Condolences to the Colorblind

I should admit that, after very little contact with T.V., I've seen two cheesy movies in the past few days and nearly cried. Okay, I cried once. Anyone else find that traveling sort of packages what would probably be very average conversations / movies / meals / concerts as "E-PI-FUN-Y!" (a la "Surge")? It's like all we need for profundity to fizzle is that extra little shot of adrenaline that comes with the perpetual slight discomfort of displacement. Cheaper options include wearing close-hangers on your nostrils or wearing your belt too tight.

I won't tell you which movies (or what thoughts). One show involved a lingering ghost. And was not a classy new remake of Hamlet.

I realize I refer to myself as "traveler" rather than an "expat". This is to say, I am not working yet and so am not a stable resident, per se. It is also to say that Viet Nam still, reasonably, feels very novel to me.

One thing I notice here - and it seems to be a trend in warm climates - is the amount of color that's allowed here. It's beautiful, and it's energizing. Businesses and homes come in bright teal and celeste with gates in navy blue and lazy fuchsia flowers hanging off yellow balconies. People wear silly, pajama-worthy patterns and orange helmets and, yes, toe and finger nails won't go unpainted by any sister or cousin bored in the midday sun. It's fair to credit the fruit around here, the chum chums (little prickly pink balls with grape-like fruit within), mangos, jack fruit, dragon's eyes (these are actually brown and clear within, but cool and apt name) and all the other flamboyant eats I can't name.

But, just so you don't think I've gone soft for Asia or vice versa -- What you've heard is true: They eat dogs over here. Nora recently confirmed this suspicion when she was offered a live chiwawa "with rice and vegetables". Now, all of a sudden, like when you learn a new word and realize how just how common and important it is, there are dogs everywhere! Big dogs, little dogs; unhappy dogs, indifferent dogs; white dogs, spotty dogs; dogs that look too furry for this climate, dogs that have human-looking (pleading?) faces; dogs with red, just-been-crying eyes, dogs looking up at their (supposedly!) loving owners, dogs, letting their eyes rest from the day, in certain trust of their human parents. Every pup evokes my suspicion. And it's well-founded: a woman grills a spit of kabobs a yard away. They call it "thit cho". Pronounced tit chaw.

I would only eat a dog in self-defense. Or if it told everyone I had halitosis.

But have been eating meat. Where do we draw the lines, oh lord. where do we draw the lines. a lion a tiger a bear oh my a lion a tiger a bear.