BRING YOUR OWN LIGHT

PHOTOGRAPHS
TOM & JERRY

WAITING TO CROSS

RED FLAGS

DONG EXCHANGE

LOW RIDER - working with what's available is an important skill

DOWN THE TRACKS


BRING YOUR OWN LIGHT
In my travels yesterday, I purchased a lantern for a post-bargain price of 140,000 vnd (about $9.00) for a friend here. The bargaining process with the Vietnamese shop owner consisted of passing a calculator back and forth along with exchanges of subtle eyebrow acrobatics and air-blowing techniques. Curling your bottom lip to exhale a funneled stream of air into my hair seemed to be effective. To be honest, I really needed to use the bathroom so continuing to bargain was not an option. I made my way with my new lantern in hand to what turned out to be the darkest coffee shop in Hanoi. I had to walk through their personal kitchen up stairs that could have passed for a ladder into a room that wouldn't' take my full height. I ordered a thimble-sized cup of coffee and when the waiter exited down the steep stairs, I found a spare outlet and illuminated the room with a red light from the lantern so I could see what I was drinking. Before long, I was joined by a Vietnamese couple who seemed surprised that a westerner had selected this particular shop for a break. I shot my coffee-not-grande, tipped a few extra thousand dong for the electricity I used and proceeded to unplug my lantern leaving the newly arrived couple in darkness and concern for why I was stealing a lantern from this shop. I could not explain and slowly made my way down the ladder steps, smiled as I walked back through the kitchen and continued down the street.