snapshots of Ha Noi

It's been a while since I've written here and a lot has happened. What follows are a few quotes from my journal, like little snapshots into my life here. I realize there's a danger in posting these that you'll think my life is full of these kinds of stories, all the time. It's not. My daily life mostly involves going to work and back, but within that mundane-ness sometimes strange things happen...

"Today when I was looking to buy baking powder to make pancakes, the woman told me that what I needed was 'poudre pour panification.' Panifi-what? She said it makes bread rise, and I guess my pancakes DID go up like they’re supposed to, so panification powder it is. Nice."

"My host mother showed me the opera program, and basically told me, though a lot of pointing, going through my clothes (see these jeans? No go), and repeating Vietnamese, to look hott. The concert was one of the biggest of the year and I thoroughly enjoyed it with my host cousin."

"This morning I went to the Massage Center to pick up our flyers. There were two big bundles of flyers. It’s really exciting to see my work in actual paper form. My hours on a computer does not just result in a letter grade at the top of a paper, but something concrete to give to people so that these kids have clients and a job. If this is what the real world is, I kinda like it."

"A highlight of today was going out with a coworker and a video camera to capture construction, traffic, and the old/new dichotomy of Hanoi for a movie we’re making. Looking for a traffic jam, now that’s a new one! Hai drove while I worked the camera. We found some 'good' construction (that I usually curse on my bicycle) and drove in through a little door to get a better image. Action for the City spies! I learned that it’s really, really hard to get footage on the back of a bike that doesn’t make you queasy when you watch it."

"Today I filled in as receptionist at Just Massage, which was funny when it came time to answer the phone. 'Tôi không nói tiếng Việt. Anh chờ một phút.' ('I don’t speak Vietnamese. Wait a minute.') Then I would run to get someone to help me. Later on, they asked me if I wanted a massage—business was slow and I wasn’t being that helpful anyway. Sure! It was like a private Vietnamese/English language session for both me and the therapist. Now that’s the way to study language!"

"Yesterday, I joined MCC in going to an HIV/AIDS music and dance competition in a commune outside of Hanoi. It was really interesting to compare it with the competitions at Meeting Point in Kampala. Here, AIDS isn’t such a big deal (yet) and it seemed that the kids didn’t have the same kind of personal, real experience with AIDS as those in Uganda—is was more of a school subject. But they had some creative skits, art, and songs. One group did a rap and their costumes were the traditional long shirts but over tight jeans with stiletto boots. Old meets new! Afterwards we went out to lunch with the organizers. They had these little shot glasses and poured water from a water bottle into them, then toasted. 'Oh ha!,' I thought—'water. No problem to knock back this one.' Except… I quickly discovered that it was not water. No way. That stuff had some serious power. They call it rice wine."

Other highlights in this past month were going to Thailand to visit my dear Wheaton friends Sarah and Sophia, Christmas parties with MCC and church friends, playing my flute and singing in candlelight at the Christmas Eve service with the two international churches, finishing most of my grad school applications, and biking 60K through the Vietnamese countryside for a fundraiser. It's been a good month. Pictures coming soon.