Tourist

I'm very bad at taking pictures. I forget to bring my camera with me, and then I forget to use it when I do have it. I do the beach thing. but don't go on tours. I eat any food I feel like and don't ever use the toilet at the train stations. I'm used to bugs crawling all over me. This morning there was a tiny ant on my face because our room is covered with them. There are tiny yellow spiders that crawl on me all the time and I have played chicken with a cockroach. (PS the Vietnamese cockroaches are about three times the size of all other ones: about the size of my palm) I had a caterpillar crawling all over me and even the sight of millions of silk worms doesn't make my skin crawl. I'm still a tourist (and a baby), but the bug situation is not a problem anymore. The heat doesn't bother me, I rarely have the AC on (I'm going to freeze when I get back). I can cross the busiest street in rush hour like a pro. It's kind of fun the way I am adapting to this crazy town. I know very little of the language. It is so difficult to learn. Mostly just Cam on (pronounced come on) means thank you. Everyone here is basically good with English. Surprisingly the people are more likely to speak English in a smaller city. In Hue and here in Nha Trang it is considered very excellent to have good English. The Vietnamese like to talk to tourists to find out the things they didn't learn in university: slang, common phrases, and swears. In Hanoi the people refused to speak English and often pretended to not understand you so they could get more money off you. Needless to say I have yet to meet a person who loved Hanoi best. I miss Hoi An. Nha Trang is really fun, but Hoi An was small and lovely, and the people were so friendly. I have completely gotten used to the constant honking of horns. Jules and I were just saying how shocked we were that we hadn't heard any all day. Believe me, it isn't because all of a sudden they are quieter on the roads. On the bus down here our driver lived on the horn. Sometimes he would hold it down for thirty seconds at a time to get his point across. We wanted to throttle him. Not a pleasant way to wake from a nap. Our bus driver would often take his hands off the wheel to open or close his bottle of water, but it was never actually a problem. These guys are excellent drivers. Texting while driving a motorbike - common. Talking to a Vietnamese man today he repeatedly used the term "stupid American". I find that is a common theme in the south. As is swastikas on headstones. The trees aren't as dense along roads because of "stupid Americans" and the buildings are more fragile for the same reason. It seems like the water hasn't quite passed under the bridge. Which I understand as it was not long ago. I see older men with missing limbs and I wonder. There were warnings in Hue and Hoi An not to head to far into the jungle because there could be land mines. It isn't an obvious hurt, but Canadians are definitely more welcomed than our neighbours to the south. I'm hoping to go on a 3-4 day journey by bike through the hills to find more of Vietnam. I don't have enough time left! I've already got planned the next three places I'm going, so I guess I'll have to start saving once I get home again. If I decide to come home. We'll see...