Ha Long Bay

We spent the weekend in Ha Long Bay enjoying the sights and the ocean. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my life. There are 1969 islands in the bay that are mostly rock, but also have some beaches.

The first night was spent on a boat, which was a ton of fun. The second night we spent in a very nice hotel that overlooked the bay.

We ate lunch on the beach, biked, kayaked, checked out a cave and generally enjoyed some much needed relaxation after our finals.

Here are some pictures of the weekend:

Hanoi - Week 1

Spent most of my first week in Hanoi in classes, museums, restaurants and shops. I managed to find a Vietnam soccer jersey, which has become a staple of my travel overseas. I have one from Honduras, Ireland, and now Vietnam. This picture is in the alley on the way to our hotel.

The hardest thing to get used to is the incessant honking. The traffic is basically mass chaos. Most people drive motorbikes and they just sort of go whatever direction they feel like and honk at people to let them know they are coming. They even go the wrong way down one-way streets. It's crazy. Fortunately, I don't have to ride anywhere on the motorbikes unless I want to and I don't want to, so I haven't. Crossing the street was difficult at first, but I've learned to just walk out there and let them miss me rather than trying to miss them. When in Rome...

The classes are tackling very important issues in water resource management, but it has been hard to get in depth due to the language barrier. The students all speak English, but it is difficult for them to engage in class discussions at times. The big issue for Vietnamese water law is lack of enforcement. While there are laws in place to protect water from pollution and misuse, the laws have only been in place for a few years and are not heavily enforced. Fines are given for failure to follow discharge laws, but they are often small and sometimes cheaper than taking steps to fix the problem.

The food here is very tasty. A lot of noodles, rice and seafood. Not as spicy as other Asian cultures, but with a little added hot sauce, it works well. They also like to serve seafood with the face still on it. It actually tastes better, because it is fresh, but you have to get past the gross-out factor.
This is a picture of a bike at the Museum of Ethnology that would be ridden by one person in order to transport goods from one place to the next. Imagine the balance needed...
The older people like to get up and exercise near the lake early in the morning. Because of the time difference, I've been waking up early and walking near the lake to find a cup of coffee (iced, because it's extremely hot here). This picture isn't great, but they all exercise in rhythm to this massive loud speaker. Quite interesting...

The also love to play badminton. Don't know why, but it's huge here.

More to come...

On my way...

I posted a while back about an opportunity I received to study East Asian Water Law in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Well, I'm on my way. First stop, though, is San Francisco, where I have an 11-hour layover. Ugh. (Trust me, I'm regretting buying the cheaper tickets with the long layovers).

But I've decided to make the most of it, so I checked out the SF Giants website and found out they are playing the interleague rival A's in Oakland tonight. So I'm off to the game.

Let's hope Bonds takes one deep tonight so I can be part of the booing.

A fresh start

Leah chopped her hair this weekend because she was sick of me not paying attention to her during finals time. Well, not really. She did chop her hair and she is sick of me studying all the time, but I don't think the two are related. Then again...

(Note my balding head in the background not paying any attention - this is what she is dealing with.)

Hooray for pictures!!!!

DMB stuff...

Finally done with finals, so I was taking some time to check out what I might do this summer. Stumbled onto the DMB website to check tour dates and saw this announcement about a new Dave and Tim release.

I can't wait. The DVD will be great, so that we can see some of what Tim does with his guitar (which is absolutely incredible). The set list for the show is here and includes two Tim solos and one song with Dave on piano.

The band is also releasing a CD from a live show at Alpine Valley near Milwaukee, where I have seen DMB twice. I wasn't at this show, however, so I can't tell you anything about it.

Has anyone heard any of the "live trax" discs? Which ones are worthwhile? I was thinking about this one with Bela Fleck featured on several tracks.

What next?

Alarm clocks that drip caffeine intravenously? I hope so.

Check this out.

Death Row and the Homeless

A convicted killer ordered a pizza for a homeless man as his last meal and Tennessee law kept the homeless man from getting the pizza. I'm not sure what this means, but it means something.

Is it another example of the law working to prevent someone from doing something selfless? Is it another argument against the death penalty (clearly this inmate has learned some respect for human life since he was incarcerted)? Or, on the other hand, is it just punishment (i.e. killers don't get what they want, even if they want to help someone)?

Whatever it is, it's absurd. Why can't the state buy a pizza for a homeless guy if they can pay up to $20 to feed a man who is about to die?