New Adventure:Vietnam!

Sitting in an internet cafe next to a goldfish pond with a smiling frog lounging in a bamboo boat and drinking a super sweet iced Vietnamese coffee. How do you order Vietnamese coffee in Vietnam? Guess what! They don't call it Vietnamese coffee. Kind of like how they don't call them french fries in France. Anyway, luckily I'm in an internet cafe and my favorite past-time is googling. So if you're ever in Vietnam and you feel like an iced Vietnamese coffee and you're not in an internet cafe, it's called Ca phe sua da.
I arrived in Saigon two nights ago. I'm here with my friend Jackie and her family. She's from here originally, but has lived in the States since she was 20. We're here for her nephew's wedding. I flew here with Jackie, her parents, her sister and her sister's son, the groom. We're staying at her sister-in-law's second house, a property just around the corner from the house she and her family live in. Not too fancy. Nobody's lived there for a long time. It has the bare necessities. A bed in a bedroom with a/c (thank god!) for Jackie and me, and downstairs the same for Jackie's parents. Finally got the hot water heater working in the bathroom. The only sink is in the kitchen. But we're not going to be there much.


Every member of the family that I've met so far, and it's quite a large extended family, is so sweet and friendly and warm. They don't all speak English, but some do, and little by little I'm getting to know them and all their stories. Pretty amazing stuff. I plan to find out as much as I can about them and post the stories here along with my little adventures and lots o' pix for your entertainment and edification. Check back regularly. I'll do my best to keep up!