So much to do and so little time in which to do it! This phase of our life in Hanoi is coming to a close and there are goodbyes to say, things to do and things about which we say "just once more for the memories!"
The men from Transpo, the shipping company, came and packed up all of our worldly goods in less than an hour! We do travel light, don't we? The apartment looks rather stark without the books, CDs and little artifacts that make a house a home. We wonder how they will look in another setting.
If we were as good at organizing the rest of our life as we are at making a schedule of meals, we would be the most organized people in the world! We carefully plan our eating so that our meals are not too close together and so that we don't follow a multi-course dinner with a huge buffet brunch. If we partake of a large meal, sometimes that is our entire intake for the day.
Knowing that we would not be in Hanoi for a while, we managed to visit many of our usual haunts and, after becoming tired and hungry from watching the men pack our things, we had lunch at Le Beaulieu. The five-station lunch is probably the best deal in Hanoi. As we slowly moved from soup and salad to fish, then meat, on to cheese and finally dessert, we had a chance to reflect on all of the fabulous meals we have eaten at Le Beaulieu, going all the way back to 1994. Our friend, Chef Boris, found the time to sit and chat for a while and to remind us to come back soon.
Carol is recovering from an ear infection and trying to rest up for the upcoming journey, so Ira had to represent the family and have coffee with our friend Nga(Rosy) and her brother, Duc and sister Minh
Anh. Duc told Ira that his English is very good, much better than Australians or Frenchmen and that it was easily understood. After some pleasant bilingual conversation, Nga gave us gifts! People are so generous! Ira received a handsome silk tie and Carol a purse emblazoned with butterflies.
When Ira got home, he was greeted with more gifts! The bell staff chipped in to buy us a lacquer jewelry box and a mother-of-pearl picture. We are overcome with emotion at how good everyone has been to us.
We can truthfully say that we have never received treatment this good anywhere else we have been. We have met ambassadors, heads of companies and people who sell fruit on the street and we cannot report one experience of unpleasant behavior. We will certainly miss Hanoi and its people.
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