Look Guys - I'm a Turtle!

After leaving the internet cafe last night, I took a quick shower and met up with Jackie. We called Becca and Mike and they were already at Bia Hoi Junction, as usual. Jackie and I ventured out and got a cheap xe-om ride using our mad Vietnamese skills. We met Becca, Mike, and four of our Vietnamese buddies at the junction and we soon left on their xe may's to Dragonfly. I played a game of pool with Will and then I left on a friend Long's xe may at 12:00 am. I came back and read my book for about half an hour in bed before crashing.

I woke up this morning at 7:00 am and immediately got dressed and went out to grab my egg sandwich. Unfortunately, it was seriously raining. I'm talking literally typhooning. Almost no one was on the street, which was a giant puddle that I ran through to reach my beloved internet cafe. I skipped my iced coffee ladies again because I didn't attend the blind date they had set up for me. I'm currently trying to wean them off their Caitlin time.

Once at the internet cafe, I immediately signed onto AOL instant messenger and Andy signed off JUST as I signed on. I talked to Jeff, Andy's best friend, online and asked him to please call Andy and tell him to get back online. He did so and I was able to speak with Andy for over an hour through the "talk" feature on instant messenger. It's definitely my favorite part of the week. After talking until about 9:00, DiDi came into the cafe to tell me we were still going to the post office despite the immense amount of rain.

At 9:30 DiDi, Tica, Kathy, Brittany, and I took the 31 bus all the way down to Huan Kiem Lake and stopped into the post office. I assumed they sold the postcards there, but I was wrong. We then walked down the street a bit and I went into a store where Tica was getting more minutes for her cell phone. There, I found a large assortment of pretty postcards and bought about eight different cards. DiDi then went her own way and the rest of our group caught a taxi in order to find this place "Croissants and Chocolate" which is highlighted in the Lonely Planet book. Our taxi driver got a bit lost and when he finally stopped the car at the correct address for the restaurant, it was a maternity clothes store. We laughed and got out at the address anyways. It happened to be next to a very nice lunch and coffee place and we eagerly went in to get out of the rain. I got an iced coffee and a club sandwich. Both were amazing and then Brittany, Kathy, Tica, and I had a really good conversation about our group dynamic and Vietnam in general. We ate and talked so when we finally left the restaurant it was already 12:30 pm.

We had no real agenda so we just meandered through the streets of the Old Quarter. This place is a section of the city that is still divided into streets that sell one thing. For instance, we covered the silk street and the touristy trinket street and all the stores on those respective streets sold only those specific things. I bought a Vietnam shirt and took pictures of everything else outside, since our next assignment for photography class is landscapes. At about 1:30, Brittany got a call from Becca telling us that a bunch of other people were going to meet us at the post office so they could all go and get pedicures and massages together. We then walked in that direction and stopped at an ATM before walking past the famous Vietnamese water puppet theater. In front of the theater, a woman with the traditional two baskets and a wooden plank stopped me and put them onto my shoulder. I gave Brittany my camera and she took a few pictures of me in the traditional female street vendor equipment before Tica and Kathy tried it too. The Vietnamese women then pushed bags of fruit into our hands and demanded money for them while they cried "photos!" Basically, they wished to be paid for us taking pictures with their equipment (as well as the fruit). It was a bit awkward since they stopped us and caught us unaware.

We moved on down the street and stopped at a large store selling North Face backpacks. A small green backpack caught my eye and then I realized it was a turtle shell print! I got really excited and haggled for the backpack before paying, putting it on, and then constantly saying "Look guys! I'm a turtle!" It was a lot of fun and I AM a turtle with my shell on.

After walking back to the post office, Tica and Brittany took off with the others to go get all girly and prettified while Kathy stayed with me. We walked across the street to the lake and sat on a bench. I wrote out my postcards and she wrote emails on her Blackberry. Apparently when two pretty women sit by the lake, however, it is a prime time to hit on them loudly in Vietnamese. I wrote my postcards and ignored most of the advances while Kathy tried to be nice and still get them to leave us alone. As DiDI says, it's hard to be pretty. :)

We finished writing and then walked back across the street and I mailed the postcards to the good ole' U.S. of A. Kathy and I then walked a few blocks to get to a bus stop for the 31 bus. It was a ten minute bus ride and we got back to our dorm at about 3:00 pm. I immediately went to DiDi's room and we cuddled and talked for about an hour. Afterwards I went up to read in my room and ended up falling asleep at about 4:45. I woke up at 5:30, just before Jill came back from her internship. We talked for a few minutes before I ventured downstairs to see about dinner. I quickly decided to go to the internet cafe and grab dinner there as well as write my blog and check my email. I just had the best "may xao bo," which is crinkly ramen noodles with greens, tomatoes, onions, and beef. It's one of my favorite dishes by far and I think I have officially mastered the art of shoveling food with chopsticks. :)

It's time to go back to the dorm in order to shower and go out. It's time for you to leave comments! Yay!