A bit on some of the kids I have met, or nearly in some cases.

 Over the last couple of  weeks, the weather has been heating up, so the water levels have been going down in the ponds and streams and the odours of hot Vietnam have been going up, only in odd places though. It was red  hot the other day, so we had the obligatory afternoon nap and afterwards I thought I’d go out and do a bit of pottering as it cooled down. It started to spit a bit, so I carried on pottering from the shelter of what is left of the nha la kitchen. I thought it would blow over, with the same meteorological expertise as when Michael Fish had thought it wouldn’t snow. It started to lash down. A hole I had dug soon overflowed and the down pipes from the roof were spewing out rainwater and as if by magic, 3 kids turned up, one still in school uniform. I know 2 of them are sisters, but I think they had hijacked someone’s young son. They were jumping in and out of the pond in the garden, which is used to dump any little bits of garden refuse. the ducks and geese just dump in there, full stop. The kids didn’t care. The 2 lasses were dunking the young lad under one of the down spouts and then they were sitting in the out flow, like taking a shower. They were having so much fun, I must have been smiling for 5 minutes watching them, before I moved indoors, as the nha la started to spring more leaks. 

This photo is acutally from last year, but definitley shows the same spirit of fun.

 The eldest of the 2 lasses is rarely without her little sister. They often come passed on their bike and give me a shout and a laugh. I don’t know what their home life is like, but whenever they are out and about, it is nearly always with a smile to accompany them. The kids out here wander around, mostly barefoot, making use of any old piece of junk to have fun with.  They wander in and out of each other’s houses, whether the parents are home or not, there seems to be no malevolence in them, no doubt I am seeing it through rosy glasses, but only slightly rosy, I reckon.

When I made my break for house from the nha la, tripping on the way, the kids seemed to disappear, as they had appeared. When I looked out the window; no more kids. 

It rained pretty solid for a couple of hours. We were meant to go to the market to pick up some vegetables for the tea, but I thought that would go by the board, so I hit the shower. Afterwards, I asked Dung what we were going to do about the market. “I’ve been.” She told me. She didn’t even look wet, but the vegetables were there. She just donned a cape and off she went. The shopping is done from the moto. No getting off, just pull up to the stall and order, then it is passed out, with an exchange of notes of course.

Now that the streams and ponds had dropped a good bit, the water from the rain soon dispersed and the road was dry by the morning. We had  just washed the moto, that is like putting out the washing in the UK, it seems to bring on the rain. The water might disperse quickly, but the mud still manages to appear on the moto.  One day, the government may tarmac this road. Down the dirt track and across a few paddy fields, there are a few factories springing up , so the paddy is being swapped for housing, which may well be rooms to rent for the workers that will move in to take up the work from the factories. I hear there are plans to build a university there too and other amenities to make the area self sustainable with regards to the employment requirements for the factories.

The government has plans to buy up land around us, so they can make the development complete. The compulsory purchase stops at the stream on the edge of our home. This is a good thing, because it is a good home. The money paid by the government is good, so we could probably up sticks and settle elsewhere, but that is irrelevant as we aren’t being bought out. I am  not sure what it will be like around here once the development really kicks into full swing. At the moment there is a great swathe of land, with a few roads and less factories and other buildings such as hotel, restaurant, places to entertain prospective investors. In the future, I suspect it will be like living in a new town.

I took a wander down to Co Ba’s with Dung last night to pick up some chickens that Dung has bought from her. Kai went off to catch them, so we sat around the hammocks chatting, or listening to it and not understanding it, in my case. Bao Thi came out whilst we were sat, she is a 3 year old, who lives across from Co Ba. She is afraid of me, as are many Vietnamese kids, at least initially. She shouts Duong Hai Gil, my Vietnamese name and “Hello, xin chao”, but never gets too close. Anyway she stepped out onto the veranda and she must have seen The Full Monty sometime, because she took of her shorts, stood on the edge of the veranda and peed over the side, stood up. Everyone laughed, but her, when her Mam came out and gave her an ear full. She has a very cheeky, loveable face and is reputed to have the worst temper down the lane. She certainly makes everyone laugh.

This is Co Tu number 2 and her grandson in the hammpocks at the bottom of Co Ba's garden. A very poopular meeting place for chat, coffee, or just a relax. The hammocks are rarely empty.

The mozzies started feasting on my legs, so I picked up the chicken cage, a wire dome to keep them in until they learn to stay in their new home. I left Dung to pick up the chickens. I thought there were 3, but she came home with 5 and had to borrow another cage from Bee, her cousin next door. One of the chickens, a cockerel, only lasted a day. He was chao ga this evening and very tasty. Dung has been trying to take over the slaughtering duties from her Mam, as she thinks every time her Mam kills one, it is a black mark in her book of life for when she goes to meet her maker, but Dung sits for about 30 minutes with the chicken building up the courage, then her Mam takes pity on her and does the dirty deed. I haven’t plucked up the nerve to have a go yet. I think if it was just a case of necking it, then perhaps I may have, but the neck is trimmed of feathers and then slit and the blood caught in a bowl for cooking, so it is a slow happening.

Kiki, another cousin, has started taking her first steps. She is bad tempered too, if she doesn’t get what she wants. She’d get it if she was mine, a clip when needed. Parents seem to be the same the world over. I thought the Vietnamese would be strict with their kids, but the kids seem to often rule the roost, as is usually the case in the UK nowadays, or at least this grumpy old man thinks so. The respect is going out of the current generation of kids in Vietnam, just as in the UK. I suppose it is human progression, or regression in grumpy old men’s eyes. It can be seen in the way the previous generation show respect to their elders and the way the current want their own way, regardless.

Kiki toddling to uncle Meo. The girls from the pond in the background.

Departing from the grumpy old man tattle. The kids aren’t coming around so much during this visit. I haven’t worked out why yet, but I used to enjoy sitting on the veranda with them, passing the evening away. They are a couple of years older, so they will have changed some. I am keeping busier this time too. I do like the Vietnamese kids in general, they only want a smile and a quick exchange of words and they are happy. I don’t see many of them in grumpy moods, but I guess that could just be the way kids are. No. I am wrong, there are definitely grumpy kids in the UK. Even when they have all the latest, all singing, all dancing whatever the latest thing is. WHOOPS, that Grumpy bloke is back. I had better call it a day for now.

Until the next time. Gap lai sao. (I think anyway).