On Friday, Luna was really surprised at her school when she received her "student of the week" award. She did not expect
it at all. When she was called up to accept it, she thought was going to have to sing a song or something like that. Her award was for her confidence during her first week of school. We're really proud of her.
Yesterday, we went downtown to see the famous Vietnamese Water Puppets. It's a puppet show performed on the water, wherein the puppets are controlled by sticks under the water so they essentially "float" in the middle of the pool. It's hard to describe - just google Water Puppets and you'll probably find a picture. After that, we ran some errands and passed by a local grocery store. The grocery store we went to is quite well-stocked with lots of US goods. Although, oddly enough, they didn't have just regular, ol' Scotch tape - which is what we were looking for.
Also yesterday, our cook surprised us by serving us some fresh durian - probably the stinkiest fruit on the planet. All
of us - except for Justo - tried it. Luna thought it tasted creamy, although not really stinky. Sonia was able to eat her portion, though we both couldn't understand the attraction. Sonia ended up burping durian the whole day - gross!
Today, we went downtown again to go to mass, then to the main park and zoo in the area. This was definitely a local affair. When we walked into the park, there was a staged spectacle going on - a local version of Sabado Gigante. During the 1/2 hour or so that we watched, there was a magician, a singer and some amazing child acrobats - especially the little girl who appeared to be about two years old doing a flaming hula-hoop. The zoo was - as would be expected - a bit on the sad side. There was no confusing this with the National Zoo in DC. Then again, they only charged about 50 cents for entry. They even offered elephant rides and pictures with a real, live orangutan! Because the park was such a local's place, more than a few times, we became the objects of curiousity. Some folks literally stopped in their tracks to stare at us. It was pretty interesting. The kids had lots of fun, so we're definitely heading back.
This afternoon, the kids went on a bike ride all around the neighborhood, while I ran alongside. One thing I don't think I've
mentioned about the neighborhood is that we are bordered on one side by the Saigon River. The neighborhood has a little
park fronting the river, where barges and tugs slowly move along. Across the river is a wide expanse of wild greenery. It's really quite pretty.
So far, we are really enjoying Saigon. It's not a city with lot's to see - over one or two days, you can probably see every major sight in the city. However, being residents here, we're experiencing what the city has to offer in different ways. There are many attractive restaurants, and quite a cosmopolitan variety. The expat community is fairly sizable, but because the community is relatively small, everyone seems to know everyone else.
It's been fun trying to use my Vietnamese. Many people speak a smattering of English, but the smiles really broaden when they hear Vietnamese.
Having lived in Manila has certainly helped in our adjustment because the pace of life here, as well as certain aspects of the culture, are quite similar. What we haven't seen in our limited travails are the teeming slums we'd see in Manila. Certainly,
especially by the parts of the riverside near the city, ramshackle homes teetering over the river can clearly be seen. But downtown is very clean.
That's it for now! We're expecting that our computer will finally show up this week. We'll keep our fingers crossed.
