Another day another story

dinner of fish in banana leaf and fries
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Yesterday if I can remember yesterday was shopping day for my Vietnamese boyfriend.  I got the western union infusion of cash and Do picked me up for our lunch date with Mrs. Lan.  We spent some time with her.  Then I went down the street and got a haircut and a shave from her son.  He was so precise and attentive to detail. He asked for 30,000 Dong>  I paid him 50,000 which comes out to be about $3.75.  Mrs Lan invited us tonight for dinner.  We then stopped at the market where I bought him a shirt, pants, hat, sunglasses and sandals all came to around $25.  I got myself two t-shirts, underwear and socks.  He looked quite cute in his new threads and we went to his home so he could show them off to his family.  His family was digging up a bunch of Kumquat bushes I could not figure why.  They were hauling them off.  They fed me and he taught me to say Hi and Bye.  Then we came back into town and after a beer he left me off and I went out to dinner with Martina and Sharon who I met on the train from Hanoi.

Hoi An Haircut
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Today I went out on bicycle and took the long way to the beach.  It was a lovely day and as I rode through the countryside all the kids around 3-5 years old would wave and say "Hello".  How could I not feel welcome.  It is hard to believe this is a communist country when buddhist temples are as common as starbucks at home.  Seems everyone I stop at is being spruced up.  Homes have more than one altar.  As I rode down the lane to a beach a young man popped out from his home and followed me chatting away.  Then an older guy joined us.  His name is Kam and he is 54.  He fought for the US in the war.  He is deaf and cannot speak.  Yet he was able to communicate extremely well with me.  He told me about being an agent of the US in the exact area he still lives in.  He described firing bazookas,  about bombs from B52's.  He showed me the dog tags of an American soldier that had died right behind the current location of his coffee place and how he had helped evacuate the bodies of three soldiers that day.  He was left when the US pulled out in 1975.  In 1978 He attempted to escape by fishing boat but was picked up by Canadians and taken back to Vietnam.  He remains a staunch US ally.  We then talked about how all along the beach great swaths of land are being cleared of their homes and destination resorts are being constructed.  You see the signs for them all along the highway.  They had not gotten his house yet.  In fact as you travel down the recently constructed highway what you see is the disconcerting view of the remaining walls right up to the sidewalk.  Behind these are what is left of the home or what they have added on.  Obviously the older guy was fascinating to communicate with but the young guy was a character in his own right.  He helped himself into my backpack exploring my watch and camera.  He brought out his English/Vietnamese dictionary he must have inherited from a backpacker since it was from Lonely Planet.   He would poke my nose and give a thumbs up and thumbs down to his own.  Same with his skin.  That old white is better than dark foolishness.  He poked around on me as he did the backpack just curious how does this white skin work.  So eager to communicate and yet it was easier with the fellow without words.  I pedaled back into town and headed to the local orphanage.  I had seen a sign at the hotel about visiting so I bought some bananas and oranges to take and stopped in.  A woman took me around and deposited me in a room with about 10 kids and 3 adults.  There seems to be a lot of interaction for these kids.  Anyway, I spent two delightful hours playing games and having these sweethearts crawl all over me.       I remain awaiting the elusive credit card.  It is now in Saigon and I managed to sort of talk with a fellow at the UPS office there who essentially said call back tomorrow.  So I wait.