Our Da Nang family consists of Nam and Phouc - 30 somethings who have rented out a room in their large house to Laura. The house is typical of this neighborhood - large and three stories high. This style of house is common all over urban Vietnam - the homes are made from brick and plaster and are very modern looking - similar to our Infills at home. Most are attached to their neighbors and have around a 35 foot frontage with a large enclosed front yard which ...

Danang. It is just after 5:30 am as I sit to write this long overdue blog. Sorry to those of you who have written with worries from not having heard from me. I have settled in and become quite lazy. Outside of my lovely big windows, in the suburban Da Nang neighborhood I have been living in for nearly one month, is the daily music and inspirational message for the day, courtesy of the Communist Party of Vietnam. I have come to really enjoy the music – it...

Hue. The girls and I packed up our daypacks and headed out on a little roadtrip. Destination Hue. The imperial city, about 120 kms up the coast from Da Nang – once the capital of the southern kingdom, home to many universities and museums. It is on the Perfume River – a river famous from the Vietnam war, or the American war as it is known in these parts. The Americans dug in on the high banks of the river – built bunkers that still exist to...