Around the World

In Seattle, Lauren and I liked to play a little game. We called it...well, we didn't actually have a name for it...but we took pictures of the two of us and then told people that they were from various places around the world. I'm sure people always believed us--who wouldn't trust everything two such sweet and innocent girls told them?! We have pictures of us in Spain, England, Canada, the North Pole, Heaven and other very believable places. So clearly, on our epic adventure in Vietnam we needed to take a picture of us in Seattle.

Does not everything about this picture scream "seaaaatttllleee"?!
I think we totally rocked it.

This is officially a catch-up post. Since it has now been almost 3 weeks since Laur has flown back across the ocean to her corner of the world in Colorado, it seems easiest to just give you some pictures of our wonderful 9 days together. Here they are:

This is part of our group from the Ha Long Bay tour. They were so great! The family with us is Israeli, and it just so happened that Patricia (the woman in the bandages) is from Chile but currently lives in Israel and speaks Hebrew. Crazy! There was also a wonderful Polish couple and their adorable 10-month old son who unfortunately did not make it into the picture. They didn't speak much English, but happened to be both be doctors--a fact that came in quite handy when Patricia fell off her bicycle and subsequently needed 17 stitches in her head. Yeah, it was an adventure. Below is a little glimpse into the karaoke fun we had with the group on the boat!

Once back in Hanoi we continued to be friends with Erez, and picked up an additional friend along the way, whose name was Benedict. This picture was taken after indulging our Western palette at Pizza Hut and then joining in a Vietnamese style photo-shoot at Hoan Kiem Lake. Sadly the photo shoot pictures did not turn out, but the attempt was quite delightful.

We also got a chance to hang out with lots of my friends, at various different places around the city. This is us at a cafe on West Lake with Calah, Hannah and April.

I made Lauren go around on the xe may with me. She didn't necessarily love it, although for convenience sake it really worked out very well. The first picture was taken just for pictures sake, sans mũ (helmet). The second while stopped at a red light to prove to her mother that we really do wear helmets when driving :)

This is us at the snail restaurant. What we are holding up is not snails, although I'm not sure what it is. Something Joel ordered. You really think I would have learned by now to never let him order. It was not delicious. Although unfortunately, neither were the snails we ordered that night. Not a very good snail introduction for Laur Laur. But we followed up the snails with a bowl of pho. Very Vietnamese of us!

And finally, our most Vietnamese picture :) Glamour magazine has this section where they print pictures sent in of people with their magazine somewhere around the world. Since an official Lauren and Ali activity is to lay in Laur's bed and read the "hey, it's okays" outloud, it was only fitting that we attempt to get into the magazine. With a picture like the one below, I dont know how they could turn us away!