I think having four boys is a bit of a novelty here…maybe anywhere? We’re stopped quite often for people to confirm this crazy truth and are met with smiles, thumbs up, and, multiple times, a request to have pictures taken with them or us.
It has been a while since we’ve been amongst many native English-speakers and since our Vietnamese language knowledge revolves around greetings, gratitude, and food, our conversations with people are typically made up of mostly hand gestures, pointing, and smiles. During our 45 minute drive to the airport in Nha Trang, our Grab driver was so friendly and eager to communicate, that we “talked” the whole way using a translator app that he had on his phone. He shared some of his thoughts about his country, its history, and its current government, and lamented the fact that he doesn’t have enough money to move his family to the United States, which is what he would like to do, to live near his brother, who lives in Oklahoma.
At one point, he asked if I’d like to pull over so I could take pictures at a lookout point. I agreed and we pulled over for picture and he handed me his phone as well, wanting some pictures of him with our boys taken with his phone as well. We love these connections and have joked that we will feel very humbled when we return to the States (or even just reach Australia) and a bunch of white boys is not that interesting anymore!
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