Day 1 - Jetlag

We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam at about 10:30am yesterday and we were greeted with an entourage of family members. There were numerous places for us to stay but my mom and I had already agreed to stay in my uncle's condo located in District 4, which is surrounded by stores and food joints. We got to the condo, unloaded our bags and went out to lunch. What did we eat? Well... PHO of course! The staple Vietnamese dish of rice noodles in beef broth, garnished with about what seemed like a pound of herbs.

For those of you who eat Pho in Canada, note the difference in the amount of herbs we were greeted with at the table:

We were a group of seven but the restaurant didn't have a table big enough for all of us so we split up - the five women sat together and the two men sat together at another table. It is not uncommon for you to be seated with other people and the concept of having your own personal space isn't something that the Vietnamese pay too much attention to. We were seated with another couple who were already occupying the table and they didn't seem to mind that they were joined by five loud, laughing ladies.

After lunch, we went to one of my aunt's house (my mother's cousin). I was impressed with the layout of the homes in Vietnam - built to promote an open feeling towards the outside. A common house would have a front veranda, which can also be used as a front porch, a parking lot, a garden, or even a storefront. Walking through the veranda, you get to the front room of the house, what we typically call the living room. It's where you greet your guests and watch television. Behind the living room are stairs that lead to the second floor and beyond the stairs is the room and then a kitchen. If you're well off or financially comfortable, you may have two of these units and combine them into one.

We weren't able to stay long because I was practically falling asleep in my chair. I hadn't slept on the plane so I was exhausted. My mother, on the other hand, was still reeling with excitement, having been reunited with her "sisters" after so long. At one point, I was tugging along both suitcases, a backpack and her neck pillow only to find that she had already gotten into the taxi with my aunt, catching up on gossip from the past 28 years! Seeing her so excited has made me humble...all of these years, she left her home to travel to Canada with her family and the life she left behind was so incredibly happy. She was surrounded by her sisters and their children...she had a whole other family before she married into my father's.

We left my aunt's house and came back to the condo, only to pass out at 4:30pm. My relatives told us to get some rest because tomorrow would be a full day - they warned that they would come knocking early. I slept until about midnight and woke up to my mother staring at me...she had been awake since 10pm. She was waiting for me to wake up to tell me that she had gone to the bathroom and didn't realize that the bathroom floor was still wet from our showers and her pant legs were soaked and therefore, she couldn't fall back asleep. We ended up talking until about 4am and then went back to sleep for two hours before waking up again from hunger pains. haha. We joked about how being in Vietnam would make us skinny because we're not eating much and we're walking around all over town.

The first few days are blending into one another.... on to Day 2!