Hey guys! Here’s a little life update for you.
As most of you know, I’m currently in month 11 of my World Race. This isn’t quite my “end of the Race” blog, but I can say that it has been an amazing year. I have learned so much, had incredible adventures, experienced mind-opening cultures, and encountered God in unbelievable ways. I couldn’t have made it this far without your help, and for that I will be eternally grateful.
As for now, I wanted to give you guys a look inside what we’re doing this month! My team is located in Da Nang, Vietnam (yes, all the puns are happening daily) and we are working with an English Speaking Cafe called Tipi Cafe. We work in shift rotations with 1, 2, or 3 of us working at a time. While at the cafe, we interact with Vietnamese customers helping them with their conversational English.
Our host also runs Tipi Center, a place where locals can go to learn beginner English so they can then come and practice with us over a cup of coffee at the Cafe! It’s a great way to learn the language so they can have better job opportunities.
We’re staying in a hostel just 5 minutes from the beach and about a 30 minute bike ride away from the Cafe. Yesterday was mine and Emily’s first time biking there and it was hands down my favorite thing I’ve done in Vietnam so far.
Vietnam has a handful of bridges, the most famous being the Dragon Bridge. Being the resourceful girls we are, we chose the next bridge over to get a better view of the dragon along our commute (also cus it’s less steep – but again, resourceful).
We had an fun afternoon of chatting with the locals, getting to know the cafe staff, and playing Uno. The cafe barista even taught me how to make white coffee – something on the menu everywhere we go, but each country does it a little differently. Vietnamese White Coffee includes a layer of sweetened condensed milk with a scoop of cocoa powder mixed in, ice, milk, and espresso.
(You guys, I’m tall here. It’s very strange and something I’ll never get used to).
Learning to make coffee drinks was what I was most excited about this month as it keeps my hands busy, I’m gaining a useful skill, and I’m getting to learn from a local! I had been praying all Race for God to put me in a cafe so I can develop skills to use once I get home. And what better timing than to learn this right before I go home?
Speaking of which….what’s the plan there, Aubrey?
I’m happy to report that I will be moving back to Abilene, Texas just a couple blocks away from my best friend and my favorite coffee shop. My wonderful father found me a great apartment that’ll be ready for me to move in to when I get home. I will be substitute teaching as soon as school starts again in the fall & will be involved with a film business that my brother and his fiancé have built. In my free time, I will be working full force on films for my personal YouTube channel to grow my audience and professional film reel.
I’m excited to be pursuing film in my own way in order to help me make it a career. It has been such an incredible experience getting to capture images and video along this journey and tell the stories of squad mates and the people we’ve met along the way.
So, the countdown continues. I will be back in the States in just 24 days and I’m so excited to see you guys. PLEASE don’t hesitate to reach out so we can grab a cup of coffee and catch up!
All my love,
Aubrey
