Happy Easter everyone! He is risen…..he is risen indeed!
So you’ve heard about what the race has been like so far in certain aspects of it. Today I’m going to share a different part….food!
Food is amazing because it can bring such comfort, can be a stretching thing to try, and can bring people together. My fist picture is from Nepal, at a little cafe near the place where we stayed. As you can see, they had a wonderful ambiance with plants all around, and they had an amazing apple cinnamon muffin.
In Nepal, we would go to a coffee shop called Kairos Cafe. It is a part of a ministry that provides jobs and resources to help women who are at risk of being trafficked. We got to know some of the women working there and built some friendships. Below is a picture of one of their delicious breakfasts. It’s a cinnamon roll pancake with a grilled banana – probably one of the best breakfasts I’ve had!
This man balanced this stack of Vietnamese donuts on his head. If you think it looks heavy then you’re right! Kaiti balanced it on her head for just a minute and said it was heavy….imagine having that on your head all day!
Our first taste of Pho in Vietnam and it was delicious. We learned the correct way to say Pho: it sounds like Pha, but you have to say it like a question….Pha? You got it! We had been looking forward to eating Pho since the beginning of the race and it lived up to expectations. Our host made Pho for us many times during the month, as well as other wonderful meals….I just didn’t get any pictures!
One evening I went out exploring Nha Trang with a friend, An, and she took me to a vegetarian restaurant. We got a white mushroom salad, fried tofu, and soup. With so many different flavors, who needs meat?
We taught English the majority of the time in Vietnam at a coffee shop near the university called Catimor Cafe. This was one of many different drinks I got while we were there teaching. It’s a chocolate mint smoothie. Below the smoothie is sheet music for the hymn I Love Him. We sang this hymn at a wedding on Sunday! Wedding ceremonies are done during church on Sundays in Vietnam, and they asked us to sing this hymn for the ceremony. No big deal, just our first wedding on the race and they ask us to sing at it!!
My friend, An, who took me to the vegetarian restaurant also took me to another restaurant called Livin where her friend works. As I’m sure you can tell by the picture, the food was amazing! There were ribs, fried chicken, corn on the cob, steak, and mac and cheese. They had a couple of homemade sauces too that we’re delicious. There’s a store connected to the restaurant and it looked like it was straight out of Portland. Needless to say I loved it!
One of our friends in Vietnam, Jackie, took us to another vegetarian restaurant that was also wonderful (I never knew vegetarian food could taste so good). We had Vietnamese tea, mushroom soup, fried tofu, fried rice, and different salads. It was located right next to a rice field with trees and plants all around – a very peaceful place.
On our last day in Vietnam we took our host, Bi, to one of her favorite restaurants called Go Gi. It’s a Korean restaurant, and the lovely dish that you can see below is called Bibimbap (thanks Michelle Hopp for the suggestion!). They cook the food right in front of you and have so many different foods to combine together.
Had a little date with me and Jesus when we were back in Ho Chi Minh before heading to Cambodia. I finally finished the book in the picture, A Severe Mercy, and I highly recommend it. It is a powerful testimony of this man’s life, his coming to believe in the Lord, and the grief of losing his wife.
Well I hope you enjoyed seeing some of the food we have eaten over these past couple of months. More to come later!
Until next time,
Malia
