Today we had our embassey visit that we were lead to imagine was some sort of ardrous ordeal involving checking our paperwork (that we brought along a portfolio of)being asked questions and in general something to get past quickly and efficently. This we did because once we paid our VISA fees, Steve signed two documents and declared that "yes the info you have in true as far as we know" - done. I walked back to the chairs surprised and relieved as I felt sure our paperwork won't be in order. We were there with a woman from SC who is adopting a 5 month old baby girl. We all took silly pics in front of the American flag and left. Kino was quite sedate as we decided to do our test dose of Benadryl just prior to leaving as it was his nap time and boy was he wound up. (The trip to the temple this am afforded him his first open spaces to run and boy did he with great delight and smiles galore. He also met a 3 yr old boy who played with him for a bit under the direction of his grandmother who washed both sets of hands and pulled up the pants and shorts of each boy so they rested under their armpits :) before allowing them playtime.)
Loves to run can be added to the Kino list of discoveries. Also takes great pleasure in lifting heavy objects - for example 1.5 liter bottles of water - he can lift them onto the bed and then of course throw them on the floor. Strong little dude. (Seeing him do that reminds me of a Steve photo when he was a bit younger on the farm carrying a milk can down the lane.) Hasn't figured out how to wear his Diego backpack but hauls it around and smiled when I showed him how I wear mine. Soon...
At any rate he was at full bore 2.5 year old antics so it seemed a grand time to see if the benadryl would be a success (for the flight home) or if it would cause the opposite effect. Thankfully it has had the desired reaction. Course it is now almost 5:30 and he's still out...
My cold - caught I'm sure on the flight here progresses -should be fully a pain in the neck by the time we fly back - guess I'll be passing on the favor...
SO there was a request to continue to guessing game and here is the clue - Kino's second English word is one we all use daily - work, play, home, phone everywhere. Guess what it is??
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
But Thap; Don Ky Village
Day-tripping around Hanoi, yesterday we toured about 30 km into the countryside to visit a Buddhist temple at But Thap, and then ventured along the Red River another 30 km further to Don Ky Village where traditional furniture is crafted in the time honored technique. It was a delightful break all the way around from the busy urban scene. We visited another Temple—of Literature--this morning in Hanoi that honors Confucian roots in Vietnam and shares many design characteristics of the one at But Thap, particularly the pagoda and the style of the walkways. The experience at But Thap was far more serene and enjoyable in its rural setting of rice fields and old-world villages. The drive to and from there was a great adventure by itself, snaking through small towns that afford a vivid slice-of-life perspective in the traffic and commerce along the streets. We met our driver, Vuoung, in our touring of Hanoi. He’s very pleasant and speaks English fairly well, a great asset in navigating the terrain and culture. We’re entertaining the idea of having him guide us on a visit to Halong Bay tomorrow but may have to wait for a return visit to take in that destination. Don’t want to over tax the younger member of our travel party who’s been holding up very well thus far. We’re making strides of understanding about Kino’s tolerances and energy which ties very closely, of course, with the timing of food and naps. His endurance and drive seems to increase each day. Yikes.
XO Steve
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Monday, April 14, 2008
Monsoon
Woke to the sound of RAIN and more RAIN and then some more RAIN!!!!!! Throw in a bit of thunder and lightening - yahoo - seems the monsoon has begun! Of course today is the day we are leaving in a hired car to go out of town for a bit of a tour.... and my throat hurts....uh oh...
Sunday, April 13, 2008
More on Ha Noi and Kino!
Editors’ note: Great to hear positive feedback about our comments and reactions to our travels. “Blogging” bridges worlds between correspondence and journal writing as such leads us in to a middle ground that no doubt makes for tedious reading at times. In general it helps open our eyes along this road of discovery and it’s all the more rewarding to be sharing the experience with all of you. Steve
Ha Noi
Flying into Ha Noi is a bit like flying to Kansas – you know you are in the same country as everyone speaks a similar dialect, but it sure feels, looks, smells and tastes quite different. Coffee for example is harder to find and when you do it is served hot. Pho is also much more difficult to locate even though Ha Noi is supposed to produce pho that is better than Saigon’s. Hmm – could be our hood, which is more focused on commerce than eating. Each small shop has living space behind it so preparing food occurs in the same space as taking care of the baby (middle of shop) and making a living, watching TV – life. (In Saigon life as I have said was lived IN the street including retail to some level.) This design is known as nha ong or tube houses – narrow – sometimes only 3 meters wide but up to 50 meters long- looking down from our hotel which is one of the tallest structures in the area you can clearly see where the name derives – Americans may relate to the visual of row after row of single wide trailers each sharing a common wall with the house next door. Many of the nha ong have intriguing hallways leading from the street back to the living quarters – we walk slowly by and I love the glimpses we catch. This is from our tour book “ The houses tend to be interspersed by courtyards or ‘wells’ to permit light into the house and allow some space for outside activities like washing or gardening.” (Footprint Vietnam, p. 81)
Post our breakfast of canapés, fried rice, stir fried veggies, fresh warm mango juice, fried eggs, fresh fruit, congee, stir fried beef with pineapple, coffee, several hours of downpour, and some rigorous room play we taxied over to the Hang Be Market which for Seattle folks is sort of the Vietnamese version of Pike Place Market when it first started 100 years ago plus scooters riding up on your back end and nudging you with their tires in case you missed the horn in your ear. (Honest!)
You need a live carp? No problem there they are swimming in metal washtubs with an aerating system or some sort to provide O2 I guess. Kino watched as a woman arrived and pointed out a nice round one. The fishmonger picked up the selected one, it in a bag while Mr. Fishy gasped against the plastic like a victim in a bad horror film. He didn’t suffer the suffocation long as she took her cleaver and snacked it firmly on the head near the neck if it had one. Then came the gutting, descaling, and filleting process. Seemed a bit brutal for a 2 year old, but Kino watched with great interest. Talk about fresh eh?
He also saw chickens on the hoof, a tub filled with writhing live eels, tiny crabs in similar tubs as well as the large variety trussed with strong red cord that made them appear more like a festive party gifts then a live beasties, tables filled with parts of mammals, red with blood, most of them unknown to us, knives flashing through the thick moist tropical air readying dinner cuts. Then there were the vegetables, grains, rice, noodles, sauces, herbs, dried spices and of course the fruit! Sensory overload in Vietnam.
We tried to find our way to 87 Ma May street to see an original nha ong, but got lost of course – hard to navigate streets when the language prevents basic comprehension and directional abilities – especially when the micrographic copy of our map only has a few of actual real roadways. Anyway by design I managed to get us back to the hotel and we avoided 87 Ma May Street. :) For now.
I did wish for a kitchen as everything veggies wise at least looked photo worthy. One woman, an artist in her own right carved carrots the size of Kino’s calf into butterflies and crabs with such detail as to inspire poetry.
Kino updates – smiling more!
Has a real sense of style. For example this am Steve put his blue shorts on with a yellow shirt. He came back and pointed out that he preferred the yellow to match and wanted to change! He can match colors now when playing as well, but not yet able to speak the words in English.
Loves the phone – picks it up and listens to the beep beep beep and smiles Think he’s going to love talking on it. Had a video chat with Uncle Per in Denmark yesterday and he watched intently the interaction, but I’m sure he thought it was TV, which he is familiar with from the orphanage.
Enormously coordinated with his feet and toes. I watched him while he was to be falling asleep for his nap – find his shoes with his feet and lift them to his hands to be played with. (Shoes between feet lift and down. Repeat. Do you suppose the nannies taught him this?) It’s not only his feet that are skilled - he’s got great abdominals as well. He also used his toes to hold onto things – like crayons in each set of toes while skating across the floor.
Doesn’t believe bookmarkers have a place in books – goes along with his neat nature. Loves to clean up.
Learned to spit! Toothpaste and excess water associated with this enterprise!
Speaking of knowing you aren’t in Kansas – we awoke the first morning to the soft music via loud speakers set up in the streets. This went on for about an hour followed by what we can only guess to be rise and shine communist messages in loud Vietnamese for about a half hour. Saturday morning! There is much more of a police presence here than in Saigon with the local gendarmes station about 15 seconds away. The green clad police hang in the street and glancing into the station brings to mind the Hollywood image of that American dude who got caught with drugs in the airport of I think Turkey and ended up in prison. The shirttail hanging half way out, cigarette dangling, one eye partly closed against the smoke while ogling the activity.
Leslie
Ha Noi
Flying into Ha Noi is a bit like flying to Kansas – you know you are in the same country as everyone speaks a similar dialect, but it sure feels, looks, smells and tastes quite different. Coffee for example is harder to find and when you do it is served hot. Pho is also much more difficult to locate even though Ha Noi is supposed to produce pho that is better than Saigon’s. Hmm – could be our hood, which is more focused on commerce than eating. Each small shop has living space behind it so preparing food occurs in the same space as taking care of the baby (middle of shop) and making a living, watching TV – life. (In Saigon life as I have said was lived IN the street including retail to some level.) This design is known as nha ong or tube houses – narrow – sometimes only 3 meters wide but up to 50 meters long- looking down from our hotel which is one of the tallest structures in the area you can clearly see where the name derives – Americans may relate to the visual of row after row of single wide trailers each sharing a common wall with the house next door. Many of the nha ong have intriguing hallways leading from the street back to the living quarters – we walk slowly by and I love the glimpses we catch. This is from our tour book “ The houses tend to be interspersed by courtyards or ‘wells’ to permit light into the house and allow some space for outside activities like washing or gardening.” (Footprint Vietnam, p. 81)
Post our breakfast of canapés, fried rice, stir fried veggies, fresh warm mango juice, fried eggs, fresh fruit, congee, stir fried beef with pineapple, coffee, several hours of downpour, and some rigorous room play we taxied over to the Hang Be Market which for Seattle folks is sort of the Vietnamese version of Pike Place Market when it first started 100 years ago plus scooters riding up on your back end and nudging you with their tires in case you missed the horn in your ear. (Honest!)
You need a live carp? No problem there they are swimming in metal washtubs with an aerating system or some sort to provide O2 I guess. Kino watched as a woman arrived and pointed out a nice round one. The fishmonger picked up the selected one, it in a bag while Mr. Fishy gasped against the plastic like a victim in a bad horror film. He didn’t suffer the suffocation long as she took her cleaver and snacked it firmly on the head near the neck if it had one. Then came the gutting, descaling, and filleting process. Seemed a bit brutal for a 2 year old, but Kino watched with great interest. Talk about fresh eh?
He also saw chickens on the hoof, a tub filled with writhing live eels, tiny crabs in similar tubs as well as the large variety trussed with strong red cord that made them appear more like a festive party gifts then a live beasties, tables filled with parts of mammals, red with blood, most of them unknown to us, knives flashing through the thick moist tropical air readying dinner cuts. Then there were the vegetables, grains, rice, noodles, sauces, herbs, dried spices and of course the fruit! Sensory overload in Vietnam.
We tried to find our way to 87 Ma May street to see an original nha ong, but got lost of course – hard to navigate streets when the language prevents basic comprehension and directional abilities – especially when the micrographic copy of our map only has a few of actual real roadways. Anyway by design I managed to get us back to the hotel and we avoided 87 Ma May Street. :) For now.
I did wish for a kitchen as everything veggies wise at least looked photo worthy. One woman, an artist in her own right carved carrots the size of Kino’s calf into butterflies and crabs with such detail as to inspire poetry.
Kino updates – smiling more!
Has a real sense of style. For example this am Steve put his blue shorts on with a yellow shirt. He came back and pointed out that he preferred the yellow to match and wanted to change! He can match colors now when playing as well, but not yet able to speak the words in English.
Loves the phone – picks it up and listens to the beep beep beep and smiles Think he’s going to love talking on it. Had a video chat with Uncle Per in Denmark yesterday and he watched intently the interaction, but I’m sure he thought it was TV, which he is familiar with from the orphanage.
Enormously coordinated with his feet and toes. I watched him while he was to be falling asleep for his nap – find his shoes with his feet and lift them to his hands to be played with. (Shoes between feet lift and down. Repeat. Do you suppose the nannies taught him this?) It’s not only his feet that are skilled - he’s got great abdominals as well. He also used his toes to hold onto things – like crayons in each set of toes while skating across the floor.
Doesn’t believe bookmarkers have a place in books – goes along with his neat nature. Loves to clean up.
Learned to spit! Toothpaste and excess water associated with this enterprise!
Speaking of knowing you aren’t in Kansas – we awoke the first morning to the soft music via loud speakers set up in the streets. This went on for about an hour followed by what we can only guess to be rise and shine communist messages in loud Vietnamese for about a half hour. Saturday morning! There is much more of a police presence here than in Saigon with the local gendarmes station about 15 seconds away. The green clad police hang in the street and glancing into the station brings to mind the Hollywood image of that American dude who got caught with drugs in the airport of I think Turkey and ended up in prison. The shirttail hanging half way out, cigarette dangling, one eye partly closed against the smoke while ogling the activity.
Leslie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
+3.jpg)