India...We shall see you soon!

Soon enough, the Stirlings will be on our way to lovely India! Jan 9-Feb 10th 2012.

We are getting ready...mentally. Deciding where to go, what to bring, thinking about what Walker will eat, hoping he is out of diapers before we go, figuring out hotels to stay in (budget or mid-range?), getting Walker a new traveling big-boy back pack. This is some fun stuff!


I have moments of fear--that Jamie will not like it or that Walker lets go of our hand and runs into traffic. That Walker get dehydrated from the poops or that Jamie gets dehydrated from the poops. That Walker will be a pain in the ass in restaurants. That Jamie won't like the food. So much to worry about, but I think it is natural to worry about not being in one's comfort zone. And that is one thing I love about traveling--not being in my comfort zone, but figuring out how to be comfortable anyway.

The one main thing I take with me that helps me feel comfortable is my blankie. My blankie is a cotton covered down blankie, made for use on the sofa. It is small, it folds up even smaller, but it is Oh-So-Warm and delightful. When sad I am away from home, I just cuddle up with my blankie! The other thing I like to have around me are delicious drinks. In India, I particularly like a mango flavored box drink called "Frooti." I hope Jamie and Walker also find these delicious. But of course, I always enjoy a cup of Chai or a sweet and salty lime fizz.



Then there's breakfast/ Breakfast in India is a special thing for me. It is a great way to get used to a new day, and one of the most enjoyable things for me while in India. I particularly like having an egg sandwich, freshly made form a street Chai Wallah. But I also love the Porridge with fruits. This is like oatmeal in the USA, but better. It is grainier, without seeming too overly "healthful" if you get my drift. I think Walker will particularly like this dish for breakfast. I will miss my morning smokes, but I am a changed woman and will not be smoking on this trip!


I am so excited to have Walker with us, as I can't wait to see how this affects our communication and interactions with people. I think he will open many doors for talking to people. Indians are pretty darn chatty as it is, so this should be amazing having Walker around! I hope he likes it!

Also this time I am thinking of bringing some nicer clothes. Nothing fancy, just not as raggy as I have been before. Not that I ever showed myself to be dirty or anything, but perhaps I will make myself up just a tad. I feel that being a mother and a bit older this is only appropriate! Maybe I'll change my mind though. We'll see.

In the meantime, please check out my new website at www.joannagollberg.com It is pretty awesome. Next week you can order online. You might even be able to order something now.

Namaste Dosti!

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They must securely hold pieces of jewelry, yet also allow the jewelry to be removed over and over again without quickly wearing out.

Please email me at joanna@joannagollberg.com to discuss further. Will pay $500 for the completed project or more if the boards exceed all my wildest dreams.

last days

home again! we are all happy to be home, welcoming the incoming snow storm. perfect timing, as long as the heat stays on, for us to recoup and get over jet lag. as i write it is 4:21 am and we have been up for 2 hours already. back to sleep soon, i hope!

vietnam
USA
hong kong

yesterday was walker's 1st birthday! he spent it on an airplane...or 2 or 3. but we got a pic of him in 3 different countries: vietnam, china, and the USA! happy birthday, walker!

our last few days were spent eating, hanging out, and traveling. we had some excellent food at the street cafe in hoi an.
the cooks, a long row, each had their own kitchen. this is outside, under a tented roof.

we also had some good conversations with a vietnamese lady there who told us that vietnamese babies basically eat the same food as american babies, that they start spicy food when they are 5 or 6. they also wear disposable diapers, but boys only wear them when not at home. boys do not wear them all the time, because if they do, they will be unable to have children when they grow up. i told her this is NOT true, but she just laughed at me.


spring rolls, yum!
a dish with udon, peanuts, quail egg, pork, veggies. the quail egg tasted just like a regular egg, just smaller and more condensed. i think those chips are fried pork skins, couldn't tell from the taste.


this appetiser came free, so we don't know what it was, but it seemed like some kind of breaded and deep fried vegetable or plaintain-like thing. the breading was especially delicious & the sauce was sweet and sour with some spice. served on a good-looking banana leaf.


here is a pic of the cafe, when everyone was admiring walker.

upon our return to HCMC from hoi an, we found preparations for Tet, the vietnamese new year were under way. these are a bunch of huge plastic flowers they are putting up over the streets. they are assembling these with a glue gun on the side of the road! we also saw large glittered piers being set up. it made me think of my uncle victor who passed away this summer, and how much he would have loved to see this process. i miss him tons.

on our way from hoi an to HCMC, we found that the airline had taken us off the list for our flight. it was an accident, but the lady who messed up wouldn't fess up, so after some angry discussion, we had to pay an extra $100 to get back on the flight. which means we paid 2ce for the flight and then a fee for them to accidentally cancel it. i was MAD! but we made it back to HCMC on time and safely...

THEN, when we were leaving HCMC for the US, we overheard that our flight from hong kong to San fran was delayed...by SIX hours. and when we got to the front of the line, the lady switched us to a different flight, by passing the delay, so we actually arrived in the US 5 hours EARLIER! we were delighted and figured that evened out the extra we had to pay for our last flight. i love it when things work out like that! my anger at the mean lady at Vietnam Air just disappeared.

so the flight went like this: 2 hours form HCMC to Hong Kong, 15 hours from hong kong to Chicago, 1 hour form chicago to Asheville. the 15 hour flight was very, very long. walker did so great! at times he wiggled so much it almost made me crack, but he slept a bunch and also hung out in our laps a bunch too. he cried some, but never intolerably. jamie walked with him up and down the aisles a bit, and all in all it was just a matter of being tortured by the slow passing of time.

our bags have not yet arrived, but i feel good that they will because we saw them at customs in chicago. when they get here i will take some pics of the goodies i bought so you can see!

i think i will be continuing to blog some about other travels, jewelry, and just plain old whatnot, so if you are interested, keep checking in! thanks for keeping up with us, it is comforting to know people are reading the blog! i leave you with a couple of images that i think are simply pretty...now that i have photoshop to help me a little! more images sometime soon.

this is the sign from the place we have been eating. we've found it to have the best non-western food in hoi an. we had rice pancakes, which are stuffed with veggies and shrimp, then you place fresh greens (lettuce, basil, & something else) on top, then you wrap that concoction in a thin white rice paper and dip it in spicy sweet and sour sauce. yum! we also had crispy noodles, see below, and these are delightful as well, they get not crispy after you mix the sauce.

we have done some cultural things, such as viewing temples and old houses and a folklore museum. each of these huge coils of incense is placed in the temple to burn in honor of a prayer for someone. you can get little coils for little prayers, too.


our hotel is about a 5 minute walk from the historic old town, which is pretty much all that hoi an has to offer tourists, except for some nice rice paddy views. we walk down a busy street to get to the old town, where there are not supposed to be any motorbikes. people like to break this ban, unfortunately. we pass this pork place on the way, and here is the guy cutting up the whole roastedpig, right on the side of the road. whenwe came by later, it was nothing but a bare-boned carcass.

in the mornings after breakfast, we have been strolling with walker before his nap time. there is a water way here that is peaceful to walk along. we discovered this handmade boat yesterday, they even put on the eyes. apparently all fishing boats have to have eyes so they can see the fish. some kid and his parent did a great job making this boat out of some trash.

we took an hour long ride down the river to see the city from a boat. jamie got to drive! we saw some corn growing and a duck farm. there was a situation where two old people threw a netout of their very small boat, looking as if they were catching fish. then the bigger boats like ours would come up, and we would have to give them some money. but we still hada nice time and walker liked crawling around on the boat.

we have had a nice time here in hoi an, and in vietnam. however, we are getting worn down by the traffic and by the amount of attention paid to walker. it is exhausting, telling people"no" they can't hold him, no kissing on the face, trying to get around people who want us to stop so they can play with him, telling people it is ok he is not wearing a hat, et cetera. yesterday we came upon someone on the street, stood in front of the stroller so we had to stop, and reached in and grabbed him, trying to pull him out of the stroller. mama bear got MAD.
as i told jamie, one of the best things about this trip is that both of us have gotten to spend such great quality time with walker. i think each of us has developed a closer relationship with him, and i know that all 3 of us have enjoyed our time together. he is such a good baby and and a real delight for us to be with.

we are ready to come home, but 1st we go back to HCMC tomorrow for a day where we will see the currys again! i am so sick of the traffic here, and the sidewalks are taken up by motorbikes. so just a couple more days of that, and then we board the big bird for what could possibly be the most tortuous plane trip ever. we'll see. but it will all be worth it, as we have had a great trip!

more later!

walker and jamie swimming in hoi an. fun to be had!

this morning we went and got fitted for some clothes ata tailor. hoi an is fullof tailors. it is kind of "the thing to do when in hoi an." jamie is having an embroideredlinen shirt made and i am havinga blue cotton dress made from a picture i tore out of vogue magazine. we'll see how they turn out. we go back for fittings in the morning.

later we will go for a boat ride and see things from the river. then hopefully we will find something yummy to eat cuz so far the food hasn't been that great. how can we beat Hieu at Pho Quoc? it was just so delicious.

we saw a handicraft workshop for handicapped people. making jewelry and embroidering. we'll probably go back and buy walker some pajamas there, to support the cause. it's a good one.


look at this neat plant, growing its roots down in the air. this grows all over hoi an.


more later.

on to hoi an

The past few days at the beach were slow, so we decided to go check out the coconut tree prison. This was used during the american war and also during the war with the French. They had a small museum with some interesting re-enactment figures.

interesting communist propaganda going on here, too. Some of you might notice that this is not the 1st prison jamie and I have visited together: we also visited the eastern state penitentiary while in Philadelphia one year.

We also got to see a lot of the island on our way to the prison. A few small villages and some lovely beach scenery. Fishing shacks, too.


The next day we went into town to try and find the fish sauce factory. We smelled it, but could not find it. We saw some extreme garbage areas and really bad waterways. HCMC was so clean…phu quoc resorts are also clean, but the local village…not so much. Black, oily, trash-filled waterways. That is where these folks live.

they were drying some squid in the alley.yum.


Today we left phu quoc and two plane rides and two mini bus rides later we are in the ancient city of hoi an, very nice! Nikki was right, there is a picture opportunity around every corner. here is a little boy with his horsie balloon!

an old man relaxing on a bench near the waterway.


The battery charger is burning up right now due to the high voltage of the plug here, so I have to cut this one short. more tomorrow.

scooter

just so you guys know, that pic of the 3 people on the scooter is not us! we would never take walker on a scooter ride. i put it on there so you can see how the vietnamese ride with their babies!