Back in Saigon (again)

We just got into Saigon and are checked into a small room very close to the center of town. The drive was long. They always are unless you're unconscious. We are here because my flight leaves Tuesday and I need to be on it.

Before leaving this morning, we visited Anh Vu (the captain of the hamlet). Getting there was mostly off-road travel and that isn't easy on the Attila motor bike. I think I probably exceed the design load for the bike... Anyway, they have a small, very humble home but they extended their hospitality to us. That included tea seated on the ground and then a hard boiled egg for each of us. I didn't have the heart to tell them that I hate hard boiled eggs, so I smiled and down the hatch. I declined the second egg by explaining that my doctor wants me to stay away from eggs.

We also took a tour of another 2 hectare piece of ground. I'm starting to feel like a land baron... We will soon need to figure out what to do with all this dirt. Anh probably already has plans. That's the kind of girl she is.

The way people drive here never ceases to amaze me. And I've seen lots of it. I don't think I could describe it adequately; you just have to see it to believe it.

I have not been able to blog as frequently as I had planned. Our house is about 10Km South of Phan Thiet and we don't go to town every day(that's where the Internet cafes are located).

The last few days I was tasked with building a dog house. I had a hammer and a hand saw to work with. We got it done with the help of Anh Vu. Don't you just love a volunteer? He thought my cross bracing was too extreme so it still wiggles a bit. The dogs don't seem too impressed with it. They still camp out on the porch at night.

Also we built a trellis. Rustic is the word that comes to mind. Another one is crude. Our building material consisted of concrete posts for the uprights and eucalyptus trees/branches for the cross members. Of course the cross members hardly ever were long enough so we wired them together to extend their length. It is designed and built with short people in mind, but Anh seems happy with the results.

Am trying to make contact with Richelle but don't have her new cell #.

Will blab more later.