Birthday in Vietnam

Hello friends!

As most of you know, my birthday was on Thursday, August 1st. I'm now 24! Thank you for all the birthday wishes! It's slightly surreal to think of myself as in my mid-twenties. And if you would told me two months ago that I would be celebrating my birthday in Vietnam, I would have never believed it. It's crazy to think about how much your life can change in an instant with one decision. I think it's just important to keep making those decisions. If you aren't happy... do something about it!

Enough with my life advice... On Wednesday night I went out with a few friends from my WorldTeach program for what was supposed to be a quick drink in the Old Quarter. Many many hours later, I found some neat bars in town and rang my birthday in with style. Hanoi is different from the rest of Vietnam in that they have a midnight curfew. Starting at 12:00 am, the police go bar to bar and shut them down. DJ's stop playing, lights on, and piles of people rush into the streets. As far as I can tell, it's never more than a "go home" from the police, but it seems that the next step for all the party-goers is to find a bar that's still open. What an adventure that was!

On Thursday I had to work for most of the day and then we went out for dinner to a really good Vietnamese restaurant that evening. I had fried noodle with egg, beef, and greens on top. Yummy! My friends in the program also bought a chocolate cake and brought it to the restaurant for dessert. It was AMAZING!

My birthday was definitely one to remember.

Kelley