Very Vietnamese

 “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” - James Michener

I was very proud of myself this morning for being so industrious. For starters, I made breakfast for the first time: six spring rolls and a fried egg. Today was Vietnamese Women's Day, so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to unveil my new aó dài. However, it was still covered in the seamstress's purple chalk marks. I had been advised to rub it with a damp cloth, but that had no effect. Trang suggested that I wash it; the fabric is so thin it would be dry before I had to teach in the afternoon. So, I did my first round of hand-washing in Vietnam. I also ironed my aó dài pants, which is theoretically required but which I had been previously too lazy to actually do.

Spring rolls, egg, and sweet soy milk

If you ever want to know what it feels like to be a celebrity, be a Westerner in Vietnam. If you stand out enough (which I usually didn't until Morena came), people will point at you and shout "Hello!" when you walk down the street. If you wear an aó dài, strangers will shout "Beautiful!" at you as you walk by. It was endearing and flattering when a group of my students spotted me from across the courtyard and burst into a chorus of squeals. It was flattering but not endearing when my male co-teacher's jaw dropped. If you really want to feel like a celebrity, let someone take a picture with you. The next thing you know, every combination of everyone around will want to take a picture with you. My students presented me with a beautiful flower arrangement to honor me on Vietnamese Women's Day. We started out with a class picture, and it quickly devolved into pictures of me with assorted sets of students. They were very careful to make sure we were never photographed in a group of three, since that is bad luck for whoever is in the middle.

Beautiful rose practically the size of my face

Me and the K8 (2nd year) English Majors

Subsequent photo-op line. Also, look how tall I am!

After class I went out to dinner with some students. To my delight and apprehension, they had decided to take us out for hột vịt lộn, the infamous embryonic duck eggs. I only learned the name for them a few days ago, and subsequently realized that there many places along my street that sell them. I had been trying to work up the courage to buy some on my own, but had yet to succeed. This is something I had been looking forward to (and dreading) trying since before I left the US. Probably to my advantage, we ate them outside and away from bright lights, so the only times I could really see what I was eating was when I took a picture. You put the egg in a little egg-cup, skinny end down, and whack the top side with a spoon. You peel it open, scoop out some egg, and dip it into a mixture of salt, pepper, chili, and citrus juice. I was expecting something much featherier and beakier to be inside. To my surprise, I found them to be absolutely delicious! So delicious, in fact, that I had three. They tasted like duck meat with the consistency of an egg -- and only a few small bones.

The woman laughed at me for taking a picture of each egg, but it paid off:
this was the last egg and by far the most dramatic looking.

I don't even know.

Morena was not so enamored with the hột vịt lộn, so the girls got some cút nướng, whole grilled quail. It was also quite tasty. The girls dared me to eat the head and neck. I gnawed off the neck meat as best I could, and couldn't really figure out what to do with the head. It wasn't until I later, when I saw one of them eat it by just putting the whole head in her mouth and chewing until it was swallowable, that I realized how it was meant to be done. 

I dare you.

Once dinner was over, my social calendar held one more event for the evening: joining one of my students/teachers and Trang for dessert at the rooftop cafe overlooking the river. I was ready to order a smoothie, but Trang recommended a coconut with ice cream, and I followed her advice. It was quite decadent. The coconut contained two scoops of whatever vague but good flavor most of the ice cream here seems to be, two large pieces of jackfruit, whipped cream and a strawberry, and of course the coconut flesh. The coconut juice was served on the side. It felt like another meal.

Tropical desserts are not complete without a little umbrella.

Over the course of dessert I heard the lovelorn legend of the betel nut. The betel nut (actually an areca nut and a betel leaf with mineral lime) was traditionally chewed in Vietnam as a stimulant, which also stains your lips red and your teeth brown (which was not considered a bad thing).

What with the apparel, the dinner, and the folktales, it felt like a particularly Vietnamese day, or at least very much how I envisioned my days before I arrived.

I am going to HCMC for the weekend, so I won't be updating for the next three days.