Who wouldn't want a cupcake eraser or a great big mug of sugaredbeans?

Today on our afternoon break I was walking by an elementary school a little earlier than normal and all of the sudden I hear, "hello how are you?" in fantastic English. I look around and see a group of giggling girls (who turned out to be 4th and 5th graders). I started to talk to them and had a really great conversation. During this I remembered that I had school supplies in my bag that I hadn't been able to give out. Don't you walk around with school supplies? No? Actually I had been asked to bring them for a village visit that didn't happen. I had 30+ pencils (halloween Snoopy themed and cupcake erasers). So I decided to give them to these very cool 10 or so. Within seconds I was flanked by all kinds of children at various levels of squealing and chatter. Some things are universal. I remember my prize pencil case and erasers at that age. What I would have given for a cupcake eraser. I might have even traded for it.

After this I met the guys for lunch in the tourist district and had my standard fare: morning glory sautéed with garlic. This district is an oasis of westerners and avoidance of all the reasons it would seem like one would travel. That being said I think it is an excellent place if you get lonely and need a moment of western world love.

On the way home ( I convinced Hao to walk home much to his displeasure) and I am so glad I did. This is when he introduced me to Che, a vietnamese dessert. It is excellent, quite refreshing and is going to sound extremely odd and maybe even terrible. The Che I got was the combo mug which consisted of every type of bean you can imagine, tapioca, peanuts, lotus seeds, custard, coconut milk and ice. Sound Super yummy? It emphatically is. This started the theme of the day: when you are introduced to something new you start to notice how common it is although you had never seen it before.

That brings me to the other thing I noticed today. Public urination is completely kosher if not the thing to do. Men, women, children all's fair and just about anywhere. If it is urgent you can even abandon your motorbike in the middle of traffic. I wonder what will happen if frat america ever discovers this place. 25-50 cent big beers and a standard of public urination? Is there any more perfect destination?

In the evening the department took us to dinner to give us a proper send off. And we had a great time. Eventhough they had had a ceremony in the morning and given us each a embroidered picture. Mine oddly enough turned out to be Tu Duc's tomb with a couple of girls sans bananas.

The pics: Che, the morning send off, little boys I gave more pencils to later in the day, an eastern medicine pharmacy