New Sights to See

 We have discovered even more new places near our home in Hanoi after being invited to a member's home for lunch on Monday this week. She and her family live in Ocean Park 2, which is a ginormous housing development only 8-9 miles away from us. It's as un-Hanoi-like as you can get, with wide streets and large apartments and green grass and grandiose areas designed after different cities or countries of the world. Our 2 native sister missionaries kept saying how they want to live there, and all the missionaries (us included) were gushing over how clean and nice of a place it is.

One of the next things we noticed was how empty it was. We wonder how many people actually live there; it definitely is not at capacity, and the shops are not at all busy.

They build elaborate structures...

This is the main floor of Xuyen's home. It is at least twice as wide as a normal Vietnamese home, and is 5 stories high.

With glass doors...

She fixed us pho for lunch; the "bread" in the middle is called quay.

Looking out the front window/door.

The sisters stayed cool in front of the fan.                                                                               

Now THIS is something I can get behind! The young people know that they are the ones to clean up! There is no quibbling about it, no arguing, no complaints, they just get up and clean up! I tried to help once at a branch potluck shortly after we arrived in Vietnam and was told that the young people clean up as a sign of respect for the older people. Yep, I'm older and I'm happy to claim that right and privilege at times.

A park with this gnome, just waiting for his picture to be taken with me. 

And ladybugs down below.

This was Japan Town, and it was empty.

Elaborate decorations across the street above, all about the sea, and the front doors of the home below...

Little Hong Kong and Little Shanghei, all empty and all amazingly decorated.

This was a real structure, and was at the end of a street that we did not walk                                                 down but wished we could have.                                                                                                             

This place was HUGE.

Real gondolas being swept down the river. We couldn't see where the river went--somewhere around the bend.

The rain caught up with us enough to hasten our exit from Ocean Park 2.

And back in our own Times City, this is how everyone deals with the rain. It was pick-up time at the school. There are all colors and all types of rain ponchos. We made do with umbrellas.

Tuesday's game night was well-attended this week, and we had some new faces as well.

Da cau is a very popular game--think of kicking a hacky sack around, only with metal rings at the end and feathers like a shuttlecock.

Wednesday was a Relief Society activity to which all of the branch was invited. Unfortunately, it turned into a rainy day, and when scooters are your main mode of transportation, you're not inclined to travel on rainy evenings. We had a great presentation on First Aid, but had only a small part of the group we were hoping for, so this activity will be repeated in the near future.

Elder Anderton suffered no permanent harm, and was saved from snake bite, compound fractures, and 3rd degree burns.

On Thursday, Allen and I once again headed out on a walk while it was slightly cooler. We directed our path to Hoan Kiem Lake again and found a temple, a diapered dog, dogs with a "'do", and discovered that we had missed out on what apparently was some practicing for a big patriotic holiday coming up on September 2, Independence Day. (Vietnam seems to have a few Independence Days.) The country is busy decorating and celebrating, and they put their whole hearts into it.

This picture gives new meaning to "it's your turn to clean the building."

This is the "snack wagon" with any kind of snack you want to buy. Unfortunately, we don't know what any of it is, and when we've been brave enough to try some of these things somewhere else, we haven't cared for them. The Vietnamese don't like sweet things very much. Oh, they may say they do, but after one bite, they're finished.

Here's the doggy whose owner doesn't want to follow him around with a bag.

After we saw this fly-by with the helicopters, we knew we were missing something!!

THE photo op place at Hoan Kiem Lake...

Vendors had flags, bandanas, hats, stickers, shirts, fans...

We were sitting near the lake when this young man, Hoi, 10-years old, came and asked if he could practice his English with us. We've had this happen a time or two, and it's always very enjoyable to be interviewed by a young person who is exercising their language skills. Hoi, whose English name is Ben, was very friendly and inquisitive, and his English was very good. His mother was nearby at a store with his little brother, and I think he had a lot of relatives sitting near us. When it was time to go, he knew all of the people sitting around us, and his mother and brother came up and were equally friendly and very grateful for the time we spent with her son. It's so fun to be old and American in Vietnam sometimes!

We were guessing as to why so many Vietnamese young people choose English names and we wonder if it has to do with online gaming. We also think they want to make it easier on foreigners. I, personally, like knowing their Vietnamese names more than their English names, although both can be a help when it comes to remembering who they are. (Writing down the names is the biggest help when it comes to remembering, I have to admit.)

When we were ready to leave the lake, we pulled up the Grab app to get a ride home and discovered, to our horror, that there was some kind of ban on traveling in that part of town. We have since learned that because of the holiday, travel can be restricted at certain times, and we had no way of knowing that. We had to walk almost a mile to get outside of the restricted area to where a Grab car could pick us up. But it let us see more decorations in the neighborhoods! Vietnam is nothing if not patriotic. It really is amazing and wonderful to see the love the people have for their country. I remarked to Allen that the streets reminded me of the U.S. after 9/11, only the Vietnamese decorate like this frequently, and continue to keep it in their hearts, I think.

We ended the day at the waterpark in our apartment development. It's a good one!

Friday was YSA, and was well attended this week, so after showing our support, we left for home.

                                          We got to watch a movie, which I love to do.

Saturday was another busy, busy day. Allen had his meeting; I had a new piano student to add to my 4 who came in the afternoon. English activity is interesting, as we are developing into an elementary class with about 6-7 young kids instead of the myriad of adults the missionaries hope for. It's a work in progress. We had a late missionary correlation meeting, and a church tour after that. Church tours are fun and interesting, where someone comes who wants to see what our church is about, and they are curious enough to show up for a tour. I went with the missionaries and was able to give a 1-minute sketch of the Savior, which is NOT the easiest thing to do to for someone who has never heard of Him! This last-minute church tour put us home at 8:30 pm, eating dinner at a restaurant at 9:00 pm, and more tired today. Hey, the life of a missionary.

We have been very excited with plans to go with the other senior missionaries on a Senior Couples' retreat to visit Da Nang, Hoi An, and Hue next Monday, August 25. Once President Howell (mission president) approved the senior retreat, Allen researched, planned, called, arranged, changed, and made it all happen. He made sure this is going to be a fantastic trip! He began a month ago to make sure we would have our visas renewed in time for the trip. We were told that we would have them picked up August 15 so that we could get them back today, August 24. Friday night, we got a call that because of the holiday, the government office that takes care of visas closed early and our visas would not be done until Monday at the earliest. And so we are readjusting our thought processes, and just crossing our fingers that they will, indeed, be done on Monday. We will still join the others for Tuesday through Thursday, and we will stay through Saturday with a few of the other couples, so we are still very excited.

And now we're getting ready for a stormy week! Another typhoon is headed this way, but hopefully we will be in Da Nang, out of it's path. Hanoi is supposed to get around 7 inches of rain in the next 4 days. We will (not) be sad to miss it.

Have a lovely week! We'll tell you about Da Nang (hopefully) in our next edition! And I will leave you with a very cool picture that exemplifies the Vietnam spirit...