November Part 2

Our area had all the alley raised recently.  The project started in October and finished the beginning of November.  We were thankful we had a second entrance to our house.  Most of our neighbors do not and had to figure out how to navigate the trench down the middle. 

Brittany posed for me and you can tell by her mask that it smelled.  Of course, it is the sewer for our alley.











After they dug it all up, they lined it with new bricks and raised it by adding dirt, sand and then cement on the sides and new covers in the middle.  You can see the pile of sand that was on our main road.

Hmmm, it is going to be higher than our courtyard.

All finished.  It looks nice. The entrance to our courtyard is off to the right.  Our landlord is planning to smooth our entry into the alley with a cement ramp.  If you look closely, there is a drainage hole off to the right in the corner of the cement.

The whole process took some weeks. The reason it was done, as far as we understand, was to raise the alley so that it is still higher than the sewer our alley sewer dumps into.  sounds like a good thing.

Accident

Ann and Brittany were in an accident a few months ago and we are just now getting it into the blog.  This accident turned out, overall, well - as neither Brittany nor Ann were seriously injured.  Actually Brittany was not injured at all, except for the trauma of the experience. Ann had some minor injuries such as scrapes and a good size bump on her elbow.

It all started when Ann and Brittany were out on Ann's little 50cc motorbike (Honda Cub).  Her front tire suddenly went flat and after finding out where the nearest repair place was, began to push the motorbike with Brittany pushing from behind.  The place was not far, but it was up a hill, so Ann really appreciated Brittany's help pushing.

As they pushed the bike on the right hand side of the road, right by the sidewalk, uncharacteristically for roads here, it was vacant of any other vehicle...Until a lone motorbike turned onto the road at the top of the hill.  Ann and Brittany noticed that he was heading straight for them and seeing this, Brittany jumped out of the way in time onto the sidewalk.  Ann also began to get away, but as she was holding the bike up, she was knocked to the ground from the impact of the much larger motorbike.  The man was intoxicated (it was 3 in the afternoon), was apologetic,  and to Ann's dismay, left on his motorbike.  We hope he didn't run into anyone else.

We are thankful that the worst was shaken nerves and that Russell came to the rescue as Ann's arm was in too much pain to push the motorbike (with a flat tire) any where.  Ann got back on the motorbike and drove in a few days, although not without extra caution!

November 2011 Part 1

Thanksgiving 2011 in Hanoi.  1.  Rolls in the motorbike trunk - check  2.  One driver, two passengers - check  3.  Pumpkin pie - check  4.  Oatmeal apple cake - check  5.  Exact address of where we are going - we'll figure it out when we get near. 

Our friends house seems to be one of many dead zones for cell phones (as is our first floor).  We called two different friends that were coming and neither got our call, but in the nick of time another friend arrived and we followed them to the right house, a few more up from where we were.

We had great food and fellowship and this year and to curiously, little rocks on the tables.  We learned that these would be a type of Ebenezer stone.  Recorded in I Samuel 7 is how the prophet Samuel set an Ebenezer stone, literally meaning, "stone of help", to commemorate the victory the Lord had given the Israelites over the Philistines.  We were encouraged to pickup a stone and when we had thought of a situation the Lord had been our help this past year, we dropped the stone into a bowl. 

One of our beautiful palm trees out in front of our house is dying.  Today it lost it's last two fronds (massive "leaves" around 15 feet long).  When the fronds have come down, they land in our little courtyard, or in our alley, dragging wires down with it.  We are thankful the wires have never broken. Asking our landlord again about removing the dying tree, especially as some of our neighbors are nervous the tree falling.

November 20th was Teachers Day here in Vietnam.  We were treated by Ann's English class to a dinner with some of the parents and the kids.  The picture is of Brittany with the girls in the class all digging into a bowl of multiple scoops of ice cream.  The boys got their own bowl and even us adults were given a bowl to share - it was good. 

The English class we host in our home took us out to a new, not yet fully open, resort that is located about 1 1/2 hours outside Hanoi.  It is a beautiful place, with a big lake, some different types of boats and bicycles built for two.  We had a lot of fun riding among the trees, walking on grass and breathing the clean air.  To the right is a picture of Ann and Brittany in a rubber canoe.  Below is a picture of our class and few of their children.



There is more to write about November, but it will have to wait until next time.

Back in Hanoi

Things we were reminded of when we returned to Hanoi:

1.  It is hot here

2.  Sweating is normal

3.  Riding the motorbike around is fun/stressful, depending on which one of us you ask and when.

4.  The car population continues to grow.  According to an article we read yesterday, there are 380,000               

     cars registered in Hanoi.  Though motorbikes still greatly outnumber cars, with 3.7 million registered 

            motorbikes in Hanoi.

5.   Hanoi is becoming more and more like Illinois - the weather is totally unpredictable.

Well, this was started soon after our return, but just getting back to add #5, so, I'll add a few things recently observed.

1.  Instead of a tree branch sticking up in the road to warn people to watch out for the gaping man hole,
     someone used a clothes tree.
2.  With all the rain, seeing people on motorbikes with umbrellas again.  This was outlawed sometime
     ago for motorbikes, though it is still legal for bicycles.

Time to post.  More later.

Visit Home

Beautiful Fireworks

We have been home almost a month, with a month left to go before returning to Hanoi.  Time is flying by with little chance to see all the friends and family we want to see.  Though this is true, we have so much to be thankful for!
We were home for July 4th and celebrated Independence Day with Russell's family, including fireworks.  While we were at Miller Park in Bloomington, Illinois for the fireworks, we ran into Russell's cousin and his wife - a cool surprise and blessing.

"Cave of the Winds" going up to the "Hurricane Deck"

We also traveled to New York State for a day of meetings and on the way, stopped at Niagara Falls.   What a refreshing time we had as a family.  We stayed on the Canadian side for the night - seeing the Falls on the Canadian side in the late afternoon, night and morning.  We have always heard that it is better to see the Falls on this side.  I found this to be true for the Horseshoe Falls (Canadian Falls), but for the American Falls, I really like the view that we had on the American side, seeing the American Falls from this side, I thought, captured it's grandeur and beauty more.  We enjoyed the "Maid of the Mist" boat tour, going near the falls and feeling the spray and as a family we dared to go onto the "Hurricane Deck" on the "Cave of the Winds" tour, where you go on a walk way, getting as close to the American Falls as possible.

American Falls

The wind and spray from the Falls was incredible and fun.  Joseph helped Brittany get on the "Hurricane Deck" by keeping her rain poncho from flying up, as she would have been  drenched in seconds.  This was our first time as a family to the Falls, but we hope it is not our last.  

As time moves forward, even more powerfully than Niagara Falls, we trust the Lord who made both, to keep us in His hands as we travel, visit and refresh.  

Pictures

The weather is finally stabilizing and the sky is somewhat clear.  After three and a half months of mostly gray, we are glad to see the sun and warmer weather.  Tonight we went out for a walk and saw the moon and some stars.  What a treat.
I also took pictures tonight, as you can see.  We have not been able to see the buildings in the pictures this clearly for some time during the day, with some days not being able to see them at all.

The tall building in the distance (right part of the picture), with the light near the top of the building, we have been told when completed, will be the tallest building in Vietnam at 60 stories.

Tall buildings are being built all over the city, with new hotels, high rise apartments and office buildings.

Around West Lake people fish all the time - all day long.  There seems to be a high demand of fish for all the restaurants and  home in the area.  It was nice of this guy to sit still (without knowing it) as I took this picture.  

In Hanoi, the most famous lake is downtown and called "Restored Sword Lake".  It is one of the famous legends of Vietnam.  The King who defeated the Ming Chinese, returned the sword he used to victory to this lake.  When the king brought it to Hoan Kiem Lake (Restored Sword Lake), it was taken from him by a large tortoise.  For years it has been said that a turtle still lives in this lake.  Recently, this turtle had to be captured as it needed medical attention.  This is a link showing the excitement this event raised. 

http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_offbeat/2011-04-05/rare-giant-turtle-captured-for-treatment-in-hanoi-vietnam.html 

To read about the legend you can go to:

http://hanoi1000yrs.vietnam.gov.vn/Home/The-legend-of-restored-sword-lake/20104/4815.vgp