Sittin' in Saigon

As I watch the world float by from the shaded veranda of this cafe, sipping the fine fruit juices of the Orient, I find myself contemplating the deep meaning of existence and the underlying futility of all for which we strive in this unending struggle of inputs and machinery that we call the world.

Is this what a blog is supposed to sound like? I think so. Am I supposed to, at the risk of offending my Catholic friends, pontificate? Yes, allow my mixed up ideas and poor syntax to dominate your mind!

I had to get that out of my system, and frankly, don't say you weren't expecting it. Cause you were. I'm in Saigon, day two of my trip. The city has changed a lot since I was here last, but not too much. There are still many more motorbikes than cars. I've forgotten where to go to get simple things done, like laundry, buy things at basement prices, use a computer, so I spend lots of time wandering around. I have good deal of time to do that though, because most of my friends are English teachers or Vietnamese teachers, and they work all day. I'm seeing a few American friends and a few Vietnamese friends for a few days, then it's over to China. I leave on Saturday.

I'm staying in the backpacker district. I walk through the backpacker district and occasionally fight the impulse to vomit. It's partially the jet lag, partially the sewage smell, partially the ramshackle westerners who get drunk with prostitutes every night, partially the Nigerians who sell drugs on the street corners. I walked home last night from a market, not that late, and was propositioned twice by prostitutes in the space of less than a mile. At one point I was used to all this. I guess if I were staying the uptake would be faster than it was last time, but it is still a shock to be here, but a good shock. Vietnam is a great place, and it is wonderful to see the friends who are here.

I figured out why Vietnamese people usually don't walk the streets and eat. Actually I've got two theories. One, if you are doing anything other than paying attention to what you may or may not be stepping on and the motorbikes whizzing by you, you will step on something horrible or get hit by a bike or car or bus. Two, if you are sitting in one place you will have a constant smell and set of sights you can get used to, allowing you to focus on what you're eating. If you walk and eat it's a constantly changing array of stimuli, powerful smells, sights, sounds of things rushing by, people asking you for money. You can't use all those senses at the same time. You don't enjoy the food. I walked and ate this morning, and spent about an hour drinking coffee, recovering. Thankfully, it's quite a bit of fun to recover with the coffee here.