Update

Sorry for the delay in my update. I am very slow at updating blogs.

I have been doing my best to keep myself busy the past couple weeks.  I had a two week break from teaching to celebrate Tet, the lunar New Year. Many of the students come from outside Hanoi, so the long break allowed them time to spend with family at home.

I, however, was too far away to travel home for Tet, so I stayed in Hanoi. I stayed with the Cima's for the first two days of Tet. We had planned to take an overnight trip to the Ha Long Bay area to visit a friend of J.P.'s. There was a change in plans because Bella (J.P. and Aimee's 18 month old) was sick, so Aimee stayed home with her.  We also shortened it from an overnight to a day trip because the roads were so clear.

The third day of Tet, I spent time with Thuy, a student Sarah taught last year.  She took me to see the Temple of Liturature and the Vietnam War Museum.  Both were interesting, though I didn't learn as much at the War Museum as I would have liked since the signs were all in Vietnamese.

A few days later it was my birthday! I spent the morning with Sarah and a few of her former students. We went to the Hanoi Museum of Ethnography.  There was a ethnic group from the mountains that was having a demonstration day, so there was a lot to see and do at the museum that day. After the museum we made lunch together and had birthday cake! (Courteousy of Sarah).

And now it is back to teaching.