Day 36

Let’s predict a good day for today! And of course it will be. In the morning we get up and take Thach Thao and Phuc to school and then go for breakfast to the lady next to home. After breakfast we hop on the motorbike and head to the police station as, by law, Xuan as to inform them how many people live in her house.

Getting to know Vietnamese reality can be harsh and bribing maybe is not in my dictionary but it is in every Vietnamese law enforcement dictionary. When we arrive to the police station I smile to the police lady and don’t get any emotion back. Xuan starts speaking with her and fills a couple of papers and then slips a bank note inside this book that each house owner have. When I realize, the police lady is very happy and friendly and when we leave I even get a smile from her and it’s seems she’s Xuan’s best friend now. Unbelievable!

Anyway… the day continues and Xuan takes me to Diamond department store and as the name lead us this is a department store with expensive brands like Marc Jacobs, Salvatore Ferragamo or Papaya, an American brand which I fell in love with.
http://www.papayaclothing.com/shop/
This department store only allows us to do window-shopping because anything else is impossible to do. We spend all morning there and around lunchtime we head home. Today we have lunch at 11.30 am which can seem weird to any of my friends but here it’s like this: we wake up around 6/6.30 am meaning the day starts very early and finishes very early too.

After lunch Xuan goes run some errands and I wait for my parents to wake up, as I need to talk with them. Around 2 pm they call me trough Skype and we have a nice long chat. After a little bit Xuan joins us, who arrived in the meantime and also wants to speak with them. While they’re talking I notice my father is getting emotional and I know how grateful he is to Carlos and Xuan for letting me stay with them and for taking care of me as family. I’m so grateful too that some times I don’t even know how to show it or how to act towards it.

Xuan goes run some more errands and I finish talking with my parents before they go to work. While making time to get the kids from school I watch a couple of TV shows and when I look at the clock, Chi Mi already went to pick them up. At home, Thach Thao comes to my room and wants to continue watch Happy Feet and it’s what we do, being joined by Phuc a little bit after. It’s time for their bath and then dinner and today we have to do it quickly as we’re going to pick up Carlos to the airport.

Thach Thao and Phuc eat dinner and the four of us jump in the taxi and head to the airport. Carlos landed and the kids are ecstatic to see him and when they see they start waving and screaming. We run downstairs to pick him up at the door and they start running to Carlos very very happy. Such a nice view! =) After saying hi to everyone and giving sunglasses to Thach Thao and a fire car to Phuc we get a cab and go back home. Carlos is very tired and I also feel tired without knowing why.

When we arrive home dinner it at the table: French fries, steamed rice, beef and soup. A nice meal to end the day… at 9.30 pm my eyes can’t take any longer so I go to my room. No TV shows, no movie, nothing… just my eyes closing!

Night night peeps!