Some Pictures

I haven't had a chance to update you all because I have been sick with food poisoning or some other food borne illness for about two weeks now...it feels like forever. Vietnam is preparing for the second biggest festival of the year with incense burning, money throwing, banh baking and lots of shopping. Random bursts of excitement occur as we walk the streets that are lit with what the Western world calls Christmas lights.
But we won't be walking the streets for long. Cao Hai just brought us a motorbike that Adam is learning to drive and I will be learning soon. I probably won't drive often given that my mind has a tendency to wander (nice way of putting "spacy") and to drive here you have to be incredibly...alert (nice way of putting "crazy").

Our new roommate is great and resourceful. She has been here for 6 months so she speaks basic Vietnamese and gives us tips such as "don't leave the heater switch on when you take a shower, a friend of a friend of a friend was electrocuted". Good to know.

We made spaghetti dinner with some appetizer trays for Adam's family and some friends. It was fun to switch roles for a night and see their faces when we brought out bacon, cheeses, and bread and olive oil. Their expressions held the exact look that they see on our faces when they bring us congealed blood, beef muscle or anything with eyes. But we showed them how to eat everything and they seemed to enjoy it. Think cheese & crackers with chopsticks and that pretty much sums up the night.

The pictures are of the dinner night. And of our fish...did I mention we have a fish?

The guy that looks really happy holding the chopsticks is Adam's cousin and acts EXACTLY like Joe...it is eerie.

New House!!

We finally found a house! It is in a fun location that is outside of the tourist district, but not too far away from the city center. It came unfurnished so to fill up the huge house we ran around to various furniture stores and found a roommate named Mandy. (We did not find Mandy at a furniture store, she is from Craigslist). She works in an orphanage a few times a week and studies Vietnamese... arrives here in about a week.

Last weekend we made our first trip out to the beach at Vung Tao with Adam's family and some of their friends for a day. It was so pleasant to get out of the city and chase waves in the ocean. The women here apparently swim fully clothed so I joined in and swam with my shorts and T-shirt, scandalously hiding my Western two-piece bathing suit. Adam's Uncle explained that prior to 1975 the women wore very skimpy bathing suits, but traded them in for swimwear that covers as much skin as possible with the arrival of the new government...and global warming.

Now that we are settled in, it is time to start work on all of the wondrous business ideas we have and I will, as usual, be working for free! Hope things are going well for everyone. More later...

Raindrops keep fallin'

Everyone just dashed in from the streets into our cafe because of the daily torrential downpour. The rain comes down for about 20 minutes to 3 hours everyday and it really comes down. The streets flood almost immediately and suddenly ponchos cover every motorbike that passes. The water goes into the exhaust pipes of the bikes and people are stuck in the streets, but it always passes quickly enough and it seems that many people simply enjoy being caught up in it. The amount of rain that falls arrives in a flash and catches everyone off guard so there is nothing to do but enjoy it and be glad that it is 90 degrees outside and it feels great! The monsoon winds, the lush, green environment, the booming thunder and lightning create a lovely tropical storm. We are still looking for a house, but finally have a few prospects to follow up on. However, we recently upgraded to the classy $15 a night/breakfast included suite in our guesthouse with a balcony and an enclosed shower so the pressure to find a house is less daunting. We visited Mytho, a small part of the Mekong Delta where they show you how to make coconut candies and spend most of the day transferring you from one boat to another. They had a small traditional music concert which includes mainly string instruments and has a hint of a southern bluegrass flavor to it. It was really hot, however, and shockingly "air-conditioned" bus on the $4 day tour means "get conditioned to having no air". But it was nice to get out of the city and see the beautiful countryside, so the ride alone was worth the trip.