Me me me

Today ended up being entirely me time. It is the only day I've spent alone since arriving in Ben Tre. I had a lazy morning and tried to do some lesson planning so that next week won't be as hectic as the one I just had.

Around 1pm I took myself out for lunch. Since most people here eat lunch much earlier, I had a hard time finding a place that was open, but I saw my spring roll connection from last week and bought five. After I paid realized that the sky's sunny blue had been replaced by ominous rolling gray clouds. I had a feeling I wouldn't be getting back to campus as dry as when I left. Hustling back, I saw a woman selling personal sized watermelons and had to stop. It would be the perfect, refreshing conclusion to my lunch menu. Thirty seconds later the road was speckled with raindrops. Thirty seconds after that, the clouds unleashed a diagonal downpour that had me drenched almost instantly. I looked around and the street was almost entirely empty. It seemed that all of the pedestrians, bicyclists, and bikers who had filled it moments before had wisely sought refuge when the first drops started falling. Given that I was already soaked I debated whether I should continue or take shelter as well. If only to not draw attention to myself I took shelter under the awning of a clothing shop. A few minutes later, the rain had slowed to a drizzle again, and I finished the walk home.

If you look up and see this, run for cover.

After lunch I had planned to go to a blue-walled terrace outside of the library to write postcards and do more lesson planning. Unfortunately, it was locked. Plan B. I headed to the thatch-roofed canteen. I ordered my new drink of choice, sugarcane juice, and started writing postcards, listening to the steady drizzle of rain and passerby students. Four guys on one motorcycle arrived and chatted with each other for a while, smoking and making a variety of unpleasant 'guy sounds', e.g. hocking lougies, and I admit I was not sad to see them leave. When I was ready to leave I realized that since I had not been planning on going to the canteen I didn't have any money on me. I tried to communicate this in Vietnamese but was met with blank looks. One of the canteen employees who is also a student was brought out to interpret my English and I told her that I needed to go to my room to get my money. Problem solved.

My evening was uneventful. Lesson planning, dinner, not much else. I got dinner from a woman across the street who charges a lot (so $1.50 instead of $0.75) but gives huge portions. She always talks to me a lot and perhaps asks me a lot of questions even though I try to tell her that I don't understand (does she not understand me when I say that or does she just not care?), so most of the time I just smile. So, tonight I feasted on rice and ginger chicken and had a succulent tomato for the first time since I arrived in Vietnam. Later I dug into the rambutan mountain in my fridge. I have no doubt that by the time I leave here I will have eaten my weight in rambutan.