Classrooms packed to the gills with batshit-crazy children.
A sea of chugging motorbikes spewing palpably viscous chunks of exhaust down scarred lungs and up red-raw, dripping sinus cavities.
Pudding-thick tropical air stirred once a day by torrential downpours.
A nascent relationship sprouting between us and tennis.
A pink-tipped, wedding-cake ornate pagoda viewed from our bedroom window. Its denizens solely female. A forgotten Monastic order that clings to peace in the midst of this chaotic megalopolis.
A spacious, clean apartment placed somewhere above the city. An incongruous wonder of modernity when juxtaposed with our neighbors' detritus-strewn rooftop hovel.
An ostensibly simple cuisine to those who don't get further than Pho, yet rich in simple complexities when the intrepid muncher ventures from the well-worn path.
This is HCMC.
3 comments:
I'm so glad you're back! I love the pictures and the notes so far....it really gives a good feel for what things are like.
And the food.....can't wait to try some of those dishes.
Thank you for sharing all this, I will be a loyal follower.
Carol
Very eloquent writing, G.
It's like the prologue to "Huddled Masses" clutching the Statue of Liberty, wanting freedom and a hamburger.
Sounds exotic where you are ... My mom loved Vietnam and said (and I'm not kidding, so I can't validate her opinion) but the "Vietnamese Water Puppet" show was - and I quote - "one of the best things" she's ever seen.
Please, you and Nellie check it out and get back to me, cuz she's never been to BM or a Panic show. Lol.
Miss you both - have a wonderful weekend !!
Wow, sign me up. Hope it all goes well, and yes Nellie- I would love to take you up on that offer. Sit tight though, gotta figure out a way to afford it first. Much love to you both
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