Thursday, February 4, 2010

Big Goofy White Guy

There are countless times that I feel like a big goofy white guy in Hanoi. There are low ceilings here that make me feel like giant, small motorbikes that I imagine appear as if I'm a cowboy riding a pony and packed sidewalks that often have me doing contortions to maneuver around.

The other day took the cake for my goofiness though. After eating lunch at a local outdoor rice shop, I inadvertently stepped into an alley way of wet cement right next to the shop. I only took two steps before I realized that the ground below me was complete mush. It seemed that every person in the shop turned and looked at me during my moment of realization and started to shake their head at the same time. I backtracked onto the solid surface and began to apologize in Vietnamese. To whom I was supposed to apologize I wasn't sure. Finally a woman selling gum on the street began to frantically wave at me to get away. I think she was trying to save me from the construction workers who would not be happy that my size 10.5 sneaker imprints were cast into their new alley.

In my goofy defense, there was no rope blocking off the alley!