Story Time to end 0-9 (did you hear my rhyme?)

I was on the bus yesterday and I saw a guy with red lesions all over his skin. Actually, they looked more like chicken pox on his arms and face, but his exposed ankles appeared to be covered in painful sores. I made a mental note to wash my hands as soon as possible. And stay away from that guy.

I got off the bus and surveyed the street that I needed to cross. Whenever I see someone who looks more confident than me crossing, I stand as close to them as possible and cross with them. The red lesion man was crossing, so I stepped behind him against the traffic. He saw what I was doing and grinned broadly; he'd be happy to help me. He then reached over and firmly grabbed under my arm and led me carefully to the safety of the other side. He grinned happily again as I nodded my thanks, and I turned to walk down my street, wondering how I was going to cope with these red lesions that I would soon be getting...

I was on my way to the tailor actually. I've been twice, and I haven't been in a long time because the tailor's son (who speaks English)began calling me an average of seven times a day for a while. However, the tailor knew and understood that I lived here, and she's good at what she does, and she doesn't charge me the foreigner's price. That is a hard relationship to forge, so I thought I would overlook the semi-stalking, and go anyway. He made no mention of all of the calls except to say that he wanted to tell me Merry Christmas, but I didn't answer.

They both told me that I had gotten very skinny. I said that I think maybe I'm sick. So they told me that they would not make a dress for me now because when I get better, I will get fat again, and then the dress won't fit. Unfruitful trip to the tailor (unless you count the tailor's son asking me out for dinner).

New Years Eve. I had no idea what to do, and I wanted to get to bed before midnight, so around 9:30 I texted one of our neighbors. She came over and we went to get her sister. Erica and I donned our festive "Christmas" hats, I made two more in a jiffy, and the four of us headed to the roof with sparklers and apple juice. Below: Erica, Phuong, me, Trinh

I was slightly disappointed in myself for not considering the wind factor on the roof and even though I had brought candles, the sparklers took FOREVER to light. But they were cool anyway. We toasted to the last year and took some pictures.

Phuong got a text that her baby was crying, so she had to leave. I planted myself in front of the candles to block the wind and try to get another sparkler started. Erica was hunched over another candle holding a sparkler, and Trinh walked over and held some cardboard in front of the flame. I all of a sudden got the feeling that we were sitting around the campfire and I liked it. I thought we would just hang out there for hours playing with fire, drinking apple juice, and talking about this past year; and I got excited.

Trinh got quiet, as if searching for some deep words to share (her English is not bad at all, but she is hesitant). She looked like she wanted to say something, so I glanced up at her expectantly. Finally she said, "Can I go home now?"

Ouch.

And since we're still talking about me being ridiculous, a security guard came up and caught us playing with fire on the roof. I really don't know if we were doing anything wrong, and I wonder if we could ever get in trouble here (the security guards love us). He just sat down and started talking. It seemed to me like he was telling me that the sparkler I had in the flame was done. I just shook my head and smiled and he laughed and kept saying "already! already!" Finally it sparked for about two whole seconds I showed it to him, gloating. He said something else and pointed to the sky. I thought he was saying that there were fireworks. I asked, what time? He said 1:00 and pointed to the roof.

So at 1:00, Erica and I confidently walked back up to the 19th floor and then the roof. We sat there for twenty minutes and nothing happened. And it dawned on me. WHAT WAS I THINKING?! Why would I think that I could understand that much from someone who doesn't speak a word of English??

And that was the start to our 2010.

I just got home a few minutes ago from picking up some pictures that I ordered. I also bought a few things at the store down town. I needed a seive because Erica got me some loose jasmine tea for Christmas. I also got a cheap tin teapot and some ovaltine (that's what it said on the box, but I'm afraid it's not what I think it is). I got off the bus, navigated across the street and waved at the familiar faces. One woman smiled, waved, pointed to my bag, and then motioned for me to sit next to her. She proceeded to go through my bag, examine it's contents and compare with the receipt to see how much everything cost.

She's a sweet lady and we don't really understand each other very well, but this is a common practice. People are often curious how much I pay for things. Having everyone ask me makes me very curious about what everyone else pays for stuff --by the way-- so get ready for when I come home; I'm going to ask.