No water again; walking with Joanna; women rule

Our house was without water again last week. The system was shut off for three days as workers installed PVC water pipes, replacing the iron pipes that may have predated Ho Chi Minh’s founding of the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP). There was a hose connected to the main water line in the street that we could access for water. We filled big buckets with water and carried them around our house (again) to bathe, do dishes, and flush toilets. Our fitness levels have clearly improved since we started carrying the buckets to the second floor bathrooms. Our hygiene levels ... not so much. I got yet another skin rash from the lack of hot water and showering with cold water from buckets. The cold water from the street line was refreshing, but warm water is obviously needed with all the sweating and grit in the air from the motorbikes and trash burning. The monsoon season seems to have started, but it hasn't done much to alleviate the heat. It's in the mid to upper 90s every day, with humidity around 80 percent. Rough stuff. The rain arrives about 3 p.m. and lasts until 4 p.m., increasing the humidity.
The electricity went off again for about an hour this week at about 8 p.m. I don't see well in the best of conditions, so when the house went pitch dark, I walked into a coffee table and banged up my shin and right hand. Blind, clumsy White Monkey.

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 We've actually made a few friends in Bien Hoa in the past few weeks. We play a couple of guys in doubles at the county courts -- I can't beat Phuong there, so I've decided to join her. The two guys are quite friendly and they play at about the same level as we do. Our neighbor Minh wants me to cut the ribbon at her coffee shop when it opens on May 24. I think she's joking, but I'm not 100 percent sure. I've been nice to my sour neighbor's two teen kids -- a girl and boy -- and the neighbor has responded with smiles. I give the kids cookies that the coffee shop gives me. I'm a regular at the coffee shop with Joanna, so the staff showers us with little gifts.

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I take daily walks in the early morning or late afternoon with Joanna. She doesn't always like to walk, so I'll carry her on my shoulders. This seems to slow down the motorbikes a little when we cross the street. They'll speed up when I'm walking alone. Anyway, Joanna and I walk to the park, and then we visit a wall mural of Mickey Mouse and other cartoon characters. Then we'll visit a house that has about 15 rabbits in the yard. From there, we make our way to The Coffee House, where I buy Joanna a passion fruit pudding and I get a cappuccino. Then it's on to a nearby restaurant to see some live fish, followed by a return to the park, where Joanna doesn't have to be carried. Sometimes, she'll walk home from the park. Other times, she's on my shoulders. The whole trip takes about 50 minutes and it's not a bad workout for the White Monkey. I come back covered in sweat and Joanna doesn't fight her afternoon nap so much. Win win. Joanna doesn’t care for the attention she receives on the walk. She especially dislikes it when people try to hold her or pinch her cheeks. I don’t like it when people do this to me, either. Or pat my belly. On the other hand, Joanna get extremely excited when her cousins come to visit. For 22 months old, she’s pretty self-assured. She knows who and what she likes – money talks and you know what walks.

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Females are pretty much dominating my life now, which isn’t such a bad thing. Phuong is the captain of our ship and Joanna is second in command. Me? I’m one of the expendable extras who’s assigned to swab the deck. It’s all good. One of my private students, “Sam”, finished the book we’ve been using, so we celebrated with milk tea, a cappuccino, and some pastries. She’s the boss of our class. The White Monkey knows his place.