Playing hooky already

I hope my ribs heal soon. I'm almost out of Vicodin. Around dawn, the pain abated enough that I was able to lie gingerly on my right side for the first time in twelve days. When I woke up, I noticed a mosquito flying around my head, the first I've noticed since arriving in Hanoi. I easily swatted him to the floor and by the time I could lean down to look at him, he was being swarmed by tiny ants about the size of chiggers. Hundreds of them. What the hell am I paying Gordon for? I'm going to have to have words with him, but I'm sure he'll only pretend to understand.

I must remember to close the curtain between my desk and the terrace at night. When I came to the desk this morning I found the morning sun beating down on my computer, which had gotten way too hot to touch. I'm a little apprehensive about the humidity, too. Maybe I can find a safe place to keep my computer at the school.

Although there is a free Internet connection in my hotel room, I find it tends to flake out during the day. Right now, for example, I can't access my mail server (or any other URL). That might be another reason to keep my computer at the school.

I'm struggling to get a handle on the currency here. Vietnamese bills come in denominations of 500,000, 200,000, 100,000, 50,000, 20,000, 10,000, 5,000, 2,000, and 1,000. I'm told there are also bills of 500, 200, and 100 and coins, too, but since I've been here I've seen only one bill under 10,000 and no coins. The supermarket cash registers have no coins and very few small bills. Small bills are scarce. The exchange rate right now is about 16,600 VND (Vietnamese dong) to the USD (US dollar), making the 10,000 dong note worth about 60 cents. The largest denomination—500,000 dong—is worth about $30.

Here's what happens at the supermarket checkout: Your total comes to 357,640 dong ($21.52). You give the cashier a 500,000 dong note ($30.00). She asks you for 8,000 dong more, so she can save her small bills. Of course, since small bills are scarce, you don't have 8,000 dong, so you give her a 10,000 dong note. She gives you back a 100,000 dong note, a 50,000 dong note, a 2,000 dong note, and a piece of candy to make up the 360 dong difference (2 cents). Places of business that don't have candy just round things off to the nearest denomination they can handle.

One of the teachers at Language Link explained to me how to take a bus to the city center. You have to be prepared with the fare amount of 3,000 dong. She didn't say how to get such small bills into your possession.

I told the people at Language Link I would come again today, but I've been feeling so poorly, I've decided to can it. My ribs hurt and I'm starting to get a very sore throat. Except for a trip to the shopping mall to buy water and mouthwash, I've spent the day in my room. I took a shower. I watched the US men's volleyball team win a close match against Serbia. I made observations from the terrace while identifying with James Stewart in Rear Window. I took another shower. I made a wonderful discovery: I have AC in my hotel room after all!

The AC unit high on the wall, which I had assumed to be broken, just needed a little love and understanding—mostly understanding. The key was to figure out which of the five apparently useless switches in my room was connected to the AC unit and to make sure this switch was in the correct position when the remote control unit hidden in the drawer was activated. I feel like I just got a telegram from Ed McMahon.

When I went to the mall for mouthwash I stopped at Highlands Coffee for a sandwich and a cup of iced coffee. Highlands is a very western coffee lounge—dark wood, overstuffed chairs, two floor-to-ceiling glass walls, one looking onto the mall, one looking onto the street, English language newspapers in a rack on the wall. According to the sports page, Vietnam has won a silver medal in Beijing. None of the waitresses could tell me what event was involved. Nobody here seems to have the slightest interest in the Olympics. Thanh admitted to me on Monday he only likes football (i.e., soccer).