Stuck In The Mud

I had been looking forward to Friday all week; My friends Lien and Rueben rented a "party boat" to celebrate their birthdays and sail along the Red River. The boat had a dance floor on the rooftop, a hookah lounge, and a bar. I was a little skeptical about the success of actually floating, since the Red River is pretty much mud at this point. But we all boarded the boat nonetheless. When it came time to shove off, it took about 20 minutes to break away from all the mud at shore. Since the river was so low, the boat pretty much found an area where it could float, and stuck to it (pun intended)- When it came time to sail back, the boat was utterly and completely stuck. There were so many people on board that it was too heavy to get back to shore, so that is when the problem-solving began. Over the music, the sound of an antique boat engine could be heard. A tiny, wooden fishing boat pulled up alongside and about 10 considerably intoxicated people jumped in. It didn't look in the least bit safe so I opted to wait on the bigger boat, waving to my friends as they departed on the rickety thing below. After the tiny boat made three trips, the cruise boat was light enough to lift from the mud and take us back to the dock. Despite all the mud, it was a wonderful time.
I arose early on Saturday and went with Son to the market down the street. I guess there aren't too many white people who shop at the market, so all the Vietnamese ladies were very interested in my presence. As I would be trying to purchase some tofu or eggs, the ladies would question Son about me. Usually I am by myself and have to try to answer the questions alone, which tends to make shopping at the market a very long-winded experience. This time, I had Son to field the questions and managed to get out of the market relatively quickly; instead of me pointing to items and attempting to communicate how much I wanted, Son simply asked and received... really need to start studying Vietnamese names for vegetables.
I bought all the ingredients to make vegetable spring rolls, and, upon getting back to my place, set to work. A large mess and an hour later, I was sitting down to eat my own spring rolls, which were an incredible success! I can't wait to come home and cook them for everybody in the states... they are so delicious! I actually rolled them a lot better than Son, which was probably my proudest moment of the day.
I spent Saturday evening visiting my friend Flip's new apartment. It came fully furnished, and I couldn't help but envy the oversized pots and vases he had scattered around the house. I have been inspired to spend a couple of my hard-earned dollars on some decor. So, that's my plan for Sunday.... work week starts tomorrow (ugh). We have a school talent show this week which I am greatly looking forward to. We have some hilarious 5th graders that do "street dancing", and some of them are rather impressive. Definitely bringing my camera...