When it rains....

everything gets wet around here. Yesterday I got caught outside in my first downpour. Previously I was under the (mistaken) impression the laughing Buddha was watching over me. Now I know why he's laughing and whom at. I took shelter under an awning in front of a small pharmacy. In true Vietnamese fashion, after about 5 minutes, the woman working inside brought out a chair for me to sit on. In the US I most likely would have been told to please move along.

Reading my Lonely Planet guidebook I encountered a description of one of the weirdest things I can remember ever hearing of. I've been a lot of places and seen a lot of things, but can't recall anything quite so odd as 'weasel coffee'. Coffee beans are fed to a weasel. Weasel's digestive system works its magic and weasel passes said coffee beans. A Vietnamese (is there any other?) person collects said coffee beans from said weasel's droppings and continues processing them as if they were just collected off the coffee bush, blithely ignoring the added aforementioned step. Vietnamese person buys said coffee, knowing full well its checkered history, and enjoys his delicious weasel coffee beverage. Again, I've never seen this at Starbucks. I do not know if I will sample this little delicacy. Of course many questions immediately rise to the fore. Why a weasel? Who, in God's name, ever thought of such a thing, much less actually first tried it?

Another Vietnam fun fact: Vietnamese don't use voice mail! If you call and noone's there, it rings about 10 times and you get a busy signal. So when you break up with your Vietnamese girlfriend, you'll actually have to SPEAK to her! It's good to know this beforehand.

Tomorrow AM I live for Ha Noi to meet my friend from the states, Iqbal.

Signs of home!

A tree growing on a wall. Space is limited in Sai Gon. This is near the US consulate. Perhaps its fruit is microphones.

When it rains here, it really does. But it's good in that it's over quickly. This Biblical deluge lasted for about 49 seconds.