1. Remove foot from out of the way 'before' riding over it when parking the 3 wheel motorbikes for the ladies at the workshop....foot's fine..need new thongs though !! ....those bikes are Heavy!!
2. Don't send a boy with CP out to get your lunch...( just to save a few cents, because he's local and will get it cheaper)...I asked Dung and Thuy where they got the banh mi we ate last night, as I wanted to buy one for lunch. And Dung said she'd get Mai our boy who paints the conical hats and tees to go get one for me, to save me money. He took off with my 15000 vnd - 75c and 30 mins later, still hadn't returned. I only had an hour for lunch, so I decided to duck around to '43' and grab a quick curry. When I got there a lovely young couple from Melbourne whom I'd met there a few days earlier were having lunch. They offered for me to join them at their table. We chatted like old friends, and shared what we'd all been up to over the past few days. (Including my accident..and a warning to be careful in traffic)
It was so nice to have company for what was a quick lunch.. Nick and Amelia....it was great to meet and hang out with you both...twice :)
I had to say goodbye and stick to my timetable, as punctuality is very important for the volunteers to set a good example to the local staff.
On returning to the workshop, my banh mi was waiting for me....apparently Mai's push me pull me got a flat tyre..
I didn't have the heart to tell anyone I'd already eaten...and they insisted I sit down and enjoy my lunch....so that day I had 2 lunches .....
3.Barter, barter, barter....after the demise of my one and only pair of thongs, I shot down to the market to buy a new pair, as the thought of wearing my closed shoes from home was not appealing.
The Vietnamese are super at copying anything, but I'm not too sure about the quality, so I check out all the thongs and sandals, and settle on a comfy leather sandal. Asking price 450000 vnd - "tell 'em their dreamin".....$22:50...no way...so me and the stall holder do the dance where I say a price, she says a price, I say another one, she says another one....etc...til finally we met at 250000 vnd-$12:50.
I still probably got ripped off, but I felt good about getting her to half!!
Unlike my bike parking skills at An Bang beach.. I knew you had to pay to park your bike at the beach, they "watch" your bike for you under a big tin shed, give you a tag with a number on it, and write that number on your bike seat in chalk.
I asked how much he said 50000.... That's $2:50.. I said no way, he said 20000. That's a buck, I can live with that, I gave him 50000 and he gave me 20000 back, so actually I got charged $1:50...hmmm
When at 'Soul kitchen' where I had breaky I asked if there was anywhere else I could leave my bike, and she said no, leave it at the shed, it's only 5000 ....surprised and ticked...I said "he charged me 30000" she looked shocked...wait til I go back to pickup my bike.......
Live And Learn !!!!!
4. Brush up on my French...I had a French man walk past the shop yesterday, I can't remember what it was that he said that made me realise he was French, but I said " je parle le francias en petite peu.."...well..he began speaking French one hundred miles an hour....and completely Lost me!!!
A little Russian wouldn't go astray either....this place is so multicultural....
I was trying to think of a way to describe how I was feeling at the end of a long day at the workshop....and this description came to mind....
DEEP FRIED AND CRUMBED IN DIRT !!!!
hot hot hot sweaty and covered in dust!!
Still I'm making up for it today. Sitting at the beach in a palapa...sipping Saigon cafe (coffee)
And sharing all my thoughts and adventures!!!!!
Wishing you we're here...hugs mumma bear :)
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