Not Quite the Last...

Haha, I lied that wasn't my last post. But, unless I get around to it later today this will be. I have 1,000 dong left (one sixteenth of a dollar) and I don't plan on spending it in an internet cafe. So I am at Amanda's.

I have to say, I am really going to miss her. We called her boyfriend in the States last night. He was quite funny, but it was the whispered conversations she and I had with the reciever covered that were the best. She is so much like me. We always have a great time together. Amanda dahilng, you are incredible. What else can I say? Except that bacon SPATTRs hahaha. Inside joke. Not really, but I don't feel like explaining now. Ask me later.

We went to the Benh Tan (or Than?) night market last night. That is another thing I will miss. Everyone pressing in on you ("You buy from me? very cheap price! Maximum quality! Good price for you madam!) and the insanity of bargaining. I got a shirt last night for 70,000 dong. Know what the asking price was? 320,000! The saleslady kept asking me to go higher, one more time, one more time! She didn't seem to get that I had only 70,000 in my wallet! I kept trying to get away but her partner in crime had the exit blocked! Then she grabbed my arm and wouldn't let me go. As if I was the one who really wanted that sale! Hmph. Finally, I pulled away and was just about to leave when she said "Okay, okay. You buy, you buy. 70,000." I walked away laughing. I was so ready to give up. If I had had more money, I would have caved earlier. I was ready to leave when she first quoted the price! HAhaha, oh Viet Nam...

Then we almost got run over by a series of mopeds, offered rides by two million xiclos, three million taxis, and four million xe oms. The true Vietnamese experience was complete.

So my...third to last day in Viet Nam was fabulous. Oh! And for those of you who didn't know about my lost chuck (high top tennis shoes that are FABULOUS), this will not be so exciting for you. But it was a huge deal to me! One of my beloved chucks (and you all know I don't get attached to shoes!) was lost in our most recent move. I was so upset! I truly had no expectations of finding it before I left. I told everyone to keep their eyes open during the packing process, bu tI thought it just wasn't meant to be. Well, I will close with this; PETE FOUND IT!!!!!! Yay!!!!!

Love to you all, and thanks again for reading!

"Villian, I have done thy mother!"

HAha, I was re-reading Titus Andronicus and I came across that line. Like the true teenager I am, I started laughinh hystercally and had to text an equally teen friend to tell him about it. As Amanda was too mature, I told Cameron. Who is not too mature. Let's leave it at that.

So, My last few days in Viet Nam are so far...uneventful. I have taken the littlies swimming every morning...and I plan on shopping otnight. Woo! My first time at the Ben Than (sp?) Night Market! So psyched!!!

Oh, I forgot to tell you a funny story in my last post. Anne and the littlies and I were walking around our road (it's a dead end, so relatively safe) and we came across a group of Vietnamese kids playing Chinese jump rope (don't ask me, ask Anne. apparently it was big when she was little?). We watched them for awhile, and they watched us as they played. At one point, a little toddler waddled up to the fence that separated us (ironic) and just kind of stared at me. I knelt down to his height and said "Xin chao" (sin-chow, for the Americans among you haha). The boy jumped back from the fence in complete and total shock and ran back to his group of what might have been siblings. His expression was so funny. HE was like, "It talks!" HAhaha. Then I asid "Tam biet" (goodbye) and walked away. He was still in shock. But I got my laugh for the day. ;)

Just in case this is my last VN post, I want to thank you all for being such a fantastic audience. And for sticking wiht me this whole time. I am so pleased that I had so many readers throughout the course of this trip. I have greatly enjoyed writing to you and recording my experiences. Thanks!
Love, Hillary
P.S. Just because I am home doesn't mean I am going to stop writing!!! I plan on keeping up the blog!! It won't be a interesting probably, but I will keep writing about my life... Adios for now!

Vietnamese Tacos

Believe it.

Oh my god, the most delicious food ever! A fried...something...completely beyond recognition, wrapped in rice paper and lettuce. YUM!!!

Ahem...anyway. I told you of our move to An Phu, now I must describe An Phu itself. First and foremost, An Phu is Vietnamese. Phu My Hung was not. It might have been Korean, but it could have been anywhere.

In An Phu, I can walk out the front door and buy a VN taco for 2,000 dong. 16000 is one US dollar. very cheap. AFter buying a taco, I can walk to the BP Compound (the ex-pat hangout) and swim, or I could go to an internet cafe, or I could just bike around. It is fabulous.

Just yesterday I had a distinctly Vietnamese experience. My cell phone had run out of credit, and I had no idea where to purchase more, so I ventured out. I found a young woman in an outdoor restaurant type thing, and attempted to aske her where I could get that done.

How did I do that? Well, using my handful of Vietnamese words and her handful of English and a ton of charades, we worked it out. She tried to sell me a charger, but we established money and she exctiedly pointed me in the right direction, pleased to be of help. Or pleased to be rid of me....haha, I'd like to think pleased to help. That's how most people are here. Just friendly.

Well, I must dash now, as Anne is in a bit of a panic about the new nanny situation. I must train her to watch the children. Haha..eh.

Splee!

I am hanging out with Amanda and actually typing this on her computer because Anne took ours to Bangkok. Yes, it's true, she and Sol departed last night...the house isn't the same...

Anyway, splee is Amanda's word which I have stolen. Hehe. So there Amanda! So there!

The last day of school for Saigon South International School was last Friday :(. I am sad about it ending. We spent the whole day signing yearbooks and avoiding saying goodbye.

I played hide and seek with Erin, Teal, and Adam. That was fun. Then we played Egyptian rat (a card game. if you don't know it, I'll teach you when I get back. best game EVER) for a super long time.

At the end of the half day, I still wasn't ready to say goodbye. Adam was having a pool party at his house, so I could put it off a little longer. It was kind of funny, everyone was asking each other, "Are you going to be at Adam's? Are you sure?" It was like we were all searching for a way to push away the inevitable. no one wanted to go.

Adam's house was fun. Erin and I were on a huge raft together, and Wren was doing everything he could to dump us off. He was biting our toes, coming up under us, everything! Erin and I were huddled together in the middl eof the raft huggin each other and trying to figure out where the heck he was! He could hold his breath for a super long time...part whale maybe?

Anyway, then the end came. It was hard. I was so close to tears. I think the only way I held it together was knowing that I didn't have to say bye to Amanda yet. But Taylor, Vikki, Adam, Erin, Erin (yes, there are two of them. i'll explain later), Teal, Natalie, and Nicole, I will miss you guys so much. It has really been fantastic getting to know you even for so short a time. God, I sound like a yearbook message. It's true though. You have all affected my life. And Hannah, you too! Though I said godbye to you atr school....had to go get your hair done hmph.

Amanda and I finished painting her phoenix today, and we are going shopping soon. I want to put off saying bye to her for as long as possible. Though we will be closer together than most of my other friends, as far as seeing each other, the west coast is still pretty flipping far.... But we will stay in touch. :)

Amanda dahling,
Thank you for everthing. You have changed me, for the better...I think. Hahaha, kidding. I lov eyou bunchees and bunchees. You know that. I will miss you sooooooooooo (etc.)ooo much. Good luck in life. You are going to rock the socks off of al Americans. That is how cool you are missy.
Love,
Hilly

"Five and twenty black birds baked in a pie.."

Or was it four?

I don't know. I kind of feel baked in a pie at the moment. Exams are over, so it's not that. Then it must be leaving.

We are moving to An Phu (a HCMC district about 25 minutes away) on Friday. I keep telling myself that I need to start packing. But packing makes me sad. I get sort of into it, then I realize that I am about to move on.

Sometimes I get a wave of homesickness and it's so bad I want to hop a plane right now. Then I start packing, and I realize that I don't want to leave this place. When I get people to sign my yearbook, they're not going to say "Have a great summer." They're going to say "Have a nice life." I am going to miss them terribly. I can't help but wonder, in a place where people are always coming and going, will I be remembered? Will they stay in touch? Or have they been so many places, known so many people that it just won't matter?

I don't know. So packing is hard. I have started a suitcase of stuff that I won't need to even open in An Phu but that I can just put on a plane when I 'm ready. Yet, I find myself not putting away the important things. My posters and pictures of B girl, Wonderwoman, my mom, dad, and brother...I odn't want to pack them up. If I do, it isn't my room anymore. It's an empty space, a hole waiting to be filled.

I can say to myself, "Self, you're not leaving Viet Nam yet, you're just packing for An Phu. You'll be closer to your friends.." Then I remember that they are all leaving for summer holiday in the States which gets me back at square one again.

I don't know. Yes I want to go home, but how can I leave this place? These people? What if I never come back? I selfishly want to leave a big gaping hole...but I don't think I will. Have I mentioned I don't know?

Hmm....

Hair!

It is truly "...the dawning of the Age of Aquarius!" I have officially gotten into Hair. For those of you too young to know, Hair was the RENT of the '60's. It protests being conservative...and the Viet Nam war. Haha, go figure. Anne thinks that if the Vietnamese government got wind of the fact that I am playing the music in my room they might deport me. It's a bit too close to home. :)

So aside from that, my life is good. Anne and I saw our director and one of the cast members of "An Inspector Calls," (a play we're in) in a show last night. It was a totally fancy-shmancy thing. And I was underdressed. Agh, my prom dress woudl have fit right in and I was wearing a two dollar dressy outfit I got in Cambodia. Agh.

The show was good though. It was called "A Night on Broadway". They did songs from Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Man of La Mancha, and so many others. Great singing for the most part. However the dance medley from West Side was not so good. The troupe conisted of four girls and one guy. One. A one man gang. And the girls were out of sync with each other. Eheh...

Now, I am making cookies and trying to stay cool. Hard, as today is bloody hot and I am standingin close proximity to an oven that is known to spit occasionally. Oh Viet Nam...