Inauspicious day?

Today at work the boss’ wife, Huong, came upstairs to show me and Pip the shiny new S-CODE sign they will put on the front of the building where our new office is located. S-CODE’s office opens out onto a very busy street — the address is 321 Vong St: very cute! — where motorcycles honk and swerve in droves around the city buses, and flip-flop wearing shopkeepers with bedhead cross the street to gossip with other shopkeepers.

Fruit and flower vendors in cone hats also cruise up and down the street to sell their wares out of those typical two-baskets-on-a-pole get-ups. Today I had a successful (although slightly stressful) attempt at buying dragon fruit from one of these ladies. I was afraid I was getting ripped off, but an old woman came to my ‘rescue’ and made the vendor give me better fruit and at a low price. According to my co-workers, the amount I finally paid was very good.

Anyway, Huong was showing us this S-CODE sign, and Pip and I were really happy for the staff, because it’s an exciting concept to be at a new organization in a new office with a new sign! We saw a young man outside drilling holes in the side of the building in preparation for the sign. But when we asked Huong if we could take pictures of the staff in front of it today, she explained that she needs to consult the fortune teller before the sign can be hung, to find out which day would be most appropriate (in alignment with the stars or something) for such an event. Impatient, we told her to just give this fortune teller a call. So, she just whipped her address book out of her purse and dialed! But it turns out the guy wasn’t home. I guess we’ll have to wait to see if tomorrow is an auspicious day for hanging signs…

One thing I really enjoy in Hanoi is going to the cafes to drink strong Vietnamese coffee. I order it thick and black over ice, no sugar. This happens once at breakfast, once after lunch and once after dinner. Vietnamese people love their coffee, and I do too!

Another accomplishment of the week: I successfully rode ‘side saddle’ to work on the motorcycle taxi (xe om). I was wearing a skirt yesterday, so it had to be done. The driver was laughing at me because it was obvious that I was nervous, but he drove extra slow just for me. One time, I saw a hugely pregnant Vietnamese woman sitting side saddle on the back of the motorcycle while simultaneously eating an ear of corn AND talking on her cel phone!