Monday in Hanoi

Our first busy Monday of the trip has come and gone. It is now the weeee hours of Tuesday here. We started off Monday very early. It’s too soon in the trip to have adjusted to the time change. The morning was very cool and pleasant. We used the opportunity to walk around Hoan Kiem Lake (POND, I swear it’s a POND! If I can walk all the way around it in 30 minutes, that’s no lake!) and get some early shopping for the orphanage done.

 

Along the way we met three very sweet girls who asked us if we would help them with their English lessons. They are at university studying business economics. They were really nice girls who asked basic “where are you from” “how long have you been here” etc. type of questions. One girl in particular was thrilled when we told her we were from America. She “loves America”. It kind of tugged at my heart a little to see the dream of America in her eyes, thinking that if she could just get to our land of opportunity that all her dreams would come true. If she only knew… They were genuinely nice gals and it was a sweet encounter!

Hanio is celebrating 1000 years as a city – yes 1000 years! Those of us from the US can hardly fathom one-thousand years. Hanoi was well established by centuries before our wonderful country was even discovered! All throughout the city are balloons, even more flower arrangements than usual, designs made of lights fixed to street lamps, and interesting sculptures, topiary, and art.

 

 

While walking around downtown Hanoi looking for an electronics store we passed a school. The kids were in open classrooms. One little guy spotted us and started waving at us from his desk. All the other students’ heads were down concentrating on their studies except for him. I started to take a picture but figured he was probably about to get in enough trouble as it was. There were a group of kids doing what looked like gym class in the courtyard. They were oblivious to us so we took photos of them instead. I asked Deb, “Imagine if there were some strange foreigners taking pictures of kids outside a school in the US.”  Can you imagine the outrage! 

 Walking around shopping for the orphanage while trying to navigate traffic in the old quarters wore me out! It was great in the morning but as the day progressed so did the increase in motorcycles and overall congestion. The cool in the air gave way to stifling heat and I was ready to call it quits.

We headed back to the hotel and after a five hour nap and ordering pizza for dinner, our friend Heidi came to see us. We got to see Heidi last time we were here too. It was so good to catch up with her again. She’s lived here a little over two years now and is doing quite well. We had a great time with her…a little too great. We were asked by management to quiet down because some of the other guests were complaining. She stayed until almost midnight. We didn’t realize that our hotel shut down and after climbing over motorcycles at the end of the stairwell we had to go wake up the staff and get them out of their cots so they could call Heidi a cab and let us out of the hotel. I just love Heidi and I’m hoping that all she and her family need to be able to stay in Hanoi will be provided for them. She and her husband are wonderful people and have put 100% into dedicating their lives teaching in Vietnam. Heidi is still homeschooling her kids and learning the Vietnamese language herself but I have to say I’m truly amazed how she’s eased into Vietnam and the culture.

Well, the wi-fi here is so slow that it has just taken me almost two hours to complete this post. We’ll keep you updated but until there is better reception it may be a bit before we can add better pics. Thanks for following along and please keep us in your prayers!

Melissa