A Photo A Week: Red

02/20/2017•Culture, Travel, vietnam

temple offerings

Temple Offerings, Hanoi, Vietnam

In the courtyard of a small Buddhist temple in Hanoi, Vietnam, vendors sell fruit, tea, flowers, incense, and fake money to be used as offerings to ancestors and gods. The offerings help insure a the welfare of spirits in the afterlife. Paper replicas of dollar notes (‘ghost money’), motorbikes, cars, houses and other earthly items can be found. The paper gifts are burnt so the smoke can carry the spirit of the gifts to heaven for use by the ancestors. Ancestor worship is an integral part of Vietnamese culture.

A Photo A Week: Red

Color Your World: Gray

02/25/2016•Explore, Photography, Travel

Color With Numbers

Street parking, Hanoi, Vietnam

Street parking, Hanoi, Vietnam. I never figured out what the numbers on the wall meant.

Jennifer’s Color Your World Challenge: Gray

SL-WEEK 9 : School

09/05/2015•Connect, Photography, vietnam

When I was the Exhibit for the School Field Trip

I visited the Temple of Literature when I was in Hanoi. It was May and very hot. When I sat down to rest, sweat pouring off me, I became the center of attention for a group of students and teachers. I was definitely foreign to them. They gathered around me and just stared. I know how it feels to be in a zoo. I started taking pictures of them and showed them the screen. They loosened up and became friendly. Some of them even posed for me.