One Coconut, Three Straws.

My first official weekend in Hanoi is now over. I'm not sure what weekends will look like once I move in with my host family, but for now they are very chill. Both friday and saturday night Calah and I had a "date" with different MCC people. Friday we went to dinner at Hiro and Sawako's, a Japanese couple that is a year and a half into their three year service term. Hiro was here in the 70's (along with Max, who I will be working for) working in the central part of the country during the war. And then recently they decided they wanted to return. They are really fun people. Whenever Sawako wants to say something that might be controversial (even just expressing a negative opinion about something) she says she doesn't know how to say it in English and turns to her husband so he has to say the words. It's funny.

Saturday night we went to dinner downtown with Max. The downtown area is by THE lake. I'm not sure what its Vietnamese name is, but when you talk about the lake that is the one you refer to despite the fact that there are lakes everywhere and it is not the biggest. It's a cool area. Surrounded by both the Old Quarter and the French Quarter. There are tons of people there all the time. Kind of like everywhere in the city, but particularly there. Max took us to a vegetarian restaurant, where tofu pretends to be meat. Tofu is going to take a little getting used to for me, but it was good. Overally I am really enjoying most of the food here! After dinner in Vietnamese culture it is very typical to go get coffee or tea, so Max took us to this really cool cafe right by the lake. You have to find this little alley hidden between two shops, and then go up about a million flights of stairs (although I'm getting used to that here). It was a great night to get a chance to talk more to Max and learn more about why he is here and what he is doing. He is a fascinating man. I look forward to working for him.

Sunday we went to church. There are two international churches, this one being the smaller of the two. It is maybe 30 or 40 people. It is an interesting mix of having the feeling of a very informal gathering, but being liturgical in style and therefore kind of formal feeling. I liked it though. And we picked a good week to arrive because there was a pool party/potluck afterwards! It was a good chance to meet people and kind of step outside of being in Viet Nam for a little bit.

While that sounds like we were busy, we really weren't. Hannah has been staying at Derek's right now too, so the three of us spent a lot of time reading and doing nothing. We got a chance to get to know each other a little more and just had a lot of fun relaxing and chatting. We share a love of books that we all got very excited about at one point. Last night we walked through the zoo and stopped on our way to share a coconut. There are lots of stands set up by this lake and they just bring it to you, the top cut off, with straws in it! I feel very fortunate to be here with both of these women. I know they will be so significant in my experience here. It's only been a week, but I don't know what I would do without them!

Calah and I probably write about similar things, but if you want another perspective on our experience, here is the link to her blog:

http://calahintranslation.blogspot.com/