Send Banana Bread Recipes--FAST

A couple of weeks ago we visited Tam, an interpreter from the Vietnamese Statistical Agency that Dan (and me by extension) has become friends with.

We had her and her husband over for dinner last year at a time when their marriage was stressed because they were having trouble getting pregnant. Apparently it was a good dinner because they became pregnant very soon after. I'm not sure if it was the food or our proximity to phu Tay Ho (a pagoda that is known for its fertility granting powers) but we are now "co" and "bac" (aunt and uncle) to "Cherry" their newborn.

We had been out to Tam's village at Tet and had a fantastic time. We thought Fred and Liz's visit would be a good time to go again.

Even though we are friends with Tam and her husband only by extension, we went to the husband's family's house first. His brother (and the brother's wife) had recently built a new three-story powder blue house with all the modern amenities next to the old one-room house that they had been sharing with his mother.

They had prepared an amazing meal for us. We ate, chatted, wandered in the garden among the pomelos, bananas, and other trees, took a walk though the rice fields with a neice and nephew. We then visited the Pagoda in the Village. It was great. First the head Monk welcomed us to the pagoda and then we wandered around with Tam, her husband and the kids.

We then went back to the husband's house to drop off the kids. On the way, we stopped at his sisters house. We drank some tea and watched the neighbor's monkey eat some bananas. Then, before I knew what had happened, I was holding a gift of a stalk of green bananas. I was very touched and realized almost immediately that they were all going to ripen on the same day.

I brought them home, responded to Hang's inquiry "why you have so many bananas?" and carefully placed them in a corner to ripen. I figured they would turn yellow and then I would start eating them. A couple of days ago Hang said "you need to eat the bananas." I looked incredulous "they are still green." But when I felt them I realized immediately that today was the day I had imagined a couple of weeks ago. (I know they look quite yellow in the picture but believe me....they are greenish). Anyway, I've now eaten more bananas than I care to count and several of my friends have been gifted some bananas as well but there's still several dozen left. Thus the call for your best banana bread recipe.

I should take this opportunity to finish the story about our trip to Tam's village. After we dropped the kids off we went to visit Tam's mom. We drove on a one "lane" packed dirt "road" between rice patties to get there. It was 4pm which is apparently prime time for harvesting because the patties were dotted with women in their conical hats and the road was lined with carts that were being filled with stalks of rice. Tam's husband got out a few times to reposition a cart so our car could get through.

Tam's mom doesn't get to see Tam and her grandchild very often because they live pretty far away (It takes about 1.5 hours by car to get from Hanoi to Bac Giang) and when they take the trip, the husband's family seems to gets the lion's share of the time.

We said hello, had some tea, and made some local kids giggle their minds out as they clearly had never seen anyone as tall as Fred, and headed out. We stopped to buy some banh da (humongous rice crackers)--the specialty of the area, and drove back to Hanoi.

In a response to my blog asking for suggestions on what could be a little "off" about the monkeys riding the bicycles, Chilly in Calgary responded "there is a someone directing traffic."

Although Chilly should be commended for his/her/their insight into Vietnamese culture, it is not entirely correct. It should have read "the monkeys are responding/respecting the person directing traffic."

There are police officers on some of the busy streets "directing" traffic and encouraging people to follow the traffic lights. Since I don't really know what the intersections would look like in the absence of the police, I certainly can't comment on their effectiveness.

But...in the last few days Dan has had the opportunity to ask a few young men what profession they would like to have. Several said "police officer." When Dan asked "traffic cop?" they all responded with such disdain. It is apparently not exactly a high status job.

Nevertheless, Chilly has proven that they are prepared for their upcoming visit and we're really looking forward to having them.

What's wrong with this picture?

There are at least two things in this picture that make it an improbable scene in Hanoi.

1. There is only one monkey on each bike

2. There are no obstacles in the street

3. Both monkeys are going in the same direction

Can you think of others?

Dan's singing career

Dan's singing career is really taking off.

First he won the Top male fashion model at the World Bank retreat for his representation of the Earth.

Then he beat out all government officials and other development agency staffs to win the singing competition at the Trade Union Hotel in Son La for the meeting of the Northern Mountains Poverty Reduction Project.

Then...as reported previously in my blog, he sang at the Blue Dragon stall at Long Bien Bridge Festival.

And today...in the best venue yet...he sang, to great applause, an a capella version of "From Me to You" at an impromptu get together in the Ba Na Rông Communal House at the museum of ethnology.

We had gone to the museum to meet with Thanh and Toan (more on them in another post) and enjoy the celebration of the mid-autumn festival. After lunch we were wandering around the grounds of the museum noting all the creative place where Vietnamese people were napping and relaxing before the afternoon activities began when we hear music coming from the communal house. We climbed in and almost immediately a Vietnamese guy asked Dan if he wanted to sing. The rest is history.

Gym training session #2

Several days ago I described my first session with a personal trainer at the new western-style gym in my neighborhood.

I wondered how the trainer would put together a reasonable training approach given that she never asked about my goals, my level of committment etc.

Today I learned the answer...The gym assigned me an English speaker this time....think Jillian Michaels (from the biggest loser) in the body of an in-shape tiny Vietnamese woman.

At one point I thought, "wait...I'm not on the biggest loser...I didn't sign up to see how hard someone could push me before I cry...plus, this trainer acknowledged that she read on the form filled out last week that I had lower back problems but that didn't seem to affect the routine...I don't trust this woman."

Well, I am writing this blog while lying on the couch with a pillow supporting my lower back.

I think I'm done with personal training in Vietnam.

Equal Access--Vietnamese Style

Vietnam's Disability Law was approved a couple of months ago. Among other things it reinforces the equal access provisions include in the existing Barrier-Free Access code and construction standards as well as the National Action Plan for People with Disabilities.

So...it was with some hope that I watched the construction of a sidewalk by the newly-finished road that circles the lake.

This hope turned to frustration as I watched workers build planter boxes into the sidewalks that are only a few inches smaller than the width of the sidewalk.

But today, as I was walking on the street next to the sidewalk, praying to any diety I could think of that no type of moving vehicle would hit me, I realized that I have exactly the same amount of access to the sidewalk as someone in a wheelchair.

Equal Access..Mission accomplished.

A Whole New Appreciation

Last spring a friend invited me to dinner. After the meal her daughters wanted some chips. She gave them a bit of money and sent them off.

A few minutes later they returned with the goods. I looked at my watch and said "Where did they go. I thought the mini-mart closed at 8?"

She responded, without a hint of irony, "The Detartment Store."

I have never laughed so hard.

That was the beginning of my true appreciation for the Detartment Store. I've never actually been inside although I can gather from the outside that it is roughly the equivalent in size to my living room and that it does not have many (any) different departments.

While many new stores adopt the names of successful stores to confuse shoppers with no (enforceable) law against it, and Hang Giấy and can be easily confused with Hang Giày, The Detartment Store stands alone. It is a useful landmark. It is always safe to say "Let's meet in front of the Detartment Store."