Well, there?s good news and bad news. Which first?
Always the bad first. Friday night I was occupied exterminating a cockroach when Eponine wandered out the front door. She often wanders out and goes to Sandy?s room or to look over the porch. But this time, while I wasn?t looking, she wandered down the stairs and out of my life. I couldn?t find her.
You know Eponine?s classic song in the Broadway musical? Imagine my cat singing it now: ?And now I?m all alone again, no where to go, no one to turn to?? -- and don?t call me overdramatic.
The good news. A few weeks ago I announced that fresh milk is now sold in Vinh (previously, we could only get ?long-life treated milk?). My lovely country director joked, ?Fresh milk in Vinh!! Next thing you know you?ll have pizza delivery.? At least, we thought she was joking. And I think she thought she was joking.
Today in class one of my students was looking at a restaurant menu. I took it from him. ?Halloween Pizza and Spaghetti?.
?Is this in Vinh?? I asked him desperately.
?Yes, a new restaurant,? he answered, a little perplexed by the starved look on my face.
According to the menu, ?Halloween? opened four days ago and serves pizza, pasta, hamburgers, fries, sandwiches, and salads.
It took about eight hours before Sandy and I got ourselves to Halloween. Great restaurant. Interesting restaurant. The mint-green walls have crucifixes on them, and the tv plays mtv asia. Sandy and I both got personal pizzas (about seventy-five cents each). While waiting, we watched a table of four high school girls giggle and grimace over the strange food they had ordered - salad, pizza, pasta carbonara, and spaghetti Bolognese. It was like watching adventurous American highschoolers self-consciously try sushi for the first time. The pizzas were fabulous, and the dishes we saw at the other tables looked good too. Granted, nothing was exactly like it would be in America, but it was a HECK of a lot closer than anything else in Vinh. And - get this - free delivery. Friday night pizza and a movie, here we come.
In other news, we had a long and unusually cool spring (according to my sources), but the summer is here. I gave my first exam today. We have at least one teacher friend coming to visit Vinh on Friday. I?ll be home on June 7. Time is flying, almost too fast. Ok, maybe not too fast.