The last four days have been a dizzy reminder that we are out of our element. But, as always, it came with an exciting adventure that touched us and gave us new perspective on how grateful we are to spend time here in Vietnam and to be a small part of the lives of our new friends.
Saturday was filled with errands. We called our laundry lady to come pick up our laundry. I love the laundry lady. We went over to the Marchant's (friends from the Hanoi branch. They will be in Hanoi working at the Embassy for the next 3 yrs) to pick up a few loner items I haven't been able to find. Butt cream for Pearce who ate something that gave him a sore bum. Apparently Vietnamese toddlers have perfect, unburdened butts. Breaking Dawn, the last book of the Twighlight series (and the reason I haven't blogged in a week). And a cure to my back problems. Yes you read the last sentence correctly. I won't have to drink wildcat wine after all. My back is now easily corrected with a door, a pully, a bag of water and a head-hanging neck holder. It was the miracle I have been praying for. Anyway a BIG thank you to Jenni Marchant who shared her back healing solution...in humility. LOL. I will be forever in her debt. While Jenni shared her most coveted secret, Pearced played happily with Emma (Marchant's 5 yr old daughter, Xander 2 yrs was already napping) Eric went out to finish some of our other errands, such as buying 60, 1 dollar DVDs (surprisingly most of them were HD quality and the others a nice bootlegged version) and inspected his dress shirts that were being made at the local tailors. We then ventured over to meander through the Ho Chi Minh Museum. I was very impressed by how dramaticly artistic everything was displayed.
Sunday came with happy news that brought the Mission President from Cambodia to the Hanoi Branch. With all the baptisms the meeting house was getting a little crowed. Late,attendees would have to sit on the sky scraping stairs and little Vietnamese girls were bunched two to a chair. A new, bigger, more centrally-located meeting house (literally a house) was announced to be ready for use in a couple of weeks. Sadly we will have moved on to the vacation portion of our time here in Southeast Asia, and will not get to see it. But the news still made our day. Progress. We love it.
After church Pearce had a long nap, while we packed an over night bag. The excitement was building. We were going to our first traditional "counryside" Vietnamese Wedding. Our friend Chien, who we met in Sapa last year, was getting hitched to his high school sweetheart after dating for 4 years, in there home village of Yen Lac (outside of Vinh Phuc, which is more than an hour outside of Hanoi, for those who care). As soon as Pearce woke we hoped into a taxi, giving the address from their traditional red invitation. We were told it would take about an hour to get there. Now there are a few things about driving in Vietnam that are different than in most other places such as no street signs....anywhere (once in a while we would find an address printed on a building). Let me say this again. Once you're out of the city, there are no street signs in the whole country. So if you have never been somewhere before, good luck finding it. And luck wasn't on our side. Our driver stopped at least 10 times to ask random people for directions. And I mean random. Like an old lady who was marching her water buffalo through a huge field. Like she is going to know? She told him he was close, only two more kilometers "that way." All the advice for directions were answered with two more kilometers "that way." After four similar inquires I realized how comical this was, and started to take pictures of all the places we stopped to ask for directions. Here are a few.
Two more kilometers "that way."
As for the wedding itself, I'll save it for the next post.
Saturday was filled with errands. We called our laundry lady to come pick up our laundry. I love the laundry lady. We went over to the Marchant's (friends from the Hanoi branch. They will be in Hanoi working at the Embassy for the next 3 yrs) to pick up a few loner items I haven't been able to find. Butt cream for Pearce who ate something that gave him a sore bum. Apparently Vietnamese toddlers have perfect, unburdened butts. Breaking Dawn, the last book of the Twighlight series (and the reason I haven't blogged in a week). And a cure to my back problems. Yes you read the last sentence correctly. I won't have to drink wildcat wine after all. My back is now easily corrected with a door, a pully, a bag of water and a head-hanging neck holder. It was the miracle I have been praying for. Anyway a BIG thank you to Jenni Marchant who shared her back healing solution...in humility. LOL. I will be forever in her debt. While Jenni shared her most coveted secret, Pearced played happily with Emma (Marchant's 5 yr old daughter, Xander 2 yrs was already napping) Eric went out to finish some of our other errands, such as buying 60, 1 dollar DVDs (surprisingly most of them were HD quality and the others a nice bootlegged version) and inspected his dress shirts that were being made at the local tailors. We then ventured over to meander through the Ho Chi Minh Museum. I was very impressed by how dramaticly artistic everything was displayed.
Sunday came with happy news that brought the Mission President from Cambodia to the Hanoi Branch. With all the baptisms the meeting house was getting a little crowed. Late,attendees would have to sit on the sky scraping stairs and little Vietnamese girls were bunched two to a chair. A new, bigger, more centrally-located meeting house (literally a house) was announced to be ready for use in a couple of weeks. Sadly we will have moved on to the vacation portion of our time here in Southeast Asia, and will not get to see it. But the news still made our day. Progress. We love it.
After church Pearce had a long nap, while we packed an over night bag. The excitement was building. We were going to our first traditional "counryside" Vietnamese Wedding. Our friend Chien, who we met in Sapa last year, was getting hitched to his high school sweetheart after dating for 4 years, in there home village of Yen Lac (outside of Vinh Phuc, which is more than an hour outside of Hanoi, for those who care). As soon as Pearce woke we hoped into a taxi, giving the address from their traditional red invitation. We were told it would take about an hour to get there. Now there are a few things about driving in Vietnam that are different than in most other places such as no street signs....anywhere (once in a while we would find an address printed on a building). Let me say this again. Once you're out of the city, there are no street signs in the whole country. So if you have never been somewhere before, good luck finding it. And luck wasn't on our side. Our driver stopped at least 10 times to ask random people for directions. And I mean random. Like an old lady who was marching her water buffalo through a huge field. Like she is going to know? She told him he was close, only two more kilometers "that way." All the advice for directions were answered with two more kilometers "that way." After four similar inquires I realized how comical this was, and started to take pictures of all the places we stopped to ask for directions. Here are a few.
Two more kilometers "that way."
Two more kilometers "that way."
Two more kilometers "that way."As for the wedding itself, I'll save it for the next post.
3 comments:
Busy busy busy! So...how did you like Breaking Dawn? Are you saving a post for that in itself? Cant wait to get your take on it!!
Hey guys!! Love reading about all your adventures in Vietnam! Sorry I've been such a lazy blogger... I need to get in gear. Just wanted you to know we love and miss you!
Wendi! I just found your blog through blog hopping! It is fun to look at what you are up to! Are you guys living in Vietnam?
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