Part Two: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)

This is Part Two of the Two Part Series Creatively entitled: Things I've Bought in Vietnam (and Cambodia and Laos)!!

I pick up where we left off and move on to Cambodia...

All over the temples of Angkor Wat are bas reliefs of dancing Asparas--the muse-like figures of Cambodia. I love their movement and sensuality. I was looking for a small stone relief that I could hang on a wall, but found this ceramic one instead. It was $5 in a little shop in Phnom Penh. Thank you to Corinne and Emily for being patient with me as a I searched for it.

In Cambodia I also bought this little lotus flower puzzle. Lotus flowers are very symbolic here, and this puzzle reminded me of little things my grandparents had around their house when I was growing up. My grandfather was in the Air Force, and they always had the neatest things from Germany, Holland, Korea, Japan, etc. that they’ve passed onto all of their kids and grandkids. I love thinking that I’ll have things like that to pass along, too.

Laos is very famous for its paper crafts, and I found this collapsible paper star in the same little village as the scarf. There was a lady standing outside drying the big sheets of paper, and she gave me a little demo. I’m not sure what I’ll do with this...but I couldn’t not buy something:).

Also in Laos, at the night market, I bought these two little pillow pins. They cost maybe 50 cents, and they just made me smile.:) I mean, they say "I love you well" and "kiss you!"

Although I am giving so much of my clothing away, believe me when I say I won’t go naked. I’ve done a good bit of shopping since I’ve been here. In Hanoi you can find some clothes that are really well made (or made to order!!) for a fraction of the cost you would pay in the States. The boutiques are really cute and unique, and often the designer is working in the store, too. The tailor that I found is also really fantastic. She’s copying a J Crew Linen blazer and pencil skirt for me as we speak...

For my birthday, the lady teachers got me this Ao Dai. This is the traditional dress in Vietnam, and me getting one was quite the to-do. I picked out the fabric----well, I picked out a lot of other fabrics first that the other teachers didn’t like, so we settled on this. When I went for my final fitting, the shop was filled with other Vietnamese women I had never met. They all laughed when I came out wearing the Ao Dai, and then one woman proceeded to feel me upl. I was a little taken aback, but no one else seemed to think it was weird. Curves are hard to come by in these parts, so maybe she was curious what they felt like?

I like jewelry, and I’ve been able to find some really unique pieces here and there. One of the things I was on the lookout for from the beginning was a jade bracelet, and I found this one in the lower left corner at a place called “Nagas Creations” in Laos. I had not seen such a dark, rich color anywhere else. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really come through in this picture, but trust me it’s beautiful! The store was owned by a French ex-pat and his CRAZY mother who had been raised in Zimbabwe during the colonial era. I bought these 3 wooden bangles there, too. The chunky large bracelet with the purple flower design is from Nha Trang, a beach town in South Vietnam. The coral beads are from a shop in Hanoi, and my mother bought me the little silver earrings shaped like the Non La--the Vietnamese hat--when she was in Sapa with me. Sapa is known for their silver, and these are kind of quirky and very cute.

For my birthday, I was given this great rice wine carafe shaped like 2 ducks, made by Chu Dau Pottery in Hai Duong. It was another gift from the teachers I work with. They told me it is customarily a wedding present, so I should think of it as a birthday/wedding present since they won’t see me again before my someday-wedding. They like to talk about me getting married a lot....

When my parent’s visited, the school gave them a large Chu Dau vase, and they told us that Chu Dau pottery was “world famous in Vietnam.” Everyone in Vietnam is always saying things are “world famous”--world famous green bean cake, world famous bakery, world famous tailor--so we didn’t really take the claim too seriously. Then we googled Chu Dau, and it turns out that it is actually World Famous! Chu Dau pottery is recognized by UNESCO as an ancient craft.

I also bought these two smaller vases. I was only planning on buying one, but the one on the left is the “female” vase, and the one on the right is the “male” vase. The idea of buying one and not the other was not going to fly with the sales team...Together they cost about $7.00. The pieces are cast in molds and then hand painted. The detail is really beautiful up close.

The last thing I have to make room for are some of the little gifts from my students. The glass jar is filled with hundreds of little paper stars they made me for my birthday. They also gave me the mug with my picture on it. One of them had asked me to email them pictures of me to show their mom; when I opened this mug a few days later I almost died. The shoes were a gift on teachers day, and the scarf and hat were gifts on women’s day.

Now about that weight limit....