Kontum

Well, I wish I had good news to report today, but it is pretty disturbing. If you recall, I told you yesterday that police would not let me visit the ethnic areas, and I could only stay one hour with Sister Tan. Last night, Sister Tan called and said that 6 police officers can back after I had left to tell her that she was now basically in prison. She would only be allowed to be on the church premises, and no longer could she teach in the ethnic villages. And this sentence of punishment was for an undetermined amount of time. All this because i had come to visit her. I am sure she would have not agreed to me coming if she knew this would happen, but she did nothing! And I am upset because I basically caused this problem. I was told that I was the first foreigner to visit this area, but now she can't even leave to go to the market. This dictatorial judgement applies to the the other two nuns at the church too. I hope they reconsider their decision in the near future or maybe someone will intervene with more power. I can only imagine the way thee officers addressed her after we left. She is really a missionary working in her own country against her government.

My other distressing info is that some how several days ago I lost my Visa debit card. And lucky me, the person who took it, somehow could use if for several withdrawals. I am not sure how many yet. but yesterday, I happen to look at my acct. online, which I generally never do, and to my horror I could see several cash withdrawals. I did call now and have the card blocked but didn't talk to my bank yet as it is a holiday. I will cal then on Monday. I do have another card but not sure of my acct. balance now. haha! And I have some cash on me too. It is a mystery to me how they would have my pin number too, or how they even got it. Maybe I will be contacting all of you for a small loan. hahaha!

Today, we took the public bus to Kontum. It is 50 KM from here and town close to the Laos border. After we got to Kontum, we walked to a famous wood church that is used by many ethnic tribes in this area. The people there were very friendly. There was an orphanage that I visited too. Lots of people asked me if I spoke French as the French were a major influence here and some people still speak French. This also was the site of some major battles between the south and north during the "American" war. The town is very nice with wide streets and new looking building, and cool weather.

We are taking the sleep bus - 9 hours - tonight to DaNang.. Sweet dreams.