Another week in Vietnam, time is starting to pass so quickly ! Last week, it felt like it was passing so slowly, but now, there's always more to do and more to see. Things are turning up. (:

This week...
A lesson about thief in Vietnam! D:
We went near Hồ Hoàn Kiếm to try a Thai restaurant and I got my phone stolen afterwards! I'm not sure what happened but I know I had it in the restaurant and then when I got home, I didn't have it anymore. Either I left it in the restaurant, someone took it while getting a taxi, or I left it on the taxi. I've called it several times afterwards and this man picked up who denied that it was my phone and said I had the wrong number and then hung up on me. Jerk.. he'll get his comeuppance.... In any case, it's gone and I'm glad I brought an extra phone along with me in case something like this happened. Now I'll know to be extra cautious with this one and keep it stored away at all times.
But at least we enjoyed chưới chiên at the restaurant and had a really awesome taxi driver. His name is Anh Thành and he's the sweetest guy ever. I have a lot of pity for him because his life is so rough, but he still has such a nice personality. He gave us his phone number and I called him to ask if I left my phone in his taxi and he said if he found it, he would have returned it. He called back to see if I found it yet and told me to be careful because there's a lot of theft around Hồ Hoàn Kiếm. Now he's our personal taxi driver. (:

Mom and Pop shops.
Most, if not all, of the shops in this district are owned by a couple or a family. This in itself brings about a certain atmosphere and allows for interactions not possible in the States. The other day, we were eating lunch on the corner outside the Nhà Khách and had some conversations with the women who work there. It felt like there were no social barriers and we asked them about all sorts of things, including whether we were using correct Vietnamese. When Linda asked what chè she could make with dried longan, the woman offered to make it for her if she brought it over.
Then we went to have some chè the next block over and received the same welcoming, familial hospitality (even though the sữa chua wasn't that good xD). She conversed with us and then gave us advice on how to choose good bananas because she was afraid the ones that we chose would give us stomach aches. She welcomed us to come back anytime and just hang out and converse if we pleased.
Both these experiences really embody the sense of family in this community. I've gotten the same vibe from many other places too, from restaurants to cafes to random street vendors. It just seems like the community is full of people who treat their customers as people, not business, ie, they care for their customers. Although this goodness of human nature may exist in the States (I don't doubt it doesn't), the way things are run doesn't allow it to show and occur. Restaurants in the States are mostly chains, run by corporations, hiring employees only for the intention of serving. However, this type of service isn't the same caring service of Hà Nội; it's more formal, some may call it more attentive to customers' needs, however it lacks the same sense of personal sincerity that occurs here. And even if the employees are caring people, the workplace doesn't allow the opportunity for this interaction to occur; employees are given many tables to look after and when they're not needed at the tables, they have other tasks to attend to. Even when not busy, employees congregate behind the counter because the way the restaurant is built, there are separate locations specifically for employees and customers. Most eateries in Vietnam have enough space to house ten to fifteen people simultaneously, so with such a small number, there's much more opportunity for the workers (also the owners probably) to interact with each customer. Franchises in the states focus on expanding, in order to offer more service to more customers, however as a result, there is less personal connection to the restaurant.

Rough lives
This topic is an ongoing one, interwoven into the theme of community here, and it's definitely one that is overt, overlooked, misunderstood, and multi-dimensional. The community works together out of necessity; the harshness of their lives hold them together, because it is all that they have, but it's still extraordinary.
Our taxi driver, the amazingly kind one, is only twenty-six years old. He doesn't have a college education and doesn't seem to plan to get one because he needs to worry about surviving day to day. He begins work at 4, and doesn't drop off the company car till 10, 11, or 12 o'clock often. He gets 2, 3, 4 hours of sleep a night daily and the rest are naps during the day. The car is his responsibility to take care of, including all gas costs and repairs if it gets damaged. His salary is a 40% commission. He usually eats meals costing 15,000-20,000 VND. He usually gets 6 days off a month and he's been working in the same condition for the last 3 years. His life is so harsh, but he's lucky to have a job and he's amazing to keep up such a kind personality. I can tell he really wants a girlfriend; it doesn't seem like there's much else to live for in his life, but it doesn't seem like there's much opportunity to do anything except work everyday. Many others are like this, and many more may be worst off. I acclaim this society for its sense of community, however I do believe it's a worthy trade to gain a more economically stable life; that opens the door to so much more, without necessarily closing old ones. These glimpses into the harsh truth of reality here keep things in perspective, and show that not all development is bad. Change is the lesser of two evils.