Bits and Pieces

At the moment I am in the internet "cafe" and I use that term very loosely... with a "gamer" guy on either side of me trying to get the best score in whatever game they are playing and smoking cigarettes!!

Here... I am a MILLIONAIRE!! It's true!! The dollar, in Vietnamese dong, is worth 1,600 dong ... so for the mere exchange of $100 US dollars, I have a cool 1,600,000 dong! At least I am FEELING rich!!

I went to visit the museum with details the life of Ho Chi Minh. They call him "Uncle Ho" here. It is a quite impressive building with lots of documents, pictures, history and all of his life. I even had my picture taken with him!

There are lots of these guys with green military outfits on the street and when I was at the Ho Chi Minh museum, I saw LOTS of these guys roaming around the grounds and I thought I would ask for a picture of two guys that I saw walking. One of them offered up his friend for a picture with me, but didn't want his picture taken. I take what I can get!!

When motorbikes are parked, they often pay a small fee for someone to watch over them. I also saw this sign for cars.

This morning we visited the handicapped school that Mary worked at when she first came. She usually comes to work(on her day off)with one or two students that she has found that could benefit from her help. The one that she is working with in this picture is a young lady with cerebral palsy. She later showed me that she was teaching this young lady geometry. The school is funded by Germany. The student who were there at the time of our visit were of various ages from about 8 to 16 or so.

In the afternoon, another student, Chien, arrived at the apartment at 2 o'clock. This young lady, who now attends university here, started with Mary a couple of months ago at a beginning level and is now working at a high intermediate level. She is able to read young adult fiction and can easily carry on a conversation in English. Mary continues to teach her when she has time in afternoons when she is off. Yes, Mary is a saint in my book!

Have I mentioned that it is cold here?! Today when I was sitting in the living room watching CNN and waiting for Chien to arrive and for Mary to get home from her outing to the bank, I could actually see my breath.. in the house!! So.. I thought perhaps the heater on the bedroom ought to be the order of the day and we could have our lesson in there with Chien. In the evening Mary and I have been enjoying her copy of a season's worth of shows of "The Office". I don't think I have every laughed so hard at a TV comedy. She assures me that the version from the UK is even better!!

That's the END for today!!