Celebrity

Today I woke up at 6:15 and talked to Vinnie and Katrina on AOL instant messenger. It's so nice to hear from people back in the states! I got ready and left the guest house at 7:30. On the way to my language class, I bought my usual iced coffee with sugar and my egg in a bun. I got to class and we reviewed what we learned yesterday, which is telling someone the time and telling someone when you usually do things (like how to say "I usually have breakfast at 8"). That's still going well.

We were set free from our four hours of language classes at 12 and four other chicks and I went down to the restaurant right next to our classroom building. I ate pork and rice, but it was the kind where you have to eat the pork right off the pieces of bone. Then it was time for photography class at 1:00. Our professor was late and then he took forever to go through a bunch of advice on saving pictures and backing them up so we don't lose them should something happen to our computers. Then he had us pick our favorite pictures and came around to look at them. He really liked a few of mine and that relieved a bit of the pressure. I am now pretty sure I know what he wants for our assignment that is due next Tuesday. We have to hand in 25 pictures, but it has a few parts to it, such as color, people, different times of day, edge, close-up, etc. I have most of the pictures I need, thank God. He moved on and told us a bit about Photoshop Elements, a picture editing program. Then the professor kept us in class for an extra half an hour and I was about to break when he dismissed us. Jackie and I went to a small store on our way back to the guest house and I bought blank dvd's in order to fit lots of pictures onto them. I come to find out that my computer doesn't recognize the blank dvd's because I don't have a dvd burner. One of my friends who has a dvd burner is going to buy them off me, though.

As I walked across the street to the gate of the guest house, a man on a bicycle reached out and caressed my cheek with his hand. I moved onto the curb and stared at him, but he only matched my dumbfounded gaze with a smile and a wave. I immediately went to my room and washed my face. I then did my Vietnamese homework in the glorious air conditioning for about an hour. Then I went to Jackie and Leah's room to get them to go to dinner with me. Leah decided not to, but Jackie and I were feeling adventurous and walked for about 15 minutes before deciding on a restaurant that was new to us. We were seated and then realized that we didn't see hardly any women in the restaurant. We ordered in Vietnamese and said xin chao (hello) to the gawking men who constantly walked by us. We felt a bit like celebrities, since people walked by and slowed down to stare. Just as our meal came to our table, a man approached our table and asked us, in perfect English, what we were saying before. We must have looked confused but then a man our age stepped out from behind the first one and he said his brother went and got him in order to ask us about our conversation in English. As if that wasn't odd enough, the younger man who only spoke Vietnamese took my hand and started to move it around between both of his hands. I asked him his name and he said something unintelligable before moving on with his drunken brother. About ten minutes later, another drunken man walked by us and grabbed my hand and told me in Vietnamese that I was beautiful. It was more than awkward and I said thanks and took my hand back. I finished my meal of bony fish and steamed rice (I found myself accidentally gnawing on some fish spine at one point), and we paid and stood up to leave. At this point, the table with three 45 year-old men asked us in English if we wanted beers and we were invited to sit with them. We politely declined and left the restaurant in a hurry. Jackie and I decided that we'd have to go back to that restaurant full of drunken businessmen when we needed to feel especially good about ourselves. Walking back to the guest house, we met up with some other people from our group. People started to congregate in our room and then left as suddenly as they had come. I'm about to go out to the Sax 'n Art jazz club with Bryan again. Better go get ready...