First Day in the City

Well we just finished our first day in Saigon. Everyone was up about 5:45 this morning because of the crazy schedule we've been on for the last few days. We finally left the hotel after breakfast and walked down the street to the Ben Thanh market. This market is one of the largest in Vietnam and probably the busiest places you have ever seen. I’ll try and get some pictures up in a few days.

We headed to the clothes section and began to look for a few clothes to wear until we are reunited with our baggage from the airline. I really avoided the clothing sellers in these markets the last time we came to Vietnam and I had forgotten why, but I was reminded in the first few minutes. Clothing sellers are the pushiest people that you will encounter here. They will physically pull you into their stalls and pressure you to buy all sorts of things. They all try to lure me in with the same call “I have your size! I have your size!” Most of the time they don’t, but a few of them do. I bought two Polo brand shirts that are size XXXXX (the equivalent of our 2X). After you choose what you want the fun begins as you diplomatically arrive at an agreeable price. The conversation, somewhat one-sidedly, usually goes like this: Them: You live in America. You are rich, right?  Me: No ma’am.  Them: OK, I make you good price, $200 for 4 items. Me: No, too much (and I begin to walk away.)  Them: Wait, I discount for you. After ten minutes, I pay $40 for all four pieces knowing that I am overpaying by their standards. They remind me of the pushiest used car salesperson you have ever dealt with x3. At least pushy car salespeople do not usually put their hands on you. I need to get a video of a couple of these young girls as they run out of the stalls in the market and pull me around trying to pull clothes over my head. It was a little more than the boys expected, so we did not stay too long.



Jett washing the sand off of his feet, in true Saigon style, after a thunderstorm.

 After the market trip we walked to a nearby park to let the boys play. They had a good time on the playground and they made a lot of friends. People are amazed at James’s hair and he attracts a crowd oftentimes when we are out walking. They will grab him and feel of it. He has been really good about not overreacting and he seems to be adjusting to it. One lady walked up to us in the market and asked to touch it. She wanted to know if it was real. He just smiles and doesn’t say anything.

I found a Ho Chi Minh City John Deere dealership close to our hotel called Mekong Machinery.

My mother slipped and fell in the park today on a slick piece of pavement. She caught a taxi back to the hotel and put ice on her knee. She is going to hang around the hotel tomorrow and ice it again to make sure it is OK. She can walk fine, but she's still sore. Pray that she will quickly recover so that she can get around like she wants to.

We got a call today from the airport, but they just wanted to be sure we were going to stay in the same hotel. Hopefully they will find our stuff and get it to us. I'm actually looking forward to some clean pants.