The first day I arrived to my street in Hanoi, my first thought was: Do my parents really expect me to live here for 2 1/2 more years?! And the answer was yes, they did expect that. "It's different! It's interesting!" my mom would say. But to me, it felt like I was living in, well, Vietnam (Obviously when I first came, I enjoyed Vietnam much less than I do now.) The street wasn’t paved. When it would rain, the whole street would be one dirty ocean of muddy water. Construction was going on everywhere, so the sides of the roads (and sometimes, the middle) was covered in rubble, bricks, long poles, and other construction materials. This also included the workers standing around in the middle of the street. Then the workers' dogs would run out and charge at us every time we stepped out of our gate. And we also had our many holes in the sides of the roads that are meant to capture the rainwater. Oh yes, this was the life.
(He may look nice now, but he's a whole nother dog when off the chain...)
One night, I was awakened at midnight by the sound of truck. I looked out the window and saw the truck laying a thick coat of black cement on top of the dirt. The street was being paved right before my eyes! And that, to me, was like waking up in the morning to a blanket of fresh snow. Along with the paved road, the construction was coming to an end, and holes were covered up by cement blocks so people wouldn't fall in.
While our street became more 'orderly' there were some limitations. First, we have no street lights. The light fixtures are there but there are no bulbs and no connections. Hence, there are lamps but no light.
Because of this, at night, when we are walking or biking, the street is pretty much invisible. The only lights come from oncoming motorbikes.
When motorbikes are coming at you with their bright lights, however, the lights blind you and it’s even less possible to see.
Over time, large holes have reappeared on the sides of the roads as large cement drainage blocks have been stolen or shoddy paving has sunken in.
As you can see, my friend is on her way to falling into a hole.
One person had the good idea of filling a hole with a desk...to keep people safe?
Lots of construction work has begun again, including repairs to the drainage systems in the alleyways, as per this example on the side of my house.
I am a little confused as to how people are able to exit their homes. Many houses have no other access other than through such alleyways. Perhaps they now wade or swim to their house gate. Associated with this construction, more rubble and bricks have reappeared in front of my house. Déjà vu!
When we first came, our street was a dead end so it was not very crowded with motorbikes and cars. About a year ago, the circular connection of our street was completed plus several new apartment buildings sprung to life at the end of the former 'dead zone'. Because of this, we now have motorbikes flying by at all times of the day, and just walking out of my house onto the street, I need to look both ways to make sure no one is coming.
Yet with all my complaints, I have really grown to love this street. We have plenty of kind neighbors, as well as a killer view.
