City sights ... and horrible news

Phuong and I moved out of the house we were renting last week. We moved into a very small room in a hotel/motel behind the house. And we don't hate each other ... yet. We're on the fourth floor -- they call it third floor here. No matter what you call it, there are four flights of stars. It's 62 steps up, and, unbelievable, 62 steps down. I'm still tired from the move, but fortunately, we didn't take a whole lot of stuff so it could have been worse. The other day I was rushing to work and when I got downstairs realized I forgot something and trudged back upstairs to get it. The joys of living on the 3rd/4th floor.
One joy, really, about living the high life is the view from our balcony. I sit on the balcony every morning with my coffee and take in the sights of the city: the vegetable man riding his bike pulling a cart piled with veggies; the Cambodian bread girl riding her bike so fast that buying bread from her takes quick reactions and impeccable timing; the construction workers next door taking a leak on the side of a small house across the street. At night, the lights of the city are very pretty and the singing from the coffee shop across the way is pretty awful.  Phuong and I mimic the singers and get quite the laugh out of it. Overall, the hotel is kind of cool. The owners seem to like us and let us use their kitchen. They're very friendly and accommodating. Most of the other customers here rent their rooms for a few hours because they're with, uh hum, ladies of the night. But that action is on the lower floors, so to speak, so we don't care, mind, or interact with them. That's the cleaning lady's problem, not ours.
Phuong and I celebrated our one-year engagement anniversary on Thursday, Sept. 24. The best year of my life. I got Phuong earrings and a small, gold cross. And two cans with eight new tennis balls, which we'll break open like champagne for our championship match on Friday. We're tied 2-2 this week thanks to a very controversial call by Phuong on match point today. Hawkeye wasn't working.
The foreign teachers come and go where I teach, so my hours have picked up a little lately. No big deal, though. Phuong and I see quite a bit of each other in our room and on the court.
We found out some horrible news on Thursday. Phuong's cousin was found dead on the street near Metro, where we shop sometimes. His hands were bound behind his back. We're still learning what happened, but it's not a good situation. We'll attend a service tomorrow.
I'm really looking forward to my trip back to the U.S. in November.  Cool weather and cool people -- family and friends. I'll be busy with my eye doctor as well as trying to find a way to get Phuong to the U.S. one day.