I made reference before to the problem (well, that's subjective) here of using way too many disposable plastic products especially those plastic bags that states like California and places like Hong Kong are trying to control. I heard that in Hong Kong you are actually charged a small fee to leave a store with one of their plastic bags. Sounds good in theory to me. As an example of what I mean about Sài Gòn, I often go into one of the many excellent local bakeries to buy 1 or 2 croissants and maybe a cream puff. When you buy a cream puff here, they actually use a cloth funnel to squeeze the cream into the pastry when you buy it! Anyway, what typically happens is that I walk out with the baked goods along with 3 plastic bags and 1 plastic clam shell provided as packaging. The real problem lies in the mentality here which is one of a little pride in being able to include so much plastic packaging along with your purchase as a way of showing that they're a full member of the modern global economy by being able to do that. When I was in Cambodia I saw a Western girl with a cloth handbag with the message 'Just say no to plastic' on it and I admired her ability to take a stand like that against all the local conventional thinking. The problem is as bad or worse in Cambodia. The attitudes can and will change, but it would be nice if they could just go ahead and do it now!
I stayed in a hotel in Nha Trang that seemed to pride itself in throwing away my toothbrush and providing a new one as part of the daily maid service. This was especially aggravating because the first one they so diligently disposed of was my own personal one and I was none too pleased with having it replaced with their flimsy substitute. After a couple of days of this I started hiding the ostensibly disposable toothbrush so they couldn't throw it away. Hopefully I reduced by some small number the plastic toothbrushes that end up in the vast sea of disposed plastic products the swirls about far out in the Pacific Ocean.
Another aspect to that attitude is the habit many or most (or almost all) Vietnamese have about litter which is that there's no such thing as litter meaning throwing your paper or plastic bottle on the ground doesn't qualify as such a thing and there's nothing wrong with it. In defense of that behavior Sài Gòn and all Vietnamese cities I've been in have very thorough and regular street sweeping, so some of the behavior can be attributed to simply taking advantage of that public service. I can already see some changes in that behavior starting especially in the public parks where there seems to exist a boundary that renders a complete change in attitude when crossed and the trash cans that are provided get a lot of use.
On the other hand the level of air pollution here is not as bad as I had feared. I've spoken with some who have spent time in China, particularly Beijing, who've informed me the air pollution here is not even close to as bad as it is there. My first few months here I experienced regular bouts of what one expat I met dubbed the Saigon Flu, a case of coughing and chest congestion attributable to either pollution or microbes or viruses I'm guessing. But since the pollution isn't so bad and I've not had a case of it in almost 4 months, I think it may just be something in the environment that one needs to develop an immunity to.
There is something in the environment here that one cannot develop any immunity to as far as I know and that will make your life miserable if left untreated and this problem doesn't get much attention. I was fortunate enough to have been informed about this by a Vietnamese woman and the timing was impeccable as I developed symptoms within 2 weeks of having learned about it and I don't think I'm a hypochondriac. What I'm referring to is, in a word, worms. Yes, creepy disgusting ringworms that get into your system by who-knows-what means, but I've since heard that it's almost impossible not to get them if you stay here long enough. Vietnamese and expats who live here follow a regular treatment regimen of taking a single pill every 4 to 6 months. If you don't treat them, you'll eventually develop a stomach ache and find yourself jumping out of bed in the middle of the night to run to the bathroom and....Well, let's just say it's better to do the treatment. And here's the treatment. You go to one of the countless pharmacies that dot the streets in any Vietnamese city and ask for a dose. The one I used that was recommended to me is called Fugucar. There may be others I don't know of but this one worked well for me. You don't need a prescription. When I bought mine the pharmacist used a calculator display to show me the price of 16,500 vnd which I misread as 165,000 and eagerly pulled out 2 100,000 vnd notes to gladly fork over to rid myself of my reviling affliction and she informed me of my mistake. It's a single pill that you chew and swallow. It's without doubt the best 85 cents I've ever spent!
When I grocery shop here I have no problem finding the products I want including high quality dairy products many of which are imported. I find it hard to live without my cheese and I can find adequate versions of it here. If you want real French brie or the like you may be restricted to a few expensive boutique shops in Sài Gòn and Hà Nội, but good quality swiss and cheddar and the like are readily available at regular markets. I've started using UHT milk and have been able to buy very good milk imported from Australia, New Zealand, and Tasmania. Yes, Tasmania! As an American whose only knowledge for most of my life that there existed a place called Tasmania was due to the little spinning slobbering tornado of a cartoon character that chased Bugs Bunny around, it felt exotic and exciting to drink milk from there. We all get our jollies where we can!
Eggs are sold here unrefrigerated and they seem to sell about equal amounts of chicken eggs and duck eggs. I remember as a kid wondering if duck eggs were edible and I can now tell you they most certainly are! I've started eating them on a regular basis. Quite frankly I think they taste just like chicken. Eggs that is. Many Vietnamese eat fertilised duck eggs. I haven't worked up an appetite of a desperate enough level to sample that one yet. But I'm told they're good. I've also been told dog is good. They eat that mostly in the north in Hà Nội and I've never seen it for sale in Sài Gòn. I have seen it for sale in Hà Nội in its butchered and skinned form piled high on a table. Real life.
In Vietnam, maybe more so in the south, one has to get over the fact that you're sharing the biosphere with various other members of Mother Nature's panoply of life such as large cockroaches, rats, bats, and geckos. I long ago accepted the cockroaches that live carefree productive lives in my bathroom as non-paying roommates, but I was recently disturbed when one of them began practicing a new level of cavalier camaraderie by crawling over my bare feet while I stood astride the toilet. Being midstream, so to speak, my level of protestation had to be understandably restrained and it was a challenging exercise in mental focus to say the least. I think it's time I sat down with my roommates and had a little chat about limits and boundaries.
The cute furry little mammals you seeing bouncing about the parks and streets at dusk are not squirrels nor are they chipmunks. Take your pick from the list in the previous paragraph. The Vietnamese word is chuột.
Little geckos frequent all the non-horizontal surfaces in the homes and rooms here. Well, is the ceiling a non-horizontal surface? Either way you see them there, too. They are cute and harmless except to the insects they consume. I also recently found out they sometimes make noises that sound to me very squirrel-like. I heard these noises emitting from a gecko on a wall while he approached another member of his species. I'm assuming that other member was of the female gender and these noises are part of that mysterious process through which we keep having geckos around. Just assuming. Or maybe he or she just had something to get off his or her little gecko chest.
I appreciate the fact that many Vietnamese and others have learned the English language and continue to do so and I am very tolerant and patient if one of them speaks it in a way that reminds me of how very complicated and difficult human communication can be, but recently a very nice Vietnamese woman and I were having a conversation in which she informed she me enjoyed watching 'horrible movies'. Of course I was a bit perplexed (but of course she would have an essentially infinite number of fine productions to choose from!) until as she continued to talk it finally hit me that she meant horror movies! It's been weeks and I still catch myself privately chuckling about that one.
I've been to the local park countless times and just recently noticed the rules that are posted in Vietnamese are also in English on the other side. I'm not sure how they expect anyone to have any fun there especially in light of rule #3.
Well this rules out me and my gang of drunken sorcerers!
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