Eden
The elderly continue to work, where the laws require every capable person to work six days a week. In fact, according to the United Nations, Viet Nam has seen the life expectancy increase almost twenty years since 1990. Their only social security is family, and the country's growth in mean income hasn't kept pace with an aging population, nor with its neighbors in East Asia.
A Growing Economy
You can find anything here...you just have to know where to look.
This turns out to be a hopeful perspective.
It is hopeful because often times you won't find exactly what you are looking for. You can find an approximation or a copy. People can be remarkable at copying things with what limited supplies they have on hand.
This turns out to be a hopeful perspective.
It is hopeful because often times you won't find exactly what you are looking for. You can find an approximation or a copy. People can be remarkable at copying things with what limited supplies they have on hand.
Assuming Identities
One of the difficulties of living here is the logistics of bringing things from the home country or sending gifts to friends overseas. Often it entails weeks of planning in advance, finding the needed object online, mailing it to a dear friend's address, then coordinating its delivery to a person who happens to be coming to Ho Chi Minh City, and arranging for the friendly "carrier" to bring it in his or her baggage. Today, at a coffee klatch in a room full of strangers, a woman offered 50 USD to anyone who could arrange for her four kilogram (8.8 lbs.) package to be couriered to the States. She didn't hint at what was in the box, but maybe it was a very special, and, almost untimely, gift to a loved one.
Mapping Cultural Constellations
Growing up, we did not have much to amuse us children. At night, probably to wear us out, my aunt would take my cousins and me on long walks where we pondered the constellations of heaven; where in our smallness, we hoped to identify another part of the galaxy. Intrinsic to my wanderlust is a curiosity, based in being comfortable with not knowing my way. I was never good at finding anything beyond the Big Dipper and Orion. I looked to my cousin to locate the Seven Smiling Sisters, and would marvel when she found them. The geography of the sky is complicated, and I rely on others to help me navigate patterns I do not understand.
On the Road to Mui Ne
Roughly five hours from Saigon by car, when the monoxide-clogged tolls aren't packed, motorbikes aren't fleeing the city, and traffic is flowing freely, Mui Ne is the go to place for a quiet beach break. It boasts a fair stretch of sand, hotter temperatures, and a constant breeze. This breeze can turn into a formidable wind, one that is tracked in knots and posted to sites dedicated to informing prospective wind and kite surfers where to point their sails for their next adventure.
Home to Roost
Chickens and I share a spotted history.
My only attempt at raising chickens from eggs was as an elementary science teacher. Cayliegh, my student helper, regularly came into the lab to diligently monitor and record the humidity and temperature levels of the incubator, while I fretted secretly that the eggs would only hatch disappointment in the children's hearts when the embryos failed to thrive. In part I was insecure regarding the undertaking, but I was also battling unfavorable classroom conditions. The radiator belched out hot gusts of air, mixing with the temporal heat emitted by 30+ little bodies, registering 80 degrees on the classroom thermometer in January; on the weekend, the classroom could easily fall by twenty or more degrees. I was either wishing I could wear a tank top or gloves on any given moment. The embryos, on the other hand, needed a constant 99.5 F degrees.
My only attempt at raising chickens from eggs was as an elementary science teacher. Cayliegh, my student helper, regularly came into the lab to diligently monitor and record the humidity and temperature levels of the incubator, while I fretted secretly that the eggs would only hatch disappointment in the children's hearts when the embryos failed to thrive. In part I was insecure regarding the undertaking, but I was also battling unfavorable classroom conditions. The radiator belched out hot gusts of air, mixing with the temporal heat emitted by 30+ little bodies, registering 80 degrees on the classroom thermometer in January; on the weekend, the classroom could easily fall by twenty or more degrees. I was either wishing I could wear a tank top or gloves on any given moment. The embryos, on the other hand, needed a constant 99.5 F degrees.
The Perils of Local Food Reviews
I woke up at 5:30, which is a common thing these days in spite of not being a morning person. (Damn roosters!) We are in a "service apartment hotel" right downtown, so we are surrounded by apartment buildings, restaurants, and a hospital for children across the street. I think the roosters are in people's apartments, but I am not sure why they haven't eaten them because everything seems to be a delicacy here. The tourist kiosks sell cobras and scorpions suspended in liqueur, but visit a restaurant crowded with locals, you will see such dishes that range in the not-so-unusual tom (shrimp) spring rolls to the more savory goat's testicles, grubs, and all manner and size of snails. (Yes, I have considered that becoming a vegetarian may make choosing food easier.)