Rain, Rain Go....Nowhere

So it happened today, my first time caught in a Vietnamese downpour. I was coming back from a half day of touring the major sites in Hanoi (more on that later) and saw these dark clouds, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up and the sky opened. I have rarely seen rain like this I am talking biblical rain. I would have snapped a photo if I wasn't so busy running awning to awning and cowering under my inept umbrella. I have photos below of me after I got back inside my room. NONE of me was dry at best my head was moist. I also turned my shower into an umbrella and clothes drying station. I thought it was rather creative.

Last weekend 14 ETAs (myself included) and our TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) teacher went to Ha Long Bay. We rented an entire junk boat for 1 night with meals included and the best part was the cost $94.65 USD. Thank God for the power of a dollar. Ha Long Bay is located Northeast of Hanoi and means "descending dragon". It has an area of 600 square miles and consists of nearly 2,000 islands of limestone formed after nearly 500 million years of erosion. It was incredible and huge, so huge you can't even comprehend its scope. I have included a video and pictures I took of the Bay since words are inadequate.

Entering Ha Long Bay. So awesome. It's like Uluru times ten. I was truly god smacked.

Some of the limestone islands. There are over 2,000 of these islands and they can climb hundreds of feet into the air.

Some of the other junkboats making their way out to Ha Long Bay.

We started the weekend by having a wonderful multicourse seafood lunch and then slowly made our way into the bay. After we anchored we went and explored some of the caves located in some of these islands that during the American War (AKA the Vietnam War in the US) were used to hide officials and store medicine and munitions. We took a glided tour through the cave that ended in an outlook above the bay.

After seeing the caves and returning to the boat we kayaked to another island where we swam in a netted beach (jellyfish also live in the Bay), hiked to the top of the island and some ETAs partook in a Fulbright Vs. the rest of the beach volleyball game while the rest of us cheered them on. We lost, but had a good time! Ambassador role: check. The next morning I got up to see the sunrise over the Bay. The Bay was silent and the haze from the previous day was gone. I will let you be the judge, pics below.

Once the sun had risen to finish up our time at the Bay we took a small flat-bottomed rowboat into another island, which is a doughnut, and is accessible by traveling under a very low bridge. On the other side is a monkey colony! They come down out of the island's jungle to greet the boats and hopefully find food. I got some great shots of the orange-faced monkeys.

A mama or dada and a baby! So so cute!!!

Today we had the day off from orientation so I took in some of the major tourist sites in Hanoi, the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and the Temple of Literature. The HCM Mausoleum is very soviet and clearly built around the cult of personality. You are not allowed to bring cameras inside. In lieu of a picture take the final scene of Evita where she lies instate embalmed and people are walking around the glass coffin and replace Madonna with a small man. There is great respect and reverence for the man most poeple call their Uncle Ho. Vietnam has been independent for 65 years, which means that there are Vietnamese who have lived under colonialism and through the war and transition to independence. What's odd is that the capitalist kitsch being pushed on you the minute you leave the tomb juxtaposes this near-sacred respect. I felt like I was observing a pilgrimage. Perhaps this is the new Vietnam? I think it's clear that right now Vietnam is still working to exist in both worlds, politically communist and economically capitalist. The culture is trapped somewhere in-between. The HCM Mausoleum is connected to the former Presidential Palace, which was the seat for the French Indochina colonial power. The Palace is French so it's stunning and overdone, but I LOVE that style of architecture so I was agog. When HCM (BTW HCM is Ho Chi Minh and HCMC is Ho Chi Minh City in case you hadn't caught on) won freedom from the US he moved into the Palace but quickly built a traditional silt house in the gardens as the new seat of power for Vietnam.

Rather austere, the Soviet influence is a bit heavy handed. The inside is covered with marble and red tile. Fitting I suppose.

So so French. C'est maqnifique.

After we finished the mausoleum we went to the Temple of Literature, which is a Chinese Confucian temple and the oldest university in Vietnam. It's beautiful in its symmetry and structure. It features a number of gardens and various temples, pictures are below.

The gates to the Temple.

Turtles are lucky in Vietnamese culture. These stone markers have the names of every person who has earned their Ph.D. from the Temple. The Temple awarded degrees from 1070 to 1778.

This is the third courtyard temple. Great detail in the temple.

One more thing. I have described the traffic and I have posted a video of it. Now here is the video taken by one of the ETAs as we crossed the street. This is what it's like on a GOOD DAY!

This was a large blog post with lots of photos and two videos. That should hold y'all over for a while. Next weekend the Embassy is taking all the ETAs on a retreat to Mai Chau (Hoa Binh) Valley. I must go and try to finish these medical school apps. In the past week I have returned 16 apps. I currently have 6 more plus 2 for joint MPH programs and I am waiting to get access to 3 more. I can see the light! The light of nightclubs I mean. Maybe I can go out with the other ETAs next week and not be boarded up in my room working. Come to think of it very little has changed since I graduated. Go to class all day and work all night. But I can't complain too much. You just read about what I did last weekend!