Love my Saturday

I went to a cute cafe this morning... had a book date with a latte and pineapple muffin.

Each trip out, I am getting better and better at connecting the dots in this city. I am beginning to see more and more of the wonderful energy and beauty within the city that I heard about from so many before coming.  :)

Sarah then met me and we went to another cafe... then off to the Benh Thanh Market. She got these great hanging lights for her rooftop! (And then I was told "no picture" - that happens a lot.  :P  ...Sorry! Too late!

Sarah is from England and used to room with the librarian at the middle school whom I took over for (he's now in Shanghai). We emailed back and forth a number of times over the summer before meeting in HCMC... I was hoping we would hit it off as friends... and I already love her! She's sweet, funny, welcoming, and sometimes we think so alike that it feels as if we've been friends for a while. It reminds me of one of my favorite quotes: "There's not a word yet, for old friends who've just met." (Jim Henson)

Afterwards, we went to a cute shopping center. Clothes of all kinds and pretty cheap... I found this dress and wasn't sure about it at first but after trying it on at home I think I'll love it!

One my way home I stopped at a local cafe near my place. I wanted a fresh fruit juice. The menu was all in Vietnamese... I found the fruit juice / smoothie page but then had no idea. Neither of the workers knew any English past hello. After a few minutes of nervous giggling back and forth and shoulder shrugs, a man came over whose English was great! He helped me order a mango/carrot juice. Below is my new friend, Dung ("Yoom")... 

He wanted to sit with me and practice his English. ...After sitting there for ten minutes or so he randomly told me that the cafe had no power... so no fruit juice could be made. He asked if I wanted to order a Coca Cola instead... it was all so random and broken up that I didn't understand at first. Finally, I ordered the coconut that you can see on the table. Ha. A big part of my time in Saigon so far has been about flexibility - it's actually been great to learn to be more easy going and to just go with things.

When we asked the waitress to take this photo she (and her co-worker) laughed at me! I said to Dung that they were laughing at us... and laughed at myself - being such a tourist! He surprised me by saying that they are just excited to have a foreigner in the cafe... that it is unusual. It's true - my neighborhood has no other foreigners really... and this was my first time at this cafe. He also told me that they are all surprised to see a foreigner driving so well (everyone was kind of talking to one another around the cafe when I arrived)! HA! I loved that. They saw me pull in and park... just thinking of locals that I don't even know who are impressed seeing me drive by is awesome.

(The 3 parking guys at the cafe I was at this morning were talking about my scooter. It seemed they thought it was pretty cool! I researched scooters a lot before deciding on this one and I've been so happy with it. The best part is the spacious room under the seat. I thought it was one that was really popular among young girls - and I think it is in other parts of Asia... but I've only seen one other Yamaha Cuxi so far in Saigon and it's a Vietnamese staff member's at school! She just got hers 3 days ago and was all excited to see that we have the same bike... she even had me show her how to pop the seat up! haha)

Now I'm home for a bit - after a much needed shower! It's a hot and sunny day so far today. Sarah and I burned the backs of our legs on our scooter seats after they had been parked at the cafe... we were driving and each kind of standing up a bit here and there when it would become too much! ...Then after the Benh Thanh Market the guy parking our scooters took a damp cloth to cool it off for us - genius!

Tonight I am meeting up with Riki, Saleshni, Sarah, and a couple of other teachers for Indian food, mmmmm. I've been looking forward to this for a while!