Comfort food

Going to eat banh muot in the morning may be the best possible way to start my day. I know, it's not the healthiest food to start my day on (spicy spring rolls wrapped in delicate sheets of rice noodle, all dipped in a sweet, garlicky fish sauce), but I am always in such a good mood after eating it. It is definitely my version of the #1 Vietnamese comfort food, and definitely on my top 5 list of ALL favorite foods in Vietnam. Period.

Going to get banh muot has gotten even better (if possible!) over the past few days, because some lovely patrons have made it so. For the past two mornings, I have dined at the same time as a cute grandmother and her two grandkids, a girl who is maybe a year old and a boy who is three years old.

The boy is a regular Casanova and goes around the entire restaurant, kissing all the women on their cheeks and receiving big hugs and kisses in return. Naturally, I wanted in on the action, so eight months into my grant, I received my first kiss from a Vietnamese person! (Don't worry, friends and family back home, he is too young for me, so I am definitely not going to elope and stay here forever like some of you may have feared!) He is the sweetest, most charming little boy I have met since being here, and it is such a pleasure to dine there now that I have fun kids to play with!

In keeping with the theme of comfort food, after breakfast I started up my trusty rice cooker to prepare for dinner. Black beans went in with the homemade salsa from yesterday and cooked for several hours. Around lunch time, I took a taste, and the beans were already cooked through, so I added some rice and mashed banana and sat down for a lunch of sweet-and-savory South American beans and rice!

I still have a really sore throat and am not feeling entirely up to teaching, but I received some (probably well-deserved) chastisement today for missing so many classes without making them up after-the-fact, so the last thing I want to do now is cancel more classes and have their make-up dates hanging over my head. Good thing I have some 75-cent DVDs of The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Toy Story, complete with both English and Vietnamese sub-titles (ahhhh I love the goods that I can find in Hanoi!) for a day like today when I need to be physically present in the classroom but would rather save my voice and general health.

The good news (for those of you weather-watchers) is that the weather in Ha Tinh is finally starting to clear! Last night I was able to take my down comforter out of my duvet cover because it is finally getting warm enough! Last night I even slept with air conditioner on! It may be time to pack away Henry the Heater, which is great news! The not-so-great news is that the cold, rainy, and grey weather has turned into hot, humid, and grey weather. Not quite beach weather, but definitely an improvement!!!