and on the 24th day it was hot

So much happens I could never tell it all

Like I totally forgot to tell you about the pop star that was with us in the airport when we first arrived in china and the throngs of screaming girls and how I poked him.

But let’s focus on the now: I am in Vietnam and it is – WONDERFUL.
Favorite place we’ve visited so far.
I’m in Hanoi and the scale is smaller which is refreshing and wonderful and it is bustling and alive. The colors are bright again (!) and the architecture has drastically changed. I have seen some of the narrowest buildings! One store I walked past today could barely function as a hallway at 3 feet wide, much less a clothing shop.

And it’s hot! It feels like South Carolina in the summer and we missed the peak hours. It has started raining and it was very welcome as far as I’m concerned.

I ate my first tiny bit of street food – two donut looking objects (donut hole like) for 5000 dong (16,000 dong = 1 USD) which is about 30 cents. The outside was really delicious and super sweet but the inside (I didn’t realize there would be an inside) was hollow and partially filled with something that I think was rice. It was fun to try whatever it was!

The traffic is absolutely insane. Maybe worse than Beijing – but different anyway. There are very few cars as they aren’t really allowed in the city so everyone is on motorcycle/moped/scooter things. There are no lights so everyone is always going. There are “crosswalks” but these are just suggestions. It’s a life size game of Frogger.
It was REALLY scary the first few times but I’m already feeling like I can handle it now.

I’m not sure what tomorrow entails entirely, but I do know we are going to see the Chairman Mao of Vietnam whose name escapes me since my knowledge of history is too poor. This is a really big deal and somewhat sacred as we are not allowed to show our knees or our shoulders. Pray for me in the heat.

I should run and go back to the unfun-ness that is washing my clothes in the sink and hoping they dry / hiding them from the hotel.