Mapping the City

Thank you Hien, Thoa and Andrew for being so nice and willing to spend your Saturday exploring instead of Friday :) Thank you, thank you <3

Ho Dac Di and Tran Huu Tuoc is two large streets that outline a lake (Ho Dac…something) I absolutely love the lake view, but I was sad that we weren’t equipped to go fishing. There were so many local stores and recreations within a small proximity. It’s kind of crazy but it’s nice because it creates a sense of community. With such limited space, it seems hectic, but it people don’t seem to be bothered by it.

Andrew and I had our first banh bao in Vietnam that morning (they didn’t have xa xiu and not as good as it is in the states but that was okay) We walked up, down and all about the area and found SAO MAI (yay! my volunteer organization) It began to rain, so we went to a New Zealand ice cream parlor. It was relatively expensive (38.000 for two scoops) but was delicious :D Afterwards, as we were walking around the lake, I saw this lady with tau walk down the lake doing something out of the ordinary so I followed her down the steps to the water. I thought she was going to do laundry or something but when I got to the bottom, I saw the tau filled with candy, fishes, sea-snails. The lady was throwing money and food into the lake. Hien and Thoa asked her what she was doing and she said that she was making an offering for the lost souls and homeless people who have don’t have people to pray for them. Then this old man burnt paper houses and money and dumped ashes into the lake as his offering (pollution!!!). It was nice to see the culture and have an understanding of what they were doing. (VERY NICE PEOPLE)

I definitely wouldn’t mind living there a few days, but not for a long time span. Right outside of Ho Dac Di was Nguyen Trai and there were much larger buildings like Parkson Mall, etc. Although that area is similar to the area around Dai Hoc Ha Noi (like any other place in Viet Nam), I prefer to not to live there just because I’m more familiar to the area around school and I have had the opportunity to get to know some of the locals and vendors already.