4/17 Phenomically Speaking

As I write this, there is a a full blown Vietnamese variety show happening in the park opposite my cafe. It's a mixture of opera, communist national songs and strange pop ballads. The street is packed with the usual million motorbikes, book sellers (they walk around with a stack of 20 books high), back backing tourists, dried fish vendors, pastel tour buses, and my favorite tiny plastic stools. The rain has not come yet, but it will ... soon.  I guess it brings the rats and cockroaches (bigger than my little poodle friend I saw the other day).  We all spent the day trying desperately to decipher the phonemic alphabet for one of our assignments.  Can't wait to share what I've learned with the triplets.  Definitely an entertaining day.  Spent the night at an ex-pat bar meeting young volunteers and jaded teachers.  Learned a lot to say the least;).