Banh my and bookstores

This weekend was very busy with early mornings and late nights. On Saturday morning the driver was helping Dung's company set up for an event so I ended up taking the bus. Dung told me which stop to get off at ("It's very close!") but I'm glad I checked on Google Maps first because the stop she told me was 2.3 km from my language class. I ended up finding another stop only a block from the class and got off there instead. However, that meant taking the earlier bus so on Saturday and Sunday I left around 6:45 AM to catch the bus. Saturday's language class focused on adjectives and asking about what things are. After class, we walked to the Old Quarter and had some delicious banh my. It's not anywhere near as popular in Vietnam as it is in the US as is evident from the fact that I've been here for 2 and a half months and this weekend was the first time I've had it. Nonetheless, it was the best banh my I've ever had. I ordered the shops "Most Popular" choice with grilled chicken, a fresh slaw, and house-made mayo on a baguette. For 26,000 dong ($1.16), it was a great lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent perusing different shops. My mom sent French presses for my host parents so Viet and I spent some time searching for good coffee. Most of the shops had the exact same blends and brands so we stopped at many places but eventually found a nice shop near the Opera House that sold coffee and loose leaf tea. I may be returning there to buy some Jasmine tea, it smelled very good. After that we mostly window shopped and looked through some of the many bookstores near Hoan Kiem Lake. We walked back to the language center around 4 since that's where the driver usually picks me up but after waiting 20 minutes for him, we figured that he might not be coming. Sure enough he called a few minutes later and I had to search for a bus to take back to the Ecopark. Luckily I had taken the bus schedule with me or I would've had no idea how to get back; we found a bus stop near the Opera House and raced back to catch the bus. I ended up running to catch it but made it on and back to the Ecopark.

In the evening we had dinner cooked by Anh's parents who had come to stay this weekend while Dung's parents were in the city. After dinner, Dung and I made more apple pie! She wanted to make a pie for her boss but bought enough apples to make two extra so we ended up making two regular pies and one rectangular one in a shallow pan. It looked a little odd but I'm sure it tasted great since the one I tried was delicious. Late at night, around 11:30, I Skyped my parents and

Lily, who's home for the weekend. Everyone is well and my dad is recovering from surgery okay - though he has some scruffy facial hair.

It was nice to talk to them but because I had another early bus ride to the city, I was very tired in the morning when I got up. I was running a little late but made it to the bus stop with time to spare. Today's lesson was some adjective review of the and learning how to ask "wh" questions (what, where, who, when, etc). For me, the hardest part of these questions is using the right classifier for the object you're asking about since there are so many different ones. As is typical of Vietnamese (for me), the structure isn't very difficult, I just have a hard time remembering all of the words, especially since so many sound so similar. In the afternoon we had bun cha at our normal spot which ended up being a smart choice because not 5 minutes after we finished eating, it started dumping. We managed to wait out the rain

under the awning in front of the store since neither Viet nor I had brought umbrellas or coats. The rain didn't last too long and we were off again to the Old Quarter. It was actually a very good day for walking because the rain made it cooler, there was some refreshing wind, and it wasn't sunny out. There's apparently a monsoon sweeping around the coast so we may have been feeling the effects of it in Hanoi today with the wind and rain.. We followed a similar pattern of exploring as on Saturday and visited more bookstores and shops near the lake. Today since we knew the driver wasn't coming, we were able to explore a little longer before I had to catch the bus back to the Ecopark. After doing some homework this evening we went to dinner at a place called "Clam BBQ." There's essentially a grill built into the table and you order meat to cook on it at the table. It was tasty and fun to make and afterwards we went on a walk around the Ecopark.

Now I'm nearly falling asleep after my busy weekend so I'll be headed to sleep soon. Thanks for reading and have a great Sunday!