May Day in Hanoi's Lenin Park.

May Day in Hanoi's Lenin Park., originally uploaded by Aaron Michael Brown.

After a minor case of illness that might as well have been Swine Flu, and a mysterious set of medicine and massage therepy by my wonderful host mother, I'm back and healthy and looking forward to the conclusion of my study abroad trip. I'm not exactly sure what pills those were in those tiny envelops she gave me, and exactly how that peppermint ointment massage works is beyond my Western understanding of medicine and biology, but I'm at full strength and greatful nonetheless. I'm also excited to report that after my group presentation on bicycles in Hanoi tomorrow, I'm pretty much done with all of the academic work on this program. Things are going well here in Hanoi; the group has chilled out a bit, and I'm really looking forward to our retreat next week. I'll be back in Portland May 15th, and stick around long enough for Papa Brown to buy me a beer for my birthday. Are you going to be in town between the 15th and the 23rd? Wanna hang out before I skip over to the Twin Cities? Send me a message, fool.