Hello again! We are back from dinner and the kids wanted to stay in tonight so Phil went out for a walk on his own. The kids have taken over the television and the ipad so that leaves me and my phone and since I've checked Facebook a gazillion times in the last 30 minutes and there have been no updates to entertain me I've decided to talk to myself on the blog. It's much better than just talking to myself because at least on the blog I can imagine someone reading it. Sweet mother of pearl, I am talking to myself! Oh well, it's not the first time. So is everyone ready for Christmas? We were supposed to skip the whole present thing this year due to the expense of the trip but as the big day gets closer I am feeling a little lonesome for the hustle and bustle of last minute purchases and preparations I usually complain about. I actually packed stockings but left them at Phil's sisters' house when we left last week. Darn it! I'll have to get creative. Phil is supposed to be scoping out the nearby stores for me tonight. We decided against making a traditional Canadian Christmas dinner when we go back to Chi Hai's on the 25th because we can't get the right stuff and to improvise and make a sucky meal would be worse than no meal at all. (We learned our lesson with the spaghetti and every dish ordered in a restaurant claiming to be western food) I'll just have to remember our last supper in Canada. My mom made us a Christmas meal with all the fixin's including the pumpkin pie. Yum!
While riding on the bus from Can Tho to Saigon I was trying to imagine how I would sum up my feelings about Vietnam. It is a place that is both dirty yet beautiful at the same time. The people, well, at fist glance I felt pity for them. For the way they live and how hard they have to work just to survive and though I still feel some of that, mostly I feel in awe of them. Of their resilience and strength. Their houses may not look like much to those of us who are used to having perfectly painted walls with colour coordinated furniture but you don't have to be there long to realize that the artwork in their homes is living and breathing. It is the people smiling and sharing food and giggles that is the focal point in any Vietnamese home. These people are built with heighten survival instincts too. I mean, I knew I came from a spoiled part of the world but as with children, being spoiled isn't necessarily a good thing. ( not that I'm ready to give it up or anything ) all this to say that if there was a natural disaster in Canada and one in Vietnam, we would have a much tougher time surviving without comforts than the Vietnamese. That being said, I think I'm ready to take up camping next summer. I feel like I've been at camping bootcamp and the borders of my usual comfort zone have been stretched quite a bit.
Oh, hey Phil's back! I can go ramble on to him and spare my dear blog followers. Thanks for reading!

C.