The First Vacation

Thursday September 22nd at about 6:30pm she arrived. I waited for Sophea at the bus station for about an hour and a half. Did not mind the wait at all, was in my work clothes and a guy came by who wanted to shine my shoes. They were dirty due to the recent downpours, I figured, why not, I have the time anyway. First time I ever had my shoes shined, I have to say they look a lot nicer now. Returning to her arrival. I see the bus with Khmer writing on it. I catch the name of which I've forgotten already. The bus goes farther down the street than I anticipated. I walk briskly to where it stops. I receive a call on my phone and it's her. I go around the front of the bus and there she is, at the bus station calling me. Our eyes meet from across the bustling street. We both smile and laugh at the same time. I cross the street excitedly yet cautiously as the motos and taxis speed between me. When I reach her, I say សួស្តី​សោភា!​សុខសប្បាយទេ?​​ (Suasdey Sophea, sok sub bai te?) Hello Sophea, how are you? She responds, "Hello John, I'm good and you?" I reply, ខ្ញុំ​សុខសប្បាយអរគុណ។សោភា​ហត់ទេ? (Knyom sok sup bai, ah kuhn. Sophea hot te?) I'm well, thank you. Are you tired? She replies, "No, I'm okay." I ask her, "ចង់ទៅផ្ទះសំណាក់ជិះ​តាក់ស៊ីឬជិះ​ដើ? (Chong tov pteyah somnak ji taxi ru ji dae?) Do you want to go to the guesthouse by taxi or by walking? She answers, "I want to walk, really, I'm not tired." I grab her bag and we're off to our next 6 days together. In case you're wondering, she usually speaks English while I speak Khmer.

We arrive at the guesthouse, take showers, and get ready to go out to dinner. I take her to Rita cafe, a nice place that's not too far away. It has two floors, outdoor and indoor seating. We grab a seat outdoors on the second floor along a patio that parallels the moto infested road. Luckily, we have large trees that block most of the traffic noise. When we arrive, the staff speak Vietnamese to Sophea, she is clueless and I tell them, "Em ay khong la nguoi Viet." [Have yet to install Vietnamese unicode] (She is not Vietnamese) The staff are surprised and speak more Vietnamese to her to ensure I'm not lying or something. Then they understand that she has no idea what they are saying. We order carrot juice (a favorite of Sophea's) strawberry juice and two dishes, a noodle dish and a soup. We share them and enjoy about a 2 hour stay at Rita's. We go back around 9ish as I have work the next day. Upon returning to the guesthouse we brainstorm ideas of things Sophea can do while I'm at work. Museums, Ben Thanh Market, the park, and that's about all we can think of. I tell her she can use my moto which I'm still learning to drive. I draw a map for her to find the park that's about 5 blocks away. I give her a watch to keep track of time and ask her to be back at 5pm as I'll be getting home from work around 5:15pm. She says, "Okay, I'll be back at 7pm. (with a big smile)" Oh Sophea, she always makes me laugh.

The next morning I awake at 5:30am. I get ready for work, invite Sophea to go eat breakfast, but she says matter of factly, "If I get up now, I will have nothing to do, it's too early." She returns to her slumber while I grab breakfast and coffee. I return and go to work. Sophea is sound asleep as I close the door. At 8:15am, when my first class begins, I receive a phone call. I cannot call back until 9am. It turns out the owners of the guesthouse did not let Sophea borrow my motorbike because I did not tell them about it. I let them know it's okay, I did not see them awake when I left that morning so I was unable to tell them ahead of time.

5:15pm I arrive home, Sophea is laying down, watching TV. Which I thought did not work, but apparently it does. I ask her about her day. Turns out she went to the park and she went to Ben Thanh Market. She bought two shirts one for herself, one for me, and a few items for family. She spent most of her day talking to people in the park. Much like when I had my wonderful conversation in the park. Though she says, hers was more entertaining and she talked to many people, not just one. She also helped them with their English. Luckily, Sophea wasn't bored while I was at work. She also happened to buy fruit, mangosteens, which I love and have not had since I've been here. We both take showers and prepare for our night out. We are going to a restaurant along the Saigon river, called The Deck.

After about a 45 minute taxi ride and getting lost a few times, we find the place. We sit alongside the river and enjoy Tomato Crab Salad, Caramelized Salmon Infused with Galangal, Pan Fried Duck Breast with Mango Salsa, and a bottle of  Le Merlot de la Chapelle. We talk through the night, taking in the beautiful ambiance and riverside scenery. Laughing throughout and exchanging many new words, it was the perfect way to spend our first real night together in Vietnam without any worries for the next day. The staff were also very friendly and seemed to be intrigued by our interactions. The staff once again, were surprised when they learned Sophea was not Vietnamese. Sophea began the guessing game. The waiter said, "Chinese, Korean, Singaporean, and lastly, Cambodian." The waiter also asserted that I was her husband, adding to what would be our continued misinterpretation of who and what we both are.

We head home after dinner as we decide it's better to go to bed earlier rather than later. Dancing at a club was considered, but the next day we had to hop on the bus at 8am to get to Mui Ne, a beach town northeast of Saigon, about 5 hours away. The next three days we would spend in Mui Ne, which I will continue to write about at another time....need to get some work done before it's bedtime.