-^-for posterity-^-

early in the morning weaving through traffic. everything moves so smoothly and seems so fast. we're only going 40 km/hr. i think horses can run that fast. i always think about having an accident. i wear my helmet but you never know. would i slide into the ditch or into on-coming traffic? questions my father and grandfather would think about. somehow, i too have the death-obsession gene.

we travelled to can tho. it's the largest city in the mekong delta and they have pizza and tourists. i went to gawk and eat.

we went with friends and they showed us a wonderful time. we travelled outside the city and ended up in a wonderfully lush area. everything was green and seemed to tower above the roads. you couldn't see rice paddies and we rode through a tunnel of palm leaves. we came to fruit gardens and a cousin's house. we ate and toured through the gardens.

we entered the garden of eden. men sat around on chairs without shirts or shoes under the lush canopy of fruit trees. you walk into the garden and enter another world. there are rows of different fruit trees and ditches full of water and fish. everything you need surrounds you.

people from our group were nonchalantly picking fruit from trees and eating it. i ate everything i could put my grubby hands on. fruits i had never seen. fruits with lovely, leather-like covers that you peal off to find sweet/citric white flesh underneath. i don't know what they're called. fruits that you split open and take out a huge pit and then proceed to gnaw on. the juices flow down your chin and onto your shirt. fruits you peal with your hand and eat whole that taste like sweet milk. i stood by the river with a handful of various fruits grinning and wallowing in my good fortune.

we met a farmer who had a high, wheezy voice and long, straight teeth. he sang when he talked and smiled. he took us to his garden and showed us his animals.

we met a python or boa constrictor that was entirely too fat. the farmer said it was 120 kilos. it ate a live duck every two days. we met a bird that sang in its cage. it would lower its head, ruffle its feathers and take a deep breath. it would open its mouth and squawk and chirp. it was quite entertaining if you didn't think it was looking for a mate. we met iguanas that sat in concrete cages. we saw a large cage, too large, holding two, albino rabbits. they were muddy and ran in circles. i thought it was strange. someone pointed up and i jumped back. i lurched. i almost bolted. from the ceiling were hanging about ten bats. these were not small bats that flutter around or that are plastic and hang from door frames during halloween. these were huge bats. one stretched its wings and the light shone through their translucent skin. you could see the veins. their heads were shaped like small, yapping, japanese dogs. their fur was the color of a fox and their body was that of a vampire. they looked at us with vulture black eyes.

we bought pizza and drove home. the traffic was a blur of red and white lights passing each other on a bumpy road.