The Vietnamese are amazingly handy with bamboo as well! Most tribal homes whether they are on stilts or on the ground are made of bamboo. The cone-shaped hats (the ones you've seen on the farmers in the rice fields) and many fishing traps are also fashioned from bamboo.
We were lucky enough to meet up with the MBI group at the museum! They were finishing up their investigation of the tribes, so we joined them in their "cirlce" as each small group of kids gave some interesting facts about a particular tribe. This took place in an actual large, stilted "celebration hut". Meanwhile, Hudson and Matt decided to skip this little bit of education and instead entertained themselves (and some onlookers) by playing on some of the tribal "playsets"! Most of these used balancing skills, yet the boys were so sweaty when we met up with them! We bid farewell to Victoria and the other MBIers as they departed the museum via cylcos! These are like pedicabs! What a great way for them to see the city!
When we left we headed to one of Lam's favorite Pho shops for lunch. Pho is one of the mainstays of Vietnamese cuisine. This tiny spot- open to the street served only Pho- which certainly keeps down the overhead! Our bowls almost overflowed with beef, noodles, green onion with a delectible broth flavored with greens, meat bones, ginger, etc! Lam had us add some lime juice and a touch of chili sauce as well. YUM!! Hudson thought the soup was "awesome"!
Best of all, the 6 bowls of Pho and 2 Hanoi beers cost a total of $10!!
Our next stop was to see a traditional Vietnamese water puppet show. We maneuvered our way by foot along the narrow streets, dodging the mopeds along the way. Crossing the bigger streets was more of a challenge and we just had to have a little faith that the drivers were watching out for us!! The show takes place on a water-filled stage with wooden puppets "floating" in the water. Actually they are controlled underneath the water by long wooden rods. Each vignette showed something from the culture - fishing, boat races, fairy dances, etc. It was very enjoyable for all of us, yet we were feeling the effects of jet lag!
We rallied tho, as we'd been invited by Diep to visit her home and meet her family. It is custom for a whole family to live together , with parents, children and married children with their own kids occupying different floors in the home. The homes are fairly narrow but have many floors. Diep's home has 5 floors. We were give such a welcome by her parents and her brother's family. We sat and talked with her father, who is now 70. He is an electrical engineer, architect, conductor and poet! His ancestors were from nobility. He is very well respected in gov't circles as well When Henry Kissinger came to Hanoi for a visit, Diep's father was asked to show him around and to participate in discussions. Diep's mother came from a weathly family, as seen from photographs of her as a young ballerina and model, where she traveled to Russia and Checkoslovakia. During the war with the French both families lost everything and then again when the Americans came during the Vietnam war, they lost thier home and posessions again.
Diep told us that they considered themselves lucky to be alive and never complained, but instead rallied their whole family to work very hard in order to afford a new and comfortable home. This , in fact they did! Interestingly they are not bitter, They look at these events simply as something that happened and they just move on from it. They quite like the Americans now, and hold no grudges. I wonder if American's could do the same. Diep's father enjoyed talking to Bill since he'd read about the Ground Zero case. Imagine!! Even in Vietnam!!
Matt, Carly and Hudson played with Diep's nephews- one 10 and the other 3! The 3 yr old kept hitting Hudson on the head with a balloon and Hudson kept pretending to fall down. It was very cute. The older boy showed Hudson some of his books, including the complete set of HarryPotter , translated in Vietnamese! I asked him if he had read the books, and he answered that "the book make me scary!" Not bad for a 10 yr old learning to speak English. Before we left we were each given a gift by which to remember our stay. The kids got replicas of water puppets! Marla and I got beautiful serving plates.
Before we left the father brought us in to the alter room, the most important room found in every house. While there is no real religion in Vietnam, their belief system comes from a combination of Confusciousism , Taoism and Buddhism. 2 times a month on the lunar calendar, it is tradition to light incense and place gifts of fruit and flowers to the alter in one's home, providing energy and strenght to the deceased ancestors so that they will nourished and able to look over the family and give them luck and positive energy and guidance. Today, Diep's father gave each of us an incense stick and asked his ancestors to look down upon us and make our trip in Vietnam safe and happy and to bring us luck. This was very moving for all of us. Diep is lucky to have such a warm and strong family unit.
On our way back to the hotel, we again marveled at the street traffic. Entire families travel on one moped! Most of the streets are lined with small shops with no real storefront. Dishes are washed out on the street - that being the main water source I think. Hope it's clean enough!
Back at the hotel we napped and ordered a light dinner from room service!
Bill and Hudson are sleeping but I was determined to get this done!
Onward and upward!
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