Eight weeks to go!

I can't believe little Elizabeth will be here in two months, but at the same time I am not sure whether I'll survive the heat and humidity for that much longer.  I've been trying to convince Ben to let me take up residence in his 4-degree cold room at work.  I wake up most nights hot and sweating only to realize poor Ben left the room to sleep on the couch because he was freezing.  We are anxious and excited to become a family of four.  We are making our way down the check list preparing for her arrival.

Name.  Check.
(Ben is thinking of calling her "Betty" as his special nickname--I don't know what I think about that...)

Cloasma. Check.  They really mean it when they say to be vigilant about sunscreen when you are pregnant!

Heartburn. Check.  Check.

Baby clothes.  Check.  Jeanne brought the 0-6 month clothes with her and it's so great to have them!

A growing belly.  Check.

A baby shower hosted by three of the most wonderful friends a girl could ask for.  Check.
Isn't the announcement so cute?!  Deborah has a wonderful talent for making the cutest cards and announcements.

Two of the lovely hostesses, Sarah and Deborah.

This is sweet Kristen, who made the darling sign, which I absolutely adore.  The one on the right is Jessie, the other lovely hostess.  She is the one who watched Samara while we went to Vietnam.

Yummy!!  Even the darling diaper cake looks delicious, doesn't it?!

The shower was perfect!  I loved every detail, including the place mats.  The artwork on them was done by Sharon Furner whose work I love.  I met her last fall and we became instant friends.  Check out her website and beautiful paintings!

Thank you everyone for your love and support!  

I am grateful to each of you for your presence, generosity, and thoughtfulness.

Dr. Blair was right

After hearing her cry at one of Samara's first appointments, her pediatrician (perhaps the best doctor ever!) said, "This is a girl who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to tell you about it."  This could not be more true.   I am completely and totally baffled by kids who sit quietly and don't talk non-stop.  I try to sit the furthest away from those families at church (so we don't stand out so much) but somehow we often end up sitting right next to them.

A few weeks ago Mara's friend sat by us at church.  They were coloring happily when her friend asked, "What happened to your eye Samara?"  She had some big scratches under it and despises any attention being brought to an injury or fall.  So, she asked, "Um, do you want to go back and sit with your parents now?"  Oh dear...how do I teach her to have tact?

My cousin has been visiting and left yesterday.  I was trying to catch up on bank balancing, bills, etc., so I turned on the Disney channel to occupy her.  She came in and asked me to change to a different channel because she didn't like the show that was on.  She also wanted me to sit by her to watch it.  I told I would change the channel but that I needed to finish what I was doing and said, "It's hard work being the Mimo because we always have lots of chores to do."  She replied, "Well, it's hard work being the kid too because we always have lots of shows we need to watch."

A few days ago, we were at the beach and she was swinging a stick around.  I told her to be careful not to hit the little girl near us.  She replied, "She's not a girl.  She's a baby."  Then she asked the little girl, "Why do you have that pacifier in your mouth?  Those are for babies to suck on, not for girls."

Finally, here is proof that without a doubt Samara is a Bikman (ie, has a funny, somewhat inappropriate, humor).  A few weeks ago, we finished swimming and a friend was changing her son into his clothes.  Samara remarked, "Look, Mimo!  He has a boy bummy just like papa, only papa's is much longer."  Ben is proud that she represents him so well in public.

I never know what will come out of our child's mouth.  There is never, ever a dull moment when Samara is around, except, of course, when she is hard at work watching one of her many shows.

Hanoi, Vietnam: People and Transportation

Ben and I recently celebrated our ninth anniversary and, since Vietnam is the place to celebrate your ninth, we got away for three packed and amazing days.  We even left little Mara with some wonderful and generous friends.  She couldn't have been in better hands, but we still missed her like crazy and probably a lot more than she missed us.  We LOVED Vietnam and three days was not enough time to see it all.  We would love to get back at some point and see more of this beautiful country.

It was truly incredible what they could fit on a moped and bike.  You could fill a book with all the interesting things they transported.  I am positive they fit more on a moped or even bike than I could in my car.  That's saying a lot for a forner ski bum who semi lived out of her car for a couple seasons.   I didn't get to capture a fraction of what we saw.  So many of the interesting things we saw were from the window or as we were crossing a super busy street (just hoping to make it across!).  Many of the women and girls had long beautiful hair like this.  Outside the city, we saw groups of girls all with their long pony tails in school uniforms riding on their bikes.  It was adorable!  Later that day, Ben asked a lady whether the long hair was for school.  She replied, "No, it's just Vietnam."

They still carry goods in these double baskets.  Anyone know what the correct name is for them? 

 Vietnam reminded us of Russia in many ways--the monuments, parks, signs, and the stuck-in-time feel.  Vietnam is a communist state, based after the Soviet Russian system, and Russia played a big role in post WWII construction and infrastructure.  In fact, the Vietnamese communist propaganda posters were strikingly similar to old soviet posters.  Our tour guide referred to Russia as "our Big Brother."  

All the kids were so friendly and sweet!

I have never seen more mopeds in my life.  It was amazing.  Apparently, the only city where there are more per capita is Ho Chi Minh City.  They wear masks to help with the pollution.  These masks and cool helmets were everywhere.  Glad these two little girls are protected from the pollution but what about their noggins?

We loved the Vietnam flag--very soviet.

This is Hoa Lu, Vietnam's ancient capital 11 centuries ago.  It is the native land of three royal dynasties.  We lucked out and there was an annual festival celebrating these kings and their families.  There are two temples here--one dedicated to King Dinh, who founded the first feudal dynasty in Vietnam, and the other to King Le, the defender and liberator of Vietnam from Chinese rule.  There was once an outer and inner citadel to this complex, but the two temples are now all that remain.  

We went on a boat tour and most of the rowers were women, as were most the workers in the rice paddies (neither of which is easy work).  Our guide told us that Vietnam used to be a matriarchal society.  We saw this woman (above) stop to look at something and stand up straight.  We wondered whether walking hunched over might be just as comfortable to walking upright for her, given the possible countless hours spent in the rice paddies.

This little beauty took my breath away.

I was enchanted by the older generation.  They have the most delightful smiles and the wrinkles on their faces say so much about the hard working lives they've led.  Seventy percent of the population is now under 30, so it is a very young country.   As a people, they have endured a tremendous amount of foreign occupation over the last couple centuries, which has naturally lead to a great deal of war.  However, they don't hold grudges or hate the French, Chinese, or Americans (despite their atrocities).   From what I've been told, they live very much in the present and don't think much about the past.  If anyone has read any good factual books about the war or Vietnam's history, please pass along the recommendation.  

These three were all holding hands...not sure what the situation is.

A lovely backdrop for a cycle

Playing a game of human Chinese Checkers

Last, but not least, don't get caught buying illegal DVDs.  Ben barely got away.

Hanoi, Vietnam: Art, Shopping, Hotel, Food, and Water Puppets

Hanoi is well known for artwork.  We've seen beautiful artwork in friends' homes here and it is most often Vietnamese. We spent much of the first day touring the galleries and fell in love.  Browsing the galleries was extremely enjoyable.  Here is a photo (with awful lighting) of the set we bought for $100, including frames.  It was a compromise, since the piece I really wanted was $10K.  We'd really love to go back to get a bigger, more original piece before we go home.   

The shopping was really fun.  Most of the places we've visited in SE Asia all have similar 'shopping', which isn't made by locals, but all made in China.  The stuff in Vietnam was actually made there and is very neat and inexpensive.  Everywhere takes USD or Dong, but some prefer USD and the more expensive things will always be quoted in USD because it's approximately 1 USD to 19,000 Dong.

We stayed at Hanoi Elegance 3 hotel.  We were EXTREMELY impressed.  They have 5 different small boutique hotels throughout Hanoi.  The service couldn't have been better and the price, at $60/night, was unbeatable.  They arranged our visas (cheaper and with less work on our part than any other method), our tour, and our transportation to/from the airport.  We worked with Mr Binh, who was efficient, timely, and easy to communicate with.  Finally, the breakfast was great--eat some banana pancakes for us if you stay there!

Our hotel gave us a list of Taxi companies to use, so definitely ask about that wherever you stay.  We got in one that wasn't on our list and they literally charges us 10 times what the ride was supposed to cost.

Pho is a delicious noodle soup and is to Vietnam what Borscht is to Russia.  If you try any local cuisine, go for the Pho (pronounced Fe).  We ate at Pho 24 and there are several of them through the old quarter.  You can get it almost anywhere though. 

After our healthy and light pho, we headed to the chocolate buffet at the Sofitel hotel.  The made-straight-from-belgian-chocolate hot cacao changed my life.  I still think about it on these cool Singapore evenings.

Round One.  I may or may not have gestational diabetes now....we'll see at my appointment this week.

Ben would say it wasn't worth the price tag, but the rest of us thought it was.  He was under the impression you flip the bird with your pinkie in Vietnam.  So, this is him telling the waitress who took our photo what he thought of the all-you-can eat chocolate heaven.

Night two we ate at Cafe 51.  It was delicious, especially the spring rolls.  The tables were really cool.  They were on the floor but there was a hole under it so your feet could hang freely.

Our last meal was at KOTO, which is a not-for-profit restaurant and vocational training program for disadvantaged youth.  We were very impressed with the concept and all the kids that have been helped to have a brighter future because of the training they've received.  KOTO was delicious.  We absolutely loved all the food in Hanoi and the great prices made it even better.

Water puppets originated in the Red River Delta in the 11th century.  They are made out of wood and then lacquered.  In ancient Vietnam, they believe that spirits controlled all aspects of life.  They devised water puppetry as a way to satisfy these spirits and as a form of entertainment.  In ancient times, flooded rice paddies and ponds were the stage for the shows.

We attended a performance complete with a live band for around $5 a ticket. 

It was really very entertaining and we were glad we went.  The shows are performed in a waist-deep pool.  A large rod supports the puppet under the water and is used by the puppeteers who are hidden behind the screen.  The show was fun and impressive.

Thank you Debbie, Kristen, and Sarah for all the great recommendations!!

Hanoi, Vietnam: Landscape and Architecture

After our stop at Hoa lu, we drove to Tam Coc.  Vietnam is famous for Halong Bay, which is a world heritage site.  It is almost 4 hours north of Hanoi so we didn't feel it was worth the day trip.  Tam Coc is called "Halong inland" or "Halong on the rice paddies".  We knew it would be much easier to do Halong with kids at some later time, so we opted to see this area (2.5 hours south of Hanoi).  We loved it.  Our time at Tam Coc was cut short because we wanted to see Valong Nature Reserve as well.  We didn't realize this and were a bit disappointed that we didn't get to go all the way through.  I'd try and arrange the tour to leave an hour earlier so you can see the whole thing.

Some of the rowers paddled with their feet. 

Stunning!  The paintings we'd seen the day before in Hanoi captured the natural beauty perfectly and definitely better than a photograph.  

One of the caves

Goats are very commonly eaten in local cuisine and we could have had some for lunch (but didn't).  We are pretty daring when it comes to street food and trying new stuff, but not when it comes to meat.

Our first guides didn't speak much English but spoke fluent French, so Ben spoke with them quite a bit in French.   Whoever said French was the language of romance was right.  Ooh la la!  Did my lover of nine years ever impress me?!

Our last stop of day two was the Van Long Nature Reserve.  It wasn't as grandiose as Tam Coc, but we loved it and were so glad we went there.  It is not nearly as touristy and the guides don't hound you to buy their crafts, so we were able to enjoy the scenery a bit more.  It was extremely peaceful and beautiful.

The lone worker/fisherman with a pointed hat was a theme in their beautiful artwork.

This is one of my favorite images of the trip.  I put a little vintage finish on it, but even in color you'd think you just went back in time 50 years.  I loved that about Vietnam.

A roadside cemetery.  Vietnamese believe the soul of a dead person still rests with the descendants on earth.  Ancestor worship is widely practiced, though varies from one cultural group to another.  Our guide told us about the very interesting, though 'I'm very glad I don't have to practice it' burial process.    You bury your ancestor in a coffin, then dig them back up one year later and rebury their remains.  Often a professional is hired to do this task.  However, the guide mentioned his close friend's grandmother passed away and needed to be buried in a very remote town so the friend and his family had to complete the process themselves.  From his description, it was as gory and oozy as you imagine.

I want to hereby acknowledge Mr. Ben and Mr. Dustin, who were very kind to sit in the back with very little leg room.  Deb and I insisted we'd go back there, but they wouldn't have any of it.  We did have to hear about their sore fannies for the rest of the trip though. 

You can really see the influence of the nations that tried to colonize or rule over Vietnam in the architecture.  This is a French Catholic Cathedral.

A government building, which looked very Russian to us (because it is).

The Temple of Literature is a temple to Confucius in Hanoi, founded in 1070.  This functioned as Vietnam's first university starting in 1076.  The university was in operation for more than 700 years.

Turtle Steles engraved with names of those who passed the imperial exams.

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, inspired by Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow, incorporates distinct Vietnamese architectural elements such as the sloping roof.  He requested in his will to be cremated because it was 'more hygienic than burial and would also save the land for agricultural purposes.'  The mausoleum was built despite his wishes and his body is preserved in the cooled central hall.  It is only open to the public from 9:00 AM to noon, so we didn't go in.  But since we've seen Lenin's body in Moscow, we didn't feel like we were missing much.

Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese Communist revolutionary and statesman, who was prime minister and president of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam).  He led the independence movement from 1941 onward and defeated the French Union in 1954.  He lost political power in North Vietnam in the late 1950s but remained as the highly visible figurehead president until his death.  The former capital of South Vietnam, Saigon, was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in his honor.  

The underwhelming one-pillar pagoda, which you should not make a special trip out to see.

The Tran Quoc Pagoda, the oldest of all the pagodas in Hanoi.  

There were other neat sites you'll see as you walk around the city.  There is a market called the Dong Xuan Market and some craft villages (silk, pottery, hats) that we wish we would have made it to.  So much to see and photograph and too little time.