This is not just something I've seen at camp. Dads and daughters are where its at, and I am most definitely speaking from personal experience.

Last week, we had an American presenter in one of our classes, and he brought one of his Vietnamese colleagues with him. Huong sat in the back of the class for the first part of the presentation, next to Maeve, and asked her at the end if she and a few friends would like to go to his house for dinner to speak English with his daughters. She gladly agreed, and they set the date to this evening. Joey, Maeve and I went o his house where his beautiful wife made us dinner and his adorable daughters entertained us. 

Brace yourself for the waterworks on this one: Before we ate dinner, we were sitting with Huong and his daughters in the living room. These girls are 7 and 9 and spent the last three years living in the States. They speak impeccable English but were shy like any young kids around strangers. Huong was sitting with his arm around his daughter, G, encouraging her to speak with us and look us in the eyes when speaking. He was encouraging her and she was being silly and they were both smiling. What happened next was like the snowball that just wouldn't stop rolling: Maeve started to laugh; I looked at Maeve; I started to giggle too; Maeve went from laughing to crying (still smiling bit definitely crying); my eyes were watering from laughter ( I was laughing at Maeve in the most tender way because she was crying); my eyes started crying a little too; we both feared we wouldn't be able to stop crying (we were still laughing); we both pulled it together. Basically, Maeve started it. These tears were the really good kind. Dad and I had a very similar if not the exact same conversation when I was little.

Dinner was pork and tomato soup to put over rice (kinda like a gumbo or chili), sew sew (sp? it's a leafy vegetable), beef with carrots and papaya, fresh spring rolls with shrimp and sweet beans. I was asked if I wanted a beer to which I replied that I was fine with water but thank you after which I was given a beer. It was the most delicious, refreshing, enjoyable dinner I've had in a long time. I was with family. The girls were adorable and told the entire story of The Little Mermaid as it spanned three movies (prequel, original, sequel). 

When it came time for us to leave, the girls whispered to their father, who told them to pose the question to us. One of them then asked if we would come back for a sleepover to which we emphatically replied that we would love to come back. Huong and his wife explained that the girls were really missing their friends from the States and that sleepovers aren't something that kids do in Vietnam. I don't know if we will get to spend the night, but I can't think of anything I would love more than to hang out with this family some more.

From left to right: Oanh, Huong, My and G, me, Joey and Maeve. Best night ever.