Monks and Mystery Meat

Cabinet of birthday love

This morning I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed. I had gone to bed early but I was still exhausted and my head was pounding. I texted my supervisor saying that I wasn't feeling well and asking whether I could come in late. He told me to go ahead and rest. This exchange, coupled with the fact that my coordinators have been worrying about overworking me resulted in the additional cancellation of English club for teachers in the evening.

At eleven Trang called to check in with me and take me out to run some errands and get lunch. She took me to the post office (so if you haven't gotten a postcard yet there might be one headed your way!) and to the market to look for some heels for me to wear with my new aó dài. Walls upon walls of shoes! I have learned that though in theory I am free to choose, there is usually a wiser choice that I am not wise enough to make, so I asked Trang for her advice. I was a little worried that I would end up with shoes covered in rhinestones or flowers or both, since both of those seem to be emblematic of femininity here, but we agreed upon a sensible, satiny, strappy, rhinestone-free pair. Trang said that she had wanted to get me something special but that these shoes would be her birthday present to me. I told her that you can't go wrong with giving me shoes. I also bought some fabric for yet another aó dài. I really like the fabric, and it is embellishment-free so it will be more suitable for daily use.

Aó dài fabrics -- the one I chose is the more spread out one on the lower right

For lunch she decided to take me to a new place. I was rather wary when she told me that we were going to a place that only served vegetarian food. When we arrived I saw a monk in grayish violet robes and a spread of plates heaped with things that I could barely believe were not meat. Apparently, this vegetarian place specializes in making things that look like meat and taste like meat but have no meat. Trang ordered and we started out with a cold soup of banana, sweet potato, and coconut. Not good, not bad. Next was a "crab" soup with "fish" meatballs. It was remarkably good, and I probably would not have realized that it was fake meat if I hadn't known, not that I am an expert on how fish meatballs should taste. Last, we had a fried noodle dish that didn't have any meat, imitation or otherwise. I confessed to Trang that I had been nervous when she told me we were going somewhere vegetarian, but that I had enjoyed the food and should have realized that she (almost) never leads me astray when it comes to the wonders of Vietnamese cuisine. I also told her about the stereotypical Texan attitude towards vegetarianism, in contrast to the stereotypical Californian attitude, which she found to be a fascinating cultural tidbit. I told Trang that lunch today would be my treat. To my surprise she did not argue, and (not to my surprise) she seemed quite happy.

Mysterious non-meats

Cold fruit soup and noodles

Hot pseudo soup

The rest of the day was quite uneventful. I took a walk for some bánh bao for dinner and got a green one and a white one for direct comparison. The green one does taste slightly different, but it is barely noticeable. They both also seemed to have whole peppercorns in the filling, which I did not terribly enjoy. I ate what felt like a ton of fruit and yet I didn't make a dent in the mountain in my fridge.

Tonight I met Morena, the English teaching assistant who is to be my new neighbor. I asked her where she was from since I had first been told that she was Belgian but had later been told that she was Swedish. She is Belgian. She asked where I was from, guessing or perhaps already knowing that I am American, and I confirmed that I am from the US. She seemed surprised and I expected the usual comment regarding the fact that I am neither blond nor blue-eyed but instead she said that I don't have "the accent." I'm not sure what to make of that.