Reflections

As my trip is coming to a close, I find I am thinking of home a lot!  This trip has been wonderful and I feel blessed to have experienced another culture so closely.

It also shows me and reminds me what I have and what I miss, since I've been gone. Today, I really felt like I was missing out. Missing out on my family, my home, the gray and cool Seattle weather, and even my job.  There is so much stimulation here: traffic, horns, humidity and smells.  I have been a pretty good traveller, until today. I think the trigger was the "iced coffe with condensed milk". Silly, I know, but a memory of home. I miss my husband. We have been Facetiming on our iphone to ipad, but the reception via wifi has been weak. We really haven't been able to talk without missing half of each others conversation. Big Baby, that I am, I am tearing up as I write this.  I need a tissue, so pause for a light eye dab and nose blow here....

This blog is about my travel experience, so I guess home- sickness is part of my experience. I miss my kids and grandkids too. There is a lot of joy there and I am happy they are part of my family. I miss my dogs and cats and Snooter's hairballs ( not really, but trying to make it real here).

So today, Jim and I visited the Military museum or Citadel and the Women's museum.  The Vietnamese women played a very intregal part in the conflicts involving Vietnam with China, the French and USA.  They helped dig the tunnels, care for and transported the wounded soldiers and even carried rifles and fought.

Many of the street vendors we see with their loaded down bicycles or carrying their baskets of fruits or veggies oon their shoulders, do not live in Hanoi.  Most of these women come from distant villages, rent rooms in a boarding house for 35 cents a day, and share with 10 other women. They have husband and children and maybe go home once a month to visit their husbands and children, and if they are fortunate enough, maybe have $20 to bring back home.  The husbands tend to the farms, but farming isn't always enough to provide for their families. The women want better for their children, which is at least, finishing high school. Their love and sacrifice really hit home with me today, as I looked at these women.  Maybe the story isn't the same for them all, but they do what needs to be done and that is just the way it is.

I will keep this short and post some pictures from today. I am counting my days for coming home. The flight will be a long one, as it always is, when you are anxious to get somewhere.

Plan for tomorrow is unsure.  We will stop by the hospital and visit our patients, maybe walk around Hoan Kiem Lake, have some ice cream and enjoy life, and try and keep things in perspective.  

Thanks for reading!