Doors of Hanoi (Addendum 1)

You guys didn't think I was done posting about 'Nam, did you?  Good, because I've got a few more tricks and posts up my sleeves.  First up, I was working on this pet project.  You've heard of Doors of Dublin?  Well, if not check it out.  I decided to do something similar.  Thus, I present to you Doors of Hanoi (with a few additions from the pottery village Bat Trang, just to spice things up a bit).  I took way too many photos of doorways (which got me some seriously curious looks, let me tell you), so these are just my favorites.

In the French Quarter.

Entrance to the National Bank.

This is the same as the door above. I can't decide which I love more.

St. Joseph's Cathedral.

Side entrance to St. Jo.

It's lime sherbert green. :)

The last three are from Bat Trang.

Original entrance door of Hanoi Hilton.

This is the cheeriest door in all of Hanoi.

Door of French villa.

This one's my absolute favorite. The proportions, color, wear, motorcycle...they all perfectly capture how it felt to be in the streets of Hanoi.

I'm definitely missing it--walking down side streets and seeing quirky little idiosyncratic doors and the people and activities in front of them.  Doors might seem like a silly thing for which to take time out, but they speak volumes about the people who use them.  Not so much in the States, unless you're one of those people who keeps up a wreath for every holiday or puts up some elaborate knocker for God knows what reason.  But Hanoian doors are a subtle manifestation of the haphazard, eccentric peculiarity of the city and its inhabitants.


Back on the homefront, my sleep schedule has been torn to shreds.  I don't usually suffer much jetlag, but apparently staying up for forty eight hours and time traveling over ten thousand miles will take its toll on even the most stalwart of travelers.  Tuesday I woke up at six forty-five a.m. Wednesday, six thirty.  Today?  Five freaking thirty!  And there's absolutely no way I'm going to sleep until tonight, in the hope that I can get back on some sort of normal sleep cycle, because I've seen far too many sunrises in the past four days.  I feel they're highly overrated.  I mean, they happen everyday.  Why is everyone so excited about something that's so common?


I'm in Beaufort, SC staying with my good friend Cassie.  We've just been chilling, looking for beaches, writing over coffee, and shopping.  In real stores!  With English tags!  But with American prices. :/  I miss nabbing a shirt for two dollars, a sandwich for a buck-fifty, pearl earrings for three clams (get it?).  And bargaining--my God, the bargaining!  How I've managed not to approach a cashier with "I'll give you thirty thousand dong for this," I've no idea.  Fingers crossed I don't slip back into bartering mode at a most inopportune moment.  I suppose I need a highlight for the last few days.  My first night back, I insisted on bar-b-que.  That, in addition to the enchiladas I couldn't resist at LAX, means that my eating habits haven't been the healthiest since my return, but, oh, have they been delicious! :D


Finally, and perhaps most importantly, my sister has her internship interview today!  I know she's going to be completely awesome and that everyone will wish her LOADS OF LUCK.  Rock on, hermana.

Look how serious she is about psychology! She's perfect for this position, interviewers!