Long Overdue

An introduction to my summer vacation ....

We left HCMC on 13 June for Vancouver (also affectionately known as YVR to many Canadians - the official airport code for the Vancouver airport).  This was our first flight BACK across the dateline since our arrival.  It was with Cathay Pacific, thus it was via Hong Kong.  As we boarded the delayed 1:30 AM flight in Hong Kong I was texting with our daughter, letting her know we were boarding.  Once we got on board and I heard the purser say it was a 12 hour flight to YVR and I did the Math, I realized I had given our daughter THE WRONG DAY for the arrival of our flight.  I calmly sat in my aisle seat, working hard to send her telepathic messages.  It worked, more or less, because on the other side of "the lake" (if the Atlantic is a pond, surely the Pacific is a lake) she was doing the math and calculated that our flight would be 28 hours long if we were then boarding ... which she knew was impossible.  She did some quick checking, realized our arrival time of 10 PM was now going to be after midnight (given the delay leaving Hong Kong) and she had to get up at 4 in the morning to go to work at 5.  AND it was impossible to communicate with me for 12 hours.  Thus, when I arrived at YVR at 1 AM, turned on my phone and connected to wifi, there was the message from her saying that she had set her alarm for 1 AM to check our flight status, send her a message when we got in, take a taxi to her place, and she would let us in and then go back to sleep before she had to get up.

We all managed a few hours of sleep before she and her roommate were up for their 5 AM jobs.  We walked with her to the coffee shop where she works, and wandered around the 3 block retail area in her neighborhood (all 6 coffee shops were clearly busy inside, but none were open).  We marveled at the owner/manager helping her set up the outside tables at 6 AM and went inside to order our tea.  The guy helping her was one of the regulars who insisted she help us first, but agreed to go first when she said ,"those are my parents."  I enjoyed watching her as she greeted customers, made drinks, scurried to put out the new muffins, and worked to remember all the little opening touches (the Spotify Music setting, the background lights, etc.)  We read the newspapers (which may have thrown off the routines of some of the regulars) and waited for her to go on break before we ordered breakfast.  Such a joy - watching one's adult children.  Especially when they forgive their mother for flight arrival miscalculations.

It was a short 2-day stay before we headed to Denver and a whirlwind trip of Colorado and Wyoming.

Then, the real purpose of summer vacation began.  We headed to Ecuador to conduct our research on considering it as a retirement destination.

We spent a month in Cuenca.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage site  in four categories ....

for the colonial architecture...

For being part of the Inca Trail

For the unique biosphere at Cajas National Park (a wet, tropical alpine biosphere)

(yes, wild llamas)

and the Intangible Cultural Heritage of the Panama Hat (really from Ecuador, not Panama).

More about Cuenca and the rest of the summer in another post.  One of my brothers says I should start writing less more often.

Crossing the Street

I've been wanting to write about crossing the street for some time.  I still haven't quite figured out how to fully describe the challenge, the adventure, the hurdle, the task, the problem ... of getting across the street.

I can say that every morning, I have to cross the street to catch the school bus.  When I step up on the curb, having successfully crossed the street, I do feel like I've accomplished something.

So ... I decided the best way might be to take a video.  And here you have it.

Don't worry ... that isn't what I was trying to cross ... I had already crossed that street.  It is a divided highway, so I cross TWO roads each morning.

Those white buses, with the blue lettering ... those are all going to the school where I work, they just aren't buses that stop and pick me up.

That side of the street is now a virtual HUB of bus activity.  The public bus (#72) stops along there.  Two OTHER company buses stop there to pick up people.  Some of those people have started up conversations with me (practicing their English) and so I have "friends" that wait there with me.  All our buses tend to come within a 3-minute time frame.  I wave good-bye to them as their bus pulls away ... and now, their bus drivers wave to me as well.

More photos from Spring Break

It rained twice this week!!!!  On Friday, while waiting for the bus to work, I asked a young man (who is also waiting for HIS bus to work) if we could say the rainy season has started.  He said, "yes."  Given the heat of today, I think we aren't ALL the way into the rainy season.

Here's some more photos from Spring Break.  All of these are from the "mountains" of Da Lat.

You can see coffee prices here.  

A "general" guideline is: take off 4 zeros and multiple by 4.3 to get the U.S. dollar equivalent.

Yes ... those are all avocados - 75 cents a pound.  You really should come visit, right?

That's right ... avocado smoothie!

Strawberries also come from Da Lat

Mulberries, too!

Da Lat is known for The Flower Garden, sort of like the Butchart Gardens of Vietnam.

It is really interesting what reminds me of my children.  When they were young, Thomas the Tank Engine was a part of our lives.  The theme song became part of the family repertoire.  So, to me, here's Budda saying, "He's the one, he's the number one, Thomas the Tank Engine."

The garden shop- just buy what you want - it will grow here.

Hmmm ... Bamboo Airlines.  It doesn't exactly inspire a lot of confidence.

Spring Break 2019

I'm not really seeing or feeling SPRING in the air.  It is more like, "does it seem like it is hotter to you?"  And jumping in the pool after work is becoming more of a necessity.  Nonetheless, the school calendar revolves around more northern hemisphere vocabulary, and I am just back from Spring Break.

The itinerary - 

• fly to Hue - former capital of Vietnam
• take a train to Da Nang - gorgeous coastal rail trip 
• taxi to Hoi An - The entire old city is a UNESCO World Heritage site and no motorized traffic is allowed.  There is not, however, a limit on tour buses who can park outside the designated motor free zone.
• taxi back to Da Nang in order to
• fly to Da Lat - The ever wonderful high tropics destination - eternal spring like climate which provides the loveliest flora and fauna of all, or at least to this woman raised in the high desert of Wyoming
• return to Saigon, or less conveniently known as Ho Chi Minh City

Side note:  I am CERTAIN the Da Nang airport does not look ANYTHING like it did in the late 60s and early 70s.

Some photos:

The airport in Hue - still using trucks to transport exit stairs

I still love being met at the airport.  

Did you ever wonder where incense sticks come from?

A new kind of scaffolding perhaps?

It's a motorcycle, no, it's a shop.

Occasionally, one sees evidence that the damage done during the American War is still here.

Hmmm ... too bad we don't drink coffee.

I will forever marvel that something like this can really work.

I take photos like this to share with my father, who retired from AT&T 28 years ago.

More photos later in the week - I have them all picked!

Just today ....

I had a 9:15 appointment with an Integrative Nutritionist.  This post-menopausal time in life affords one a certain amount of "what-the-heck-I-want-to-try-that" so I made an appointment with this woman who is the wife of a colleague, and a stay-at-home mom.  I like to try to do everything I can to support stay-at-home moms!

I took the bus 3 stops, got off, and walked across the street.  These are some photos of what I saw on my way to the appointment.

Need a compressor?  Just go down to the corner, you can pay some money to have them help you out.

Need an ID laminated?  That's also on the corner.  Let's pretend this isn't really about getting a fake ID of any kind.

Tired?  Just whip out your hammock and take a nap.  When I think of all the trouble I have getting to sleep and staying asleep, I realize some people really do have an easier life than I do.

The coffee shop where we met.  There's a dance studio above it.  

Afterwards, I went to my favorite Nails shop, where I had a heel scrub and wrap, combined with a manicure and a pedicure ... all at the same time.

And today's nail art on my toes (I only get it on my fingers for special occasions).

And then ... there was yesterday.  I went to see the new Captain Marvel movie (which you should go see to support the concept of female super heroes, as well as strong female characters).  I decided to go all out and saw it in 4DX

What does that mean?  You have to wear 3D glasses and your seat moves.  Well, really, it more than moves.  There's a little platform for your feet, so it's like sitting in some sort of astronaut seat.  The seat rumbles, rattles, vibrates, hums, and moves.  You find yourself swerving to the right, to the left, backwards, forwards, and sometimes there's puffs of air at your feet, your ankles, or in your face.  There was even mist at one point.  It was HILARIOUS for someone who can remember when "Mary Poppins" was a big deal because they combined real people with animation.  I'm probably lucky they didn't kick me out of the theatre.  

Women's Day

International Women's Day - yes, it is celebrated here as well.  I figured it was part of their Russian/Communist roots - but maybe it is really becoming more international.

So ... you know from the last post that the mall was getting ready for Women's Day.  I found more evidence today.

I don't believe I've ever seen a Rosie the Riveter poster with roses.  My mother-in-law was a Rosie Riveter.  She quit her teaching job to inspect rivets in an aircraft factory.  When I think about her doing this, I realize how much I've never experienced a "war effort."  Once, in Newcastle, the kids and I entered a Christmas wreath making contest.  It had a patriotic theme to it for some reason.  At the time, the U.S. was engaged in a "war" in the Gulf and/or Afghanistan.  As part of helping the children understand the concept of a "war effort", we did not buy anything new for the wreath, but asked friends for red, white, and blue buttons that we hot glued to the denim wreath.  We didn't win any of the prizes.

There was a display of notable women.  In case you can't enlarge this: this woman was a doctor who volunteered in 1967 to go to South Vietnam to help wounded communist soldiers and civilians.  In June 1970, she was killed in an ambush.  A U.S. Army Intelligence officer was ordered to burn her diary.  He disobeyed orders and kept it.  In 2005, he returned it to her family, who have agreed to have it published.

This woman was the first female general of the Vietnam People's Army.  The narrative also states that she was known as the "most important Southern woman revolutionary in the war."  She was in charge of an all-female force known as the Long-Haired Army.  They "engaged in espionage and combat against ARVN and U.S. forces."

Their photos were on display with other notable women: Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana, Wilma Rudolph, Maya Angelou, Anne Frank, Malala, Amelia Earhart, Beyonce, Meryl Streep, Emma Watson, and Angelina Jolie (among others).

I have a student who become interested in the U.S. floor puzzle we have in our room this week.  It was pretty hard to NOT put this piece in place for her.

We had our Sports Day last Monday.  Imagine - Sports Day on 4 March.  Actually, it was called "Wet 'n Wild Day".  That's right ... water was a main component of this sports day.  At one point, everyone changed into their swimsuits.  It was pretty wild ... and really wet!  Sorry - no photos.

A Quiet Week in HCMC

The bougainvillea continues to be in bloom and I continue to marvel at how beautiful it is - and wonder why it hasn't stood out as much as it has this last month.  I mean, surely it was here when we arrived in July.  

The mall continues to be a place of interest.  American potatoes were the big deal today.  Free frozen french fry samples were available on the other side of this temporarily abandoned potato costume (that's got to be a fun job).

The Tupperware store got re-located this week.  A dress shop moved into the spot usually occupied by Tupperware.  Now they are against a wall, rather than in the middle of the passageway.  I guess they don't have Tupperware parties here.

S2 asks, "is that for Easter?"  Upon closer inspection, it is a display for Women's Month - so International Women's Day must be celebrated here on 8 March, just like in Russia.

I've been indulging in Nail Art.  It is way more fun that I thought it would be.  When youngest daughter was here in December, we pampered ourselves with massages, facials, manicures, pedicures, and nail art.

Mine are the purple flowers.  Hers are the galaxy/space theme.

She went with the plaid theme on her fingers, while I stuck with the same purple flower theme.  The dress code for work says nail polish should be neutral .... no one said the flowers weren't neutral.

And for Tet, I went with the traditional yellow flowers of South Vietnam (the north is pink).  The people at the nail place were really impressed that I had come up with the idea of Tet-oriented nail art, using their bank of photos of various nail art.

My nails are currently taking a break from polish, to give themselves some time to breathe.