The Graduate

(PICTURE: JR and I at Hoa Lu, following the wedding.)

Do you ever have a moment where you feel like you're doing something right out of a movie? Well, that's sort of how I felt after right after the wedding. You see, after the party was finished, I was running back and forth between the two buses making sure the right people and right luggage were where they were supposed to be. Some of my entourage were going back to Hanoi (Barry, Donna, Mark) and others who had just arrived were joining our "honeymoon" trip (JR, Lilly, George and the Salter parents).

As soon as everything was sorted, I ran back into Huyen's house to use the toilet. Everyone there was already cleaning up and a little surprised to see me run in. After using the bathroom, I gave everyone a hug and then yelled in Vietnamese, "Goodbye Mom" to Huyen's mother. Everyone laughed as I sprinted back out of the house and down the alley. I then waved goodbye to lots of kids and jumped on the bus. As soon as I was on I told the bus drive to go and he turned on the engine and drove away. I think sat down in a chair next to Huyen (who had taken off her wedding dress) and let out a huge deep breath -- the wedding was over. As I was sitting there though, this movie feeling came over me and there was something very "The Graduate" about it. Granted it was completely different circumstances than the movie but we were departing a wedding on a bus. There was something very cool about it as you always picture people departing their wedding in a limo.

Anyway, the bus was headed south to Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam. This was part one of our "honeymoon."


(PICTURE: Hannah in front of the entrance to Hoa Lu.)

(PICTURE: JR, Hannah and Dana at Hoa Lu.)