Day 40

So today I get up thinking on the amazing shower I’m going to have and how washing my hair is going to be so good and then boom! The reality installs! There was no water in the whole house, no one would take a shower, as it seems there was a problem with the water pressure and didn’t fill the water containers. While Chi Mi and Chi Lam go buy bottled water for the first needs, I start washing myself with baby wipes, nothing I’m not used to as when I had my thyroid surgery I couldn’t shower either and could only clean myself with baby wipes. Of course the feeling of being dirty doesn’t go away anyway but at least you smell like a baby! =)

With all these commotion, we’re all late. While Carlos and Xuan take the kids to the school, I start walking to Phó Lè. It’s good to walk in the morning and see all the people driving their motorbikes to work or having breakfast in the middle of the sidewalk at improvised eating businesses. Most of them look but I’m starting to get used to eat and try to smile every time.

I arrive to Phó Lè almost at the same time as Xuan and Carlos. Xuan orders phó bò to everyone with 2 eggs and iced tea for her and me. I’m still feeling a bit sweaty from the walk and the baby wipes and my noodles soup make me even more sweaty… fortunately is not a smelly sweaty but a healthy one!

When we finish breakfast, the three of us hop on the motorbike and do the Phó Lè street until the gas station where me and Xuan get out and walk to Rita’s coffee shop because of the police on the corner. At Rita, Xuan asks for the usual and we stay there enjoying the warm weather, the trees and flowers and talking about the weather, next Chinese New Year and their moving to Portugal. Carlos needs to go back home to start packing and finishing all the business stuff he still has to do so I start walking home and we’ll meet there.

The Buddha tree grows everywhere, even from stones

While I’m walking home I pass by these two ladies who carry their baskets in their shoulders and this is a photo I wanted to do for a long time because these baskets weight a lot and it’s incredible how they manage to carry them, specially thin ladies that seem don’t have enough strength to pull their own weight…

At home, the guy to fix the water container is there and is trying to understand the problem. I leave him and Xuan to that and head to my room so I can start edit a couple of videos I’ve been doing. It’s time for lunch already and we have Vietnamese style chicken curry waiting for us joined by steamed rice, orange juice and flan pudding.

After lunch I decide to watch a movie, something I haven’t been doing for a long time and need to get back to the movie market and know what’s happening outside. =) I watch “Rise of the Guardians” and I feel very well, it’s a nice movie for kids and grown ups and I really like the realism in the characters bodies and faces and I love Easter Bunny’s humour.

When the movie finishes it’s time to go pick the kids at school and while Carlos and Xuan do it I start writing my HCMC OST, basically what I’ve been hearing since I’m here. The kids are back and Thach Thao comes show me her hair cutting skills by cutting a leopard’s fur with a nail scissor. While the kids get ready I take my deserved shower very quick afraid that I won’t have water to take the shampoo off… I feel clean, so clean!

We give dinner to the kids and after the kids and me go to my room start watching The Little Mermaid, this was one of my favourite Disney movies and I don’t even know how many times I’ve watched it.

It’s time for a quick dinner, as we have to take Carlos to the airport. Everything goes quick but smooth and when the taxi arrives we’re almost ready. Everyone hops in the taxi and there we go. We take 30 minutes to arrive to the airport, Carlos does the check-in and then we all stay a little bit together before he leaves.

Time to go back home and my belly is telling me that I need to eat more so after another 30 minute ride we arrive and I head for the steamed rice and the pumpkin soup. It’s late and time to go to bed… I say goodnight to everyone, go to my room, put my pyjama and climb to my bed. TV show time and zzzzzzzz…

Night night peeps!