made it

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Okay, it's Tuesday I think. And it's 12 hours from NYC which means I did not have to reset my watch. Which is a good thing. Otherwise -- why did I not know that the alphabet would be roman? Makes things a little too easy, not saving me, however, from getting extremely lost this a.m.

Ho Chi Minh is HECTIC if not total chaos. Must be 5x louder than NYC. Half the traffic is on motorbikes, some bicycles, rickshaws. Old women wearing those hard triangular hats. Otherwise, the women wear these beatiful long silk caftanish things over flowy silk pants.

I forgot that the thing that really terrifies me about travelling in big cities like this is crossing the street. Twice old ladies in hats (see above) have taken pity on my striken face and taken me by the elbow to cross me.

It's wondefully humid and sticky. Architecture is more European than I'd expected, but I'm not sure why I wouldn't have expected it. City is rag-tag, lots of crumbling buildings and broken sidewalks, but also some shiny new places. Did I mention that it's really loud and hectic?

Tons of street vendors. I bought something in a bannana leaf but it was porky. I also failed at coffee -- they serve it in a strainer and I guess you have to wait for all the water to seep through or something. Impatient for my caffeine fix, I made a mess. Coffee is apparently famous here. Definitely strooonnnngggg....

Switching to a cheaper hotel in a few minutes. May go to the beach tomorrow. I guess I am getting soft -- for some reason my tolerance for the hustle bustle is very low.

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Comments

[Mom]

We're Home
Dear Melissa, I love these blogs but am not sure that I am getting the pictures. Are there any up yet? We had a great trip and thanks to you came home to a very clean house. Thank you. I miss not being able to talk to you but I really love this blog idea. Talk to you soon via blog. Mom