Bai Bien Cua Toi (XX)... organizing.... electrical outlets ...... and Tam's BIRTHDAY PARTY

4:00

hom nay la ngay dac biet cua Tam !  whatever that actually means.... it could be her birthday, her wedding day or something entirely different (the day she lost a child?).... but since she is not going home to celebrate it, I'm resolved to at least get her flowers from the market in the morning .....

6:00
I ask the Praying Mantis whether it really is her sister's birthday today..... she briefly looks up from the Word of God, says "I don't know", and keeps reading the Bible...... 

ONLY READING that book all the time does NOT work, woman, you gotta UNDERSTAND it !!!!

The local market is the usual pandemonium..... I'm still not quite myself again so I don't take pictures..... the woman in the fruit stand sees me, grins, and right away points at the trai dua, LOL.  Yes, it is time for a pineapple breakfast ;-)

Tam is back from the market too...... Still not knowing whether it is a sad special day or a happy special day for Tam (Vietnamese is a BITCH to learn ;-), I just hand her the bouquet of flowers with the neutral words "Hom nay la ngay dac biet cua ban"..... it works ;-)

planning time.... 

In the news:  The climate tipping point is near or has been passed....and what are people doing about it?   They're taking selfies, are eating more meat, are driving more cars, and are buying more CRAP.....   YOU might deserve what's coming.... but your children DO NOT !

7:30 
Q is on my terrace again...... and I find out that it is indeed Tam's BIRTHDAY today.... 
Q finally understands my Vietnamese.... he translates to Tam:  Toi yeu cuoi cua ban ;-)

8:00

9:00
It has been DONE.... and I realize that without Bobby's help I could NEVER have done this ..... there will be a birthday party for Tam at Bobby's at 20:00 (Sinh Nhat cua Tam vao tam gio toi ;-)

 NO..... it REALLY looks like that here, LOL

10:00
Time to draw power outlets onto raw brickwork .....

The spark is BACK ;-)

12:00
On the way to Song Cau, I stop by at Nha Chau & Muoi & invite them to the shindig this evening.... because I know Muoi & Tam are close...

Song Cau .... I buy 12 bottles of wine at once.... a new record !

The usual stop at A-Stop and I just NEED to get that picture..... because as soon as I glimpse see the scene, I am thinking SEURAT:

Is it the umbrella?   Or the feeling of leisure?

The colours? The relaxed poses? The sense of family?

Or is it simply a glimpse of times long past?

quoc gia nay rat dac biet !
(this country is very special)

14:15
NAP?

NAP!
15:30

Ti/n is chasing Vietnamese people away that are lounging at the outskirts this hotel's grounds...... they've been there for weeks and everyone was happy..... but the owner has returned....... 'nough said!

16:00
A Strongbow with Thay at Bobby's ... OMG, then I discover it's his second drink of the day and the kid turns into a monster.  A very funny monster, but still a monster, LOL.  Maybe I have convinced Tuan next door that wearing glasses does NOT make him look better?   Who cares about glasses when the guy is funny as hell?  Well, well, WELL !

17:00

HOW do Vietnamese people always know when you take a picture of them ?????

Pilgrimage

18:00
I'm realizing that I'm in way over my head....I'm organizing a birthday party for Tam and I have NO IDEA how many people will show up..... WTF?  But then Bobby has to deal with the logistics and I only have to pay..... so he has the much harder job !

B doesn't make it easier.... I've asked An, but B won't let him off work, and what's worse....  B might not even attend the birthday party of her own sister...... I need to LEAVE for a while.....


19:15
Time to panic....

20:00
Where are Muoi & Chau????  I race over to their house and Moui indicates that she ain't coming because of her baby.... Chau isn't there, but Tu\ng wants to come...... Easy, LOL, hop on the back of the scooter, kiddo!

Well the table is not quite full, but Bobby outdid himself..... and even the reticents have shown up

Tam and Tu\ng

The Cosmo does not happen to be Tam's favourite drink..... Vietnamese women do not drink hard booze....

But through the rest of the long evening, she happily smiles and chugs beers 

,telling me every 10 minutes how many she has had..... 

Midnight: I fall onto my bed .....

Bai Bien Cua Toi (XV & XVI & XVII): ..... Too many Tiles, enTangled wiring, Too much food, Tired, Trust issues, and Throwing up

5:00
OMG, it's already LIGHT outside...... why did I sleep so long?  ...... Oh right...

....now I remember..... 

....and I finally remember why one particular face always seemed so familiar ;-)

9:15

An e-mail leads to more excitement about windows again.......  WHY aren't they the way I wanted them????? I'll have to get used to that.....

No point huffing & puffing..... swimming is a better idea !

...a quick trip to Quang to make a drawing.....

they LOVE my shoes....

....back home and there is some spring in my step again.....

12:30

Another lesson learned:   Cultural rot has spread to my village.... from various stories and personal experience I know that Grandma at the local gas station keeps the small change when tourists want their tanks FILLED...... one reason tourists do that is that they have no feeling for the capacity of their tank in relation to the fuel gauge.....  But there is a simple solution:  KNOW how much your tank will accept easily when your gauge is at a certain level and just order a bit less.

Lam on, nam muoi, I say and get rewarded by a smile, robber granny repeating my words, and NO lost change ;-)

13:00

Yes, it's HOT....

15:30

Shite! almost time to go again !  But this is important..... although I didn't know that we'd drive all the way to Ganh Do....

I LOVE this tile ;-)

Tile- and paint-choosing business done, I am informed that now we will go eat.... and yes, the owner is closing his shop....the journey goes further South...  all the way to a restaurant in Chi Thanh 

I loose track of how many ....

.....courses of BEEF dishes there are.... TOO MANY!

Then an endless drive home in a freezing air-conditioned car ..... and another stop....

That giant green-covered coil is the wiring for my house !  Three men can NOT lift it, we have to roll it.

ANOTHER stop at A-Stop????   To eat Yogurt????  WTF?

20:30

FINALLY back in the room....I'm exhausted!

1:00 

You gotta be kidding...... way too early..... but I'm worrying about the tiles (are the beautiful blue tiles too grooved to be able to get water and sand out of them?) and the wiring (is there even the smallest chance that they will get this right?).

No sleep for the worried !

4:00

I'm out of wine ..... 

7:00

A quick trip to the local market...... NESTLE now has several stands there at the road trying to lure Vietnamese to use BIG-BUSINESS Frankenfood instead of the local stuff. 

FUCK OFF, you GREEDY corporate BASTARDS !

10:00

12:00
Still no measurement news..... so I'm going for breakfast in Sweden.... but even here somehow it feels as if I had IGNORE ME written on my forehead today.....

An e-mail with a picture..... and my fuse blows....over to Lisa....i'm way too huffy-puffy, but I see the last bits of my imagined dream home go up in smoke......  after pissing off both Quang and Lisa, I realize a bit late that I can live with the new solution..... I should have come to that realization earlier... it will take me days to patch things up properly.....







14:30

17:00

they got their new speakers connected in Sweden.  TOO FRIGGIN LOUD

Viking bartender pretending to lick my drink

Yes, I drink them both......

I wake up at midnight....... and at 1 am I just KNOW that this day will be a complete loss again...... that familiar throwing-up feeling is back.....  and for 18 hours I'm hurling and sweating and passing out ....

18:00
It's FINALLY over ..!  I waste no time googling the symptoms.... and realize taht it a gallstone colic ..... there is a reason I try to stay away from large greasy meals !


And either you know what THIS picture symbolizes TODAY .....

...or you don't....

An e-mail from my Ferry Consultant...... and it looks as if I could be on an adventure like THIS

.... in only 2 weeks ;-)