Sniff Sniff..... what's that smell??

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Amazing how time flies when you are having fun! It is Thursday here and at 11pm tonight I will be here for one week! It is hard to believe. I have been having a lot of fun seeing the sights and trying new food every day. This past week I bought some banh mi and banh bao from a street vendor. It was cheap and very good! I have been eating and drinking pretty much anything I want. People warned me I would be having the side effects, but nothing yet. There is one food here I will not try… okay maybe two things I won’t try, thit cho (dog meat) and durian. Durian is a fruit and it is the nastiest piece of fruit I have ever smelled or tasted. Years ago I tried this fruit for the first time when I was with Lis’s family. I know what it looks like, smells like, and taste like and I vowed I would never eat it or smell it again. When I was walking down the street the other day I noticed something really foul smelling. Now for those of you who know me well know that I have a really bad sense of smell. Well this smelled like pure rotten shit!! The city has a bad smell as is but this was WAY above and beyond that. I looked around and made sure I didn’t step in anything. It was then I saw it, a durian fruit stand. There were maybe 20 of these nasty smelling things piled up. A couple were cut open letting their odor escape and filling the air with its rankness. I walk by them every day, not by choice and hold my breath as not to gag. I can’t believe how some Vietnamese LOVE this wretched fruit.

The other day my friend Loan, the one who took me on my first motorbike ride, picked me up to go eat. I am not sure the name of the place but it was VERY good. We had beef steak and eggs. It came with veggies and French bread. I topped it off with a tasty Saigon beer. For 2 drinks and 2 meals it came to a grand total of $5.00 usd! You can’t find that even on a McDonald’s menu. After dinner I had mentioned I wanted to see some more of the city. She drove me around some of the sights including the Saigon Opera house, an icon of the city. We drove by the world known Caravelle hotel, it was amazing. The shops around it were first class; Gucci, Calvin Kline, and Parade just to name a few. This is also where many of the American reporters were headquartered during the Vietnam/US war. Next we headed to district 7. This is where many of the wealthy live. There are great high rise buildings with luxury apartments. There were big houses and villas with amazing landscaping. I heard places here cost $500,000 usd and up to buy. They were defiantly nicer than a lot of the rich areas I have seen in the US. It amazes me how diverse the city is. Just 2 minutes away from this district people were living in tents and huts in the midst of water and mud. It was sad to see. I have nothing to compare it to really, besides the movie Slum Dog Millionaire.

Yesterday and today I have been focusing on the reason I am here in Vietnam, teaching English. I was going to go visit schools yesterday and pass out my resume’ but it was pouring rain off and on all day. I ended up staying in the hotel most the day. I made a list of schools I wanted to apply. Half of them had websites in which I could apply. I sent my resume’ to the ones that have websites then today I headed out to visit the ones that did not. When I left the hotel to visit these schools I forgot how lunches are extended here. People like to go home in the heat of the afternoon for an extended lunch and a nap. Many of the hiring managers and directors were not in the schools. The kids were having lunch too. I ended up leaving my resume’ with the receptionist at many of them. Some of the schools looked pretty nice and others not so much. In all I probably applied to 10-15 places to start out. Those were just my top choices. If those don’t pan out I will have to dig deeper and compromise a little I am afraid. Lets hope for the best.

Now that the business part is out of the way and I am waiting for replies, I think I will book a tour to the Cu Chi tunnels. These are where the Viet Cong dug extensive tunnels under the ground to move around American forces during the war. They lived in these tunnels as well as transported weapons and supplies. I hear they have made them a little bit bigger to accommodate our bigger western body frames. I will be sure to take pics and post them on my Facebook. I wish I could post pictures here on my blog but it is not allowing me for some reason. Maybe the internet connection is too slow. It really is unreliable here in Vietnam at times. I hope all is well back home in Kansas with everyone.

Signing off from Saigon

-Chris

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Comments

[Roxelle]

hi chris
HAHAHA ITS SO NEAT TO READ OF YOUR ADVENTURES HAHAHH IM SO HAPPY FOR YOU HAHAHHA ITS FUNNY I CANT IMAGINE YOUR FATASS ON THE BACK OF A MOPED HAHAHAHHA WITH A 80 POUND DRIVER HAHAHHAHA MEMBER TO POP YOUR LEGS OUT AND HELP HER HAHAHAH

[China Mike]

Durian
I lived in China five years, planning on returning to Asia end of this year, Vietnam most likely. Those durian do smell for sure! BUT... did you try them baked into cookies or cake? It is really very delicious when used as a baking ingredient, such as a fruit filling. The smell is pretty much gone when you bake it!