a capitol tour!

We got up a little early today and began a city tour of Hanoi. We saw Ho Chi Mihn's mausoleum where they apparently still keep his body, which is perfectly preserved. Every year, they send him to Russia for maintenance. We didn't get to see the body this trip, but we plan to go back.

We then went to see the Presidential Palace area. It's been preserved and is clearly in the French style. The bright yellow is a fantastic contrast to the green all around it. The big yellow palace was used by French governors and the Vietnamese presidents. Uncle Ho refused to live in the palace because it was too grand, so they built him this house on stilts where he lived while he was in power. There was one road in the palace area called Mango Road that is lined with mango trees.

Then we went to the Temple of Literature, which was the most prestigious university there was in Vietnam back in the day. We followed that with this huge lunch that was absolutely delicious. It came out in waves. There was a tiny bowl of pho, lemon fried chicken, beef with lemongrass, fresh spring rolls and fish with this peanut and dill sauce. Amazing! The afternoon was spent walking around the Old Quarter and went to the Museum of Ethnology. The museum documents all the ethnic minorities in Vietnam. We only had an hour there, and I ended up spending my hour in an exhibit on HIV/AIDS, which may or may not have had anything to do with ethnic minorities, but was interesting nonetheless. The good news is, I live here, so I can go back whenever I want.

After dinner at the school's canteen, I walked over to the same room we had our first orientation in to see the Full Moon Festival party. Every year, the students here put on a party for the kids of the faculty for the Mid-Autumn Festival. It was so adorable! There were so many kids with their parents running around, dancing, singing and eating delicious snacks (I know they were delicious because I ate them, too). Allison and I got called up to announce the fashion show and to hand out gifts to the winners. I was pretty much in heaven. There were babies everywhere and lots of snacks. Who could ask for anything more? I am so sad that I didn't have my camera with me to document more of it. Four students did a dance with dragon looking costumes (two guys to each creature) just like the dragon dance in Mulan. I was told that this creature, much shorter than a dragon, is a mythical lion from Chinese culture. It was so impressive! One was green and one was blue and both were very vibrant. There was a table at the middle of the room with loads of fruit and snacks stacked on it. At the end of the party, everyone rushed the table and snatched up as many snacks as he or she could. It was like a pinata got busted open. It was such a great evening!