An anniversary in Hanoi

Hi all,

It was a pretty boring day today here in Hanoi. Today was the last day that we could get our visa preapproval and still have a chance of returning on Sunday, so we stayed at the hotel all day so we could check our email every hour and take care of business if something happened. Turns out what they say about a watched pot is true... we didn't hear anything. Doug is going to call the consulate tomorrow and see what we can learn.

There is no Michael W. Smith playing in the lobby tonight, but I think that I would almost welcome it. Almost every time I have heard an American song here, it has been Celine Deon's "My Heart Will Go On." Out of the 30 or so English songs I have heard, I think I have heard that 10-15 times.

So, since you probably don't want to hear the boring details of our day, I thought I would expand more on the traffic here. The first thing that we will have to do when we get home is to retrain the kids that you don't cross the street if a car is coming. If you did that here, you would probably be waiting until the middle of the night (and I don't really know if the streets are empty then, since I am trying to sleep and haven't checked it out). To cross the street you wait until there is about a 10 foot gap in the traffic and you begin to cross. The key is to keep a steady pace, so the traffic can gauge where you will be when and then they swerve around you. I myself have only attempted one street crossing on my own. Doug told me today that if I end up staying here by myself, he is going to make that an assignment for me before he leaves. I'm thinking that if something isn't on the block that I am on, then I don't need it...

Thing #2 - if you need to make a left hand turn onto a busy street, is OK to drive in the oncoming traffic's lane in the opposite direction until you are able to weave over to your lane.

#3 - If you miss a turn, it is OK to stop and drive in reverse (again going against traffic) until you get back to where you want to be.

On the 15th, a helmet law goes into effect here for all the motor scooter drivers. It will be interesting to see if it gets followed or not. Right now, in our best estimate, 1-3% of people where helmets.

One more thing, there is no speeding in Vietnam. If they catch you speeding they take away your vehicle.

The amazing thing about all of this is that it seems to work. Everybody honks, all the time. If you don't get honked at you must be doing something wrong. The other thing is that I have only seen one incident where somebody got angry at someone else for some driving issue. Amidst the chaos, everyone seems calm and gets to where they are going.

A final note - we appreciate all of you who are supporting us in this journey and remember fondly those of you who were with us nine years ago today when Doug and I got married and are grateful for the rest of you who have joined up with us since then. Your love, support and prayers mean a lot to us. Thank you. (By the way, we went out to dinner tonight for our anniversary. Oh wait, I guess that is what we have been doing the last 3 1/2 weeks...)

Take care,

Barbie

P.S. The other day, I saw a man carrying an armchair on the back of his motorbike. I don't know if that counts as a new record or not, but it was quite impressive nevertheless!