Delays in visa bid; fewer masks; distressing times

The date for a decision on my wife's waiver request for a U.S. visa  keeps getting moved back. We hoped to find out as soon as possible after the USCIS acknowledged receiving the waiver request Oct. 28, 2021. At one point, the USCIS web site indicated a decision was possible in late June. Then the date changed to late July; now it's late September. This means our daughter may have to start first grade in Vietnam. The only all-English school in town carries a hefty price tag approaching $20,000 U.S. dollar a year. I've been homeschooling, but I've seen the importance of peers for my daughter's development. She was doing fine with swimming lessons I provided at the pool but was reluctant to put her head under water. I didn't push it. Maybe she was shook up by her fall into a fish pond at a local coffee shop. But when she saw other kids at the pool swimming under water, she lost that reluctance and went under a bunch of times. I believe a little positive peer influence and competition would be invaluable for her.
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Masks seem to be becoming a little irrelevant here, with more people exposing their faces. Perhaps the importance of selfies is playing a role in this. My daughter and I continue to wear masks whenever we go out, which is every day for several hours. We'll walk close to 3 miles round trip for swimming or fish watching at Lido or wherever. Vietnam recorded just over 1,000 Covid cases and no deaths on Sunday. By comparison, North Korea had 100,000 new 'fever' cases but only one death, which is amazing if true. I'm hoping to get a fourth Covid vaccine shot just to be safe.
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I've backed away from watching the news, which is so distressing lately. The Texas shooting upset us greatly; we have a little girl of school age. I was a substitute teacher for a day in a predominately Hispanic class of second graders in California a long time ago, and I remember how sweet the kids were; there was very little English spoken in the class. The war in Ukraine continues with death, destruction and atrocities. There's no end in sight and the repercussions can be felt throughout the world. At least Covid seems less intense except in North Korea, which keeps lobbing missiles into the sea .... Changing to a lighter topic, we've had serious rain daily for over a week. This, I assume, is what a real rainy season is like. .... I got a chilly (that's the spelling on the menu) chicken roll at Bay Leaf Restaurant on Vo Thi Sau and it was outstanding. Every dish I've ordered there has been excellent. .... My Kindle reading streak passed 900 days in a row. I'm at 905. If I get to 1,000 I may miss a day on purpose to keep things at a nice even number.
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I was hit twice in the past week by motorbikes while crossing the street with my daughter. No injuries for me and Joanna or the perpetrators either time. The first bump occured in the rain near The Coffee House. The rider must have really cut his left turn short as he came onto our street because he was in the wrong lane when he bopped me. Since we were past the center line holding umbrellas, I was looking the other way to make sure oncoming traffic didn't hit us, so I didn't see him coming. The impact was minor. I didn't get an apology. The second bump upset me a little more because the traffic light signaled for pedestrians to cross -- the little person lit up green which meant we should cross. I held up my left hand, which was holding a Bluetooth speaker I had just purchased (my right hand held my daughter's hand), just to be safe. Didn't matter because a cyclist banged into the hand and speaker as we legally and properly crossed the street in the zebra (white stripes). This impact shocked me a bit. The cyclist wouldn't make eye contact as I yelled at him about being blind and/or disrespectful, and he took off without looking back. A security guard sitting at a chicken joint on the corner thought the collision was hilarious. I'm not really sure what to do about these types of incidents. Hey, we're like the chicken and sometimes we have to get to the other side. I seemed to have fewer encounters with traffic when I carried my walking stick, but it's difficult to carry bread, pastries, fruit,  AND hold the stick AND my daughter's hand AND chew gum all at the same time. Since my back and foot are now functional, I can go without the stick. Besides, the walking stick makes me look like a fat, beardless Moses.

Rain won't go away, so we improvise to have fun

There are no free outdoor playgrounds near our house in Bien Hoa that I know of, so we have to improvise to provide fun and entertainment for our two young children. My wife is good at this, probably because she grew up in this environment. She supervises our 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son as they play in heavy rain -- and there has been a lot of heavy rain lately; it rains every day, sometimes for stretches of three and four hours.  The kids splash, puddle jump and run back and forth in the flooded streets. They love it. Our kids are unique playing in the rain because most adults here seem to fear the rain and keep their kids and themselves indoors even when it's cloudy. We have taken our kids to a place called tiNiWorld at the mall to play. Obviously, tiNiWorld has lots of options but it can be extremely crowded, which makes it much less enjoyable, and the coughing, sneezing crowds probably make it just as unhealthy as playing in the rain. A nearby coffee shop, Nup, had a slide and swings, but it closed down recently. The fish coffee shop, Kim Koi, has put in a few items for kids -- a small slide and springy toys -- but three kids make it crowded. It's better than nothing, but water for the koi creates a safety hazard in my view. My daughter fell into the water at Gosanke coffee shop, and my son's 3-year-old buddy fell into the water at Kim Koi. With no railing, this kind of stuff happens. Kids play soccer in the streets, but motorbikes and cars don't slow, swerving around the kids and blaring their horns. No matter.  Joanna isn't interested in sports and Elijah is too young. The park we go to has exercise equipment  primarily for adults. So for now, we go on long walks, go to the swimming pool and play in the rain.
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I missed the flower moon this year due to cloudy skies and rain. I did see a nice moon the next night, although it was a day late and sliver short. My cell phone doesn't quite capture the beauty of a nearly full moon in the night sky, so I'll spare you the poor visual. Venus is usually visible in the night sky, but that's about it.
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 The Internet has done wonders for my foot, pained by a tailor's bunion. I wear Softstar shoes around the house, apply ice when necessary and use a toe spacer; the combination has made my daily walks with my daughter enjoyable again, except for the heat and humidity.  I sent a note to Softstar complimenting them on their shoes, and "Elf " Tiffanie responded, thanking me for the note and saying that she was happy to hear about my pain-free walking. I guess the employees are elves -- so cute. My right foot, which was banged up and bruised when I fell down some stairs, improved on its own. I didn't even look online.
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Our son Elijah has become a big fan of CNN. Not sure why. He cries in frustration when BabyTV is on, and relaxes and races to "his spot" on the couch when I change the channel to CNN. Those are the only two channels we watch. I try to be careful with what he sees, switching off if the details are too much on the mass shooting in Buffalo or war in Ukraine. The same goes for Joanna, who will repeat snippets from the news sometimes. But at least Joanna will still watch BabyTV; she enjoys the songs and a couple of the shows. So do I, for that matter. Admittedly, the kids probably watch more TV than they should, but with the rain alternating with 96-degree heat, options can be limited.
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Joanna was drawing near the front door when the girl next door, who's 6 or 7, came up and gave Joanna the middle finger. She did it a second time and my wife saw and the girl ran away. This isn't a huge deal.  A boy down the street did this to Joanna as we took our walk, but the boy came up and stuck his finger in her face. I'll guess both kids probably saw this at school. A few years back a boy about 8 or 9 yelled $%&@ you! at my wife, me and Joanna as we walked up the street, and another young kid spewed about five or six choice words at me when I came home from the market. This stuff used to really honk me off, but these days I roll with it a lot better. If the remarks upset my wife or kids, maybe I'll get riled up, but usually my glaring stare will calm things down.
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After finishing the 818 pages of Hamilton by Ron Chernow I've moved on to Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky. So far, lots of facts, almost all very interesting. My Kindle streak continues at 893 days in a row of reading. My kids aren't the only ones with limited recreational opportunities. ... I'll give Joanna a long summer break from formal homeschooling, since she's had enough for the time being. I'll do an evaluation to see where she stands as far as entering first grade goes. I suspect patience and behavior will be more of a challenge for her than the academics. She'll thrive with the right teachers in the right environment. Probably true for all of us.

Fall from grace; late nights; Lenin statue in Hanoi

   In yet another sign that the end game can be rough sport, I fell while coming downstairs from the third floor of our house where I had gone to do a little exercise while my daughter colored animal pictures and my son resisted sleep. It was just a bit past 9 p.m.. Things like this happen quickly when you're older and slower. I wasn't drunk, since I don't drink these days. My left leg either buckled or missed a step, I grabbed the railing and it creaked a little. If I go through it's either death or close enough to death since there's no real barrier from the third to the first floor. That design has been a nightmare with our two children. It's cheaper to build up than out. No horrible damage as I write this the morning-after ... other than a sore right foot, tender left arm, sore neck and tweaked back. My daughter heard the commotion of me rolling down some steps and yelling out, and ran out of her bedroom asking "Are you OK, dad?"  What a sweetheart! Elijah came out smiling -- another reason to stay up late. My wife, who was exhausted from dealing with Elijah, dinner and tons of laundry, which requires multiple trips up and down our vertical living space, saw I was sitting up and seemed relieved. My wife has fallen on these unforgiving faux marble stairs a couple of times, once twisting an ankle. I've had a few crashes. Anyway, I was able to walk Joanna to the pool and swim with her on Friday. The entire trip is more than 2 miles, so that's a good sign.
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I mentioned sleep resistance above because both of my kids don't like to go bed early, meaning before 9 p.m. I'll defend them a bit here. This is the tropics, or torrid zone (my daughter just learned this in her science book). It's either brutally hot or raining in the late morning and afternoon, so the optimal time for our kids to be active is very late afternoon and evening. Elijah takes a decent nap in the day and Joanna just doesn't enjoy sleeping like the rest of us,  although I've noticed she 'll read in bed in the mornings. Anyway, after dinner, which seems to stimulate our children, they're not in the mood for sleep. Joanna likes to draw in her room at night and will stay up way too late. Elijah bounces around a little but he's out like a light when he decides to sleep, usually around 9:15 to 9:30 p.m. or 10 p.m. when dad falls down the stairs. Our kids' sometimes erratic sleep patterns contribute to my fatigue.
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I was reading about Vietnam's neutrality in the Ukrainian conflict, which makes sense given its past relationship with Russia. What I didn't know was that the friendship was cemented when Russia gave Vietnam a statue of Lenin in 1982, which sits in a Hanoi park. The park is a haven for skateboarders, who probably don't give the statue much thought, but the gift from Russia seems to show a real bond between the countries. I rode past the statue and park on a bus tour of Hanoi with a friend, uh comrade, who visited a few years back.
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The rain has stranded me and my daughter on our walks a few times in the past two weeks. A big storm the other night had us sitting in a milk-tea joint fairly close to our house. We waited through thunder and lightning, and Joanna finally got impatient and was willing to make a dash in the rain. We ran and the rain seemed to a let up a little. Our big adventure ended happily. I've heard thunder a few times while we're at the pool, and we get out of the water. No one else does, and people just swim while it's raining. I haven't actually seen lightning while at the 7th floor, outdoor pool, but hearing the clap and rumble of thunder is enough.
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Spoiler alert: Alexander Hamilton gets killed in a duel with Aaron Burr in the book Hamilton. The West Indies immigrant who was George Washington's confidante and helped create our financial system and wrote much of the Federalist Papers, led a tragic, controversial and remarkable life. This wonderful book has pushed my Kindle reading streak to 887 days in a row. Just finished on Friday and I may let the streak end here. ... I tried to buy a fish tank for my daughter but it never got delivered. Oh well. ... My son Elijah looks up to his big sister so much that's he's started showing off for her at night, bouncing off the bed onto the faux marble floor. Ouch. Easy fella. You can get hurt in this house.

Fast-moving bread; birthday boy and a scary dip

 They zip down our street twice a day nearly every day with the signature, recorded chant of banh mi nong day, banh mi nong gion day (hot bread here, hot, crispy bread here) blaring over a loudspeaker. The men and women who race down our street on their motorbikes are carrying baskets filled with rolls and they seem as interested in covering a lot of ground as they are in selling the bread. Some people on our street join me in chuckling about the speed at which the bread sellers travel. If you're not outside, it's difficult to get these doughboys and doughgirls to stop and sell you bread. I've yelled from inside the house and they'll glance and keep moving. I've gotten them  to stop maybe once or twice with a yell from inside the house. Standing outside and waving a hand is your best bet. The reward is an OK roll that is best eaten right out of the basket. In a hour the crust can get absurdly flakey and the dough expands and gets chewy. But the bread, which doesn't cost a lot of dough, so to speak, at 5,000 dong (25 cents U.S.) per roll, is adequate in a pinch, even if you never know exactly when these bread bikes will come around. Sometimes I hear the familiar and not always comforting chant of  banh mi nong day, banh mi nong gion day at 6 a.m., and the chant continues (loudly) while the cyclist stops to make a sale outside our bedroom. The few times we've really wanted to buy a roll or two, they'll pass by after dinner or not at all. But all the sellers are pleasant, friendly and willing to change large bills. The seller I have a photo of picked up our daughter's shoes from the street and put them on our front steps when it started to rain; we were trying to dry them out after our daughter went puddle-jumping. The drive-bys are welcome since they bring some life to streets recently quieted by Covid. It's a sign that life is returning to normal. There is plenty of commercial traffic now on our street from motorbikes, bicycles and pedestrians; these folks sell ice cream, mops and brooms, food and lottery tickets. And if you don't blink, you might see people riding on motorbikes selling bread.
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Our son Elijah turned 2 on Friday, which seems incredible. Even more unbelievable, Joanna will turn 6 in July. I'm not sure Elijah understood the whole birthday party process, but he smiled every time I sang Happy Birthday. We had a little unwanted excitement before the birthday dinner when Joanna fell into the water at Gosanke, slipping off a wet rock while trying to touch some fish. My wife pulled her out of the water and things could have been horrible if no adult was around. The water was fairly deep -- over her head and she can't quite swim yet. I was chasing Elijah around the coffee shop's parking lot and didn't see any of the mishap. Elijah and I went back into Gosanke and a soaking wet Joanna was walking toward us with her mom. I took her home, had her shower, and we went back to Gosanke. Hopefully, Joanna learned a lesson. She seemed a little shook up by the incident, aplogizing to us, to the fish, to everyone. But she got right back on the rocks to feed the fish after she cleaned up and dried off. Maybe that's OK, as long she avoids the wet rocks and watches her step. And keeps close to me or  mom!
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Rainy season is off to a roaring start here, with big storms coming four out of the last five nights. No water in the house yet, except from plumbing issues, so all is well. I've always enjoyed thunderstorms, and that's usually what we get here. ... My ailing foot has responded well to treatment and I'm able to walk where I need to go with Joanna, places like the pool and Japanese Bakery. I don't want pain to intrude on our trips, or prevent them from taking place. ...  The remarkably detailed book Hamilton by Ron Chernow is riveting, depressing, upsetting and inspirational. It has given me a whole new perspective of our founding fathers in the U.S. Hamilton has helped push my Kindle reading streak to 881 days in a row. It's a long book and totally absorbing so I expect the streak will grow. And speaking of streaks, I haven't drunk any booze of any kind for 29 months. Too busy reading and chasing my kids, I guess.