Celebrity Status

On Thursday, we finally left the bustling Ho Chi Minh City for the quieter, more quaint town of Can Tho. In this move, I transformed from "just another tourist that can be swindled out of money" to a full fledged celebrity/zoo animal! You may be questioning this transition, but truly, it did happen. In Can Tho, we are some of the only Americans/white people who venture out of the tourist area. Therefore, where ever we bike, shop or eat, we are constantly being stared at, pointed at or just observed. Every child and some adults shout "Hello!" at us in passing, but it usually comes out more like "He-row!" Parents point us out to their children in the supermarkets and in the bookstore, I had a baby look at me like, "What happened to that poor human being?" Some just smile and wave, and others just do a double take.

Along with our celebrity status, we also have become very wealthy, being able to do any activity without worrying about the cost. SIT covers most of our costs that we have throughout our trip (which of course I did pay for), but even when we buy meals it is outrageously cheap. We went to a vegetarian buffet for dinner last night and paid about 98 cents for it. It was very delicious as well. Today, for our morning snacks, we went with one of our program coordinators and student volunteers to a floating market and a fruit orchard. It was beautiful and was very peaceful since it was about a 20-minute boat ride outside of the city.

What to look forward to in the next post: toilet paper size and the American Bike Gang!

Some of the larger boats at the floating market. We got to the market around 7:45am and it was about ready to shut down for the day. It opens at 4am and technically goes until about 10am, but most vendors do not have that much inventory to sell. 

 Some of the shacks that line the Can Tho River. Most houses are not like this, but those who live in poverty tend to live in these kind of shanties. 

Look at the cute dog! But watch out, he could be your next meal. Well, only if you go to certain restaurants. But dogs that are not lap dogs are stolen quite often here by peasants who sell them to the dog-serving restaurants. Unfortunately, I won't be patronizing these restaurants while in Can Tho. 

Fruit Orchard - The fruit trees are all on man-made islands, which help keep the water nearby and also allows for fish to be raised in the orchard. The orchard we visited raised pineapple, dragon fruit, jack melon, papaya, guava, oranges, limes, pomelo and mango. It was great walking through the orchards, because we got to see all of the fruit growing on the trees. 

Facebook

Hey everyone,

I just wanted to let you all know that I have very limited access to Facebook in Vietnam. There are rules enforced here and some servers block the Facebook site, meaning that rarely will I be able to be on Facebook. Which means you should all follow my blog and contact your dear, far-traveled friend (that would be me) on my blog or simply by emailing me. All my contact information is on my Facebook page.

But since I am making this entry, I thought I would share a couple of things with you that have been exciting throughout the day.

Yummy, yummy in my tummy. It's hard to believe that this fresh-made juice and fried rice cost only about $5. The exchange rate is about 19,000 Vietnamese Dung per US dollar. 

1. There is a baby gecko that lives on our hotel room door. He or she is about 1.5 inches in length and is adorable. He isn't always around, but sometimes he creeps up on you. There are a ton of geckos around, outdoors, indoors, everywhere you can think. But thankfully, none of them have tried to sell me Geico car insurance...yet. 
2. The toilet in one of the cafes was very interesting. First, it didn't have a toilet seat cover. Second, you had to through your toilet paper away in a waste basket. Finally, to flush it, you had to scoop water from a bucket into the toilet. It was glorious. Apparently, these toilets are all over Vietnam, so I better get used to it. 

The street we are staying on in Saigon. It's kind of blurry because I was too embarrassed to take a flash photo.