I have mad iPhone skills. Sorry for the miswrites.
Today we went walking down the street and then into a mart store for two hours. During the sejour we came to find that everyone is out, staffing their business today even though it's Sunday.
School started at 6:30 sharp this morning
The roosters were out
before then.. I feel like it's been two days already. People seem to have long and narrow shotgun shops one after another that are all open air. It was really interesting to walk by.
Some people had roosters, dogs, hildren with them while working the shop. Only photos can capture the ambience though. Everything looks kind of old and grimey. None of the food looked appetizing except the whole fruit.
Some people were
Fixing old stuff. Sleeping on mattresses. It's just a mess of people and open air storefronts for miles. It looks literally like scenes from movies because everything is so ornate.
Items cost a fraction of what they cost at home. Nice mens shirts: 5 dollars. Womens jewelry is only a few pennies (200 dong for a ring or earrings). It's kind of absurd. Sky vodka at the supermarket was 2 dollars.
It's weird to be the ones that stick out like a sore thumb and that everyone stares at. We have to officially register our visas with the police department tonight apparently so that we may be allowed to walk around freely like we did today.
Tonight were going out for vegetarian with a professor here. It will be interesting to see how the locals live...
My posts have gotten cut off - my appologies for that.
ReplyDeleteThe afternoon rain just began..
Upon researching the current exchange rate the jewelry I saw today would have cost me 9/10s of a Pennie.
The heat and he relative poverty leave me exhausted. Reading about a country is much different than experiencing it yourself. With immersion comes meaning
It's nteresting to ask the professors here about their favorite pastimes. They both come up blank- I work. I always feel like with each individual I meet I really want to know what makes them tick. I second that emotion with cultures. How do the Vietnamese spend their alone time, freedoms, social time?