roughin' it

Life is rough for me here in Viet Nam. Case in point: my last two weekends.

Last weekend:

Friday night: "Sibling Night Out." My two host sister, Ali and her host brother, Hannah and her host brother, Joel (aka--all of our 6'2" Canadian host brother), and I went out. First we went to a great restaurant that we've been eyeing for awhile, called Teeny Pizza--High School Restaurant. Then we went to a cafe that had all kinds of board games, where we introduced our siblings to Jenga and Spoons. I think my sisters enjoyed this, considering how they jabbered for at least 20 minutes non-stop to their mom when we got home. :)

Saturday: Ate snails by Giang Vo Lake with Co Giang, my former Vietnamese teacher, Hannah, and Ali. I learned and promptly forgot how to designate various types of snails in Vietnamese. We brushed up on our Vietnamese by talking about the foreign boy sitting at the table next to us, wondering who he was and what he is doing in Vietnam. Those foreigners--so intriguing.

Sunday: Went to the other international church in order to meet up with an old college acquaintance. That night I went with a group of friends to enjoy chocolate ice cream and listen to a live piano/violin duet at a cafe.

This weekend:

Saturday: Got up early to skype with an old friend. Went for a bike ride all the way around West Lake (this is my new form of exercise since I've stopped running). That night, I went to see the Hanoi International Theatre Society's production of Beauty and the Beast. I quite enjoyed it. I might have the song Gaston in my head all week...

Today: After church, Hannah, Ali, and I went to Derek and Ana's house to watch The Time Traveller's Wife. We all read the book when we first got to Viet Nam, and have been trying to watch the movie for five months (yes, I've been in Viet Nam for over five months now!). Then, we got invited to stay for supper, after which we made oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and relived our junior high years with a spirited game of MASH (if you don't recall this game, please don't ask...though if you're curious, my destiny may be to write poetry in my mansion in New Zealand with my pet goldfish). Also, we played some indoor soccer with Chase, aka the most adorable child ever (but don't worry, my MASH destiny correctly predicted that I will not have any children...). I think playing soccer with two-year olds is great for my self-esteem. And who knew how fun toy cars could be?