We are spending a month in Hoi An, Vietnam. The Hoi An Ancient Town is a designated UNESCO site but we are staying in An Bang Beach, a few minutes away, and the area is separated by beautiful rice fields (another check mark for Dennis who said he wanted to see rice fields). We splurged to get our fanciest Airbnb and the owner has a daughter who is Mira’s age and they have been able to hang out together, which has been particularly nice.
We were excited to reconnect with some of our friends from the hub in Morocco and continue building connections even as we travel. There is a large community of homeschooling and world schooling families here. The kids have tried all kinds of classes and group meet-ups with varying levels of success. It’s been fun for them to try things like badminton, mechanics class (bonus points for their drum set!), Minecraft meet-ups, chess, Rubik’s cube, movement on the beach, and game nights, and to meet other traveling kids and teens.
We also rented a scooter for the entire month and it has made even the most basic errands a fun adventure. Driving through the rice fields is a particular treat, passing cows and water buffalos along the way. We also found a place nearby to play foosball and went to see the new Minecraft movie. Dev agreed it was fun but it was not like the *real* Minecraft.
Don’t worry, we also did another food tour. This may have been one of the best yet, both because of the guide and the food. We started by visiting a couple “factories” which are really homes where families make a certain food. Both had been maintained for generations. One family was cultivating beansprouts — which you can see Mira particularly loved — and another was making the noodles used in cau lau, a regional noodle and broth dish that is so, so good. We even went to a restaurant that uses that family’s noodles. In Vietnam, is it common that businesses, even restaurants, are run out of people’s homes and for us it is not always immediately apparent that it’s a business. That was especially true for one bakery that had no signage at all and the tour group basically walked into their house to try the sweets. When Dennis and I returned a few days later, I think they were pretty shocked to see us there.
Vietnam also has a deep coffee culture and I joined some of the other parents for a coffee making class. I learned to make salt coffee, egg coffee, and the traditional phin black coffee (imagine a brilliant combination of pourover and french press).
Tonight is our last dinner before Passover starts. We offered the kids pizza (there’s a really good spot near us) and Dev said she’d rather have banh mi. #winning!
This Is Not Brooklyn. 