http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8297861.stm
Monday, October 12, 2009
Christian on BBC - Vietnam Cracks Down on Dissidents
I don't know how to upload the BBC's video itself so below is a link. Following the link is a Reuters article on the recent situation. It has been a rough past few months for my job given the government's recent crackdown. I attended 3 trials in four days.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8297861.stm
By John Ruwitch
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8297861.stm
HANOI (Reuters) - Vietnam jailed six people on Friday for advocating democracy after similar sentences to three others earlier in the week, moves that analysts say look choreographed to deter dissent in the run up to a major Communist meeting.
The six, including a leader of a banned pro-democracy group called Bloc 8406, were sentenced in one trial in the port city of Haiphong to prison terms ranging from two to six years for "conducting propaganda against the state".
Earlier in the week, three people were convicted of the same crime in separate back-to-back trials in the capital Hanoi, and handed jail terms of three to four years.
All nine had hung banners on bridges in the two cities calling for multi-party elections in Vietnam. Prosecutors argued that such actions were illegal because pluralism would constitute a violation of the Vietnamese constitution, which says the Communist Party leads the state and society.
The trials were "bundled together for maximum deterrent effect", said Carlyle Thayer, a Vietnamese politics expert at the University of New South Wales Australian Defence Force Academy.
"It is no coincidence that renewed repression coincides with advance preparations for the 11th Party congress. Party conservatives are trying to stem pressures to step up the pace of political reform in order to remain in power."
The Vietnamese Communist Party holds a national congress once every five years to draw up a socio-political blueprint and make leadership changes. The 11th congress is due to take place in January 2011, and experts say jockeying is already under way.
Sophie Richardson, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, also linked the trials to the upcoming congress, calling the Vietnamese government "an intransigent and unaccountable regime that knows it can get away with flagrantly violating the rights of its citizens".
"It's essential that Vietnam's donors weigh in directly with government authorities at the highest levels to strongly condemn Vietnam's latest assault on free expression," she said.
QUEASY BUT UNDETERRED
The trials have attracted the attention of several Western governments concerned about Vietnam's human rights record and were attended by a handful of foreign diplomats.
But from an investor's perspective, they are unlikely to cause alarm, economists said. Political stability has been one of Vietnam's selling points.
"Does it make people feel queasy? Probably. But right now my feeling is that the government probably has pretty good control of things," said one banker at a U.S. investment bank who declined to be identified by name.
Most investors know what they are getting into here, said one economist. "As long as there isn't massive underlying dissatisfaction with the government, and no possibility of social instability, their investments will be fine," she said.
But Thayer said there appears to be concern among some in Vietnam's leadership about growing dissent.
"Those promoting repression have been unnerved both by the revival of dissent by Bloc 8406 members and by the growing coalescence of dissent across different issues such as human rights, bauxite mining and relations with China," he said.
The trials were scheduled earlier but postponed, analysts say, so they would not coincide with President Nguyen Minh Triet's trip to the United Nations and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem's meeting two weeks ago with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
(Editing by Jason Szep and Sugita Katyal)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Our Stay in Saigon
We spent three weeks in Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) while Christian was on assignment covering for a colleague on maternity leave. We stayed at the Indochine service apartments which was right downtown and the perfect location! Here is a pic from the rooftop where we ate dinner overlooking the city.
Saigon was so different from Hanoi and it's a little hard to put my finger on exactly what was different. Here is one realization I had: In Beijing you have to be careful walking on the sidewalk because you don't know which way to dodge when you hear someone winding up to spit a logie (sp?). In Hanoi I usually walk in the street because the sidewalks are full of parked motorbikes which leaves little or no room for people. In Saigon, you have to be very careful walking on the sidewalk because, although the streets are broader to accommodate more traffic, it apparently isn't broad enough and people feel the need to drive their motorbikes on the sidewalk. Watch out pedestrians wherever you are!
These were some highlights... swimming, playing at the nice new playground 5 min walk away, playing tennis at the presidential palace tennis courts (across the street from our apartment), exploring Ben Thanh market Jennie's favorite shopping place (see pics below), celebrating Emma's REAL birthday, going out to eat at our favorite restaurant, etc.
Emma buying a pair of slippers - medicinal herb shop
Our housekeeper came to Saigon with us. Her parents live there and she hadn't seen them for over a year. Here is a pic of her family (she is in the middle). It was a pleasure to meet her mother and father and be in their home. Brother on left, 2 nieces and sister-in-law in bright pink shirt. She has a wonderful family.
Saigon has a nice zoo. I didn't think it was as depressing as the one here in Hanoi. There were ladies selling carrot sticks, bananas, sugar cane, and other things you could feed to the animals. The kids loved the zoo and we followed a monkey who was being led by a zookeeper around the zoo. Below is a pic of our housekeeper holding the monkey's hand while he sat down for a rest. She said it really had a tight grip!
Emma gets lot of mileage out of her birthday. She celebrated her birthday in California with family, Hanoi with friends (and at school), and she had her real birthday in Saigon. Xander is having birthday envy and keeps saying with bright eyes and a huge smile "Xander birthday today?" I keep telling him that he can have another birthday next year after Christmas and he gets excited like it's happening tomorrow. Cute boy!
Emma got to plan her special day with daddy's help. We first went to the presidential palace which was where the North Vietnamese (Communist) tanks rolled through the front gates and ended the war.
It was interesting to see that they left the palace as it was when it was taken over. There were parts that were decorated all 60's which was fun to see and there was even a movie theater too. Xander's most memorable part of the tour was the camouflaged helicopter on the rooftop that we could see from our apartment across the street.
Down in the basement of the palace were narrow tunnels which led to different situation rooms, map rooms, communication rooms, etc. It was neat to see where the planning took place. There were muliple telephones in every room of the palace, all waiting for that urgent call. Emma's deciding on which one to answer.
In the evening for Emma's birthday we went to see the water puppets. It was a great performance with live music and singing. Emma thought it was pretty cool to go see the puppets for her birthday since we saw the water puppets for my birthday last year when we were in Hue (just north of Da Nang).
On the right you can see the puppet artists who came out to take a bow after the performance. It's pretty amazing to see how they work.
At the end of the day we celebrated with frozen yogurt. It was called Yo Fruz and was so good!
While in Saigon, we also visited a couple Chinese temples. Here are a couple pics. This temple is famous for protecting the seas, which is important when you live next to the ocean.
Saigon was so different from Hanoi and it's a little hard to put my finger on exactly what was different. Here is one realization I had: In Beijing you have to be careful walking on the sidewalk because you don't know which way to dodge when you hear someone winding up to spit a logie (sp?). In Hanoi I usually walk in the street because the sidewalks are full of parked motorbikes which leaves little or no room for people. In Saigon, you have to be very careful walking on the sidewalk because, although the streets are broader to accommodate more traffic, it apparently isn't broad enough and people feel the need to drive their motorbikes on the sidewalk. Watch out pedestrians wherever you are!
These were some highlights... swimming, playing at the nice new playground 5 min walk away, playing tennis at the presidential palace tennis courts (across the street from our apartment), exploring Ben Thanh market Jennie's favorite shopping place (see pics below), celebrating Emma's REAL birthday, going out to eat at our favorite restaurant, etc.
Our housekeeper came to Saigon with us. Her parents live there and she hadn't seen them for over a year. Here is a pic of her family (she is in the middle). It was a pleasure to meet her mother and father and be in their home. Brother on left, 2 nieces and sister-in-law in bright pink shirt. She has a wonderful family.
Saigon has a nice zoo. I didn't think it was as depressing as the one here in Hanoi. There were ladies selling carrot sticks, bananas, sugar cane, and other things you could feed to the animals. The kids loved the zoo and we followed a monkey who was being led by a zookeeper around the zoo. Below is a pic of our housekeeper holding the monkey's hand while he sat down for a rest. She said it really had a tight grip!
Emma gets lot of mileage out of her birthday. She celebrated her birthday in California with family, Hanoi with friends (and at school), and she had her real birthday in Saigon. Xander is having birthday envy and keeps saying with bright eyes and a huge smile "Xander birthday today?" I keep telling him that he can have another birthday next year after Christmas and he gets excited like it's happening tomorrow. Cute boy!
Emma got to plan her special day with daddy's help. We first went to the presidential palace which was where the North Vietnamese (Communist) tanks rolled through the front gates and ended the war.
It was interesting to see that they left the palace as it was when it was taken over. There were parts that were decorated all 60's which was fun to see and there was even a movie theater too. Xander's most memorable part of the tour was the camouflaged helicopter on the rooftop that we could see from our apartment across the street.
Down in the basement of the palace were narrow tunnels which led to different situation rooms, map rooms, communication rooms, etc. It was neat to see where the planning took place. There were muliple telephones in every room of the palace, all waiting for that urgent call. Emma's deciding on which one to answer.
In the evening for Emma's birthday we went to see the water puppets. It was a great performance with live music and singing. Emma thought it was pretty cool to go see the puppets for her birthday since we saw the water puppets for my birthday last year when we were in Hue (just north of Da Nang).
On the right you can see the puppet artists who came out to take a bow after the performance. It's pretty amazing to see how they work.
At the end of the day we celebrated with frozen yogurt. It was called Yo Fruz and was so good!
While in Saigon, we also visited a couple Chinese temples. Here are a couple pics. This temple is famous for protecting the seas, which is important when you live next to the ocean.
We're not dead, yet!
Now you know why we don't do Facebook! Sorry for not posting sooner. Here's a brief recap... In May we came back to Hanoi from the States with our ittie bittie Anneliese. Emma took her to school for show and tell. All the kids wanted to hold her, but we settled for touching her feet. Emma was so careful and so responsible answering all the questions during sharing time.
Emma made cupcakes to take to her class for an early birthday celebration. Notice the gap her smile where her 1st tooth fell out!
Emma graduated from Kindergarten and is SOOO excited to go to Grade One. Below is a pic of Emma's end-of-year Performing Arts Concert. Emma did a splendid job being a ladybug in her class performance. At the end all the kindergartners sang a song that made the parents cry. It was a song about children being the hope of the future. It was sweet.
Emma made cupcakes to take to her class for an early birthday celebration. Notice the gap her smile where her 1st tooth fell out!
Emma graduated from Kindergarten and is SOOO excited to go to Grade One. Below is a pic of Emma's end-of-year Performing Arts Concert. Emma did a splendid job being a ladybug in her class performance. At the end all the kindergartners sang a song that made the parents cry. It was a song about children being the hope of the future. It was sweet.
Now for a pic from Emma's birthday party with friends in Hanoi before everyone went to their home countries for the summer. We had a cooking party where the girls decorated their own party hats and each got to wear an apron and take it home. They rolled out their own pizza dough, decorated their pizzas and then got to decorate cupcakes to take home. We played a few games in the middle - Emma's favorite musical chairs and bingo. It was a lot of fun and I think the girls enjoyed themselves.
I realize this has been a very Emma-cetric blog posting, so I'd better put something in about Alexander. This is a movie of him whistling. I love his personality and his whistle!
I realize this has been a very Emma-cetric blog posting, so I'd better put something in about Alexander. This is a movie of him whistling. I love his personality and his whistle!
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
The Tooth Fairy
Emma has been wiggling her first "looth tooth" for a few weeks now. She proudly shows it to everyone and has been looking forward to this for years...literally. So, today she came bounding home from school and announced "mom, look it came out!" Here are a few statements from our cute girl about this remarkable occasion:
Mom: how did it come out? "It wasn't our housekeeper, or the nanny who is having a playdate with Xander and his friend at our house right now, but it was another lady in the lobby - she just pulled it out! and then said to drink some cold water to stop the bleeding" I later found out that it was someone from housekeeping who works in our apartment building - NICE!
"Mom, my friend Zoe got stickers from the tooth fairy, that's how I know that the tooth fairy is real."
"I'm going to polish my tooth with my toothbrush and toothpaste to make it all shiny for the tooth fairy."
"Did you know that tooth faries make their houses and castles out of the teeth they collect? They use the real shiny ones for special decoration."
"I'm going to write her a note and tell her that I would like a chocolate bar." Later, she said that the tooth fairy could give her anything and it didn't matter. It didn't need to be a chocolate bar.
"Mom, how will the tooth fairy know that I lost my tooth?" Mom: Oh, don't worry, she'll know. "Oh right. I bet she has one of those monitors and she can see when kids lose their teeth."
"Mom, how will she get into our house?" Mom: Probably just like Santa Clause. "I bet that I have a very small hole in my window and she can make herself really small and get in - that's probably how the bugs and mosquitoes get in anyway."
"I move around a lot when I sleep. What if I lose my tooth?" Mom: Don't worry you can just keep it in the baggie. "Should I leave it open so that she can get in there?" Mom: I think you can close it. She'll know what to do. "Oh, that's right, silly me, she has a magic wand."
Right now I'm wishing I would have prepared a little more for this day. When we were growing up, my mom had a "tooth fairy doll" with a special pocket for a tooth. The doll was so beautiful, I was sure that the real tooth fairy looked just like her. We would get to sleep with this doll whenever we lost a tooth. And in the morning, in place of the lost tooth would be a shiny new quarter. It's a dreamy, magical memory for me. I almost feel like I need to end this entry with: And they all lived happily ever after.
Mom: how did it come out? "It wasn't our housekeeper, or the nanny who is having a playdate with Xander and his friend at our house right now, but it was another lady in the lobby - she just pulled it out! and then said to drink some cold water to stop the bleeding" I later found out that it was someone from housekeeping who works in our apartment building - NICE!
"Mom, my friend Zoe got stickers from the tooth fairy, that's how I know that the tooth fairy is real."
"I'm going to polish my tooth with my toothbrush and toothpaste to make it all shiny for the tooth fairy."
"Did you know that tooth faries make their houses and castles out of the teeth they collect? They use the real shiny ones for special decoration."
"I'm going to write her a note and tell her that I would like a chocolate bar." Later, she said that the tooth fairy could give her anything and it didn't matter. It didn't need to be a chocolate bar.
"Mom, how will the tooth fairy know that I lost my tooth?" Mom: Oh, don't worry, she'll know. "Oh right. I bet she has one of those monitors and she can see when kids lose their teeth."
"Mom, how will she get into our house?" Mom: Probably just like Santa Clause. "I bet that I have a very small hole in my window and she can make herself really small and get in - that's probably how the bugs and mosquitoes get in anyway."
"I move around a lot when I sleep. What if I lose my tooth?" Mom: Don't worry you can just keep it in the baggie. "Should I leave it open so that she can get in there?" Mom: I think you can close it. She'll know what to do. "Oh, that's right, silly me, she has a magic wand."
Right now I'm wishing I would have prepared a little more for this day. When we were growing up, my mom had a "tooth fairy doll" with a special pocket for a tooth. The doll was so beautiful, I was sure that the real tooth fairy looked just like her. We would get to sleep with this doll whenever we lost a tooth. And in the morning, in place of the lost tooth would be a shiny new quarter. It's a dreamy, magical memory for me. I almost feel like I need to end this entry with: And they all lived happily ever after.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Home Again in Hanoi
We arrived home late last night exhausted, but happy to be home again. Here are some random thoughts I've had in the past couple days of travel as we've ended our stay in the good 'ol USA.
- I absolutely loved connecting with family and friends. My mind is swimming with good memories, warm feelings, deep appreciation, life-changing insights, fun times, and a heart full of love.
- The kids were amazingly good on the flights home and having Christian with us was such a blessing and a necessity. There were a few hiccups in our travels (like missing our overseas connection in SFO due to fog and having our journey delayed 24 hours, Xander's major diaper blowout-yikes!, and delicately balancing 12 pieces of luggage on 2 "smarte cartes") and I couldn't help but imagine the scene if I were doing it alone - me on the floor in a heap of tears and 3 crying kids is the image that repeatedly comes to mind : )
- Xander had the window seat and Christian had the aisle - in other words, he was "boxed in" and it worked out great. It cracked me up to see him with his airplane socks on (just like daddy) and walk around with his eye mask on (trying to copy mommy). He even took a nice nap and was cheerful on the trans-pacific flight, and he slept the entire 4 1/2 hour flight from Seoul to Hanoi. I was pleased that we didn't have to use the Dramamine I brought along.
- Emma sat behind Anneliese and me. I caught little bits of her conversation with the businessmen next to her, which cracked me up. She kindly bestowed Little Einstein stickers to everyone and at one point, I heard her exclaim, "this is my favorite show!" - on the Disney Channel of course. She was so grown up and proud to be "on her own" behind mom. Two fav moments are catching her brushing her teeth in her chair after dinner (who can resist playing with all the items in the travel pouch they give you?!?) And it was cute to see the flight attendants wait on her and give her special straws to go in her champagne glass full of water. I was a tad bit jealous, I just got a regular cup : )
- I got 2 solid hours of sleep last night from 1-3:00 a.m. and the rest was spent holding, feeding, jigging, walking out to the living room and back to the bedroom to test all the couches and chairs for comfort (I miss the nice rocking chairs at grandma's house and at mom's), and falling asleep with my head at every possible angle. I think Anneliese senses the change of environment and post stress of traveling for 3 days.
- I've been trying to think of what I am going to say to my housekeeper when she comes?!? I've been thinking about it for a couple days and all that comes to mind is a mixture of Chinese and Czech - help! She called this morning to see if we were home (we had no way to tell her our return was delayed) and I managed to communicate that we returned to Hanoi...obviously : )
- This morning both kids woke up at their usual time and Emma was excited to go to school, so we sent her for possibly a half day - we'll see how long she lasts. It will be a big surprise because I didn't have a chance to give her teacher a head's up. Thankfully Huong our housekeeper had a fridge full of chopped fresh fruit, spring rolls and sticky rice with chicken, and that was breakfast for all and lunch for Emma and Christian as they headed out to catch their busses.
- Xander, Anneliese and I took Emma down to the bus this morning and it was surreal and nostalgic to see Hanoi again through "first time" eyes. I couldn't help but smile as we waited for the bus and was reminded of the horn honking, motorbikes, ladies with bicycles loaded up with things for sale, construction projects in the works, people coming and going with their daily groceries just purchased fresh from the market ...aaaaaaah : ) I love it.
- I think I will be unpacking again for the next month...our airfreight shipment is waiting for me downstairs in 4 big boxes (the size of a dresser), our sea shipment comes next week sometime and I have 12 pieces of luggage with all sorts of things to pack. I know already that our housekeeper will smile, shake her head and say with a laugh "too many things!" It's amazing what you can do without and what you think you need to have.
- I need to sign off, Anneliese is fussing and Xander is too quiet...
- I absolutely loved connecting with family and friends. My mind is swimming with good memories, warm feelings, deep appreciation, life-changing insights, fun times, and a heart full of love.
- The kids were amazingly good on the flights home and having Christian with us was such a blessing and a necessity. There were a few hiccups in our travels (like missing our overseas connection in SFO due to fog and having our journey delayed 24 hours, Xander's major diaper blowout-yikes!, and delicately balancing 12 pieces of luggage on 2 "smarte cartes") and I couldn't help but imagine the scene if I were doing it alone - me on the floor in a heap of tears and 3 crying kids is the image that repeatedly comes to mind : )
- Xander had the window seat and Christian had the aisle - in other words, he was "boxed in" and it worked out great. It cracked me up to see him with his airplane socks on (just like daddy) and walk around with his eye mask on (trying to copy mommy). He even took a nice nap and was cheerful on the trans-pacific flight, and he slept the entire 4 1/2 hour flight from Seoul to Hanoi. I was pleased that we didn't have to use the Dramamine I brought along.
- Emma sat behind Anneliese and me. I caught little bits of her conversation with the businessmen next to her, which cracked me up. She kindly bestowed Little Einstein stickers to everyone and at one point, I heard her exclaim, "this is my favorite show!" - on the Disney Channel of course. She was so grown up and proud to be "on her own" behind mom. Two fav moments are catching her brushing her teeth in her chair after dinner (who can resist playing with all the items in the travel pouch they give you?!?) And it was cute to see the flight attendants wait on her and give her special straws to go in her champagne glass full of water. I was a tad bit jealous, I just got a regular cup : )
- I got 2 solid hours of sleep last night from 1-3:00 a.m. and the rest was spent holding, feeding, jigging, walking out to the living room and back to the bedroom to test all the couches and chairs for comfort (I miss the nice rocking chairs at grandma's house and at mom's), and falling asleep with my head at every possible angle. I think Anneliese senses the change of environment and post stress of traveling for 3 days.
- I've been trying to think of what I am going to say to my housekeeper when she comes?!? I've been thinking about it for a couple days and all that comes to mind is a mixture of Chinese and Czech - help! She called this morning to see if we were home (we had no way to tell her our return was delayed) and I managed to communicate that we returned to Hanoi...obviously : )
- This morning both kids woke up at their usual time and Emma was excited to go to school, so we sent her for possibly a half day - we'll see how long she lasts. It will be a big surprise because I didn't have a chance to give her teacher a head's up. Thankfully Huong our housekeeper had a fridge full of chopped fresh fruit, spring rolls and sticky rice with chicken, and that was breakfast for all and lunch for Emma and Christian as they headed out to catch their busses.
- Xander, Anneliese and I took Emma down to the bus this morning and it was surreal and nostalgic to see Hanoi again through "first time" eyes. I couldn't help but smile as we waited for the bus and was reminded of the horn honking, motorbikes, ladies with bicycles loaded up with things for sale, construction projects in the works, people coming and going with their daily groceries just purchased fresh from the market ...aaaaaaah : ) I love it.
- I think I will be unpacking again for the next month...our airfreight shipment is waiting for me downstairs in 4 big boxes (the size of a dresser), our sea shipment comes next week sometime and I have 12 pieces of luggage with all sorts of things to pack. I know already that our housekeeper will smile, shake her head and say with a laugh "too many things!" It's amazing what you can do without and what you think you need to have.
- I need to sign off, Anneliese is fussing and Xander is too quiet...
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Sen. McCain in Hanoi
The day after I got back to Hanoi, Sen. McCain arrived here as well. He came with Sen. Lindsey Graham (South Carolina) and Sen. Klobuchar (Minnesota). I was lucky enough to attend his meetings with the Prime Minister, Chairman of the National Assembly and his speech to a group of students. In between his official meetings, we made a quick trip to Truc Bach lake in the center of town. Sen. McCain landed in the lake after his plane was shot down during the Vietnamese War. Given that Sen. McCain's father was the head of the military's Pacific Command at the time, the Vietnamese quickly put up a monument at the site to those who shot down "Tchan Sney Mcaan" (a Vietnamized spelling of John Sidney McCain). Above is a picture of the Senator standing in front of the statue which remains today. McCain joked with his fellow senators that it didn't hurt his feelings that they called him an "air pirate" on the monument, but that it did bother him that they said he was in the Air Force and not the Navy.
It was amazing how Sen. McCain was treated like a rockstar here. At his speech to students, he was greeted by screaming teens snapping pictures furiously while trying to press in and shake his hand. It was a sight to behold. His staff even joked that the students seemed to have him confused with the Beatles. The next day, the delegation made a visit to the Hoa Lao prison, better known as the "Hanoi Hilton" where Sen. McCain spent many years. It is amazing to think that how far we have come in the past 30 years and the wounds that have healed. Regardless of what you think of his politics, Sen. McCain is to be commended for the crucial roll he has played in our reconciliation with Vietnam even though he suffered so much during the war. Less than 15 years ago we didn't even have an Embassy here and now 80% of the country loves America. My how far we have come! I guess it helps that more than 2/3 of the c
ountry was born after the war.
At church on Sunday, our Branch President informed me that he saw me on the national nightly news which covered the delegation's meetings with Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Assembly. Later while visiting the Communist Party of Vietnam's website (yes, I do that frequently for work) I came across the video news coverage of the meetings. While watching the video, I was surprised to see that the cameramen zoomed in on me several times (I guess that is because I was intently taking notes of what was being said). I have tried to download the footage to post it on our blog but I guess I am technologically inept because I haven't been able to do so. Here is the link to the Communist Party's website where the video was posted: Lãnh đạo Đảng, Nhà nước tiếp đoàn Thượng nghị sĩ Hoa Kỳ is the one with Sen. McCain (literally translated as Party and National Leaders Welcome a Delegation of United States Senators). I guess with that I have used up a couple more seconds of my 5 minutes of fame.
Christian in Hanoi & Jennie and the Kids in California
We enjoyed a great month together in Utah visiting with family and friends. Christian came back to Hanoi on April 5 only to be greeted by 1,200 unread work e-mails. I guess taking a month off of work will do that to you.
Jennie and the kiddos left Utah on Friday to visit her Mom and Briant in Southern California for two weeks before Christian heads back to the States for a couple of days to help bring the whole family home. Expecting Jennie to survive a 30+ hour flight alone with three kids, as cute as they may be, was just too much to ask. We look forward to being back in Hanoi all together as a family on May 5.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Anneliese Update
We've had an exciting past couple of weeks here in Utah. After spending 10 days in the Hospital, little Anneliese came home with us to Grandma Bitter's house. Jennie's Mom was a real lifesaver during the time before Christian could get here. She flew out the same day as the birth from California and did a great job helping out with Emma and Xander. We couldn't have done it without her. Thank you Mom! Christian took over in taking care of our older two kids upon arrival and has loved having quality one-on-one time with both kiddos. Jennie has been amazing dealing with Anneliese and the sleepless nights that accompany a newborn.
Not long after we brought Anneliese home from the hospital, Christian's parents and younger sister Denisha with her two daughters arrived in Utah to join in the celebration of Anneliese's birth. Denisha is a professional photographer and took the above photos and arranged them for us after returning home to her family in Kentucky. Emma and Xander have loved having quality time with their grandparents and great-grandparents. We are also looking forward to the upcoming visit of Jennie's Dad & Elaine at the end of this month.
While Christian's family was in town, Briant also drove up from California to be here for Anneliese's blessing. We are supremely grateful for the sacrifice of so many family members to be here to share in our special time. It was a wonderful celebration to have so many close family members on both sides of our family here for that special occasion. We are so blessed to be staying with Grandma & Grandpa Bitter who have been so accomodating and loving and have put up with our quirks and many visitors. Huge thank you's are also in order for Auntie who has been so generous in babysitting and everything else, Desiree & Chuck for giving the tired parents a rare night out together and Natalie for taking Jennie to the hospital at 4:00 am for the birth.
Anneliese continues to grow and is such a cute little princess. She is still on oxygen - largely the result of being a premy in high elevation Utah. We hope that by the end of this month she won't need her oxygen "top-off" any longer. Emma & Xander are enjoying helping Mom and getting to know little "Ah-Lisa" as Xander calls her. Time continues to fly by. In less than two weeks Christian will be getting back on an airplane headed home to Hanoi - with the rest of the family to follow a month later.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
An update from The Mom
Little Anneliese (pronounced "On-Ah-Lisa") just after her oxygen tubes were removed. This is the German spelling and pronunciation.
Her condition is very common for a 36-week-old baby. She is eating the right amount every 3 hours and is starting to differentiate between being full and hungry. She will nurse, and will sometimes do a very good job, but she doesn't have the energy/stamina to nurse long enough to get full. It is exhausting to her, so I am feeding her every other time to let her conserve her strength. This allows nursing to be a positive experience for both mom and baby. They feed her through the tube at night and the off-times during the day when I am home trying to rest. Overall, she looks really good and we just need to be patient and let her development take place. The doctors and nurses are excellent and I feel so good about the decisions we are making together about her care. Emma and my mom came today with me to feed Anneliese. Because of RSV germs, Emma is not allowed inside the NICU unit. They watched through the window as I showed them all of Anneliese's tubes and gadgets : )
Christian hops on a plane tomorrow! The whole family can't wait!!! Grandma talked with him this morning and told me later "that's one homesick daddy." : ) I'll talk with him the last time tonight and then we'll see him Sunday evening. We're excited for daddy to be here!!!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Introducing Anneliese Rebecca Marchant
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
New Baby Girl!
Jennie went into labor this morning almost exactly a month early. Our new little girl not only came early but quickly as Jennie was only checked into the hospital for about 45 min before she was born. They didn't even have time to give Jennie her epidural. She is such a Super Star! Our little girl was born at 6:45 am (MST) on February 24 at the American Fork Hospital in Utah. Our new bundle of pink weighed in at 6 lbs 3 oz and a petite 17 inches. I'll post pictures as soon as I get them.
I am still in Vietnam and will be flying out this Saturday to be with Jennie and the kids for the whole month of March. I called United and begged for them to move up my flight but they wanted me to pay $2,200 (in addition to the $1,500 I already forked out for the ticket I bought several months ago.) For those of you keeping track, yes I missed Xander's birth similarly as well during our time in Prague. I guess I win bad Daddy of the year award - again.
We hope to announce our little girls name soon. Stay tuned...
I am still in Vietnam and will be flying out this Saturday to be with Jennie and the kids for the whole month of March. I called United and begged for them to move up my flight but they wanted me to pay $2,200 (in addition to the $1,500 I already forked out for the ticket I bought several months ago.) For those of you keeping track, yes I missed Xander's birth similarly as well during our time in Prague. I guess I win bad Daddy of the year award - again.
We hope to announce our little girls name soon. Stay tuned...
Friday, February 13, 2009
Obamarama and Krazy Weather
It has been interesting living in Vietnam and listening to people's thoughts on our new President. His name seems to be gold here and now the entrepreneurial Vietnamese seem to be trying to cash in on it. In fact, just around the corner from the U.S. Embassy a new karaoke joint was just built (the Vietnamese LOOOOVVVVVEEEEE karaoke). The name of the new establishment you ask? Obama Karaoke. I truly wish I had a camera right now to post a picture of the sign outside. Alas, our camera is with my cute wife and adorable kids on the other side of the Pacific ocean. But to describe it, the words Obama Karaoke are in a gothic white script on a black sign. Below that sign is just the word Obama in blue neon lights. Talk about classic.
As for the weather, today in Hanoi it reached a high of 94 degrees (tomorrow will be 91 degrees). Yes, you read that right and no Hanoi isn't South of the Equator where it is currently summer. It is still "winter" here in theory. I love seeing people all bundled up on their scooters zooming around town. On the ride to a meeting in the middle of the day today I felt like yelling out the car window "It is 94 degrees! What are you doing in a winter parka???"
This winter has been incredibly warm here as contrasted to last year's cold winter. (I know if it never snows here it can't get too cold right?) Well, we are in Northern Vietnam and it isn't the tropics. In fact, on a recent work trip to the Chinese border I was informed by some government officials that in one province alone 13,000 water buffalos died last year due to the cold. Those poor water buffalos just couldn't adjust to the cold weather and keep themselves warm. Luckily, that was last year and not this year, since we are now celebrating the year of the water buffalo. Talk about a potential for some serious bad karma.
For the record, we love water buffalos! They are so mellow and extraordinary (they aren't as cool as elephants but definitely "splendid" - to use a British-ism). They were also the only thing that kept us from going unhinged on our tragically long bus rides in Laos. Xander loved spotting the "buffwos" as he called them and it helped pass the time.
As for the weather, today in Hanoi it reached a high of 94 degrees (tomorrow will be 91 degrees). Yes, you read that right and no Hanoi isn't South of the Equator where it is currently summer. It is still "winter" here in theory. I love seeing people all bundled up on their scooters zooming around town. On the ride to a meeting in the middle of the day today I felt like yelling out the car window "It is 94 degrees! What are you doing in a winter parka???"
This winter has been incredibly warm here as contrasted to last year's cold winter. (I know if it never snows here it can't get too cold right?) Well, we are in Northern Vietnam and it isn't the tropics. In fact, on a recent work trip to the Chinese border I was informed by some government officials that in one province alone 13,000 water buffalos died last year due to the cold. Those poor water buffalos just couldn't adjust to the cold weather and keep themselves warm. Luckily, that was last year and not this year, since we are now celebrating the year of the water buffalo. Talk about a potential for some serious bad karma.
For the record, we love water buffalos! They are so mellow and extraordinary (they aren't as cool as elephants but definitely "splendid" - to use a British-ism). They were also the only thing that kept us from going unhinged on our tragically long bus rides in Laos. Xander loved spotting the "buffwos" as he called them and it helped pass the time.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Snowy Utah
(Posted by Jennie) The kids and I made the long 35-hour journey to Utah this week. We arrived Tuesday evening with bloodshot and glazed over eyes, but with big smiles on our faces to greet Gma Becky, Gpa Briant and Auntie. The fact that I am blogging about our journey several days later is an indication of how eventful the trip was : ) Don't get me wrong, we are extremely grateful that we made it safely, but here are some of the highlights...
First flight (depart Hanoi at midnight, arrive Narita, Japan 7:00 a.m.): The kids didn't sleep a wink until the plane had landed and we were taxying to the gate. I think the in-flight entertainment options were too good, and the excitement of flying on an airplane.
12-hour layover in Narita. The kids were exhausted and we checked into a day room and got all settled down...and then the giggles start erupting from both kids - aaaaaaaaaaah! A very tired mom declares "That's it! We're going on a walk!" We walked down a very charming street toward a temple known for it's healing attributes. They even had a special pathway up to the temple for the elderly and disabled. Many white-haired people were there inhaling the healing smoke from incense at the main altar. We got back to the hotel completely exhausted and crashed until it was time to go back to the airport and check in for the next flight.
Flight two (transpacific flight to San Fran): Thankfully we travelled at a non-busy time and were upgraded to business class. We had four wonderful flight attendants who enjoyed checking up on us. I waited until the right time for the kids to have some real sleep and I gave them some prescription strength Robitussin AC (with Codine). Let me insert here, that I did some research online before deciding to pack this in our carry on. I use medicine carefully, especially with our kids. I settled into my chair to wait for the promised affect to take place. To my HUGE surprise it backfired and Xander started behaving like he had just downed a box of candy bars. Emma didn't zonk out either - I think she was too entertained by Xander.
Finally after a couple hours of this a flight attendant recommended some warm milk. She brought it to us in a Japanese Sake bottle and said "don't worry, I rinsed it out before I poured in the milk." After downing two bottles of milk and listening to mom's soft voice reading stories from a children's magazine, the kids zonked out and we were all able to get a few hours of much-needed rest. Below is a pic of Xander totally ready to sleep as he watches the action on the tarmac.
Flight 3 (SFO to SLC): A wonderful saint-of-a-woman offered to sit by Emma on the flight. She said "You might think I'm crazy, but I'm a grandma and I love children." I heartily thanked her. Emma chatted away and played with her toys and was soooooo excited to finally be in Utah! Xander made a speedway and ran his favorite tractor and dirtbike up and down her legs and arms several times. We finally arrived in SLC to smiling faces : ) The best part of the trip.
Highlights in Utah so far have been:
- Enjoying Grandpa Briant's special breakfast and talking with him.
- Spending a day with my sister Melissa before she went back to CA.
- Taking Xander to Wal-Mart at 1:30 a.m. because he woke up and decided he didn't want to sleep. We came home at 4:00, took a walk in the frosty air, ate a bowl of cereal and went to bed at 4:30. Thank heavens for a store that stays open all night.
- Meeting up with my sister Natalie and her cute daughter Taelin for a playdate.
- At the playdate, Emma climbed on top of a dinosaur head with another little boy. She asked what his name was, introduced herself and then asked "what country are you from?" I didn't hear his answer.
- Xander snuggling up to my brother Michael in the armchair (Xander only does this when he's super tired or not feeling well). We consider his snuggles a rare treat.
- Sledding in the snow : ) with blue skies and white-capped mountains in the distance.
- Talking with my sister Emily and knowing that we're almost in the same time zone : )
- Emma feeding the ducks with Auntie.
- Jennie going to lunch with Bonnie and John Haymore (former humanitarian service missionaries in Hanoi) and Kim and Travis (Vietnamese students at BYU) who are from the Hanoi Branch.
- Shopping a sale at Old Navy and going to Costco : )
I look forward to seeing many more dear friends and family members while we are here.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Chúc Mừng Năm Mới - Happy New Year
Happy Tet or lunar new year! Instead of saying they are "celebrating" Tet the Vietnamese say, ăn Tết which literally means to "eat" Tet. Tet is the biggest holiday on the Vietnamese calendar - kind of like Christmas, Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve rolled into one. Which I guess makes sense since it is celebrated over a long period of time and people usually get a whole week off of work. It is a time to spend with family, give gifts and reflect on the coming year.
We've enjoyed observing the customs of Tet and contrasting them to what happened during Chinese New Year when we lived in Beijing. Leading up to Tet, the preparations are fast and furious and traffic in Hanoi reaches insane proportions. People are driving on all the sidewalks and traffic is simply unbearable. When I asked someone why the traffic was so bad the response I received, only half jokingly, was that all the low and mid-level provincial officials have to come to Hanoi to pay their respects (and bribes) to higher officials in the capital.
Leading up to Tet, families give lots of gifts to friends and prepare a big meal for the Kitchen Gods. Families are supposed to give a report to the Kitchen Gods of the previous year's happenings and recite prayers and make offerings of boiled chicken, eggs and junk food like potato chips (not sure when the junk food was added or why). At the end of the ceremony the family sets a fish free (usually a catfish) to let the Kitchen Gods ride it up to heaven - I offered to flush one down the toilet but Jennie didn't find that quite so funny. We were able to view the Kitchen God ceremony up close when the owners of our apartment building had their ceremony in our lobby. Jennie was able to take some movies of them chanting and praying. Here is a picture of the alter and the offerings.
Everyone decorates their homes with peach blossoms (the first tree to blossom in these parts - not too difficult when the weather is in the 60's and 70's as it is now). Also very prevalent are mandarin orange trees full of oranges, which are supposed to look like gold coins and represent wealth in the coming year. I found it hilarious to see all these trees ripe with fruit zooming around town on the back of scooters. Amazingly enough, the fruit doesn't fall off.
We spent New Year's Eve downtown next to St. Joseph's Cathedral to watch the fireworks. We woke the kids up at 11:30 pm and drove downtown. Although the fireworks were not as impressive as those in China it was still fun to see all the people out and to watch the sky fill up with lantern balloons. It is pretty cool to watch them lite and then float into the sky. Afterwords, people then burn offerings of paper goods (motorbikes, clothes, fake money) for their ancestors. Xander was excited to see all the fires throughout the city as we drove home. We enjoyed some hot chocolate to mark the new year and then went home and crashed.
The first day of the new year is spent with family and parents and grandparents give their kids red envelopes full of cash. Although it was actually the last day of the lunar year, there were lots of people handing out red envelopes at church, which our kids of course loved.
For more info on Tet customs, wikipedia has some great info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet
For me, the sad part about Tet was that it meant that Jennie and the kids were heading back to the snowy confines of Utah for Jennie to get ready to have kiddo #3. I bid adieu to the them this week but will meet up with them on March 1st when I head back to the States for the birth.
We've enjoyed observing the customs of Tet and contrasting them to what happened during Chinese New Year when we lived in Beijing. Leading up to Tet, the preparations are fast and furious and traffic in Hanoi reaches insane proportions. People are driving on all the sidewalks and traffic is simply unbearable. When I asked someone why the traffic was so bad the response I received, only half jokingly, was that all the low and mid-level provincial officials have to come to Hanoi to pay their respects (and bribes) to higher officials in the capital.
Leading up to Tet, families give lots of gifts to friends and prepare a big meal for the Kitchen Gods. Families are supposed to give a report to the Kitchen Gods of the previous year's happenings and recite prayers and make offerings of boiled chicken, eggs and junk food like potato chips (not sure when the junk food was added or why). At the end of the ceremony the family sets a fish free (usually a catfish) to let the Kitchen Gods ride it up to heaven - I offered to flush one down the toilet but Jennie didn't find that quite so funny. We were able to view the Kitchen God ceremony up close when the owners of our apartment building had their ceremony in our lobby. Jennie was able to take some movies of them chanting and praying. Here is a picture of the alter and the offerings.
Everyone decorates their homes with peach blossoms (the first tree to blossom in these parts - not too difficult when the weather is in the 60's and 70's as it is now). Also very prevalent are mandarin orange trees full of oranges, which are supposed to look like gold coins and represent wealth in the coming year. I found it hilarious to see all these trees ripe with fruit zooming around town on the back of scooters. Amazingly enough, the fruit doesn't fall off.
We spent New Year's Eve downtown next to St. Joseph's Cathedral to watch the fireworks. We woke the kids up at 11:30 pm and drove downtown. Although the fireworks were not as impressive as those in China it was still fun to see all the people out and to watch the sky fill up with lantern balloons. It is pretty cool to watch them lite and then float into the sky. Afterwords, people then burn offerings of paper goods (motorbikes, clothes, fake money) for their ancestors. Xander was excited to see all the fires throughout the city as we drove home. We enjoyed some hot chocolate to mark the new year and then went home and crashed.
The first day of the new year is spent with family and parents and grandparents give their kids red envelopes full of cash. Although it was actually the last day of the lunar year, there were lots of people handing out red envelopes at church, which our kids of course loved.
For more info on Tet customs, wikipedia has some great info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tet
For me, the sad part about Tet was that it meant that Jennie and the kids were heading back to the snowy confines of Utah for Jennie to get ready to have kiddo #3. I bid adieu to the them this week but will meet up with them on March 1st when I head back to the States for the birth.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Bus Ride That Wouldn't End
One last crazy story. We took the "VIP" bus from Luang Prabang back to Vientiane before flying out. Rule of thumb: always add 2-3 hours onto the length of time they “tell” you it will take. Our 8-hour bus ride was 11 hours!!! It was actually a comfortable bus, but of course we had some drama. We showed up 30 minutes before the bus was scheduled to depart and were informed that our reserved seats on the 8:00 bus had been sold and the bus was now full. WHAT!?!?! Not fair! A young kid who is the bus driver’s assistant sold our tickets to a big group tour that needed a few extra seats – ugh!
We had arranged our tickets 4 days prior and believed that we should ride on this bus. Finally after being blown off for 25 minutes, the manager got on board and agreed that this was a problem and at least acknowledged that we had valid reserved seats on this bus. We camped out on the bus: me and the kids in 2 seats, while Christian tried to work things out. It was a mess and so uncomfortable. Since we had paid for 4 seats, we could have opted for taking a later bus, but there was no guarantee that those seats hadn’t been sold either. In hindsight I think we would have handled it differently.
The bus took off as Christian stood in the aisle. They were trying to tell Christian that they would give him a plastic stool to sit on in the aisle – that wasn’t his idea of fun for 7 hours. Then they told him they’d give him a cushion and he could sit on the stairs – he wasn’t going for that either. Christian announced to the young dude who sold our seats that he was taking his seat – shotgun to the driver with his knees up to his chest (Lao people are a bit shorter than Americans). So, Christian rode next to the bus driver and opened his water bottles for him, changed out his CDs for him, etc. It was a 2-level bus with driver and luggage below and passengers up the stairs. Christian felt justified in taking the young guy’s seat, but got a little worried when at the first stop, one bus helper got out of the bus with his AK-47. (In the past, Laos has had problems with bandits along the roadside.)
When we stopped for lunch Christian filled me in on all the gory details of that morning…and this is where I am still laughing my guts out with tears streaming down my face. Apparently the bus driver had a young friend who came along. I don’t think this kid had traveled by car or bus before and was VERY carsick! Christian heard the noises he was making and knew exactly what was happening. The bus driver and others in the front smelled something strange and looked around like: what IS that? Christian pantomimed what had happened and they all got disgusting looks on their faces and started searching for a plastic bag to give him. He continued to wretch and dry heave for the next 4 hours until the road straightened out a bit.
Later the poor kid suffered from a bout of diarrhea in his pants and that explained why suddenly the door opened up for about 5 minutes as we were cruising down the highway – they were trying to air out the front of the bus. This was followed by an overzealous spray of air freshener. A girl sitting on the stairs kept putting a menthol stick in her nose and sniffing it every few minutes. I thought maybe it was to prevent her from becoming motion sick. Later, everything made perfect sense and I’m still laughing at the hilarity of the situation.
Finally in Vang Vieng (3-4 hours from Vientiane) some passengers got out and Christian was able to grab a vacant seat. Crazy, crazy bus ride! At least we can all laugh about it now.
We had arranged our tickets 4 days prior and believed that we should ride on this bus. Finally after being blown off for 25 minutes, the manager got on board and agreed that this was a problem and at least acknowledged that we had valid reserved seats on this bus. We camped out on the bus: me and the kids in 2 seats, while Christian tried to work things out. It was a mess and so uncomfortable. Since we had paid for 4 seats, we could have opted for taking a later bus, but there was no guarantee that those seats hadn’t been sold either. In hindsight I think we would have handled it differently.
The bus took off as Christian stood in the aisle. They were trying to tell Christian that they would give him a plastic stool to sit on in the aisle – that wasn’t his idea of fun for 7 hours. Then they told him they’d give him a cushion and he could sit on the stairs – he wasn’t going for that either. Christian announced to the young dude who sold our seats that he was taking his seat – shotgun to the driver with his knees up to his chest (Lao people are a bit shorter than Americans). So, Christian rode next to the bus driver and opened his water bottles for him, changed out his CDs for him, etc. It was a 2-level bus with driver and luggage below and passengers up the stairs. Christian felt justified in taking the young guy’s seat, but got a little worried when at the first stop, one bus helper got out of the bus with his AK-47. (In the past, Laos has had problems with bandits along the roadside.)
When we stopped for lunch Christian filled me in on all the gory details of that morning…and this is where I am still laughing my guts out with tears streaming down my face. Apparently the bus driver had a young friend who came along. I don’t think this kid had traveled by car or bus before and was VERY carsick! Christian heard the noises he was making and knew exactly what was happening. The bus driver and others in the front smelled something strange and looked around like: what IS that? Christian pantomimed what had happened and they all got disgusting looks on their faces and started searching for a plastic bag to give him. He continued to wretch and dry heave for the next 4 hours until the road straightened out a bit.
Later the poor kid suffered from a bout of diarrhea in his pants and that explained why suddenly the door opened up for about 5 minutes as we were cruising down the highway – they were trying to air out the front of the bus. This was followed by an overzealous spray of air freshener. A girl sitting on the stairs kept putting a menthol stick in her nose and sniffing it every few minutes. I thought maybe it was to prevent her from becoming motion sick. Later, everything made perfect sense and I’m still laughing at the hilarity of the situation.
Finally in Vang Vieng (3-4 hours from Vientiane) some passengers got out and Christian was able to grab a vacant seat. Crazy, crazy bus ride! At least we can all laugh about it now.
Luang Prabang
This is a very touristy spot in Laos complete with internet cafes, loads of good restaurants, boutique hotels, unique shops, and tour operators selling every and any type of tour package. It was an easy place to spend 7 days. Our hotel was right across from a major temple and we heard the monks early morning drums and cymbals, as well as their singing / chanting in the evening.
We saw many beautiful temples and a common motif here is the tree of life, which we loved seeing on most of the temples. Xander particularly loved hearing the monks sing and learned very quickly how to kneel down and listen excitedly and quietly. Well, I guess he was quiet until we were sneaking out the back and he leaned over and struck a huge gong, which added a little extra music to the chanting ceremony. This only hastened our exit!!!
We hiked up Mount Phousi, visited the Royal Palace Museum, and trekked all over town visiting temples and talking to monks. We did more laundry and this time it smelled much better (I think dryer sheets were involved). The cardboard sign promised “perfumed” laundry.
Jennie enjoyed taking a Lao cooking class and is now ready to bring the yummy Lao flavors home to her own kitchen : ) Our last morning in Luang Prabang we also got up early to feed the monks. Xander loved putting fresh fruit into their brass bowls.
We also took a boat out to see the Buddhist grottoes; which were completely overrated and overrun with tourists. We’ve seen some real grottoes in China and we were disappointed in these which were just caves with small Buddhist statues. Afterward we stopped in a handicraft village and saw silk runners being made on the looms. This village ended up being the highlight of our trip that day besides the fun time in the boat.
“Sa Ba Dee Pri Mai” – This means Happy New Year in Lao! The kids perfected it and announced it to everyone they met. It was cute to see the warm responses.
We celebrated New Years in Luang Prabang and it was very nice. We got Pad Thai to go and ate it on our balcony while watching traditional Lao music players and dancers at the hotel party below us. It was perfect and so charming and the kids were totally entertained. We thought to ourselves: hey, we’re so lucky! The kids got baths and we got all cleaned up and ready for bed when the lead singer (from the hotel below) cranked up the volume and got the real party started – uh oh! Even after pleading with the manager at the hotel below, the volume didn’t waiver and we put up with it till 1:00 a.m. The family slept, thankfully, but mom (even with ear plugs) lay in bed hearing the boom, boom, boom of the drums and bass guitar. Oh well, what can you do? Happy New Year!
We loved visiting the night market. We went a few nights and lasted until one of the kids melted down. It was great to see all the hand-made goods and handicrafts things that were for sale. Almost everyone announced their price and then after a brief pause said “Do you want discount?” Uh, yes I do! And off came 5,000 Kip (about .70 cents). Those 12 year olds are tough bargainers and we were glad to see them out only on weekends and at the night markets, which meant they were in school during the day.
We flew home exhausted and happy to have had so many great adventures, and happy to be home in our own beds. Mom Oxycleaned the heck out of the laundry and did a double soak and wash of everything – walking around in stocking feet in all the temples makes for really dirty socks! The backpacks and shoes still need to be cleaned, but everything else has made its way back to its proper place now.
We saw many beautiful temples and a common motif here is the tree of life, which we loved seeing on most of the temples. Xander particularly loved hearing the monks sing and learned very quickly how to kneel down and listen excitedly and quietly. Well, I guess he was quiet until we were sneaking out the back and he leaned over and struck a huge gong, which added a little extra music to the chanting ceremony. This only hastened our exit!!!
We hiked up Mount Phousi, visited the Royal Palace Museum, and trekked all over town visiting temples and talking to monks. We did more laundry and this time it smelled much better (I think dryer sheets were involved). The cardboard sign promised “perfumed” laundry.
We also took a boat out to see the Buddhist grottoes; which were completely overrated and overrun with tourists. We’ve seen some real grottoes in China and we were disappointed in these which were just caves with small Buddhist statues. Afterward we stopped in a handicraft village and saw silk runners being made on the looms. This village ended up being the highlight of our trip that day besides the fun time in the boat.
“Sa Ba Dee Pri Mai” – This means Happy New Year in Lao! The kids perfected it and announced it to everyone they met. It was cute to see the warm responses.
We celebrated New Years in Luang Prabang and it was very nice. We got Pad Thai to go and ate it on our balcony while watching traditional Lao music players and dancers at the hotel party below us. It was perfect and so charming and the kids were totally entertained. We thought to ourselves: hey, we’re so lucky! The kids got baths and we got all cleaned up and ready for bed when the lead singer (from the hotel below) cranked up the volume and got the real party started – uh oh! Even after pleading with the manager at the hotel below, the volume didn’t waiver and we put up with it till 1:00 a.m. The family slept, thankfully, but mom (even with ear plugs) lay in bed hearing the boom, boom, boom of the drums and bass guitar. Oh well, what can you do? Happy New Year!
We loved visiting the night market. We went a few nights and lasted until one of the kids melted down. It was great to see all the hand-made goods and handicrafts things that were for sale. Almost everyone announced their price and then after a brief pause said “Do you want discount?” Uh, yes I do! And off came 5,000 Kip (about .70 cents). Those 12 year olds are tough bargainers and we were glad to see them out only on weekends and at the night markets, which meant they were in school during the day.
We flew home exhausted and happy to have had so many great adventures, and happy to be home in our own beds. Mom Oxycleaned the heck out of the laundry and did a double soak and wash of everything – walking around in stocking feet in all the temples makes for really dirty socks! The backpacks and shoes still need to be cleaned, but everything else has made its way back to its proper place now.
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