Our last blog ended with our anniversary, so this one will begin with our anniversary celebration! And what better way to celebrate that romantic event than by visiting the Air Defense - Air Force Museum!! Right?!
Okay, okay, there may be a more romantic way, but this was a pretty cool way, too. It was another experience of opposite feelings. I've been looking for the right word and I think ambivalent might be it: "the state of having mixed feelings or contradictory ideas about something or someone."
The museum was very interesting because Vietnam's history is very interesting. That being said, it was sad to see machine guns with descriptions of how many U.S. airplanes they shot down, or the mass of metal that is all that was left of a U.S. aircraft from the war. There is no question that the Vietnamese people are very resilient and love their country, and seeing them from this side of the fence is a whole 'nother thing from the U.S. side of the fence.
Look at the 2 missiles above: The one on the left is the real one, and the one on the right is a decoy missile made from bamboo woven together with steel. You can see the cross-hatched pattern on it. This was a very successful way for the Vietnamese to draw fire away from the real thing.
The Vietnamese are a proud people who have been at war with one nation or another for 2000 years, which also explains the difficult living conditions that are a result of so many years of war and upheaval.
We walked home 3 miles after the museum and passed the Air Force base where there were young guards outside. They seemed friendly and actually saluted us as we approached! That gave us the courage to motion to them that we'd like to take a picture with them! One of the guards wavered and would have done it, but he looked at his companions and was dissuaded. Too bad. They were friendly and it would have been a fun picture.
One of our favorite things is when we're walking along the sidewalk, and we hear a small voice say "hello". We look, and there is a child who got brave enough to speak in English to the old foreigners. And then they giggle and glance back occasionally.
The stores all seem to spill out onto the sidewalks; you can find all kinds of things in these places, and all kinds of people.
One of my favorite things to see on our surprise tours are the bonsai trees! They're so big and so perfect, with all kinds of trees and all kinds of natural settings.
This is a banyan tree. There are full-sized banyans all over the place in Vietnam.
The most fun of the week was New Year's Day. I didn't think this would be a big holiday in Hanoi (Allen wasn't sure what to expect) since Tet, the Lunar New Year, comes at the end of January and is the really big celebration. I was wrong!
We went to Hoan Kiem Lake, a well-known tourist attraction, and found many people who had come to celebrate! There were vendors of all kinds, from the grills/barbecues on the side of the road, to colorful balloons and other baubles, to women selling their wares from their bamboo baskets.
The roads all the way around the lake were closed to traffic so the people had freedom to walk anywhere they pleased!
There was even a street dedicated to the painting of ceramics by the children, with tables set up all down the block for the little kids.
This one is grinding sugar cane for a sweet drink. They have to add some kumquats to keep the sugar cane juice from fermenting.
One really fun thing on all the streets was the small cars and jeeps for rent for little kids to drive all over the streets! This gave Allen some different traffic to contend with!
But I think one of the most interesting things we saw was dozens of teenagers and young (and older!) women, all dressed in their fancy holiday ao dai's (ow zy), posing all around the lake to get the best pictures!
And I mustn't forget about another voice calling out "hello" from a crowd of teenagers. I think they were horrified when we turned to look, and then walked back towards them. The oldest boy bravely conversed with us, and the whole group ended up wanting their pictures taken with us. They were attracted by Allen's big smile and friendly face.
(We got lots of attention on New Year's Day from people reading our missionary badges and pronouncing the names. It was pretty cool!)
It got more crowded as the day wore on. We ended up walking 7 miles that day, a lot of it down the streets near the lake, and we saw all kinds of vendors again, and restaurants.
Tentacle-on-a-stick...
Escargot!!
This is a red bridge out over the lake, with its reflection. On the island is Noc Son Temple that we have visited before.
It was a beautiful end to a beautiful day.
Then began our busy, long weekend: Thursday--English activity; Friday--Family Home Evening where we played a game with scripture stories and then put away the branch Christmas Tree.
Saturday--we drove to a market for some shopping, then walked over to the church for Allen's meeting, my music class, and another English activity. The walk wasn't long, but took us down a couple of alleys where, again, people were selling their wares. It's still such a surprise to see their produce laid out on the side of the road.
This woman is cutting up a jack fruit.
This woman is washing the dishes at the curb. I believe she belongs to the restaurant behind her.
You can find meat being butchered in many of the neighborhoods. I didn't take a picture at the market where we went, but they were cutting and packaging their meat out on the front sidewalk.
And this is the little "short cut" bridge to take us to the church.
The weather here in January has been about the same as the weather back home in Oceanside, except that Oceanside has had more humidity. But the people here are not used to the cooler temperatures! They often wear coats even when it's 70 degrees, but it feels a bit cooler. Sometimes we don't see the sun; sometimes it's because of the clouds and sometimes it's due to the pollution. Yesterday, we had the 6th worse air quality in the world. Yay, us!!
Well, the holidays (U.S.) are behind us, and I won't be sad to be done with them. They were a reminder that we're far from home, even though we can call our kids whenever we please.
And Tet is January 29! That will be a great adventure! We've been told that the city shuts down for 10 days. Interesting...
May your days be sunny and bright! And filled with the love of friends and family this new year of 2025!
We went to Hoan Kiem Lake, a well-known tourist attraction, and found many people who had come to celebrate! There were vendors of all kinds, from the grills/barbecues on the side of the road, to colorful balloons and other baubles, to women selling their wares from their bamboo baskets. The roads all the way around the lake were closed to traffic so the people had freedom to walk anywhere they pleased!
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