On Monday of this week, Eric and I walked to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum (about a 15 minute walk from our apartment) to observe the Independence Day celebration. Flowers, flags, military police, lots of people, cameras- your standard celebration. Later that night there were fireworks at Hoam Kiem Lake, about a 30 minute walk from our apartment. Instead of attending the fireworks, we enjoyed dinner with a friend- Sharon Seeger- who is teaching at the deaf school in Hanoi. Also on our walk, we came upon a statue of Lenin, the only surviving statue of Lenin in the entire world. The park has now turned into a hangout for the kids and their skateboards by day and at night, counterculture groups assemble until the wee hours of the morning.