excitement

what am i excited for, you wonder?  i’ll get to that.

yesterday/last night was super sweet as expected.  was introduced a little piece of paradise right on the outskirts of the city complete with awesome pool, and later in the evening took advantage of the saigon nightlife and learned great new drinking games to take back with me to the states…haha.

today went to the movies with cousin Erin (who is a proud new member of the motorbiking population of saigon!) and some of her friends for the Star Trek extravaganza.  and although very humorous at times, a great cast, amaaaaaazing visual effects…i still don’t think i’ll ever be a fan of science fiction.  but i will say i definitely liked it and think alotta my friends would enjoy it.

IM STOKED.  tomorrow starts day 1 of freedom!!  erin will be going to Dalat for a few days so i have been summoned to stay at her place in district 1 to take care of her baby darling chihuahua-mix, Makua.  so that meanssssss i am on my own until wednesday!!!!!!  this may not seem a big deal to you, reader, but let me reiterate how completely caged in i feel…24/7.  to live under grandma’s roof is…a job in and of itself.  always polite (this is exhausting), listening to prayers (this is torture), asking to go out or do every little thing (don’t get me started)…even if just for a few days, the taste of independence may help keep a smile on my face for more than a little bit at a time.  these days i really need it.  not to mention, the dog is adorable.  i’m just really excited to be able to be in district 1, right in the thick of things, walking distance to so many places…itll be nice to wander around by myself for a bit.  where grandma lives is in a district pretty far from downtown, and having to take buses and taxis is such a bother sometimes.

soooooooo next time i post i will be breathing a bit easier.  just in the knick of time…i’ve been losing my mind!  talk to you all then

what i learned in class

“không say không về”

means something like…”if im not drunk im not going home”

now…off to use my new [super useful] vietnamese!!

survival

FINALLY i am back and connected to the world after a grueling 36 hours without electricity here at grandma’s house.  and if you think its easy to do here in vietnam, i dare you to come try it.  no AC, no fans, no tv, no internet, no lights after 630pm, windows open, mosquito swarms, sticky nights, STICKIER days, no fridge, no freezer, no ice in my water, no phone charger, ipod was dead, no nothin.  and i survived.  after all day yesterday and the majority of today spent in an amish twilight zone, i am more thankful than ever for benjamin franklin (he’s the kite guy, right?)

the only thing i really really could’ve done without: the mosquitoes that somehow found me at 3am in the morning and continued to repeatedly bite me again and again until i was forced out of bed to reapply the green oil that somehow helps the itching and my trusted (maybe not so much anymore) OFF! bug repellent.  i try not to take it personally, but seriously…what did i ever do to deserve this torturous wrath of the midnight mosquito population?  they friggin’ love me.  its a love/hate thing.

so here are some pics! (takeout food since we didnt want to cook, the tiniest bananas!!, a not-so-romantic candlelit dinner, and an update on my sandal tan)

<3

breakthrough

this morning at breakfast, i taught grandma to reply to a text message.  10 minutes after a short verbal lesson, example, and trial run, she successfully sent her first text!  welcome to 2009, g-ma.  (something tells me i will have to explain the process again…)

ta-ta for now

same same, but different

won’t be online for a few days
shifting focus to mental health
ttyl

trying to keep my eyes open

so its 3pm here in saigon and i am trying my very best not to take a midday nap (like everyone else around these parts).  these extremely satisfying naps have left me nothing but sleepless nights plagued with thoughts of the future…MY future in particular…what i will be doing/studying when i get back, where i will be living, etc etc.  i think im actually beginning to miss having a job and most importantly, an income!  although not having bills and rent makes life [super] easy on my soul, i feel pretty worthless overall.  vacations are only supposed to be so long.  if it sounds ungrateful, my apologies–its not supposed to be.  at least i know i have a work ethic somewhere inside me.  in any case, i’ve got plenty of ideas for life when i get back to the states…and honestly, i’m getting antsy to get things started and to see where i will end up.  unfortunately i dont think i will be able to start classes until spring.  i’m pretty upset about it…but nothin really i can do.  except panic like i always do.  thats how my days have been going here…up and down and up and down.  ahhhhhksldjf;lksjdflk…i just want to take a nap and forget about it all.

before i forget

i think i’ve figured out my least favorite thing about vietnam.  its those little black birds that i’ve had for dinner twice now–in a soup with some potatoes, mushrooms, and lotus seeds.  if you don’t know what i’m talking about…here’s a visual from hanoi:

now don’t get me wrong.  i not only love meat of most kinds, i consider myself to be a culinary adventurer with a pretty good palate.  these little black birds have just proven to be a little too graphic for me.  the whole bird…head and all, its too much.  the meat itself is okay…not very tasty, i usually need a salt/pepper mix for accompaniment, and its actually not a lot of meat at all.  most of the time spent eating them is spitting out bones.  so let me just state for the record: if i never eat these again in my life, i will be perfectly content.  maybe they’d be better fried…

today i tallied up all the books i’ve read here, and the total came to a whopping 9 books!  i’m almost positive that that’s more literature in the last month and a half than 4 years of college…combined.  maybe more.  sad, but true.  and quite an upgrade, if i do say so myself.  i’ve definitely enjoyed Tom Robbins–i’m super stoked to get my hands on more of his stuff and tear it up (in a good way, of course).  i read a collection of short stories/essays/poetry–the Pushcart Prize Best of the Small Presses–and found some really great short pieces that i could read over and over again.  it feels good to get lost in books…its a familiar, but at the same time, distant, feeling.

wow… i’m in vietnam.  sometimes i forget these days.

sandal tan

yes, the gradual development of my painfully hideous (but oh-so-vietnamese!) sandal tan is coming along quite nicely.  i’m considering putting sunblock on just my toes to even out the different shades of skin that i’m acquiring.

ok consider it considered.  i’m too lazy to do anything about it.  guess i’ll start thinking of it as a souvenir.  a free one, at that.  booyah.

well then

i give up.  feeling really lonely.  missing a few people the most.

everything i need i’ll find;
right inside this heart of mine

wowww

i just realized that grandma reaaaaally likes to cook with garlic.  i cant help but wonder…is this the first time my breath tastes like death after dinner?  doubtful.