5/28 Power

So the power goes out at least once a week.  As I write this, it's out again and due to be out for at least 8-10 hours. I'm still mystified by all the black electrical wires.  Actually saw a man walking along them yesterday!  It is unclear if they replace defective wires or just add more.  From the looks of it they just add more;).  Last night it rained and for the first time it felt like a monsoon, we were all stuck in a cafe looking with awe and fear out at the the wires swaying in the downpour. 

5/27 Cafes

Just a note about Vietnamese coffee shops to supplement the rocket fuel post.  They are everywhere.  Big beautiful luxurious multi-level coffee restaurants with huge water features and big beautiful trees, small intimate local cafe sua da stops with metal tables and plastic stools, at least five different Starbuck style chains on every other corner downtown (similar in decor and price or should I say over price) and hip little cafes with Sinatra and Buble playing that make me feel like I'm back in the states.  Definitely one of my favorite things about Saigon.

5/26 New Roommate

New room mate today - Sam the cockroach.  Even though he's quiet and tends to keep to himself, he did insist on taking a shower with me this morning.   Considering he hasn't paid the rent, I am gonna have to ask him to move out;).

5/25 HIghrise flats

More flats today but in sterile highrises on a canal that stinks so bad it burns your eyes - smells like a really bad perm.  Needless to say, we will continue looking. 

5/24 Flats

Sacha and I went to look at our first flat today.  Dark, narrow four story house on a windy narrow street with way too many rooms and resident cockroaches.  We've heard it can take up to two months to find "the perfect place".  Hopefully the perfect place doesn't involve cockroaches. 

5/23 Almost got the better of me today

They almost got the better of me today.  I ended up playing one too many games so by break they were wild and crazy.  By the end of class, almost everyone was in the naughty circle ... including me;).

5/22 First Day teaching

Taught my first class of bright and very fluent, if not a little unruly, 10 year olds today.  I'll only have them for about three months two days a week two hours a day.  Ended only getting through about a third of my lesson plan and already learned a lot about what to do and what not to do.  Thank god I have a teachers assistant;). 

5/21 Rocket Fuel

Rocket Fuel (noun) /raketfjel/ a sinister strong iced coffee. or cafe sua da, with condensed milk served at the Dune Cafe in Ho Chi Minh City.  After drinking one can expect to get the shakes, see double and talk too fast for comprehension.  While cafe sua da is the life blood of Vietnam, this particular concoction is deadly and not recommended if you have to teach or operate moving vehicles;). 

5/20 Ice

Huge blocks of ice show up around 6am to sit covered in canvas in front of a narrow shop.  Restaurants buy small blocks broken off with a huge metal comb. Tiger, Heineken and San Miguel beer is stacked to the ceiling leaving a small space for helmets and a stool.  The coolers piled up outside all seem to be empty.  Considering the amount of energy saved in refrigeration, this seems to be a pretty sustainable service;).

5/19 Vietnamese purse

Thought you would enjoy this Mom.
Contents of my Vietnamese purse in order of importance:)

1. Wallet with thousands of dong, hundreds of business cards and always a dry cleaning ticket
2. Netbook
3. Power cord for my Netbook
4. Map of Saigon - already tattered and torn (will be great to share with the kids;))
5. Smashbox lip gloss (grateful everyday for this by the way) and powder
6. Vietnamese phrase book
7. Jump drive
8. Head phones with mic to talk on Skype
9. Bulgari hand lotion - thanks for sharing

4 out of 9 in technology. Interesting to see where our priorities lie;).

5/18 A Hole in the Road

Day one: a little hole in the road appears outside our hotel
Day two: someone sticks a small bushy broom to stop up the hole - in lieu of a hazard sign?
Day three: a conical hat is placed on the broom
Day four: an old bundle of flowers is stuffed around the bottom of the broom
Day five: the hole is now an art piece;)
Day ten: the hole is sadly filled with dirt;(
...so a hole in the road turned into a little temporary communal art piece ... gotta love Saigon;)

5/17 Strange Fruit

Some of the fabulous fruits of Vietnam:
Dragon Fruit (yummy mild ever so slightly sour), Jackfruit (huge strange taste, not my favorite), Mangosteen (definitely my favorite by far tastes like mango with a lychee texture), Hairy Cherries (I'm pretty sure these are lychees), Sour sop (sour;) and very tasty).
....and of course pineapple and papaya everyday!  

5/16 Floating Villages

Floating villages - huge beautiful homes floating above 50,000 catfish.  Houses on stilts. Sturdy monkey bridges. Little girls selling pastries at a mosque.  A huge stucco home just completed with money from Little Saigon in California.  Broken ATMs makes me think of India. Strangely happy to be back in Saigon on busy Bui Vien - almost felt like home;). 

5/15 Floating Markets

Sat and drank iced coffeetea with Tre in a tightly packed outdoor market waiting for the tour group.  Said our goodbyes and we were off to the floating markets.  There were about a hundred big boats selling produce. Lettuce, squash, pineapple, papaya, and various other things I couldn't identify were tied to 10' poles that served as a kind of advertisement.  Drove to a truly amazing temple that was surrounded by ornate cemeteries on Sam mountain at the Cambodian boarder.  After climbing up the stairs, into a cave beyond statues of Buddha, Quan Yin and various other local deities and ancestors, we finally entered a small mirrored room with golden Buddhas.  It was so startling and so very beautiful that it made me cry;).  I spent the night at a corner cafe in a small low lounge chair watching the motorbikes and all the crazy things they manage to fit on to them. 

5/14 Mekong Monkey Bridge

After about 8 hours of driving, a stop at a coconut candy factory, a lacquer factory that employed the disabled and victims of the war, and a boat ride to a bee farm, I was dropped off on the side of the road and put on the back of Tre's motorbike bound for a night at a home stay.  We drove through stunning lush scenery, tiny crooked bridges and even smaller canal paths to his home on a little delta island at the juncture of two canals.  He introduced me to his mother, father, three daughters, grandmother, aunt, and two sisters.  The house was simple, big, and very open. There were lots of very small hammocks on the long wide porch that sat over the canal. We took a walk along the main canal to meet his wife who was working in their bean fields. We reached a small canal that had a few pieces of very small bamboo tied together.  He looked at me, then the bamboo, laughed and said "Monkey Bridge".  I thought and may have said "WHAT??? You want me to cross that?".  I couldn't even see half of it as it was submerged in the water.  I took a deep breath, took off my shoes and slowly awkwardly and half bent over attempted to cross.  About half way, I thought this is not so .... and the bridge broke.  I fell into the canal, sinking into what felt like quicksand terrified of all the crazy creatures and deadly diseases.  Tre helped me out.  I was soaked and covered in mud, but apparently creature and hopefully disease free. .  By the time we reached his wife, we were all laughing.  I helped to water the beans, then we walked over to some rice paddys and watermelon fields.  Observation: the women were the ones who were doing most of the work.  On the way back, Tre fixed the bridge in about three minutes.  I passed safely and quite gracefully - well compared to the first attempt anything would be graceful;). Dinner was the best meal that I have had since I've been here.  Perhaps one of the top 3 in the last 6 months of being abroad.  Tre sat next to me squatting on his chair and guided me as we ate elephant fish, spring rolls, incredible sour green mangos in a dark rich fish broth, rice, and cold cucumber soup. After dinner, we walked down the same path to his mother-in-laws house/cafe.  All the houses were open.  Most families were watching tv.  Most of the main living rooms were sparsely decorated except for large ornate cabinets with ancestral Buddhist shrines  We then sat and had really strong iced coffee.  As soon as we finished half, he poured green tea to top it off!  It was surprisingly refreshing and good. Thanks to that amazing coffeetea, I lay awake for a few hours grateful for the quiet, the food, and even monkey bridges;).