This is Qui and Eric on Eric's second day of motorbike riding- I put out a PSA to all Hanoians- "watch out for the guy in the blue and white plaid shirt!" Actually, he is doing very well and quickly learning how to navigate his way through the traffic. We're taking it up a notch tomorrow morning- Eric is taking me to the University- during semi-rush hour traffic. Yikes! He says he's ready.

Qui and Son take care of us (and the other apartment dwellers- there are 4 apartments in this house),  each working 12 hour shifts- they do our laundry, clean our apartment, maintain everything, take care of security, etc. This service is all quite normal in Vietnam- home care (laundry/cleaning) is an entire industry here, employing thousands in Hanoi alone and also provides an income for those who have retired (55 yold for women and 60 yold for men).

 Over the weekend we traveled to Ba Be National Park, stayed with a Tay Group (one of 54 minority groups in Vietnam) family in their stilt house, cruised the lake, ate Tay food- cooked morning glory foliage, rice, pork, chicken (head and all), carp, tofu. Above is a close-up of their homes, the next set of photos is our trip on the lake/river, the cave that the river flows through and Eric's swimming adventure off of the Widow island-the place to swim. Legend has it that this island lost her husband and is very happy when people (especially men) swim around her, creating a water flow that caresses her sides. I think Eric made her very happy.

 A photo of my students- they are delightful and so much fun to work with. Their English speaking and writing skills very widely, but somehow it works.

 Donna's dress she made for me prior to our departure has been a godsend- it works as a morning lounger with coffee in hand to a 'going out' dress at night. On top of all that, it has a nice Asian print-thanks, Donna!

Today we ventured to Hoa Lo Prison, nicknamed "Hanoi Hilton" by US Pilot POWs during the Vietnam  War (called the American War by the Vietnamese). It was built by the French in 1896 and for most of its history, incarcerated Vietnamese nationalists during the French occupation up to the mid-1950s. In the two rooms that house the story of US POWS, the message we were given was clear: the Vietnamese treated the US POWS very well during their time there- a lot better than how the French treated the Vietnamese! It was quite strange standing in the cells that housed the prisoners (with the shackles and torture implements) while to the right and left stood postcards and other souvenirs.

Notice Eric's purse (it's really mine)- he would not wear it until about a week ago and now I can't get it away from him.

Today I met with the International Office Staff who also administer all of the faculty research at UEB...from left to right, Ha, Dr. Minh, Ly Ly, Dr. Tuen, Huong and Nuong. Missing from the picture is another staff member, Minh. They are a fun group, who promise to correct my Vietnamese pronunciation if I do the same for their English. After a wonderful lunch at a nearby Japanese restaurant, I met my students for the first time- 42 undergraduates who are in their 3rd year of their 4 year bachelors program in business administration. The top picture is the building that houses the business administration group as well as several classrooms. I'll send a picture of my students next week. Tomorrow Eric and I start our language lessons- Ha's sister will be coming to our apartment every Tues, Thurs and Friday at 4pm- we will take to the streets and "learn by doing".

This is our typical "eating Scene" when we go out for lunch or diner, which, to date, is about every day. Believe it or not, it is cheaper to eat out than it is to eat in. With us is Lan Anh (my friend and colleague that visited the states in 2011-2012) and her daughter, Lan Thao. This particular stall has Lan Thao's favorite food, a salad of sorts with a sweet and sour dressing that is to die for. With it, they mix in peanuts, beef strips, leathery chicken skin, LOTS of basil and the salad part is thin noodle-like strips of a particular vegetable (like zucchini). Prior to dinner we went to the toy street (yes, lots of toys) and the bookstore street. It was a great afternoon and now we are home, with Eric preparing his meatballs for tomorrow's potluck. I am preparing for my Monday class...anxious and excited at the same time!

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.

For the Independence Day weekend, Lan Ahn invited us to Haiphong, the largest port city in Vietnam, to spend time with her sister's family. The Scrabble game we gave to Lan Thao was quite popular with the cousins-we played LOTS of scrabble in two days-I am all scrabbled out. Lan Ahn's brother-in-law and sister own 2 box factories in Haiphong and have done quite well over the years. So much so that her brother-in-law (shown top right) spends most days on the golf course. He invited Eric to play with him (see photo of golf course) and, of course, Eric accepted. Lan Ahn's brother, Bo, went along to translate and the three of them had a great time. Later that afternoon, we headed "home" to Hanoi. 

Right around the corner from Lan Ahn's house is a typical sidewalk restaurant- actually, most eating places expand to the sidewalk. In addition to the "expanding" restaurants, people will set up shop most anywhere- all they need is a couple of plastic stools, a cooker and a pot. Tonight we had some sugar cane juice. Sugar cane is pressed through two rollers, the juice passes through a sifter and into a small pitcher at the base of the rollers. Voila- sugar cane juice and yes, we sat on 2 of 4 plastic stools he had in his "establishment".

On Friday night, Lan Anh (in photo on left) invited us to her sister's house in Haiphong for Vietnam's Independence Day. On our way to the bus station, we stopped to get icecream- this is a typical "convenient-type" store. Her daughter, Lan Thao, stands beside her. The 3 hour bus trip to Haiphong was packed and stopped often to pick up more passengers along the way. When the seats filled (shortly after leaving the station), they added small plastic stools down the bus aisle.