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Published: December 29th 2013
After the Xmas climax!
Everyone in Hoi An was conscious that most of the tourists celebrate Christmas or a holiday at the very least. The shops and restaurants were all decorated tastefully and our beautiful landlady Tan (pronounced Ton as in 100 kgs as she explains) surprised us with a small cake each.......mainly cream, about 1/5 cake but exquisitely decorated with roses and snowmen, as you do.
I lugged the mandatory Lions' Xmas cake over. It weighs one kilo and as my luggage was 2 kilos over, at $40 per excess kilo, it would be up there as the most expensive fruit cake I've ever consumed. I took it to the shop/workshop to share with the staff, makers and other volunteers and it was gratefully devoured....by some. Not sure what the locals really thought as they're all so thoughtful and polite but no one actually spat it out.....phwew!
Have my longtime (38 years!) girlfriend here at the moment and, as usual, she provides plenty of entertainment for me. She always makes me laugh with her perceptions of mundane, common occurrences. Thanks George for all the laughs!
Christmas Day was spent with some expats, locals and
other volunteers at the "beach". I use that word loosely as we were actually in a building/ shop about 100 metres back from the beach in what looked like war-torn Afghanistan. Didn't actually see any beach so could've been anywhere! We did have a BBQ, Vietnamese style though and a bit of salad so not too different from home (Ha! Who am I kidding?). Met an expat (Peta) in the shop 2 days before Xmas and she was generous enough to invite myself and any friends to Hoa's Place Xmas day. Apparently he's a legend in his own time and the govt gave him his cafe because of this......after razing everything around him for hundreds of metres.
As promised, I like to promote one of the "makers" now and again and this time it's Mai boy (as opposed to Mai, the female maker). "Mai was born with Cerebral Palsy which has mainly affected his lower body. He also suffers from eyesight and back problems. His mother passed away when he was two months old and his father left soon after. Mai grew up on Cam Kim, an island near Hoi An and was raised by his very poor aunty
and grandmother. He was never afforded the opportunity to attend school As people assumed incorrectly that he also had an intellectual disability. Despite not having a formal education, Mai is very bright and has a passion for painting. Lifestartfoundation was able to recognise his talents and hone his painting skills. He now produces beautiful hand painted Traditional conical hats, caps and Tshirts. Mai travels by boat and uses his lifestartfoundation 'push me, pull me' to attend the workshop and English classes."
Mai is a very sociable person and loves sitting out the front of the shop whilst painting. He can spend hours on my mobile phone and is quite dexterous with his hands....on the mobile, that is! Who knows what he's downloading and I don't really care to know but the old saying "never judge a book by it's cover" comes to mind when I think of Mai boy!
I know some of my many followers (all six of you) are interested in the food over here and I keep meaning to photograph my meals but always only ever remember half way through my meal. Will try to be more cognizant of your needs and less of my
own. Hope everyone enjoyed their Xmas as much as I did in Vietnam!
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Mary Anne
non-member comment
What a special place you have found along with the people. Good on you Sue!! Thank you for sharing your experiences. Enjoy the read and the difference in cultures!