Smells

I would like for you to be able to experience a taste (or smell rather) of Vietnam from wherever you might be reading. This is just a typical walk from our apartment to the school. Please follow the instructions to experience the full effect.

Now, if you would, take out a trash can (full of trash) and start a fire in it (please be careful). Toss some dirt into the wind (preferably when you are standing down-wind). Next, grab several handfuls of incense and light 'em up. Now, please find a diesel truck that has without a doubt failed emissions testing and let it run for a while. Then take a deep breath in.

But stay with me; It gets better. Leave some fish frying on the stove. And if you have any extra burner on the stove, get some other pots going: maybe some spicy peppers, any number of meats, some okra soup, shrimp in delicious spices (I'll update when I discover what they put in the delicious things we like), maybe some eel. Mmm. And if you don't have anywhere else to cook, just slide the pot over the fire that you've made.

If you aren't satisfied with your experience thus far, light a few cigarettes (again, please use caution) (and know that these smells do not represent the views or choices of this author). Maybe cut up some fruit and leave it sitting for a few days. Do not clean it up. Then make a homemade doughnut and get it frying in some grease. Yum yum.

If you're still begging for more, find some fresh fish and just leave it out, and lots of clams, oysters, and snails. Then grind up some coffee beans. There's a new blend of smell at each turn, some terrible and some amazing. And then it rains. And rain in Vietnam smells just like rain in Georgia. It's like the refresh button; unless it sticks around for a few days, then that's another story...

There are a few other smells that will need further explanation. Tune in some time in the future for SOUNDS