Grandmas And Grandpas

 We gathered with our own kind this week--first with missionaries, young, and then with missionaries, old: Both were good days.

It's getting harder and harder to find things to do on p-days, not because Vietnam is getting boring but because it's getting more difficult to be outside during the day in Vietnam. Ugh. The temperature is climbing to the 90s, the humidity is stable around 60-70 for now, the rain threatens more often, and it all combines to make outside an unpleasant place to be. And we're told it will only get worse. We usually make sure a p-day includes a hamburger joint as much like a U.S. place as the kids can find, and then an indoor museum, which are few and far between on a Monday (they're usually closed on Mondays). This week we did manage to find the Vietnamese Geology Museum, which is much more interesting if you happen to be a geology enthusiast. We did our best.

The best thing about this piece was that it had "lac da" (camel) in it's name, and this p-day just happened to be our "hump day"--the very middle day of our mission, when we've gone over the hump! Woot Woot!!

This sign made me a lit--tle bit nervous...

This museum had a decent collection of fossils, and they did their best to display them. I thought I should do my best to help with their display.

I believe I was underappreciated.

The cold treats, however, were not.                                                                                 

And the day ended very prettily.

Our Tuesday took place as usual, with our District Council meeting in our apartment after lunch. Today the missionaries declared that peanut butter cookies were best of all of them. We made it over to the church for game night and I spent the evening practicing the accompaniment for a hymn for District Conference in 2 weeks.

Wednesday, we had an earlier start to our day and went for a walk in the morning. We ended up with 6 miles for the day, and walked through Hanoi and to a pagoda that Allen found, then over to Hoan Kiem Lake. We found some narrow streets and marveled once again at the lives of the Vietnamese people. They live on the narrowest of streets, ride their scooters or bicycles down the little lanes, find their ways around every twist and turn when we are lucky to find our way out, and manage to eke out a living with the most meager of belongings. They are usually not quick to smile, but when you engage them, their smiles are bright and they are friendly. We hear stories of how very helpful they are, even to strangers or anyone in trouble. They are so used to riding on scooters and motorcycles in heavy traffic, dodging cars and buses, that when they walk on sidewalks and in businesses, they have that same mentality of getting through openings first, not because they are being rude but because that's they way things are done. I used to notice it, and still do because Allen and I hold doors open for people and step aside to let others through doors first, and that always seems to please them and catch them off guard because you just don't do that in traffic. You're not rude: you're careful and safe, but you take your spot before you give way to others. Life in Vietnam is slower and more simple, and more reliant on simple things happening each day. Women dress more professionally, as a rule, and more modestly than tourists, for example. They will also wear whatever strikes their fancy, even though it might be considered more like pajamas back home. They love to wear anything with English words written on it, whether or not the English words make sense (I assume they think the words do make sense). It's a downright delightful place to live and be surprised each day.

Flowers are everywhere... bouquets, arrangements, etc.

   Street vendors sell all kinds of things...

These carts smell heavenly! Check out the color of the fruit--on the outside! The first time I bought some of these in the store, I asked someone what they were and I had to ask twice--oranges! Delicious!

One of our favorite days this week was spent with 2 other senior missionary couples on Friday. One couple is another Member Leader Support (MLS) couple like us, but the other is a Humanitarian Aid missionary couple, and cannot be involved with anything religious in Vietnam at all. They're lucky they can even go to church, and have just been given permission to offer prayers or give talks. They're not even allowed to teach lessons. This may sound kind of fun, but it's actually rather isolating. They especially were excited to be able to get together with us all for a day off to go sightseeing in Hanoi.

We collaborated and found 3 places to go explore: Thap Cham Tower was a place Elder Smart (Humanitarian Aid) knew about; Allen discovered  Duong Lam Village and Son Tay Citadel. The Smarts travel a lot for their projects and have the connections with the van we rented, and it was fun to be together in a nice van. Being with other Grandmas and Grandpas was refreshing, and learning about other kids and grandkids was really fun. We were happy to discover that we're all close in number, with 13, 14, and 15 grandchildren (we're the ones with 15 now); hence, the name of this blog!

Thap Cham is part of the Vietnamese Ethnic Cultural and Tourism Village, and is modeled after ancient Hindu towers.

From these grounds, we walked back up toward a Hindu Temple, where we found Buddha in a gloriously golden  home on beautiful grounds. It was magnificent. 

From here we drove to the Duong Lam Ancient Village, which is considered to be one of the oldest and most well-preserved villages in Vietnam, with a history dating back over 1,200 years. Many of its houses date back over 300 years.

This ancient gentleman (actually, I believe he said he was 80) was very happy to invite us into his home and offer us tea and gingered rice. He was a former solder in the long-ago war and had even been wounded, but was very friendly. I think he was delighted to have company come visit him.

The pictures above his map were of him in his military uniforms. He was very proud.

We then visited a very old temple, filled with statues and carvings...

Every temple/pagoda we visited had rice/corn laid out on the ground drying. They would rake it every 5 minutes; it took 2-3 days to dry, depending on the weather.

A monk walking by...

More rice and corn laid out to dry.

Jackfruit grows straight off the trunk!

Rice wine STINKS.

From this village, we drove to the Son Tay Citadel, which was a fortress built with a moat, and a cool bridge now.

And on the way home, we passed fields of rice and grass; often there are headstones scattered throughout. It's a beautiful scene.

Our weekends get very busy with meetings and classes, but are always rewarding as we help the missionaries. This Saturday was no exception as we helped the missionaries teach a lesson, as well as the music and English classes. And Sunday was very busy for Allen as he conducted, taught Elders' Quorum, and taught the first 2-hour class of a brand new course on self-reliance, and I gave a last-minute talk on prayer. We wouldn't know what to do if we weren't trying to keep our heads above water!

Thank you for your thoughts and prayers! We appreciate you!