Xe Dap and TP

Almost two weeks in, my tan lines are becoming more and more noticeable (my favorites are my sandal tan lines and my watch tan line), I'm staying regular (if you catch my drift) and I can now bike down the wrong side of the road. It's almost like I'm Vietnamese...except I'm obviously white and not Vietnamese.

But as promised, today I will be talking about our Bike Gang, Xe Dap (Vietnamese for Bicycle), and toilet paper. I am even going to throw in some extra sweetness!

All seven of us on the trip bought bikes, so we now roam the streets of Can Tho looking pretty darn rowdy. We carefully look only forward to ensure that we don't get in accidents, we are the only ones wearing bike helmets and we smile and wave at everyone who says "hello." And when it rains, we of course wear our lovely ponchos that are bright red that we got for free when we bought our cell phones, or our rain jackets, which make us look even weirder since no one else has rain jackets. Oh yea, we are a rough group of bikers. I tried to upload a picture of Linette (my bike) and I for y'all, but unfortunately, she wants to stay anonymous. She is shiny silver and will probably get stolen in about 5 days. Until then, her and I are riding free on streets of Can Tho.

As for the toilet paper here. I don't know about it. It is 2-ply, so it is pretty good at absorbing what it is supposed to. But that isn't why I get upset with it. The reasons are its not glued to the toilet paper tube, so the tube will randomly slide out of the toilet paper and the corrugated rip lines aren't lined up. So, there you are, on the Jon, trying to rip yourself some toilet paper, but it all ends up in shreds, because the two plies won't rip together. So annoying. Plus, it is about an inch thinner than the TP in America. It just doesn't feel the same.

Jana, my roommate, and I have also started to be real creepers. We sit on the balcony closest to the road and watch activities on the road. Some good, interesting stories are:

• One day, at a corner vendor, we a heard a fight break out. A man on his motorbike, jumped off, while still holding his child, and broke it up. Some seconds later, while there was still shouting, the man took off his flipflop and threw it at the vendor. He then had to go pick it up. Amazing!
• We saw some cock fighting on the sidewalk.
• I saw some lady getting suction cup therapy on the sidewalk. She was topless, covering her bosoms with a straw hat. 

Well that's all for this week. Some things to look forward to next time: Roadkill Can Tho style, homestay news and our first excursion.

Linette and I. It was very bright out, so she didn't take a great picture, but you get the idea. 

Picture that I took from the creeper spot. This old lady is awesome. I see her everyday, and I love her style. I want to go through her closet and take her clothes!

The view from our room's balcony. 

The street outside our hotel is always filled with vendors. They sell everything, from fish and crabs to fruit or bread.