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.  

Healthcare options; art, lessons and life combine

There seems to be a real split here on how to handle illness. There's the home, holistic, organic treatment crowd, of which my wife is a member and I'm on the fringe. These folks don't go to doctors or clinics much, except in an emergency, and prefer homemade remedies consisting of teas, roots, flowers and such. They'll go to the internet on occasion, but tend to stay within their own culture and associates, often on Zalo or Facebook. I'll use any online advice I deem appropriate and end up applying ice to 75 percent of my ailments. Unlike Peru, where the pharmacists would provide decent suggestions or advice, the pharmacists here haven't been particularly helpful to me, often giving hand waves and suggesting medicine not relating to my problem. When I try to speak Vietnamese, it only makes matters worse. No doubt a language thing. My Spanish seemed to be understood at times. The clinic/hospital advocates here understandably consist of many elderly people, but not exclusively. I mentioned my son's coughing and upset stomach to a young woman who suggested I take him to the hospital for chest X-rays. I appreciate her concern but thought X-rays weren't necessry at this point. Besides, hospitals are full of sick people. I guess you could have a family doctor, but I've never heard of anyone having one. Still, most medicines are considerably cheaper here than in the U.S.  My glaucoma eye drops cost about 75 percent less here than in the U.S. For now, I'll stick with the Internet and cheap meds.
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 Homeschooling is going surprisingly well with my daughter, who remains focused on drawing and coloring animals, especially Komodo dragons and iguanas. But she has also combined art ideas with our lessons on landforms and illnesses due to poor nutrition, telling me "I have to draw a Komodo on a plateau with goiter." She never did draw the elevated, iodine-deficient Komodo dragon, but she drew more than 20 miniature  book covers on one sheet of paper; each one focuses on different aspects of her life, art and school the past few weeks. If you look close enough you can see a shark and whale breaching, a reading tiger, king Komodo and frog, the Lorax, and even Horton holding a clover with the Who on board. Joanna is approaching 6 years old -- hard to believe -- and she's really changed for the better but remains as quirky as ever. No real peers or organized outdoor activites may contribute to a little frustration at times.
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  Speaking of frustration, I let my emotions get the better of me for the first time in a long while. A car came off the street onto the sidewalk where Joanna and I were walking to get a birthday gift for my wife.  The car started backing up toward us, so I held up the umbrella I was carrying and yelled as politely as you can yell, "Careful, there's two people here." At that, the car accelerated a little so Joanna and I moved to the side and I asked the guy "what's up, man?" He gave a mean-looking stare like I was in the wrong. That's when I lost it and shouted profanity-laced invectives at him and stared that loser down. And loser is the right word for someone who drives on a sidewalk, accelerates toward a father and his 5-year-old daughter after the father shouts "careful" and then tries to give the father the awkward eye. My daughter laughed hysterically at my vulgar behavior and language. That helped calm me down and we continued our walk to get Phuong's gifts. I'm sure Joanna will remember every inappropriate word I used, including the mother of all curse words. My $#@^%* bad.
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Our son Elijah has been pretty sick this past week with a horrible cough, runny nose and vomiting for a few days. He really hasn't eaten much, and when he does he spits up pretty quickly. He still causes mischief around the house, but without the usual elan he exhibits. Too bad there isn't a magic wand or way to make a sick child instantly better. It's so tough to watch.
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 We had the mother of all birthday parties this past week for the mother of Joanna and Elijah. It's been a tough week for Phuong with Elijah being sick and not sleeping much. Good thing she's still a young woman -- she needs the energy to handle Elijah. I got her some headphones, fancy bath soaps and sponge, and a computer table so she can lie in bed and use her laptop. I cooked -- nothing new there -- and Phuong's aunt made a fabulous cake -- nothing new there, either.. It was a wonderful little gathering; I wish Elijah felt better. Anyway, hope you had the happiest of happy birthdays Phuong, and many, many more.

Adapting to rainy season; feet don't fail me now

The early arrival of the rainy season has forced a few minor lifestyle adjustments. Sometimes I'll take an umbrella on afternoon walks with the kids, or only one of our two children will accompany me. I've been fortunate because I haven't been caught out in the rain with both children. Joanna and I have been stranded a couple of times already, and once we had to walk home from the swimming  pool -- about 1.5 kilometers  -- in a steady rain.  Yeah, we were already wet from swimming .... and there was no thunder or lightning so it wasn't scary.  But for whatever reason, whenever we're out in the rain we invariably get sniffles and sneezes the next day.  Since Covid still lurks here, that's a mild concern.  But with three shots and a couple of mysterious illnesses to my credit, I don't worry too much. I have enough other health issues to keep me occupied.  And Joanna seems to have an iron constitution. Just to be safe, we wear masks everywhere and keep plenty of orange juice in the fridge, which we guzzle after long walks. There's always a warm bath or shower to finish things up.
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The shoes I ordered from Softstar Shoes in Oregon that are supposed to relieve tailor's bunion discomfort finally arrived via DHL They were stuck in Ho Chi Minh City customs for a while, so I called DHL customer service and the shoes arrived the next day. And the DHL driver's assistant or whatever he was gave me three DHL pens, which thrilled my ever-drawing daughter to the max. Good job by DHL. Anyway, I look like I have duck feet now -- hence, the Oregon ducks -- but so what; I walk pain-free on our hardest of hard floors. Walking barefoot or with so-called sports sandals in our house gave me nothing but pain. The duck shoes were pricey, and so were the customs fees, but worth it in the end. The internet suggested the shoes, ice soaks and pain relievers; all have helped. Walking is essential here, and I prefer to do it without pain.
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My wife brought home some sesame flower buds from the park and she says they have medicinal value, claiming that they help with skin issues. She put quite a few of them in Joanna's bath and the skin issues our daughter had after swimming in a pool -- I suspected chlorine as the cause -- have disappeared. The flower buds are all over the street and park. I'm a believer and will try them on the scars on my nose left by heat rash and infection.
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Joanna loves checking out the fish tanks at Mega Mart, especially the ones with sturgeon and lobster. A dad came up to the tanks with his son, reached in and pulled out a sturgeon and tried to hand it to my daughter. She squealed in delight, but didn't touch the fish.  That struck me as funny since she touches fish whenever she can at coffee shops like Kim Koi or Gosanke. The guy also pulled out a lobster to more squeals of delight.

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I bought science text books at the local book store to assist with my homeschooling. The books aren't too corny and include stickers, which all kids like.  We've had lessons on obesity and nutrition, diseases, planets and seasons.  They're OK lessons. Joanna likes the books because they're her books, not random papers from the printer. They give her a sense of ownership and independence. We had a major breakthrough this week. I left the room and Joanna continued her work -- identifying singular and plural nouns, and verbs, in sentences -- by herself. That type of independent work was a first. She'll draw and color by herself all the time, but she's never done stuff like English and math without prodding and supervision ... until now.

Worrisome future for kids; bad reaction; go-to doctor

I wonder and worry about what kind of world my children will be growing up in  ,... actually, not just my children but everyone's children, and grandchildren as well. I chatted briefly with a friend about this. We're seeing a war of horrible atrocities in Ukraine that threatens to expand, a bitter political divide in the U.S., a virus that hasn't gone away yet, climate issues, and tensions between the U.S. and China. Who knows what's on the horizon. Adding to my gloom is being unable to get my wife a visa and take our two children to the United States. We can't even get a rejection on the waiver for a visa, which God knows we don't want.  A decision may not come for another five months at least. Covid and now refugees from Afghanistan and Ukraine are possibly contributing to the delay in a decision on my wife's waiver. Those folks are obviously in a worse situation than we are, so there's no complaint on our part about refugees being a priority. We just want our children educated in the U.S., especially our daughter, who speaks, reads, and writes splendidly in English, but not so much in Vietnamese; I'm not sure why, but that's the reality. The one school here that conducts classes solely in  English costs about $20,000 USD a year; I'm not sure why, but that's also the reality. My concerns are more selfish than survival, but my children will need every advantage to face and overcome the challenges of a world in flux.
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My daughter had a reaction to the chlorine in the swimming pool we go to -- at least I believe it was the chlorine -- with red bumps pretty much all over her body. There was no itching or pain, and the bumps are subsiding. But still. I wasn't affected, but Joanna spent a little more time in the water. Next time, we'll try bathing with a special soap immediately after she's out of the pool. Applying vaseline petroleum jelly beforehand is recommended, but vaseline is difficult to get here. I really want her to play in the pool because it helps a very energetic child burn off energy, and most importantly, she enjoys it. We'll try again once the bumps go away.
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The Internet really has become my go-to "doctor" here. I try to use my experience and logic as well, with less success. Dr. Internet (I call her Dr. I for short) believes the nasty pain on the outside of  my left foot near my little toe is a tailor's bunion. It comes from walking way too much in inappropriate shoes, and genetics. My Ukrainian mom had foot issues. Anyway, Dr. I recommends 10 minutes of ice application to my sore foot three times a day and she also says to take anti-inflammatories and get more comfortable shoes. Being a good patient, I've been icing and drugging, and my shoes hopefully will arrive in a week or two. I can walk with a little less pain now, so I think Dr. I is on to something.
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Delivery service here is very iffy for items coming from out of the country. Services like DHL and FedEx now want passport number, bank account statements and proof of purchase to get items out of Vietnamese customs. The eight books I ordered for my kids arrived this week; bunion-friendly shoes should be coming in the next couple of weeks. I ordered four books three months ago that never came -- lost $85 on that deal. I don't care about the money because I really wanted the kids to get those books. .... My Kindle streak is at 851 days in a row. Alexander Hamilton has reeled me in. .... My son Elijah loves all music. His favorite is Vivaldi's Spring. Excellent taste. He loves dancing, too, but to his credit he doesn't dance to Vivaldi; he just listens.

Covid still lurks; sketchbook helps conserve paper

My wife Phuong got her Covid booster shot with minimal side-effects. Good for her. I've read where a fourth shot or second booster might be beneficial to someone over 60, which means I'll be a human pin cushion if that's what is necessary to eliminate or minimize the impact of Covid. The virus still has life here, with close to 70,000 new cases a day. The total number of cases is now at 9.7 million. Schools go on and off quite frequently due to the virus. Masks remain in vogue for most of the general public. Businesses are very slowly returning to something resembling normal, but people must still be a little jumpy about Covid because our park remains relatively quiet and the swimming pool we go to has only a handful of people. But the coffee and milk tea shops here, which are something of an economic barometer, are drawing more and more customers.
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My daughter Joanna's love of drawing, coloring and painting led to a minor dispute. Being a temperamental artist, she won't use two sides of a paper. I complained about waste. She can be overly fastidious at times, so I suspect that if the paper isn't absolutely, perfectly clean, she simply refuses to draw on both sides. She'll snatch clean sheets off the printer and she refuses to conserve despite talks about trees, waste and expense. At the mall bookstore I bought a good-sized sketchbook with about 15 pages. After two days, she's done elaborate drawings and colorings using only two pages. In the past, she would use between 15 to 20  pages over two days -- at least.  Maybe the larger size of paper and finite aspect of the sketch book has forced a change of attitude. The drawings are little stories and describe much of what we've learned in class. I say 'we' because so much of what 'we' study is as new to me as Joanna. Anyway, so far so good with the sketch book.
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My daughter saw her first motorbike accident here ... and I hope it'll be her last but I won't hold my breath. A guy came off the sidewalk and merged into a guy coming down the street at a good clip right next to us. The guy on the street stopped his bike but the guy who merged into him didn't look at him and rode away, which probably means he was in the wrong. I thought he was. Joanna just watched the proceedings and didn't say anything.
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Joanna and I returned to swimming this past week because Joanna is antsy and bored. Also, dancing at homeschool doesn't spin her beanie so much and there's no real playground in our area where kids gather. So we walk to Pegasus, a residential high-rise with a pool on the seventh floor. After some bouncing around the pool we go to the overpriced Japanese bakery across the street and Joanna eats a hot dog and pastry. I'm hoping the swimming helps my foot, which still hasn't recovered a from a marathon walk with Joanna last week to Lido and beyond. Ah, the Golden Years.