Finally some peace, quiet, and free time to write a long, descriptive entry

Whew. Before I even begin to update on my life in Ha Tinh (about which there is PLENTY to say), I will update everyone with another photo-post from my last week in Hanoi.

Here goes:

On Friday we had our closing dinner at a lovely hotel with amazing western food that was buffet-style. I wish I had thought to take a picture of my plate because it was SO RANDOM in terms of food combinations. I was just so excited at everything I saw that the same plate had an assortment of kim chi, pizza, slices of cheese, sushi, and grilled shrimp. It was doubly exciting for all of us because we all knew that it might be the last time we had access to western food, at least for a while. As a result, we all gorged ourselves at the reception, and it was just fabulous.

In addition to the fabulous food, we also recognized Chi Diu and Chi Nga, our two Fulbright coordinators who have made EVERYTHING possible. They arranged all of our university placements, all of orientation, and they are in charge of trouble-shooting any sort of problem that arises over the course of this year. In other words, they are important people to have on my side, and they are SO WONDERFUL, at that.

We also recognized Betsy, our incredible Teaching-English-as-a-Foreign-Language (TEFL) teacher who was awarded her own Fulbright Specialist Grant to come teach us. In other words, Chi Diu and Chi Nga picked the cream of the crop in terms of ESL and EFL teachers, and we benefitted significantly.

Here is Betsy receiving her certificate of appreciation from Chi Diu and Chi Nga.

 I love this photo as a candid because it expresses how appreciative all of us are. From L-R are Sasha, Betsy (being hugged by Lam), Chi Nga, Chi Diu, and Kelly.

 Here they are in a more composed shot.

 And here are all of the Fulbright ETAs, Chi Diu, Chi Nga, and Betsy. Can you find me?

After dinner, we met up with the hotel staff from the Rising Dragon II and went out for a karaoke party!!! I was still on the mend from my cold/cough/potential bronchitis, so I left after just a few songs, but I was happy to share in the fun, if only for a little while.

Here we are pre-karaoke with 3 of my favorite hotel staff. From L-R is Taylor, Dung, Ben, Thu, me, and Men. (Note that Taylor and I are very much complying with Asian ethics of photo-taking.)

 Here is Brittanye rocking out at karaoke. The room was so dark, so this is one of the few good photos that I got. Oh well, at least I have the memories!

 Here is lovely Men, who we are all mildly (or extremely) obsessed with. She is sweet, friendly, beautiful, and so accommodating and helpful. We have all fallen a little bit in love with her.

On Saturday, I spent the day simply wandering around Hanoi. In my opinion, it was a perfect last Saturday in Hanoi, just meandering around and hanging out with my fellow ETAs, stopping for various meals and snacks whenever we desired.

On Sunday, I had a more somber start to my day and visited Hoa Lo Prison (known to most of my readers by its cavalier nickname during the Vietnam War, "The Hanoi Hilton"). This visit took on particular significance to me, as my father's side of the family was actually personally touched by the cruelties that were imposed upon the Prisoners-of-War held captive there. Walking through the prison, I felt a bit like how I would imagine it would feel to walk through a concentration camp in Germany, Poland, or the Czech Republic (which I have not done yet). I could sense the immense suffering that was felt there, and I knew that it was distantly, yet still directly, related to me. It was chilling and haunting, and something that I knew I very much needed to do before leaving Hanoi.

While I felt that it was inappropriate to take pictures inside the museum (although plenty of Chinese tourists were!), I did take some pictures of the memorial in the courtyard. I think it is important to point out that this prison was not built in the 1960's with a sole purpose of imprisoning American soldiers. In fact, the prison was built in the 1800's by the French colonialists with the purpose of imprisoning Vietnamese revolutionaries who opposed the French rule (aka: Nationalists). The POWs held there during the Vietnam War were only one group of many who were stuck there, and I think it is important to note that the majority of the museum is used to commemorate the tortured revolutionary prisoners who were kept there. Thus, my guess is that this memorial does not commemorate the American soldiers who stayed there - why would it? - but instead commemorates the Vietnamese fighters who were protesting against colonial rule.

 However, that being said, I still found the incense to be of particular importance at this memorial. In Vietnam, these red incense sticks are used to honor the dead and to send up prayers to gods and ancestors. Standing in front of the incense here, I felt like I was honoring not only the Vietnamese revolutionaries who fought against the French, but the American soldiers who were drafted into a war that they did not understand or agree with. As far as I know, all of the POWs kept there returned home (please correct me if I am wrong!), but not all of them survived emotionally, and many remained in their own self-imposed prisons within their heads for the rest of their lives. This is the devastating consequence of war, and I could feel all of that emotion within the walls of this prison.

Phew. My apologies for the somber tone of this section of the post. If you'll allow me, I'd like to switch gears to more joyous memories from that day.

I went with Brittanye and Violet to Ly Van Phuc Street, also known as Hanoi's "Chicken Street." Literally. It is a street dedicated to grilled chicken and "honey bread," which is a French baguette covered in honey and then panini-pressed to very thin slices. The chicken is spicy, sweet, and tangy, and the bread is moist and sweet, and oh my goodness, the meal was absolutely incredible.

Yes, I ate chicken feet.

 As well as chicken wings.

 Here is Brittanye as the three of us did "Cheers!" with our wings.

 And here are the scraps (at least some of them!).

After dinner, the three of us took a final walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, where I finally got to take pictures of it lit up at night. The trees are decorated with these orbs that are made of LED lights, and not only do the trees look incredible and majestic, but the lake reflects the glowing lights, and the whole place just looks like a magic wonderland.

And that was my lovely last weekend in Hanoi!

I will save my most recent pictures of Ha Tinh for my next post. Once my apartment is fully cleaned and unpacked and set up, I will photograph EVERYTHING (and I mean everything) because, hey, this is my first apartment ever!! Besides the fact that it is in a random suburb of Vietnam where I am the ONLY person who looks like me (read: I am apparently the only westerner living in all of Ha Tinh Province - yikes!), it is still a tremendously huge deal that I got my own apartment, dealt with cockroaches, spiders, dust, dirt, clogged drains, re-arranging furniture, buying cookware, figuring out the quirks and nuances of my air conditioner, and a million other "brand new apartment" tasks. This is incredibly exciting, as it would be if my first apartment was right down the street from home in Cambridge or Brighton. I think it is even more exciting, though, that I am doing this on my own, without the help from Mommy and Daddy that I always thought I would need to do grown-up things like move into an apartment. I guess I'm more independent than I thought I was!

Overall, I am finally settling in to the apartment and feeling like I'll be able to make it a home. Last night I had my first major melt-down since arriving in Vietnam (I can't believe I went a whole month without a melt-down! That is the extraordinary part!). First there was a cockroach in my dresser, which I killed (see previous post) after a few heart-wrenching moments of just staring at it, hoping it would spontaneously combust. Then just as my mom was calling me on Skype, I went into my bathroom to wash up before talking to her, and there was the biggest spider I have ever seen just chilling on the floor. Needless to say, I forewent the washing-up and instead burst into tears as I picked up the call.

Definitely not one of my finer moments, but my goodness, it felt so good to have a mom there for moral support. After a sleepless night with no air conditioning and tons of anxiety about the dirty room and visiting creatures, I asked if I could switch rooms to an upstairs room in the guest-house that is newer, cleaner, better maintained, and lacking in creatures (except for a gecko, who I have decided to befriend).

My new room has a working air conditioner (!), a dresser, a small kitchen area, a bathroom, a bed, and a desk. It is almost double the size of the other room, and there is so much more natural light. Overall, it is really just better, and I feel so much more excited to live here. I am about halfway through unpacking, and then I want to scrub the whole place from top-to-bottom.

I always wondered what kind of house owner I'd become once I was living on my own and had my own space. I've never lived on my own, and to be honest, I've never really cleaned before. Thus, I could never predict if I would be messy and lazy about cleaning, or if I would be neurotic and anal. Based on the amount of cleaning supplies that I purchased today, and based on the amount of anxiety that has overtaken me regarding the cleanliness factor of the room, I'd say that is a pretty fair estimate that I will be on the neurotic side of the spectrum of home-owners. This is okay with me, but it was just an interesting fact to discover about myself.

Anyway, I have my first faculty meeting tomorrow morning, and I'd like to see if I can fit a walk/run in before it gets too hot in the day-time, and then I want to spend all day cleaning, unpacking, and finally exploring Ha Tinh. In other words, I have a long day ahead of me, so it's time for bed.

My apologies for the length of this entry... another one will be coming soon! Goodnight to all!