50-50

Karaoke is big here!

We could call today a bust or a win. I am going with win. We got to Nam Giang around 10:30. I woke up naturally at 6 am to go get Internet (and coffee) at a local shop. The Internet at our hotel had died last night (and I must say I exhibited pretty intense withdrawal symptoms). After our last field visit, we were definitely wary of what to expect - not all of us, but at least some. Well, it was needless worrying on our part. The hotel where we are staying is great, the rooms clean, the Internet works. What about work you ask? Well, it seems like there were what I am going to ambiguously call 'miscues'. Nobody who should have been expecting us was expecting us and so no meeting that we had planned happened. By tomorrow morning we will know if we are even meant to stay here for the week. Instead most of us gave into the temptation that is a siesta (I only got 15 minutes sadly). We woke up to learn  nothing was likely to happen today.

Beautiful furniture at the coffee shop

We then went to get coffee, some folks went for an informal chat over coffee about rattan. I got some work done, wrote some of a paper I need to write (and by wrote I mean jotted down bullet points in no particular order and felt very happy with myself). It rained heavily in the afternoon and the combination of the winds and mist over the lush mountains was rather pretty (and I am pretty hardened against such sentiments by now). I decided to take a walk around the hotel and met many babies and toddlers being taken out for the evening and fed their meals. It is cool and breezy and I remembered why hill stations can be so charming. Hue is great but extremely hot and I have forgotten what it feels like to live anyplace where the weather works with you. In general things are great. In terms of one of our projects, confusion abounds.

At least I can use chopsticks now

We had an update meeting and went for dinner to a restaurant close by. Dinner was relaxed and fun. I think I have eaten more than my fair share of rice and soya sauce for this lifetime. If I never ate that combination again, it wouldn't be too less. The eggs were nice as well - it is essentially an omelette and while I never thought of combining rice and omelette, stranger things have happened I am sure. I headed back to the hotel earlier than others since it wasn't a very far walk away. It has been a while since I have walked in a relatively dark street. In that sense Vietnam has been good for me; by being safe it has helped me control some of my anxiety. But even so, as I walked back, I could feel my chest clenching a little. I looked around, I saw women sitting outside, driving on bikes.

This one is for the Huda (the local beer) 

No one was bothering me. I crossed a few restaurants and bars and even as someone seemed to have shouted hello, 'an do' (Indian) it was very mild. But I am reminded of what we are asking women when we ask them to take back the night. It has hard. Years and years of conditioning of living in Delhi have made me fearful of nights in places I don't know. Until I saw the hotel sign I was irrationally convinced that I was on the wrong way and I'd have to call my team and ask them to come get me. Which they happily would. Or something bad would happen (that isn't irrational in general). I don't have a point as much as I wanted to point out how certain situations bring out a fight or flight response and how instinctive it becomes. So as to not end on a very somber note, the family that runs the hotel has the cutest 8-month old baby girl called Maika. I held her for a while today and I must say it was such a calming feeling. She was dressed in a patterned pajama and top and just watched all of us, as we held our meeting and spoke. So many strange, loud voices and faces in one day.