Covid cluster around our house; locals call Joanna a boy

 Our street seems to be at the center of a Covid cluster, with more than 30 people and seven houses around us infected.  The virus has certainly quieted things down: kids don't ride their bikes –– masks or no masks –– up and down our street; fewer vendors and lottery sellers come around; fewer mask-less morons strut around, although the annoying bread sellers still arrive 6 a.m. with a booming announcement over a loudspeaker of hot, crispy bread.  The guy across the street, who gives me xam xam (a gelatin made from leaves) because I give his kids chocolate, tested positive along with his wife, mother and the two kids. I've suspended the treat exchange until things cool down. The concern for us is that these folks got the same vaccines we received -- AstraZeneca. As has been the case for me over the years here, I have no idea of what's going on. I hope the vaccines were legitimate but it does seem odd that a lot of vaccinated folks are getting infected. I sure hope our family can avoid getting coronavirus, but we're pretty nervous. I've been a little under the weather the past two days and if my malaise continues another day, I'll get tested. Covid would be a real drag for the obvious reasons, but also because my daughter depends on me to provide classes and entertainment. Many of the people who contracted and probably spread Covid on our street exhibited inappropriate behavior such as no masks in addition to having lots of people coming and going from their houses with zero social distancing. Houses in our ward that have a resident with Covid are identified with a red sign on or next to the front door. It's a grim passover of sorts.
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My daughter tried to cut her own hair, and failed. She likes to do her own thing. Anyway, my wife had to cut Joanna's hair really short to kind of even things out. As a result, when Joanna and I go out people ask me the age of my son, to which I reply that she's my daughter. The people overreact with shock and disbelief. They react a little too strongly, in my opinion. One guy in T-Rex Coffee told me at least three or four times that she looks like a boy. Whatever. It's ironic since my daughter is very proud of being a female, and she calls all insects, lizards, dinosaurs, geckos, and animal characters in her books "she" and "her". I love it. My son Elijah, meanwhile, is so enamored with kicking his ball that he boots it around for 30 minutes in the bedroom before his nap.
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I still fret over my daughter's education and socialization here. She's not in school, and wouldn't benefit much from online kindergarten taught in Vietnamese and perhaps some English. This is a 5-year-old kid who can read and write a little, is now expressing herself extremely well, and has a very keen memory -- and low threshold of boredom and isn't shy about speaking her mind. With Covid on the upswing, no schools are open for face to face learning and even if they were, my daughter would resist the uniforms, conformity and discipline that seem to be the focus here. The private international schools are about $19,600  a 10-month school year and require uniforms, and almost certainly stress discipline, conformity and order. There are no easy choices, which is why it's so crucial to me that my wife's waiver is approved by the USCIS and she can get her visa to come to the U.S. I know I've repeated all this countless times in this blog -- sorry.
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The park near our house is much more pleasant with motorbikes now prohibited from entering. Some guy and his girlfriend rode into the park in the one open spot, but the security guard politely asked him to take his bike outside the park. The guy rode away and the problem was pleasantly resolved ... I'm currently reading Into Africa, the story of Stanley and Livingstone.  I just finished Conquistador by Buddy Levy; it was as good as it was disturbing. My reading "addiction" is at 105 weeks and 726 days in a row. ... It's been two years since I've had alcohol, except in my Listerine mouthwash. ... Good visit with my eye doctor. Dr. Wong is a good doctor and good man. My glaucoma is stable and my vision even improved a tiny bit. Well, my hindsight is 20-20 ...