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So I am back in the same Internet book café that I wrote my last blog in yesterday. The air conditioning here is wonderful and the place has a great relaxing atmosphere. Today I have opted for passion fruit juice and it's very nice.
Ha's friends met us yesterday in the café so I could be aided with unlocking my computer to access some websites I couldn't open and use. They suggested we meet them at the beach later that afternoon. Ha and I went back to her house for lunch and then an afternoon nap - such a brilliant idea! It's so warm here that its about the only productive activity you can do for those few hours in the afternoon. Many of Ha's family friends ask me how I am finding the heat and one even said 'But it's only 37, it's not even in the 40s yet!'
Well after the nap Ha and I went out to a different book shop to see if they had any English books, but mostly they had English literature extracts to learn English from rather than a full novel. We sat and had a sugarcane drink to kill a bit of time and then went off to the beach. On the way, I could tell many other people were also going to the beach; lifejackets, rubber rings and armbands adorned various scooter passengers. The place was absolutely packed when we arrived but the weather was perfect for it. It is common to go to the beach in the late afternoon when it is not too hot and go for a swim so we waited for our friends to arrive and soaked up the bustling atmosphere. Sections of water are marked off and patrolled to keep all swimmers safe and get the best areas to swim in.
Ha's friends arrived and after a quick snack of jackfruit, the skin of a pig and mit tron (a cracker bread) we dived into the water and spent a good half an hour cooling off in the water. Many Vietnamese women cover up on the beach and wear t-shirts while swimming but I was told I would be fine just in my bikini but I did not think about how I would stick out like a sore thumb in the throng of Vietnamese swimmers! It was great watching the sun go down while swimming and the whole atmosphere was quite incredible and so enjoyable.
We got back in time for dinner and then rested a bit before travelling to the airport to meet my brother. He finally arrived yesterday after 2 days of travelling here from England. Ha's folks were so excited to finally see him again after not seeing him for a year and so in anticipation left rather early to collect him. But he was soon walking through arrivals to be met by Ha and a packet of fruit loops - his favourite American cereal we found in the supermarket here. Getting back he had a bowl of noodles and we caught up on things we may have missed in each others lives in the 6 months we have not seen each other. After telling him that in 2 months in Australia and 1 month in Fiji my skin was barely any shade darker, he commented that I was a much nice shade of caramel than I was before. This was particularly apparent when sitting next to him and his very English-white legs! It was a late night but we finished off the evening eating crispy baguettes dipped in condensed milk.
This morning after a bit of a rest and a lovely breakfast out, we went visiting one of Ha's very good friends. We also visited Ha's Grandma who was also very eager to see Ash again. While Ash rested back at Ha's, Ha took me out to her local wet market to buy food for her to cook lunch with. I caused a bit of a stir amongst all the ladies behind their stalls with my western looks but I was just too engrossed by the many things for sale. There was every kind of meat and fish plus heart, liver and kidneys and all sorts of seafood. Ha bought us some jellyfish and I watched in amazement as she moved swiftly between the stalls buying here and there, bargaining for all her ingredients. In all the excitement a fish had slipped onto the floor and passing by one stall a frog as pushed into my face by one lady!
Back outside we picked up this gorgeous tapioca pudding you can buy from a moving food cart. It has coconut, sweet potato, peanuts and banana in with it; mixed with milk and served with ice or served hot, it was really delicious and made a great snack this afternoon.
After helping prepare the lunch, I watcher Ha and her mum cook up a storm while neighbours stood chatting at the kitchen window. I love how open the homes are here and that neighbours can come and go uninvited and share in all the family do sometime. It is a great atmosphere and shows just ho friendly the people are here and are so keen to ask me how I like it here. We have come to chill out at the Internet café before going out this evening to try the wedding reception meal that will be served at my brother's wedding in a few weeks. I have settled much more into life here and am so enjoying the hospitality of Ha's parents while being so totally submerged in Vietnamese culture, even if I can barely pronounce more than a few Vietnamese phrases!
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Matthew MacKrill Sounds great hun, I'm really looking forward to coming over. :)