Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Gettin' Funky... and almost soaked

Part 1 of CAMA International Music Festival kicked off this weekend at the American Club, and what's more fitting for an American party than some serious, funky music? The headlining band was called Supabad, and it was a ten-piece funk band from Bangkok (all the musicians were ex-pat English teachers). The lead singer was a James Brown impersonator, and he did an incredible job, despite his obvious deficiency of being white, middle-aged, and overweight; he wore a two-piece, sequined, red suit to make up for whatever physical characteristics he may have lacked. The band was absolutely incredible, and had most of the crowd "gettin' down". It was great to have the sound of a whole brass band, and it was definitely the best music I have ever heard in Hanoi... let's just say it was totally worth the 6 dollar cover charge.

I think it's safe to say that the summer weather has arrived- now I have to wear a sun jacket on my way to work so I don't get a sunburn during my commute. Today, it was 95 degrees, 100% humidity, and sunny as ever, so I threw on my sun jacket and set off to work, feeling the heat rising off the pavement at every stop. By the time class came to an end, the sky had turned an ominous dark grey, and I knew I had to get home quick before the heavens opened up and poured buckets (which would be even more terrible since I had switched my rain poncho out for a sun jacket). The bell rang and I jolted towards my bike, kicking it to life before the battery could give out again (it has gotten in the habit of doing that in the hot weather). The cloud was moving in quickly behind me as I raced towards the fading light patch in the sky, which was, thankfully, also in the direction of my house. I figured I could out-smart the monsoon and drive recklessly fast to get home, but it seems that every other Hanoian had the exact same plan as me. So instead of slow-moving traffic, it was high-speed, frantic traffic... the latter definitely being the worst of the two. Every time I hit a stop light, I held my breath and looked towards the sky, just waiting to be soaked to the bone in seconds. The cloud was right over my head, and I started to feel those heavy drops as I got closer to my house. The thunder and lightening hadbroken out, and given my experience of monsoons, I knew I had about 1 minute to get inside before the inevitable. I decided to break one traffic law and took a shortcut down a sidewalk (... I can feel my mom's eyes widening as she reads this, but sidewalk driving is just another necessary skill in Hanoi) and I managed to make it back to my house just as the ground was starting to darken with rain. By the time I made it into my apartment, the rain was torrential, and I did a little victory dance for my being faster than mother nature. Now, I'm sitting here listening to the storm, watching rivers form on the neighboring roofs, and enjoying how dry I am. :)

1 comment:

  1. Doesn't surprise me...at least you didn't get arrested or maimed.
    love mom

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