Today is a typical day for me in Hanoi, although it really could be any day anywhere in which I am not working a regular job. I woke up at 9:30am. Laid in bed for awhile. Got up and did my laundry. In my new apartment in Hanoi, that means that on my rooftop terrace I put it in a bucket with soap and washed and rinsed three "loads": lights, colors and darks. Then hung it up to dry. That took me nearly an hour. I then went to find a little something to eat and my "morning" coffee. I ended up walk a bit of a distance to a large market that has a lunch time buffet for less than a dollar. I rub elbows with the people. When I say rub elbows, I mean quite literally. If you aren't willing to be pushed and shoved a little bit, don't go. I feel like this is a side effect of long term shortages, although I like to think of this as a side effect of communism. They push a shove like there will not be enough and up until 10 years ago or so, that was indeed the case. That is not the case in the United States, although my parent's certainly remember a different time. For my whole life, there has always been enough of everything. I am not even one of those people will push to get a seat on the subway, nor the best shirt at a great sale. I just won't do it. I don't feel I need to nor that it is worth it. So, for lunch I had a big plate of rice, with miscellaneous vegetables and meat plus a glass of cooked spinach in it's water. I also picked up some balloons and tape. The balloons are to fill with water to throw at the cat that peed on my shoe! I walked back and went to my favorite café for Vietnamese coffee with sweetened condensed milk. Then checked my email at the crappy internet "café" that has nothing to do with café. I talked to a young couple who was traveling for a few months, of course she was from the Midwest. Now, hours later, I am home.