New Friends and a New 'Do

I never would have guessed that there'd be a steady stream of Norwegian profs at Nha Trang University, but it sure has been a pleasant surprise. Now that Inaki has gone, there's a Norwegian woman named Lene and her 19-year-old daughter Maiken. Katherine and I spent Saturday with our two new friends, and it was such a lovely day--morning and afternoon at the beach, dinner at one of my two favorite vegetarian places in town. Lene and Maiken spent two years in Chapel Hill, speak nearly perfect English, and are tons of fun to hang out with. We're getting dinner with them tomorrow, as well, and I'm really looking forward to spending more time wtih them. At least until they go back to the arctic circle in two weeks! It does feel a bit strange to be making all these new friends that I might not ever see again.

In contrast, today has been a day of local friends. We joined the boys for coffee at 8, a ritual that inevitably turns into English/Vietnamese lessons. For lunch we went to the home of Ms. Lam, one of the English teachers here. She prepared a delicious vegetarian meal for a couple of other teachers, Katherine and me; it's almost that time of the lunar month when everyone goes veg for a day or two, so Katherine and I are eating well! Never in my life have I been so in tune with the lunar cycle, but I like the feeling of incorporating another natural phenomenon into my routine. And luckily my planner has the new and full moons listed. :)

Ms. Lam's house seemed nearly perfect to me. Small--but I like small houses. An open living room, a kitchen (a very nice one by Vietnamese standards), a bathroom, and two bedrooms. Ideal for three people (her, her husband and son). And it was just so open, easy, light, airy, with all the doors and windows open, simple furniture and decor, no clutter, tile floors, high ceilings and light colors... So different from homes in America! But exactly the kind of space I would want someday...I'm finding that my time here is changing my aesthetic preferences. I've always prefered simple, clean, no-clutter spaces and design, but I'm finding myself more drawn to "tropical" colors, whereas in the past I've always been an earth-tone girl. At this point, though, I'd rather paint my walls a pale, tropical blue, yellow or purple than beige. And I quite like this change in myself.

While at lunch, we asked our colleagues (it was all women at the lunch) to recommend a good place to get our hair cut. I haven't cut mine, apart from my own trimming with paper scissors over my bathroom sink, in nearly three months. Coincidentally, the women all used the same salon, a place called Queen, which was actually on our way home. The two teachers who were driving Katherine and me home on their motorbikes (an added bonus to any outing!) pointed out the salon as we drove by, but then stopped and asked if we just wanted to get hair cuts right then. I had planned to take a photo of my preferred hairstyle when I went to my first Vietnamese haircut, and I didn't feel quite prepared for the possible butchering of my locks....but I just went with it. I'm trying to do that more these days. The teachers went in with us to translate what we wanted, and then left us in the hands of the four women working at the salon.

One of the women immediately set to cutting my hair, which took her all of about 10 minutes. I was feeling a bit discouraged by her speedy scissor work, but comforted myself by remembering that a) hair grows back, and b) my three colleagues have nice haircuts from the same woman. When she was finished, she led me back (without letting my check her craftsmanship!) to the hair-washing tables. In the States, they stick you in those chairs, and you bend your head back and hold your neck on the edge of a hard sink. But not here. Oh, no. Here, you lie down on a cushioned table (think masseuse table) and lie your head on a slighty-slanted plastic board that goes down into the sink. Perfectly comfortable.

But what comes next is even better: A looong hair washing with a head and neck massage. And then an equally long face washing and massage. The woman washed my hair three times, and I think conditioned it on top of all that, before starting on my face. I was so happy, lying there, the cold water running over my face, the hot hair like a blanket tucked around me, the buzz of motorbikes and the easy hum of the fan...Another "How is this my life?" moment. This indulgence went on for probably about 40 minutes, and I was so relaxed by the end that I could hardly stand up. I'm such a sucker for a massage :)

Back in front of a mirror I realized that I loved my haircut. I was so happy with it that I decided to take a bit of a risk. I asked the woman to cut a little more hair off the front and give me some little bangs...At first I thought she'd cut too much, but now I'm quite pleased with it. In all, one of my favorite haircuts ever! And at only 35,000 dong ($2.10) for the whole experience--washing and massage included!--there is nothing to complain about whatsoever. I felt bad for a while, while lying there having my hair washed, for paying for such an indulgence. It's definitely not necessary, but even the locals go to have their hair washed often. A Vietnamese friend of mine (the one who took me to get my nails painted) said she and her mother and sister go twice a week even. It's just so cheap. Even with my attempt to live on 100,000 dong a day, I can afford the expenditure and still eat three full meals and treat myself to a smoothie or che or something.

I call this photograph "New 'Do with Mosquito Net"

and I call this one "Self-Portrait with iPhoto" :)

And I can especially afford it on days like today, when I not only was treated to a yummy vegetarian lunch by my Vietnamese colleagues, but I was also treated to an equally delicious vegetarian Bangladeshi meal by my Bengali friends. Kamrul and Habib, two masters students who live upstairs, prepared a veritable feast, sans meat, for Katherine, me, and themselves. Rice, a vegetable stew, a cabbage dish, three dishes of different kinds of greens, grapes, mangoes...I'm so full right now that I probably wont be hungry until dinner tomorrow. I love vietnamese food, but a good, home-cooked Bangladeshi meal was a good break from my routine. The boys are incredible cooks, and it was so generous of them to prepare such a nice meal for us. They put so much time and thought into it. They really outdid themselves!

the spread--complete with table settings and two already-opened bottles of water for me and katherine

Habib eating. We insisted that we all eat together on the floor.

in the end, we were completely unable to eat all the food--despite the boys practically force feeding us more and more and more...(and might I add that I was being force-fed by the guy that recently called me "a little fat now")

Katherine and me so stuffed we can hardly sit up straight

I also learned today that I can take a semester for French classes for less than $10 at the Foreign Language Institute in the city. I'm going to a class on Wednesday night with Miss Trang, another English teacher here, to see how I like it. At this rate, I'm studying a lot more Spanish and French than Vietnamese! The French class would meet Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings, but I'm only going to let myself do it if I also drastically increase the amount of time I spend studying Vietnamese. So we'll see.

I'm looking forward to a fairly busy week with teaching, possibly starting my new French class, studying Vietnamese like a fiend (hopefully!), starting to plan the next English club and stuffing myself with vegetarian food during this wonderful time of the lunar month. And I'm greatly enjoying my new nightly ritual of getting into bed, drinking a "juicebox" of sesame soymilk, reading the news and listening to music. In fact, it's time for that right now...


Currently listening: "The Creek Drank the Cradle" by Iron and Wine