Gershom, c'est moi

And he said unto his daughters, And where is he? why is it that ye have left the man? call him, that he may eat bread. And Moses was content to dwell with the man: and he gave Moses Zipporah his daughter. And she bare him a son, and he called his name Gershom: for he said, I have been a stranger in a strange land.

Some views from my roof

Good artists borrow, great artists steal. This blog qualifies as neither great, nor art so I must give credit where credit is due. Since a few people have complimented the photo of the blue lit hotel room window, Cristina would like everyone to know that she is the one who took it.

Happy Lunar New Year

We arrived in Vietnam shortly before the lunar new year celebration. The party lasted the better part of a week and involved toasting the good health and good fortune of our fellow revelers with gargantuan amounts of rice liquor and sometimes scotch. For the Vietnamese, of course, it involved a bit more: cleaning house, visiting the local pagoda, planting kumquat trees, and engaging in nonstop karaoke performances (as well as consuming gargantuan amounts of rice liquor and sometimes scotch).


The most impressive sight of the holiday was the view of thousands of sky lanterns floating through the air. The launching of a sky lantern is supposed to symbolize the letting go of stress, problems, and the like. But let's face it, it's pretty cool to soak a rag in oil and launch it into the air with you own mini hot air balloon.





This is our neighbors launching a sky lantern from their roof. The authorities are making a lot of noise about outlawing sky lanterns (apparently fires knocked out power in a few sections of Hanoi this year due to people letting go of their worries).