Hanoi - My dream childhood realized

I was lucky to have a wonderful childhood. I was loved, I felt loved. I was safe, I felt safe. I don't know if I was special, but I felt special. But in my childhood there was one thing I was deprived of. One thing that no matter how excellent my childhood debating skills were, my parents were impervious to my argument. They did not understand why I NEEDED to have a bright pink barbie jeep to ride around my driveway in. My bestie from birth, Allison, had one and it was awesome. I loved going over to her house and riding around in her jeep, it was always fabulously exciting for me. So imagine my absolute delight for every child in Hanoi when I turned the corner and saw THIS in the street!

Yes, you saw that right. This is a street full of children driving tiny battery powered cars. It is as delightful in person as you are imagining right now. In Hanoi, every Saturday and Sunday night they close down the streets around the lake in the middle of town to car traffic and it becomes a gathering place for locals. Large groups of women doing dance aerobics lead by an instructor on a platform, girls performing choreographed dance routines, people snacking on street food, and children driving tiny cars. It's the best idea I've heard in a long time. And one that absolutely needs to make it's way to the US.

So yea, I like Hanoi. To add to things to like; it's the first time in a month and a half that I've seen a temperature that starts with a '7' and the first time in a week I've been able to cross a street without fearing for my life. It has great street food, a smaller, more approachable vibe, and a cousin of mine in it.

Jer just finished his undergrad thesis on trees. He was studying biomedical something or other, but I like to call him a tree scientist. 3 days after he defended his thesis he flew to Singapore, and then Vietnam. I literally found out we were going to be in the same country a week before it happened. And I'm so excited to see him.

It's been interesting, the process of traveling. The change in my feelings day to day. The uprooting from my normal routine of life. But also the uprooting from my people. In a typical week I talk to my parents at least twice a week, my cousin Mal once, and one of my close friends every couple of days, most days I text multiple friends (or aunts) that I haven't talked to in awhile. I spend a weekend with someone who's known me for a minimum of 12 years years at least once a month. But there has been none of this on this trip. The combination of conflicting time zones, new people to meet, and business exploring the world have made my social interactions more temporary.

I count how many times I've told people my story. The bones of it anyway. Where I'm from, where I've traveled, for how long. I've met so many people. But it was really nice to spend an evening drinking beer with my cousin in freaking Vietnam. It felt like home, and also not. Jer is the kind of person you can say almost anything to without getting any judgement back. He listens, and laughs, and goes with the flow. He probably got tired of me piling on my life revelations to him but it felt so good to have someone to talk to who I trusted completely, and he kept agreeing to drink just one more beer...

Oh I should probably show you a bit of Hanoi.

These are the beautiful and scenic parts, there is a busy bustling city part too.

We met a girl from the Netherlands (they continue to be some of my favorite people, so blunt, it's excellent) and together we went wandering through town and then on a street food tour in place of dinner. We met up with a local student who took us to all of the places we never would have found on our own and ordered us all the dishes we didn't know existed.

A new, cooler, more relaxed side of Vietnam emerged. And I like it.