Xin chào!!!!!!!! Hello in Vietnamese!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi everyone!! Since last writing we moved on to Hoi An, Vietnam. Hoi An is known for sewing and lanterns. We had 3 big days there.

On the first day we went to a clothing store called Blue. You can get clothes that they have on the mannequins made to fit you. Plus you get to choose the fabric. Mom let me and Lu chose 2 different outfits to have made to our size. I chose a 2 piece (top and skirt) in purple flower fabric and a long flowy dress.

I know it looks like a jumper but the wind is just blowing on it. Mom says I look like I'm 25. Do you agree? The seamstress there are super fast. They made all of our clothes overnight!!! I would live in that store if I could. That's how much I love fashion.

We had a walking tour of Hoi An on our second day. First we took a buggy to the Chinese temple. It was small compared to the others we've seen but I like it that way. There was a moon festival that night so there was a lot of incense candles and praying at the temple.

There were lots of ponds and one had 2 river sharks. River sharks look like a cat fish if you have ever seen one. Then we went to a cultural dance show. The dance featured a raffle\ lottery and live music. We unfortunately did not win the lottery 😡. There was lots of scenes but I'm just going to show a picture of my favorite. This was a traditional dance with two dragons, a turtle, and a phoenix.

After the show we walked to the lantern making class. First we chose the fabrics. Then you applied rubber cement to the wood frame.

Then you tug and and apply the fabric to the frame.

You add fabric 3 more times and add the tassel. And you're done!!!

(Baker's doesn't have a tassel yet.) Then we got fitted in our clothes at Blue. Mine fitted perfectly so I got to take them home.

On Monday we spent the day a village called Go Noi. The family had twin daughters in high school. Then girls who were about my age came after lunch. Singh (our guide) showed me how to make a ring out of a reed. I can teach anyone how to what I get back.

Mom didn't take a photo of me with my ring so I edited a photo that has me and Lu looking for hermit crabs in a bowl of shells from the ocean.

Eating hermit crabs here is called a time killer because you have to eat them very slowly like making hummus by hand. (I have experience.) We got to plant sweet potatoes and go on a bike ride. Planting sweet potatos is really hard. First you have to rake the dirt with 3,000,000,000,000,000 pound shovels. They aren't really 3,000,000,000,000,000 pounds but it felt like that.

The rest of it was easy. We just had to put in the sweet potatoes stems in and cover them with dirt.

Then we went on the bike ride to see all of the village.

The bike ride was super fun and we biked through a cemetery. It only lasted 30 minutes though. Singh said it was 4 to 5 miles though it probably wasn't even 1. Then we made lunch. It was Bánh xèo. Bánh xèo is pronounced Ban Seo. When I made one we had to flip it in the pan and I did it!!!!!!!!!!

Mom and dad didn't get a photo so I have to work with this photo. This is when I was putting the ingredients in to the pan. Cait, Phil, Lourdes, and Tino the next time you come over we are making Bánh xèo for dinner💜😋. Then we ate and that's when the cute girls showed up. I did math with them and they had some really cool ways to learn. Like drawing a line from an equation written in a bumble bee to the flower with the correct answer.

Something that reminded me of home was that there were so many kids. It was like the whole neighborhood was there! On the street where I live there are so many kids. There are more kids than adults. I love it. Something that was different than home was that a pig and its baby lived in a pen next to the toilet. Overall I had a really great time in Go Noi. I completely recommend it.

Yesterday we arrived in Hanoi, still in Vietnam. It was a 45 minute drive from the airport to our hotel. Our hotel is called La Siesta, which is the spanish word for nap. We got here around 5 o clock at night. Then we went and ate dinner and then went to bed.

I miss you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love Ginny!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!