You want velvet?

So Silas and I went downtown the other day to pick up the Cambodian stringed instrument, the trol, that was broken in transit back from Siem Reap. After retrieving it we went up the street to the Ben Thanh Market, a sprawling but roofed warren of stalls where anything and everything are for sale, pending negotiations. You haggle for most everything here. It’s an art, and you realize that any sale must satisfy both parties. As a buyer, you do it because you need to feel good about your purchase, that you’re not being taken — even if the difference between being taken and not is a buck or two. I don’t enjoy it but I don’t dislike it either. It’s a challenge, and it’s a good skill for the kids to see and learn. We bought some sun glasses, looked for a belt, then moved on to a sandal search. What we would call a sandal or flip-flop the Vietnamese call a slipper. They are everywhere on sale. If you look long and hard enough, they have a sameness of style. You’re better off just seeing a pair and buying it and not searching and searching for some pair that seems unique. Those are hard to find. In any case, I was buying Silas a pair and haggling with the old woman in the tall. I had her on the run — down to the 150,000 dong they were were, having started at nearly double that. Then Silas interjects, “Dad, just give her 180,000.” I looked at him, then looked at her and said, “Is he with you?” She laughed and we paid 180,000. Then I bought a pair for myself down the lane and he did it again — interceded on the seller’s behalf! I told him later, in no uncertain terms, that the humor had passed. No more of that. When you’re buying, you can pay what you want, I told him. I forgot to mention that when we picked up the trol, the folks in the music shop admired it. Silas bought that on his on. Started at US$25 but eventually got it down to $18. They seemed to think we got a deal.

Boys Weekend

We can’t blame Silas for coming away from this Boys Weekend a bit disappointed. It was floated as a motorbike ride up Highway 1 between Nha Trang, the old French seaside playground, and finishing at the Life Resort Quy Nhon, a MM client I had never seen. We planned to break the trip in half by staying one night at L’Isle de Baleine, a sorta primitive but drop-dead gorgeous and totally remote island esort lying less than a mile from one of the longest strips of natural dunesland I’ve ever seen outside Ireland. In any case, the motorbikes were a no-go — several Russians turned a bus over on this same road last week, and no foreigners are allowed to drive themselves on anything for the foreseeable future, not even mopeds. Then we tried to SCUBA on Whale Island and they balked at Silas’ mildly asthmatic history, insisting on a doctor’s wavier we couldn’t possibly obtain in the time we had there. Then we got to Quy Nhon with every intention of renting mopeds in Quy Nhon City for a run-about — but all they had were four-gear motorbikes, not the one-speed, automatic mopeds we’d been expecting and Silas had ridden before. A letdown, but we did sample some incredible scenery up the coast, swim in South China Sea at three stunning locales, hike, play pool, gorge ourselves and basically hang out with our often genial travel compatriots, Scott and Jim. We got home Monday and Silas needs a hair cut. I think we’ll find some mopeds and drive to the street barber together.

Mekong Delta

The Kett family from Minneapolis are in the country. They arrived Sunday after an unplanned layover in Japan, which they claim was beneficial because they got to sleep! Given a day to plan a trip with them to either the Cu Chi Tunnels or the Mekong Delta, I jumped on the chance to see the Delta as that didn't make the cut for any of our weekend itineraries.

I found a great local outfit to show us the place - Sinhbalo Tours. They are a low-key operator out of HCMC. Unfortunately traffic was unusually egregious Monday it took a bit longer than expected to get to Cai Be. What would be an hour drive in the USA takes at least two here, and in our case Monday it was almost three both ways.

Once there we hopped on our bikes for a short ride to the riverfront, through a small cafe (literally - right through the middle of the tables out back to the dock) where we loaded the bikes onto the boat that would take us across the river to a cluster of islands.

If the river were land it would be a town with a name. There is a vast network of everyday life taking place here in the wide latte-colored waters. Myriad boats tied together each offering a resource - fish, fruit, bailing wire, wood... Most seem to be permanent structures with a shuttle boat tied to the back for local transportation.

After unloading the bikes at a town landing we began biking down the "road" - a sidewalk really - through the communities of Dong Phu, Hoa Ninh, An Binh, and Binh Hoa Phuoc. All on separate little islands connected by little concrete bridges. It was a great way to see island life and we received many friendly greetings from the residents.

About the time I was thinking of feeling guilty for dragging the jet-lagged Ketts on a long van ride then a few hours on a bike around an island, we reached our final destination and lunch. The restaurant was set out over the river. They brought us spring rolls, delicious local elephant ear fish which we flaked off and rolled up rice paper with vegetables, beef, pork and rice dishes. All fresh and delicious as is most of the food in this country. We all agreed that what was lacking in the day was a little more time to spend in the island. If you go, I highly recommend at least an overnight trip which would give you two days to see the river, the islands, and the mainland towns.

School Events

The ACG School has had some great student events these past few weeks. Last Thursday each class in the primary school (13 total) performed a different traditional Vietnamese Dance. Each part of the country was represented along with the specific ethnic group settled there. Clara's class performed the very dramatic rice stick dance - lots of drumbeats and flashing lights. They did an amazing job and were well choreographed.

The Middle School featured an International Day today. Parents were invited to the afternoon program. They did a great job of presenting an ecological message about how the world is all connected. We enjoyed speeches on recycling, the scarcity of fresh water, Habitat for Humanity, and two student performances: the String Zither Ensemble from the Taipei School and the Salmunori team from the Korean School.

Clara returned from her class field trip to Dalat at 4:00. They FLEW up on Monday morning, took a bus to a river, and a boat to an island campground. Day one was her least favorite - a long morning hike. The afternoon was better because she got to do abseiling (go ahead - wikipedia it - we did LOL). She describes day two as "amazing". It involved team-building activities like she did at Camp Susan Curtis with Dunn School - ropes courses, zip line, leap of faith and the like - and she got to build a raft in the afternoon! She and her team built it from 7 pieces of bamboo wood with two cross beams tied with rope. They tied big plastic jugs to the crossbeams. Then they held races - Clara's team came in second. Day three they transferred from the campground to a very nice hotel in the actual town of Dalat and did a little sightseeing at Bao Dai's Palace and the local market. We went to the Palace in August of '07 and found the architecture interesting but I'm not sure my daughter is old enough to feel the same way. The took a bus back today with several stops along the way. Silas will get his turn late in April when his class goes to Long Hoa.

Music Man

The great trumpet valve oil hunt was concluded this week when Lulli and Gumps came back from Bangkok with some. We had found this trumpet for Silas about three weeks ago, when we’d gone to the music store to get my guitar fixed (played it outside; came back inside; tuned it, broke the nut — presumably its glue a victim of the extraordinary climate variance). Anyway, we saw this trumpet and figured, why not? But no valve oil. And so began the great valve oil hunt. There doesn’t appear to be any in the entire city of Saigon. We solicited several recommendations re. substitutes; they all agreed (even the crazy guy from Wilmington, N.C. whom Scott and I met after watching some Fulham match at the Bhudda Bar) that vegetable oil would work so long as we cleaned the entire instrument out with soap and water each week. We seemed poised to try this a few times but never got around to it… Besides, Silas picked up a new musical obsession last week in Cambodia: a two-stringed instrument, a trol, which he bought from a vendor outside Ta Prohm. You play it with a bow (there's a picture of a fellow playing one in the Angkor Wat gallery) and some Chinese dude gave Silas a lesson in the Siem Reap airport while were waiting for our flight out. Cool moment actually. Silas screeching away on the thing with Lulli looking on, offering some advice from the somewhat relevant perspective of the cellist she is, and this old codger comes shuffling over and just stands in front of the boy watching him. Finally Lulli asks him if he knows how to play, and the guy nods and reaches for the trol. He sits down and starts in on it, a bit rustily, but he gets it down quickly and tunes it and shows Silas how to hold the bow. Played Frere Jacques, then reveals he hadn’t played one of these in 60 years! He had a great time. We had to get to our gate but I think he’d have gone for hours… In an case, the trol was broken when we got back to HCMC, coming through the final security check, the smushed victim of two oversized bags belonging to a less-than-attentive, Gucci-bedecked Viet Kieu family. So we’re off the music story again today to get it fixed. Remains to be seen what we’ll come home with.

Personal Training

So Sharon is way modest to blog about it, but during our 10 weeks in HCMC she has solidified and built on the weight she dropped last fall. She’s working out nearly every day, in the fitness room downstairs here at the Ava, in the pool here doing laps. She’s been obliged to take in a bunch of pants and looks great, i.e. better even than usual. Ironic because she, and we, as a unit, are not eating nearly so responsibly, or macrobiotically, as she (and by extension we) ate during the fall when she embarked on a healthy eating and exercise kick and dropped the weight. We eat out a lot here cuz it’s convenient and cheap, and for some reason we seem to keep a lot more soda and chocolate in the apartment. Like we deserve it somehow? Maybe it’s because despite all the work and school, it does sorta feels like we’re in vacation mode. Or maybe it’s because Sharon and I have been working out so much, and the kids are so active, biking around in the heat and swimming every day. Maybe we have earned it. I know I have. I’ve been working out like a fiend and have definitely lost some weight, and I’m as fit as I’ve been during any winter period since god knows when. We went to a sorta dressy dinner last night and Sharon stepped out in a killer new black&white dress that is suited to her new svelte shape. Obviously, I like the dress — and I’ve been warned that I had better like it: Because the other one she has on this trip doesn’t fit. Too big. And the dresses for sale here in Vietnam are mainly designed for women WAY smaller than her, or so she says. So everything’s relative.

Clara: All In

So Clara came home from her school concert Thursday night and despite a triumphant turn alongside her classmates, performing a traditional North Vietnamese folk dance, she was bummed. We had watched her palling around with her friend Phuong Anh and others; she was totally at home and in the moment. And yet: “I can’t do this…” Do what? “I can’t believe I have to leave all my friends.” This was exactly what she had moaned about in December before leaving for Vietnam, only she had referred to her New Gloucester friends, and how she’d miss them, and why did we have to be away for FOUR months? Well, that’s one of the reasons we love Clara: She’s all in, all the time. We’re very proud of her, and Silas, for the way they’ve adapted to life here, made new friends, traveled around, tried new things. But we were more worried about Clara because, well, she’s 10 and she’s not so computer literate that she can stay in good touch with Louisa, with Melody, with Suzie and Clementine — or not so well as her big brother does with his friends. But she has done pretty well ramping up her computer skills, and she has done better than that making new friends here. After the concert, when we’d had a chance to snuggle and talk about all this, she left me with this admonishment (without the slightest irony): “We have to come back. And we have to stay for more than four months.”