Weekend fun with members

A few weekends ago I had the chance to have fun with some of the members of my church. We had a blast walking around the night market and Turtle Lake. We ate dinner at a street vendor that sold a type of Vietnamese soup that was very good! We then walked all the way around the lake which was very crowded because it was a Saturday night. This is the most popular activity to do here in Hanoi - to go to this lake and enjoy all the many activities.

I had fun with a woman's young son that we were with. We played the game were you flip a water bottle and try to get it to stand up straight, it was a lot of fun! As we walked around we heard a traditional band play a type of guitar and other pipe instruments. The food below is the typical dessert here in Hanoi, it's a mixture of yogurt, jackfruit, and different types of jello. It's delicious! 

Here is a picture with the Branch President's wife, Tran, and another woman named Hue. We had a lot of fun!

Architecture

The buildings here are unlike anything I've seen. The city is a combination of tall homes with 5 or more stories, sky scrapers, and then homes that look like sheds. In the old quarters, or the oldest part of town, the government has put laws in place that restrict people from changing the old buildings. They have to restore the building if they want to update it, but it does take a lot to do. If someone wants to even add a bathroom they have to go through a lot of paperwork to do so. The photo below is of an old home located in the Old Quarters. It's a combination of people’s homes, stores, and a restaurant all in this building.

Even in the countryside the homes are the same style. I find this interesting because in America you have so many different types of homes from city apartments, suburban, ranch, and split level homes. But here in Vietnam they all look the same. They might have a different color on the outside, but it’s all the same! I think it was due to communism and what comes with that type of system.

The big skyscrapers are mostly outside of the downtown area where they are building a lot. These buildings are mostly very tall apartment buildings that are being built in high numbers. Hanoi is growing! There are a large number of homes being knocked down and remodeled around the city. It looks like the men who are working on the construction of the homes live there. They have clothes strung up around the building and are also bathing at the construction site.

Yoga is fun?

I went to yoga with my aunt at a cute place down the street from where we live.  It's called Zenith Yoga and is the combination of yoga and a health nut restaurant. I have to admit that I really did not like yoga before I came here, but the only experience I had was in high school gym class. I would just sleep in "downward dog" because it was at 9 am in the morning!

This is the downstairs room at Zenith Yoga, and no its not just me in the class (I try to go early).  I have really been into trying anything and putting myself out there, so I went to yoga. I loved it! The instructor is from Holland and is sixty years old...and doing full-on yoga! It's different yoga than in the states; it was more about getting the right body positions and holding them for a longer period of time. She had us use ropes that were connected to the wall and after not really stretching after running, I felt it! I can't tell you how much fun I had! I love new workouts and trying to figure out how to do them properly. I have been trying to go twice a week and it has been amazing! I feel like I'm more aware of my body, especially my posture; it really has helped me when I lift. It has been a great way to meet new people and to have fun.

The upstairs room is bigger. They have the ropes attached to the wall for specific exercises. This type of yoga uses blocks, blankets, straps, and cushions to help your body while doing yoga.

  

I love the many different instructors. I'm in love with this type of yoga! It makes me sad that I probably won't be able to find the same form back home.

Birthday Celebration!

AHH, I know I'm a few weeks late but I had my 20th birthday! I feel so young, but so old at the same time!  It started out great with my aunt singing happy birthday to me in the morning and giving me Swedish candy from Ikea! It's the best candy around! We then had an all-American breakfast with eggs, bacon, and toast - my favorite! After church we had a few people over for an American lunch at the house. They were all so sweet to celebrate my birthday with me.  Several weeks ago, my aunt took me to get a dress tailored made, and I was able to wear it on my birthday! It's beautiful and the style is very chic.

I was home alone for a week because my aunt was at her office in China, so I got to make my birthday cake! Let me tell you I don't cook or bake...at all! I survived in college on eggs and chicken nuggets...I really need to learn, but at this point, I have no desire. I messed up the first cake while following the directions exactly. I have no idea how this happened! Hahaha - but don't worry I made another and it turned out great! The picture above is not the cake I made haha I got that for my birthday.

I feel so blessed to get to know everyone that I have met so far while being here in Hanoi. Everyone is simply wonderful and so sweet! Everyone made my birthday amazing and full of fun!

Flower Market

There is a flower market just down the road from the house. I love it! Sometimes after yoga or working out, I will go and just walk around to see all the flowers. I have always loved flowers, but my mother has never kept any in the house growing up. I went with Thang to see the market when it was the busiest, and there were a lot of people all over the place. Huge trucks are on the side streets with just bundles of many different flowers. Tons of people on motor bikes have bundles attached to their bikes to bring to the market. It's very beautiful because of all the many different colors. We walked around that market four times trying to find the perfect flowers! They have a few flowers that I haven't seen sold back in America (or are just not very common). I loved the sunflowers and the lilies!

There were a lot of foreigners eating at the street food vendors and tons of Vietnamese also. As we walked around we saw a lot of people sleeping just in the middle of the busy market. It was fun to see it late at night when it was the really moving. The main street (Au Co) is raised up compared to the level that the houses are built. Along this road there were tons of flowers layed out waiting to be sold. I have never seen so many flowers in one spot before.

There is a flower here that is only available for three weeks. They are very pretty and smell very good!

Project Sprouts

The charity I'm involved with is called Project Sprouts.  It has a clothing sale on the streets to help raise money. They get tons of clothes donated and we sold a lot this past Saturday! I helped these two girls set up all the clothes they had on cardboard boxes on the ground and also on racks. All of the money is given to the charity to help children in the hill tribes. It was a very fun and different experience to bargain with people when you don't even speak the language. But I picked up fast how much the money is worth and what is a good price. I volunteer to work at the clothing sale every other Saturday.  Most of the people buying are Vietnamese with a few Caucasian friends of the two girls I work with. People can be very aggressive! They would find out I didn't know exactly what I was doing and talk to me about a cheaper price when the other girls had told them a higher price. I loved it though! I can't wait to do it again, now that I'm more experienced!

I also went to their meeting to meet all the members and was able to learn more about what they are doing while I'm here. I'm excited for their event in March which will be with an artist and a comedian. I'm excited to help them and the children who need the help in their schools.

Here is the link to their site!
http://www.project-sprouts.com/home.html

We had an event last week and it was a blast! The event was at a nice venue near my house and was a success! On the walls of the place was a painting that was really cool! The event was a fundraiser for the children up in the hill tribes, specifically for the children within the schools. We had many musicians come and perform great music as people ate food and drank.

I helped with the kids area which was full of painting on canvases, face painting, and making bracelets. The kids did a great job with their paintings as most of them were abstract. It was a great event and fun to meet new people. We also had three artists who painted on canvases during the whole event, it was cool to see them paint it from start to finish. Two vendors came to support our cause and provided delicious food. The Sandwich shop of Hanoi is a must if you love sandwiches!

 

As the event went on we had a few comedians perform which was good! There were a few funny people and some who couldn't get the crowd going. But sometimes that makes it even more funny! There was an auction throughout the entire night where we auctioned off motor bike rentals, vouchers for restaurants, and gift cards. As they were calling one of the items I was like this better be me! Then I realized that it was a bottle of wine...I don't drink, but guess who won it! Me! It is still sitting in my room, any ideas what to do with it?

The last event of the night was to auction off the paintings that the artists had made - they were beautiful! Auctions are always fun to be a part of and to see people fight over a painting as the price gets higher and higher.

It was a successful and very fun event to be a part of. It is a great cause that we are helping. We earned a lot of money for the supplies for the children, and for future events!

Vietnam Exercise

When I go running in the morning it's very interesting to see a lot of people out biking or walking. It's mostly older men and women that are exercising from what I have seen so far. In the parks they have  Zumba classes with upbeat music that a lot of the women do. Another class is directed by a man who wears a traditional white tunic. The class is a mix of karate and meditation.

One night we went and joined a few of the older ladies in their dancing! The dances are hard to pick up on, and I'm not a dancer! They were doing a type of salsa dance mixed with something else but was fun to learn.  It was great to just look like an idiot while they are looking at you like you're crazy for joining them. We had a lot of fun and plan to go back again to make our dancing skills better!

I have seen what I call bicycle gangs; they consist mostly of older men. They bike around West Lake and will stop at different places along the way. They will all stop and have smoking and drinking breaks which I find funny because I feel like it's canceling out the exercise.

In Hanoi they have these groups of machines that are like many different workout stations. I honestly don't know how effective they are in the sense of getting a good workout. I think its pretty funny to watch these old grandmas and grandpas on these machines but I admire them for getting out and moving! Some of them are interesting in the movement that it makes people do while using the machine.

I went to one park on the other side of town that had a weight lifting section; it reminded me of a muscle beach in California. All the weights were connected to chains so no one would steal them. All these tough looking buff guys were working out together. I thought it was pretty funny!