-^-for posterity-^-

the third day of the year of the monkey.

traditionally, on the third day of the lunar new year, everyone is supposed to emerge from their family bunkers and head out into the world. they are supposed to meet up with their friends and greet their teachers. preparing for an onslaught of greetings from students (or the horrific disappointment of no one bothering to stop by), i hedged my bets and headed west to the town of can tho.

in can tho, i have a number of friends who also work at the university. they were all eager to get out and have a little fun with me. i tied the dog up outside, mounted my motorcycle and headed off before the sun came up. it's really invigorating traveling by yourself on a motorcycle. so much time to think, i always end up talking to myself which is disturbing. i arrived and woke my friends up at their homes.

the whole day was very typical.

we started out by having coffee. having coffee during tet is exactly like having coffee at any other time of the year. you sit around slowly milking one glass of very strong coffee. you sit for about an hour and a half.

the next thing we did was drive around aimlessly for about another hour. we drove slowly, about 10 miles an hour and three abreast. this wasn't a waste of time, this was relationship building.

the next thing we did was have another cup of coffee next to the river. the river isn't much to look at, but it's better than looking at a busy street.

we then went to a fruit garden about 20 minutes outside of town. the garden was beautiful but overcrowded with people emerging from their homes after the tet holiday. it was gorgeous, but you had to ignore the swarming masses of children and mosquitoes which are sometimes indistinguishable.

then we were off to have more coffee and noodles. i couldn't have another cup of coffee because i would have died. i had soy milk.

at last we went to some of my friend's homes and met their parents. they twisted my arm enough and i'm going to stay here for the night because i can't quite stomach the drive home especially in the dark.

so, the third day of tet is also important. this is when everyone officially emerges from their homes and re-associates with society. they have reaffirmed their basic family roots and will now blend back in with society. the day was full of good wishes, smiles and lots of time sitting on lawn chairs sipping strong black coffee and staring at the vast mekong.