To Boston With Love

Two weeks ago I ran my first race of 2013, the largest 8k in the world as it is touted and the first race of the season for many. Each year I complain about the crowds of runners; 37,000 in total this year and the hot fluke weather we always have. Yet each year I sign up and join the sea of green that shuffles through the streets of Chicago. This year I debated showing up, not knowing about the weather, my training ability and the fact I had over scheduled myself. But I couldn’t justify throwing away the entry fee, so as I calmly stood waiting at the start line I decided to just run and enjoy. Mile after mile I checked in only to be shocked at my time, each mile was a minute and a half faster than my normal pace and with each stride I felt better and better. As I crossed the finished line I realized I had smashed my previous times and had set a glorious PR. As I collected my bananas and water I called my dad so proud of my accomplishment. I said “dad you know what… this is my racing year! Bring on the Chicago Marathon!”

Monday April 15^th rolled around just like any other Monday, for most of us it was tax deadline day, but for Boston it was marathon day. As a runner I always whisper quiet wishes of getting to run the iconic Boston Marathon, a goal and a dream that sits in the back of my mind. Every year I watch in awe of the athletic ability as it sprints its way through the historic streets of Boston. But more than being inspired by the runners, I look to the crowds cheering along and celebrating this day. Without the crowds of spectators screaming their words of praise a race wouldn’t be a race. Without the crowds of well-wishers miles where you feel as if you “hit the wall” would end a race in defeat. Without the support, the flags, the signs and the cheers the finish line would never appear. Without you I would not have accomplished the races I have. So when I heard and saw the horrific images on Monday I was overcome with sadness, because the spectators are the heart, motivation and strength of the runners.

In times of senseless tragedy gracious acts of humanity shine like beacons of hope for us all. To the city of Boston you are in the forethought of our mind, your strength and solidarity is an example of the true American spirit. To the families and friends who were injured, you are in our thoughts and prayers daily. To the Boston Marathon, while Monday has changed you forever, you symbolize courage, love and kindness, may you stand as a symbol of hope, peace and grace for all of us for years to come.

13 in 2013

Well Hello February. My first realization of 2013 is that I am becoming the queen of the unfinished projects. Sticky notes with never ending to-do lists are strewn around my apartment and unfinished blog posts seem to be filling my computer files. When I left my old job to take time to travel I realized that everyday life’s schedule, repeating over and over, surprisingly leaves little time to do new things. There is so much comfort in what we know, but, I’ve found when you break away from that daily routine to learn and feel so much more. Not always positive, but it brings awareness to who you are. My New Year’s resolutions are a combination of activities and conscious moments. Being home I’ve realized that my comforts have limited my conscious perspective. Therefore I’m adding them to my Resolution list so I am ever so aware and with hopes of gaining new perspective, which was easier to obtain while traveling abroad.

I was so excited to ring in 2013 with hopes that it was going to be a wonderful year. I don’t even really know what gave me that hope. The big 30 celebration this year which is looming over my shoulder seems to be more powerful than I thought. I know I wrote “Age is just a number” but there is something about this year that has a power over me… makes me a little crazy, sometimes irrational, but excited as well. I have come up with a 13 to do in 2013 (in no particular order) and I am going to use Prue.Simple.Bliss and you all to be my witness so that I can follow through:

1. Run Hood to Coast Relay: This just happens to fall on my big 30 weekend, but my sister and brother-in-law talked me into it so watch out Oregon here we come!

2. Complete my first Marathon: I have wanted to do this for a while and with training to run a relay two months earlier I figured why not, Chicago Marathon 2013.

3. Make every recipe in the cook book Forks Over Knives: I’ll get into more detail about this soon, but so far I’ve learned some amazing cooking tricks and my belly has been very satisfied.

4. Add into my yoga practice Head Stand: This is a combination of fear and strength, two things I am happy to work on.

5. Add into my yoga practice Hand Stand: See above

6. Complete my yoga teacher training certification: I am well on my way and will have updates soon. Currently I am in the middle of our anatomy section, after getting over the “gross-ness” of the descriptions I can’t believe how intricate, strong and yet fragile the human body is. Maybe if we were all a little more educated we would realize why we need to take better care of ourselves.

7. Try to learn to appreciate meditation: For a mind that is always on go I cherish the moment I can sit and focus and clear my mind.

8. Start up and cultivate my Yoga Gives Back project: Again a realization I had a while back, one of those unfinished blogs, but I will post more soon.

9. Set a new half marathon PR: Number 5 will hopefully give me a new PR.

 

10. Finish my travel writing about Vietnam: These pictures should say enough.

 

 

11. Challenge myself outside of my comfort zone: While traveling I was constantly challenging myself, and in the end I really liked the person who came out of every challenge. I want to find a way to keep cultivating this growth without having to leave the country.

 

(Trying some type of herb wrap to bring good fortune in Vietnam)

12. Learn what it means to be content: An idea that is both scary and foreign. As American’s we are taught to go for the goal, be number one, constantly competing. While I value our ambition I don’t know if it leads to happiness. It’s a theory that needs some work, but I want to know if it is possible to be content and yet still motivated in life.

13. Have fun dating: uh… er… ah, dating blows, I love when people who are off the market say, “oh I loved dating I’m so jealous that you can still do that”. I pretty much want to give that person the finger. But you know I need to change my perspective and get out there. One of my friends jokingly said “you could blog about it.” Well maybe I will! Yesterday I was looking at a profile the guy said “Loves: Meat, vegetarians and vegans need not apply.” If only they could all be that honest!

 

Recycle, Reduce, Wrap

In an effort to immerse myself deeper into the holiday spirit I’ve been trying many different tricks. One of my go-to’s, White Christmas; Bing Crosby’s crooning voice always seems to ignite a little holiday cheer. My other recent trick has been to eat Christmas cookies for breakfast, if it helps Santa with his Ho Ho Ho maybe it will get me caroling around town.

But I’ve found my newest holiday tradition of being crafty seems to add the needed cheer to the jingle of bells and wishes for snow. There is just something about the holidays screams home made. Last years craft project was stringing popcornand cranberries for festive garland to trim the tree. This year’s project is wrapping paper. It’s very easy to do and that is with my perfectionist seal of approval. Ask my mom; there were many Easter egg decorating days that ended in tears because of my need for the perfect creation.

This craft project is a great way to be environmentally friendly, as well as something to keep the kids busy during that long holiday vacation. Not to mention once the wrapping is strewn across the floor Christmas day you can recycle it all!

All you need is a couple rubber stamps and ink found at any craft store as well as all of the left over brown paper bags you have from your grocery shopping.

Step one: cut off the handles and the bottom of the grocery bag. Remember taking bags and wrapping your texts books in them back in the day, this is the same technique.

Step two: once you have your rectangle of paper stamp away. Easy and creative! 

 

Here is some motivation for you to get you stamping and recycling… did you know that American’s generate 25 million tons of trash between Thanksgiving and New Years¹. To give you some visual perspective a Humpback whale weighs between 25 and 51 tons, therefore we generate about 660,000 Humpback whales worth of garbage in an eight-week period.

So not to add more to that endless list that seems to get longer as the days get darker, but a little perspective for the next time you aim for the trash can.

 

Happy Holidays from your Green Santa!

 

 

 

 

 

 

¹ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Happy Holiday Blues

There is holiday tune that has the line “I wish it could be this time of year all year long.” When I first heard that a screaming voice in my head yelled, “HELL NO.” So Happy holiday season! Is anyone else not feeling the joy and blessing of this time of year? I’m always so excited to celebrate, deck my home, bake my cookies and daze off in the twinkle of white lights. This year I feel like I’m missing the holiday spirit and I don’t know why. It could possibly be the fact that global warming is making for some manic weather here in Chicago, and of course each different weather mood consists of no snow. Or maybe just walking out my door and into the streets has me swarmed with over crowded everything, shops, buses, restaurants. It makes me want to hide away.

I had a realization during Thanksgiving, while cooking, and baking and bustling about, I was thinking, why, why do all of this for just one day? And then I started to prep my Bompa’s Cranberry Pie, a recipe so near and dear to my heart I make sure there is extra so I can eat it for post holiday breakfasts for the days to come. Every time I look at the recipe I think of Bompa and the wonderful memories I have of our time together. This is the greatest part of celebrating the holidays with friends and family, we never really remember the pain in our bellies from being filled to the max, or the taste of the meal months later. What we remember is the time in the kitchen learning mom’s tricks to making the moistest turkey or the conversations and laughs around the dinner table. All of my memories of these days are so vivid and so diverse and I need to remember those faces and stories when I’m stressed with kitchen duties, grocery lines and hours of preparation.

So that is my motivation for this time of year, making new memories and keeping with old traditions. The newest tradition that has been in place for the past four years is my annual cookie exchange. What started as a simple bring cookies to exchange party has turned into a battle of baking giants as well as a side splitting white elephant gift exchange and this year was one of the best. Yes while I exhaustively prepped food for days the laughter and newest baking creations made every moment of preparation worth it.

If you are like me and you feel yourself becoming overwhelmed and fearful that the holidays are losing their true meaning, in your moment of stress close your eyes and remember one holiday memory. Then take a deep breath and keep going and if all else fails there are only about 17 days left!

 

The 2012 winner of the Pooping Reindeer Trophy and Best Cookie was Scott Randel for his Peppermint Oreo Balls

KISS – Keep It Simple Silly

Big news, I had my first article posted on another blog site! My current employer The Chopping Block, has given me the opportunity to write a monthly article. Want to know what organic foods you should by, check out The Organic Debate.

Well the Holidays are in full force and I found it easy to slip back into my hosting routine. The changes I do see are that while I like to come up with elaborate food events in my head based on budget and lack of time the mantra “KISS” has to be repeated over and over… Keep It Simply Silly (made some change to make it positive). While keeping it simple definitely limits the stress and maximizes my socializing time, it does take work to stay on track. With that in mind I thought I would start posting some easy fun Thanksgiving Food options for those who may need an extra side dish or some Vegan alternatives.

Our simple menu for my Halloween dinner party consisted of:

 – Roasted Apple and Butternut Squash Soup

– Arugula Salad with Apples and Celery

– Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Our simple menu for the Bi-Election Party consisted of: 

– Italian Comfort Popcorn (not vegan, but it one the vote that night, its simple – plain popcorn, olive oil, salt, fresh ground pepper and freshly grated parmesan cheese, it one in a landslide) 

– Coconut Curry Carmel Corn 

– Mama Emmy Lou’s Special Spaghetti Sauce (it’s a secret for now)

– Chocolate Cupcakes with Salted Carmel Frosting (this recipe is still a work in progress)

Stay tuned for some Thanksgiving specialties and if you have any requests I’m up for a cooking challenge.

Leaving Corporate America

“Constant practice alone is the secret of success.”¹

What is success? In life, in love, in careers, we all have our own understanding and definition of success. For myself success used to be equated to financial stability. It was important to me in those early years to stand on my own and be employed, climbing the corporate ladder and being showered with pay raises, bonuses, profit sharing plans and positive reviews from upper management. When I made the conscious decision to quit my job I knew I was most likely leaving all that behind.  I’ll be completely honest with you, everyday I weigh the pros and cons of financial stability with my current situation and time and again the current wins, but it is a continuous debate I have. That’s probably because my current situation is one influx, but after living abroad for 9 weeks this is what I have learned about myself, success to me is happiness and contentment of my mind, body and spirit, a balancing act between all areas of my life. So as of September 15, 2012 I began my year in pursuit of happiness.

With no real direction I had to think about the different areas of my life for which I had passion and use these passions as markers to begin my exploration:

1. Food, I love cooking, but I have always been concerned that if I took my passion for cooking and turned it into a career I would get burnt out. Not to mention I have no professional experience and my only semi-restaurant experience was being a counter server at the clam shack on Cape Cod for two summers in high school. So with that I’ve taken a chef’s assistant job at the Chopping Block, a recreational cooking school for the home cook.

“The yogi understands the faults of others by seeing and studying them first in himself. This self-study teaches him to be charitable to all.”²

2. Yoga, while my time at the ashram was challenging both mentally and physically,

it has been the one area of my trip I am constantly referring back to, whether in my writing, my personal thoughts or advice given to others. Therefore I applied and was accepted to the Moksha Yoga Teacher Training program. While I don’t know if teaching is for me, the spiritual and philosophical aspects of yoga have had such a positive effect on me. Therefore I want to dedicate my time and energy exploring these studies.

“He knows that his life is linked inextricably with that of others and he rejoices if he can help them to be happy.”³

3. Helping Others, traveling abroad gave me perspective that I was blindly unaware of prior to my travels. What resonated with me most was the fact that people were so enamored with the United States and the symbol of success and prosperity that it meant to them. I’ve taken for grated how much my homeland has provided for me. But on my return I was shown that while our country does provide many opportunities for some, there are so many others left behind. Equal opportunity has been a fighting slogan in our country from its origin. So cherishing that ideology I want to work in non-profit to help individuals in my community reach their goals and dreams.

“Love begets courage, moderation creates abundance and humility generates power.”⁴

The year has begun, and with two of the three areas of my adventure underway I am learning new things daily. It’s interesting that I had to leave the country, entering a new world completely outside my comfort zone to prepare me for a year of challenges back home. While I’m surrounded by things I know, my experiences daily are so drastically different that I still feel like I am in a foreign country. I remind myself that if I could survive riding a bike through rush hour traffic in Delhi India, I can survive Chicago. For the time being I’m looking and applying for non-profit jobs and learning what it means to live on a tight budget. I know I will miss the financial comforts that came from my corporate job, living on a restricted budget will be one of my greatest challenges. I know it sounds spoiled and consumerist, but I recognize that I have been very fortunate to have lived the life I had. My restricted budget is to teach me that living within your means and not being consumed with wants will only help strengthen my ability to be content. I’m ready for the challenge and I have a feeling that the stories and struggles that come from it will be enlightening.

“Without experiencing human love and happiness, it is not possible to know divine love.”⁵

 

 

¹ BKS Iyengar. Light on Yoga. Harper Colins Publishers, 2008. 30.

² BKS Iyengar. Light on Yoga. Harper Colins Publishers, 2008. 27.

³ BKS Iyengar. Light on Yoga. Harper Colins Publishers, 2008. 32.

⁴ BKS Iyengar. Light on Yoga. Harper Colins Publishers, 2008. 29.

⁵ BKS Iyengar. Light on Yoga. Harper Colins Publishers, 2008. 35.

Voices In My Head

***Hi All, so there will be more Vietnam to come, I can’t not tell you how I may have gone a little over board when having clothes made for me in Hoi An or how a woman shoved meat skewers into my mouth, vegan doesn’t translate in Vietnamese. But I thought I would get some up to date blogs posted. So stay tuned.

Voices were pounding in my head, news feed after news feed all the reporter could do was talk of death, remembrance of those we had lost and constant cut ins with presidential address updates. More images, the President speaks, and then we jump back to the morning news show and some man is jumping around with the newest dance moves, while everyone else is painfully trying to imitate him. My head was spinning; this was my introduction back into US news and television. I’d been home for a week but my assimilation process was a slow one. When I walked off the plane in Los Angeles and through customs I wanted to kiss the ground, what can I say being abroad has both negative and positive affects on your beliefs of you own country. But reading the customs sign Thank You and Welcome to the United States had me brimming with joy. When the customs agent asked, “why were you traveling in India, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam?” I smiled and said, “I was trying to figure out my life.” Ok yes the smile held a hint of sarcasm and my response earned me a confused look, but then he said, “welcome home,” and it felt so right.

So after the tearful embrace and love from my parents and Lulu I was whisked home where I enjoyed a veggie meal and after 30 hours of travel and very little sleep I fell into bed ready to crash for what I had hopped would be about two days worth of shuteye. Lying in bed wide-awake at 3 am I realized it was going to take time to adjust. So after a week of very little interaction with the outside world I decided to watch my favorite morning news show, Good Morning America with my favorite morning news anchor, Josh Elliott, he is just so dreamy, gotta love those really tall men. Dreamy-ness aside, I was overwhelmed by the images, sounds and entertainment. As I tried to process the fact that my travels had sealed me in a bubble of protection from all things US, my protective layer was now popped. First realization, I’ve missed a lot; see, I used to have a reputation of being the entertainment queen, ask me a question about Hollywood I could tell you who, where and when. Now I was at a loss, but the weird part was I wasn’t that concerned about getting caught up. Instead I became completely overwhelmed with questions of my own unsteady future, as well as images, media reports and social media updates of injustices of the present. While abroad there were many behaviors I experienced that I had to accept because this was “their” culture. Well honey not anymore this is my culture and I was blatantly aware that everything was wrong. All of this culminated into a completely irrational battle of wills in my head. As I drove along trying to process all of these emotions and thoughts I realized I was surrounded by silence, there was no honking, no chaos, and no people. I realized that I while the chaos of the streets, sounds and experiences of South East Asia were gone, I now was facing a new chaos. While the world around me was no longer new and unknown, the chaos was now in my mind and I didn’t know if there was anyway to be free of it.

At that very thought, I realized that the chaos in my mind was all self induced. A major theme in the yoga philosophy is to gain purification through the mind with the right attitude. In yoga attitude is acceptance, and a major part of acceptance is that we need to understand and accept what we can and cannot control. I cannot change the world around me; I cannot change the way that my neighbors treat their neighbors (figuratively). All I can change and control is myself. So first things first, maybe limit my television news time. While I can’t become ignorant to what is happening in this world, I can be more particular about where I get my information from. Second, I can take a breath, relax, and maybe take another breath, and then smile, because I’m home.

 

Oh No Caught In A Scam

In Thailand, and now I’m finding Vietnam there is a saying “Same, Same.” And then occasionally the locals add in “Same, Same, but different.” It get’s confusing because you hear same, same and then you wait for the different and then you get everything mixed up so you don’t know whether it’s the same or it’s different. Well I never really knew how to use this phrase until I got on the train in Sapa to head back to Hanoi. I had paid for a roundtrip train ticket and therefore my expectation would be that the train you arrived in was the train you returned in, Same Same… but no the train I left in was Same Same only because it was a train, but it was oh so different. While I wouldn’t have said my first train was high class, now, in comparison to the return trip, I was blatantly informed that I arrived in style and was leaving in cargo. As I walked on the train I was transported to a frat house surrounded by loud, rowdy men. For some reason these men thought that it was ok to get as comfortable as possible while traveling and stripped down to their boxers. I don’t know what part of a  public sleeping train reads get as comfortable as you do in your own home, but I prayed that none of this rowdy bunch was sharing a car with me and climbed around them to get to my berth. Luckily a old Chinese man was below me and I was thankful that the party wouldn’t be continuing in our sleeper.

That was until the family of eight loaded in. They put all their bags on the top bunk and piled into to the lower bunk. Imagine this,  lying on the bed I barely fit head to toe. I tried not to stare but I was just so amazed that eight people could fit on one bed, and the fact that I didn’t realize purchasing one bed meant you could stick as many people as you wanted on it. Well 30 minutes into our journey at one of the stops two men came in indicating that they were actually the ticket holders for those beds and the family of eight left. Realizing I may be getting some sleep, I put my earphones in and played the soundtrack of Garden State on continuos loop for the rest of the night. Of course restless is the only way to describe my sleeping patterns on a train and when we pulled into the station at Hanoi at 4:30 in the morning I was just so grateful that I had called my previous hotel and paid for a half day stay so that I could get a couple of hours of sleep. Groggily I climbed down from the top bunk and walked out into the hallway. The floor was strewn with cigarette butts and playing cards. I obviously missed quite the party.

And then my amazing travel judgment seemed to vanish into thin air as I stepped off the train into the morning madness. Cab drivers huddled around the entrance just waiting to grab you as you walked off. The first guy to get my attention grabbed me and dragged me out of the station. I should have known, I’d been forewarned not only by the books but also by my hotel. There are only specific taxi services to use in Hanoi, because the rest are scammers. They have fixed their meters so that they run at a high rate. But with the chaos, yelling and lack of sleep I got into the cab with a sick feeling in my stomach.

The minute we entered the empty streets I knew I had been played, the meter read 5,000 then jumped to 35,000 and then hit 100,000. To give you some perspective my ride from the hotel to the train station three days earlier cost me a total of 24,000 dong. My heart started to race. I wasn’t going to pay that. No one was going to take advantage of me. But it was 4:30 in the morning, the streets were empty and dark and I am a woman traveling alone, I needed to be smart. When I started to see some familiar street signs I told the cab driver that the meter was broken and I wasn’t going to pay that amount, it had now reached 143,000 dong. Not speaking English but understanding that I knew what was going on he pulled over. I got out and luckily was able to get my bag from the trunk of the car. Not knowing what to do I started to walk towards my hotel. He got out and told me to pay him (this entire conversation took place in very broken English). I told him that I knew the meter was broken and that I wasn’t going to pay him that price. He countered and said fine 100,000, I told him no he couldn’t negotiate a price that I would only pay 24,000. Now you have to understand at this point I was motivated by principal. It’s one thing to try to sell your goods on the street for a price that may be a little high, it’s another thing to take advantage of a woman, or really anyone at 4:30 in the morning while they are alone. This man may have thought he was in for an easy steal, but no, you don’t mess with me because not only will I not pay you I’ll also kick you in the balls (figuratively). Ok, so no violence was resorted to, but when I threatened to call the cops I then realized that that statement carried no threat at all. I knew I needed a third party to intervene. I went to the hotel in front of me and knocked on the glass, mean while dealing with the driver who was now asking for 50,000 dong. Thank God the man on night watch heard my knock because he immediately became my interpreter. I explained the situation and he told me that the driver was saying he had driven me three kilometers. I asked what the rate per kilometer was and he said 15,000 dong. I then told him to tell the driver I would pay 45,000 dong. Needing change I asked the doorman if he could break a 100,000 and we stepped into the hotel. As I was taking the money out my hands where shaking uncontrollably, mainly from adrenaline rather than fear. But the sweet young man who had come to my aid saw my hands and said “mam everything is going to be all right.” Well all my courage broke and I burst into tears. Whether it was exhaustion or simply being completely overwhelmed I apologized for having to rely on him. He gave me the change and I walked outside and threw it into the cab and told the driver he should be ashamed of himself. While he may not have understood what I said I know I made his job a little more difficult which made me happy.

But then I realized I had put myself in a worse situation because this driver knew my hotel name. Walking back into the hotel still crying the young man told me to sit and when he returned he gave me a warm glass of water to help calm my nerves. He then apologized over and over for taxi driver’s behavior, he said this was not what the Vietnamese people want Westerns to think of their country and that he was so sorry I had to experience it. I told him that up until this point I had truly enjoyed my experience in his country. Looking at his watch he told me his shift had just ended and he wanted to walk me to my hotel to make sure I was safe. For the entire three minute walk he talked about how much I was going to enjoy Hoi An and other parts of Vietnam. His kindness was so overwhelming that any animosity that had arisen due to my scamming altercation completely faded away. Once at the hotel he wished me luck and I wanted to hug him and thank him again for his kindness, but I knew that wasn’t appropriate so I put my hands in prayer form and bowed thanking him again for his help. The kindness of strangers can change your life, something to think about the next time you see someone a little lost.

Needless to say the train ride and taxi were same, same but oh so drastically different. I learned a valuable lesson about scamming, but with some time to reflect on the mornings activities I also realized that I need to be smarter about standing up for myself. This situation could have been drastically different and what for a couple of dollars? But I was riding on a cloud of principal and it was a good lesson to learn. Most importantly in the past a situation like this may have tainted my entire view of the city or country, but I realized that this was just one man’s actions and I didn’t let it spoil my time in Hanoi. Just remember when in Hanoi only use the Mai Linh taxi company which is the green taxis or Hanoi Tourist Taxi, and know that there are plenty of copycats.

Sapa Enlightenment

I don’t know whether it is the fresh mountain air, the energy coursing through my veins from the exercise of the hike or just the majestic waterfall in front of me, but all I can do is smile and enjoy everything that surrounds me. It was a moment of peace heightened by my euphoric state of mind. As I was taking in the view I realized that there seems to be some amazing order to the way in which I planned my travels. With each destination I’ve learned something new that benefits my experience in the next country.
I am amused by how in love I am with the surroundings of Vietnam. I can’t help but wonder if there was a greater power who helped in designing my itinerary to get me to this point of elation. India showed me chaos and garbage that has yet to compare to anything I’ve ever experienced. Thailand showed me the kindness of scam artist and taught me to be polite but not naive. Thailand also taught me to book my room ahead of my arrival, even just by a day or two so that you are not bombarded and overwhelmed by the chaos at every airport, bus station, train station and port, by people trying to lure you into their hotel, dive shop or taxi. Cambodia taught me that a smile with a no thank you is all you need, and that the begging is apart of the countries struggle.

Therefore life in Vietnam has been easy. While my time in Sapa was surrounded by local village woman trying to hoc their wares, I realized that again they are just trying to make a living. It’s funny, they have the same speech planned out for every tourist they meet. I heard it over and over again I begin to wonder whether they just have a script to follow or whether they actually know what you are saying. But it goes like this, “Hello, what is your name, where are you from, did you arrive to Sapa today?” No matter who you run into this is the routine. While I was hiking alone I would be approached by these woman asking the same questions and I would answer and then as they continued to walk with me. I explained that they are more then welcome to join me but I had already done all my shopping and therefore I was not going to buy anything else. There responses varied from “But you haven’t bought anything from me” to “ok, maybe you buy something later.” And yes while this is more of a hindrance then anything else you can’t let it affect you. You can either play along and interact with them or you can firmly say no thank you and continue on.

So my travels have led me to a more calm place. While the occasional bump in the road has taught me many things, I have to wonder whether I would be having the same experience in Vietnam had this been my first destination, because guess what I am in love. This country is so spectacularly beautiful and the people are wonderful, inviting and kind. I am so grateful for all I’ve learned along the way because even if my time in Vietnam is seen through rose colored glasses, I’m just thrilled that I can say that I’m enjoying my time here.

Holy Hanoi!

Vietnam, a country that fills the pages of our history books with controversy and images of death that were the first to be viewed so regularly without censorship on the nightly news. This was how my generation was exposed to this period of our history. We were taught that Vietnam was a war with many different stories and sides and no real victor in the end. Other than my history education and the fact the the country is still communist today I really had no way to gauge where I was traveling. I’d heard many people exclaim how much they had loved their visits. But I had read many blog postings of travelers who fell victim to scams and whose trips were ruined by these experiences. Originally I chose this country because of it’s mystique. The pictures of scenery and culture where so stunning and yet antique as if the culture was trapped in time. And therefore I added it to the itinerary with hopes to experience the same charm and vibrance that radiated from the photographs.

For the first time arriving at the airport I wasn’t full of travel anxiety which I had continually experienced upon every other arrival, maybe I was becoming an old pro. As we started our drive into the city the chaos of traffic settled into a familiar rhythm I have grown accustomed to in this part of the world. The life of the city blurred into my view. My guide gave me some specific advice based on the area and pointed out various landmarks on our drive to the Old Quarter. As we passed a auto accident on the road she informed me that there were about 30 deaths daily due to the traffic and drivers inability to follow road rules. The chaos of the road didn’t fully sink in until a loud thud reverberated throughout the car. Looking around to see what we had just hit I realized the passengers side mirror had collided with a pedestrian crossing the street. The driver barely glanced in his rear view mirror to make sure the pedestrian was ok, and we continued on without pause. Looking behind me with fear and shock I realized that the pedestrian wasn’t too concerned either and continued across the street. I then realized I was again in a world so unknown to what I have possibly missed the most about the United States, order. As I sat in my hotel room I knew I could stay in this air conditioned safe haven or I could enter the chaos and explore this world. Going for the ladder I entered into the streets of Hanoi cautiously looking in all directions knowing my pedestrian status meant very little.

In the maze that is the Old Quarter of Hanoi I blindly wandered the streets on a food mission. Realizing on the plane that not only was there not a vegetarian option but that the salad that accompanied the meal was covered in meat, I knew that my Vietnam food adventure may include some unintentional animal products. But as I wandered through the streets this woman came up to me. Those look like doughnut holes, you can’t go wrong there, I purchased the three different types and immediately begin to sample them all. The darker of the three was the most sweet, with a sugary center. The other two were surprising, a subtle balance between savory and sweet. It may have been hunger or relief that there wasn’t pork filling, but I was content with my first purchase.

My next food stop introduced me to the newest love of my life… Vietnamese coffee, heaven on your taste buds. Vietnam is one of the largest coffee distributors. The Vietnamese tradition is to mix the coffee with sweetened condensed milk. I ordered an ice coffee with just a small amount of milk and I was in caffeine heaven. Every sip was strong and powerful, full of bold flavors I was so happy to be in the presence of real coffee once again.

When it was time for dinner I was on a street food mission looking for something authentic. Finding a kitchen with communal tables I sat in confusion not knowing whether someone would be taking my order or just bringing me food. I found someone who spoke a little English enough to understand that I wanted the noodle veggie concoction without meat. I was brought this, Bun Cha, usually it is sliced pork served with thin rice vermicelli noodles, a heap of fresh herbs and green vegetables, in a bowl of lightly sweetened nuoc mam (fish sauce) with floating slices of pickled vegetables. My order arrived without the meat and I dug into this new find, my culinary delight cost me a grand total of two dollars.

With some food success under my belt or in my belly I felt a little braver to explore the streets further. Wanting a sweet to end my night I found a smoothie shop. I ordered a papaya fruit shake and sat on these little benches that line the streets usually indicating a restaurant space. There I rested and savored all of my day. Thinking about how far I had come from my first introduction in Delhi. It’s amazing how quickly you adapt to your surroundings, I feel like a seasoned travel pro and yet my travel time is quickly coming to an end.

During one of my days in Hanoi I ventured outside the city for a day trip to the Perfume Pagoda, an amazing complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the karst cliffs of Huong Tich Mountain. Not only was the temple in the mountains and truly spectacular, but the ride to get there consisted of a hour boat trip paddled by these woman who seemed to poses supper power and strength. Then a hike to a gondola which flew you over the valleys and mountain scape to the top. The views and colors of this country are breathtaking, bright green rice fields, lime stone rock features and brown thick rivers flood every inch of view. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On my last day I decided to devote an entire day walking around the Old Quarter of Hanoi, a intricate stream of alleyways and roadways weaving around and around. I tried to follow the Lonely Planet’s walking guide, but realized within minutes that like everything else in the Old Quarter chaos seemed to control the roads and I couldn’t distinguish one way from the other. So my walking tour turned into a eating tour, attempting to sample my way through the day I tried various street foods. The highlight was the bia hoi, Vietnamese draught beer or microwbrew. Brewed without preservatives this light bodied pilsner is meant to be consumed immediately and costs about twenty cents a glass. The beer was refreshing and there was some flavor to it so I didn’t feel as if I was drinking some light American beer. Bia Hoi shops occupy many street corners in Hanoi, again with the little plastic stools and you see then men enjoying the beer together at the end of the day. 
My day ended with another trip to my new found favorite restaurant. Knowing I can get good street food with no meat, I’ve returned to this place nightly. There is just something about the warm noodles and broth mixed with the veggies and herbs, it feels so fresh but filing at the same time.

And with that I said goodbye to the chaos of Hanoi and realized that while the streets are insanely, overly crowded, and the cars and bikes are all consuming, there is something about the energy of this city that makes you smile. Maybe it’s the fact that in the hectic mess of life they have a system that works so well.