Monday

There are many interesting places nearby, and after running around DC all summer I've become patient enough to walk wherever I wish to go. Really it's because I can't take a cab, yet. Half the time, I don't know where things are, but I wouldn't know how to direct the driver if I did. Someday, there will be a lot more about cabs here, but for now I walk. While walking, it's important to keep my attention on several different things at once. Speeding traffic, for one--there will be much more about traffic here someday, too. For two: it is important to watch the sidewalk itself, as it's often riddled with interlocking bricks, slippery tile, roots, missing sewer covers, muddy furrows, oil puddles, or impromptu structures. These are unexpected things; the streets of Saigon are actually in pretty good shape. Among the expected: densely parked scooters, boiling soup, taut rope, elementary school, tiny plastic benches (red), the shoeshine man, and yet more speeding traffic. It's not unexpected to become interested discarded things, a benefit of cocking my attention here and there like a bird. Many discarded scraps look like cash, possibly because there's a funeral parlor nearby using some sort of lucky prayer money. Some of these look like US one-hundred-dollar bills, so maybe they're extra lucky. Or maybe these are unlucky lottery tickets. Whatever; I ignore them. I have a new policy of retrieving random playing cards, however. I see so many I've decided to play a game: Saigon Stud. Lê Thánh Tôn Street¹ dealt me the deuce of hearts down near Ben Thanh Market² today, so I guess I'm drawing for the flush, or maybe high-low. Someday, I might walk off with a large lucky money payoff! I'll keep updating my hand as it develops. [Cavin]