| I can't believe......that my time in Hanoi is almost over. It really has flown by. It just seems inconceivable that I have been in this place for 50 days. I still haven't decided if things move at a faster or slower pace here. I think maybe both, if that's possible. I really think that I will be back. I think that there is more art for me to make here and more discovering for me to do. I will really miss the new friends I have made. There's always email, but it's just not the same. Hanoi has been a wonderful, strange, at times extremely frustrating, but ultimately, incredibly rewarding experience. As sad as I am to be leaving, I'm looking forward to getting back to my life and friends and school in LA... though have a feeling that I'm going to be in for some extreme reentry culture shock when I get there. It's so funny how things happen... if I hadn't decided to go to Princeton reunions this year, I would have never talked to Bernard and Eric about Campus, and I never would have had this wonderful opportunity and all these amazing experiences. I know there are about a thousand Life Lessons I have learned in my time here, and I'm going to need some time to process and understand even a fraction of them, but I think one that is clear to me already is that saying "yes" to new, good things is a good idea. I know this seems obvious, but it's something that I need to be reminded of again and again. Hmmmm... I think that's enough public introspection for now. Right now it's almost 3:00 am and I am working furiously on my big silk project. I am determined to get the layout done by morning. I'm taking a mini-break now. There's warm rain pouring down outside and I smoked a Cohiba on the balcony. 
Tonight was the evening before Têt Trung Thu, the Mid-Autumn Moon Festival. Other than the Lunar New Year, this is the biggest holiday in Vietnam. There are mooncakes galore, huge holiday street markets selling lanterns and noisemakers and masks for children, and tonight there were lion dancers going around the city. A troupe came to our street, and Ha, Phuc and I ran outside to see them. They usually only go to businesses to dance for donations and bring good luck, but I attracted a lot of attention with my camera and goofy foreigner-ness, and the next thing we knew, the entire troupe (and crowd of spectators) swarmed in to Campus and performed. If you've never seen the lion dancers in Chinatown for Chinese New Year it's hard to describe the experience - the bright flashy costumes, the crazy clang of drums and cymbals, the wild, exciting, frightening gyrations of the dancers. It's amazing! I fed the lion 20,000 VND for good luck! 
Okay, break time is over, back to work! |
