Day 69: October 28, 2014

What a day today has been! We had a meeting at 9:30 to learn that we had a new Vietnamese teacher and class was followed soon afterwards. I had lunch with Alex, Brian, Poem, and OU Alex at a street vendor, where I had rice with fried fish. First time ever having fried fish from a street vendor and it really wasn't that bad.

I took the bus back to the dormitory, and that is where the events for the day really begin. On the way back, our bus stopped on the side of the road. Four gentlemen got on, and I watched as the people around me began to take out their tickets. Not knowing what was going on, I did the same. A guy came over, looked at my ticket, and simply nodded before getting off the bus. I'm pretty sure that they were making sure everyone had paid for a ticket, but it was strange simply because I had never experienced anything like that before.

I got off the bus and began to walk back to the dormitory when I passed through a thick cloud of smoke. Well not smoke, because it burned as I breathed it in. As I walked through it, it was hard to see anything in front of me, but I did notice all of the Vietnamese covering their faces so as not to breathe it in. I looked down the street where it was coming from, and all I could see was a group of motorbikes several meters down the road and some cops. I have absolutely no idea what was going on, but I wonder if there was an accident or something.

I spent the afternoon doing some homework before heading to my new study spot of the courtyard, where I do most of the readings. Soccer practice began, and soon Yen found me. I've found that by sitting in the courtyard I am more likely to see people I recognize, which can be both a good and bad thing. Today it was a good thing, because I don't see Yen that often so it's always nice to talk to her. When she headed back to her room, I grabbed my laundry and then headed to DRD. Tonight's topic was relationships, and we had some very interesting conversations in our group about bad relationships, love, and if opposites attract.

Back at the dorm, I was headed to fill up my water bottle when I met someone from English club in the elevator. He asked me if I was coming to watch them dance, and I said I had no idea what he was talking about but would stop by. It turns out that some members of English club are learning a traditional Cambodian dance for their Halloween event on Saturday. I watched them, made some new friends, laughed with them, and even tried to do it when I was asked to. Let's just say that I'm not a good dancer. Plus, they were giving the instructions in Vietnamese so I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

While they were taking a break from dancing, I had the chance to talk with them. This quickly turned into a photo session with Ashley, with them trying to make themselves appear taller than me. I told them that I had bought the piece of equipment needed to play da cau, and Binh immediately wanted to make plans to play. His time of choice? Six. I asked whether am or pm, and it turns out that it will be 6am. So I will be waking up very early Thursday to play a game with some members of English club. Binh said that if I want to live like the Vietnamese I have to do it, and I guess it won't kill me to do it. Maybe they can show me a good place to get breakfast afterwards.