Mai loves cherries

It was with a little sadness that we left Brad’s place and set off to Victoria. It was good to see and stay with him. Alas, we will see him again soon, as like me, he has fallen in love with NhaTrang and has decided to move there. Now just one or two more friends, and my evil plan will be complete….. Bwaa Ha Ha Ha!……..  OH… ahem…. Anyway, we had our appointment with the Doctor and Mai passed all of her tests with flying colors.. Great!! He is concerned about here ear however, and we have to follow up in Victoria to make sure that everything is OK. Mai as a young girl, had somebody hit her hand while she was cleaning her ear. The instrument pierced her ear and destroyed the bones and drum. When I met her in the late 90’s she was a bit clumsy and suffered from very bad bouts of motion sickness. A few years after we were married, we were presented with a chance for some experimental surgery and we had her inner ear reconstructed. The surgeons cut above her ear and removed certain parts of cartilage and other material to reconstruct her ear bones and drum. The surgery was a complete success and for the first time in 30 years, Mai was able to hear out of both ears. (She still does not listen though!!) Even though the surgery was a success, there was a very small hole left behind that nothing could be done about. Very occasionally, if Mai gets water in her ear, she may have some discomfort or even a minor infection which ear drops clear up. This time it is a bit different. Mai had developed a bad almost choking cough in Vietnam before we returned. The process of hard coughing caused her new ear drum to tear. The tear will heal on it’s own but has become infected. It is infected so bad that we were given some special stuff and sternly instructed that we HAVE to visit a doctor in Victoria before leaving. On the positive side… Don our doctor, has been aware of our new adventure and has plans to come and stay with us when he has some time off. Great!! Not only is he a very nice guy, but we will get a good old fashioned Canadian check up overseas. I guess I might owe him a beer or two for that J.  The pictures today are taken through the windshield as I drove today

We headed out of Edmonton on a cloudy day but soon ran into miserable rain that was headed for the city. We were supplied with some chicken and potato salad left from yesterday’s dinner, so we were able to make good time on our way through the mountains. As usual, the drive from Edmonton into the mountains was spectacular, and we encountered the almost always expected herds of mountain goats and Elk. I spotted no bears on this trip so far, but if you ever spend a weekend in the Canadian Rockies, there is very little chance you will not encounter a bear or two… Just leave them alone and they will do the same. Odds are you will never see a grizzly. ( I have encountered a few of them in my life time and believe me when I say, you are better off not to see them)

Here is a bit for my Vietnamese readers…… The distance from Edmonton to Vancouver is about the same as Saigon to Hanoi. I left Edmonton at 11:00 am and drove at an average of 118 kph. I stopped a little short, however, If I would have continued for 1 more hour, I would have taken a total of 12 hours to drive the total distance. Think about how many days it takes to get to Hanoi if you drive… or even by bus or train. The speed at which traffic moves here is very different than in Vietnam.

The drive away from Edmonton has me thinking of new friends I have waiting for me back in Vietnam. I have only been gone for a little over a week, but am looking forward to carrying on from where I left off. There are many long bicycle rides to do with Carrot, and I have had only a very brief time to talk with the guardian angel of my hotel, Baz.

The nest week will be a very special one. As I age, I see the importance of spending as much time, quality or not, with those who you love and have shaped a person into the individual you are today. Who knows how much time you have left. It is important to enjoy what you have and truly live. I no longer exist and just die a little bit every day, I live and deal with what comes my way on a daily basis….. I can thank Tom for that.

I have just looked at the website stats and have again been totally amazed!!! I will try with my poor memory to tell you about it in my next post

Yesterday we drank way too much coffee. First coffee at home, then off to the coffee shop in a rush to write the blog. While sitting there, Brad received a text message for us to meet a friend  for coffee, so off we went to join him for coffee. Mr. Linh is a man who lives here, speaks good English, and befriended Brad on his last trip. At this moment, he is sitting across from me talking to his family in Canada. We are waiting for a motorcycle to be delivered. With the help of my nephew, Brad is purchasing a used motorbike. It makes sense, it will be almost the same cost to rent one for the time he is here. We will be doing some road trips, so stay tuned for the adventure……

I have come to the conclusion that Vietnam is a dangerous place for kids. I personally do not know of a single adult that does not bear some kind of scar from a childhood accident, and if somehow they manage to pull it off, they then have to deal with the hazard of riding a bicycle in this traffic. I have more than once come close to colliding with kids, weaving unexpectedly into my path. The structures in which they live and play are all constructed from brick, cement, and concrete. Marble and ceramic is used to finish interiors. Barbed and broken glass fences protect the properties. Thorned trees and sharp grasses along with other jungle type hazards are plentiful. In to city, I have seen transformer boxes on electric poles open with bare wires at knee level. Even in my own house… My nephew’s son came running into the room crying he had been bit by something. When we went to look, we discovered that a hot bare wire was cut flush with the wall, and a curious kid was wondering what it was.

I see many kids playing in the streets with objects that we would take away from them immediately. Sticks, stones, rusted chunks of tin, items picked up from garbage piles. All things that can cut or bruise. I have to give them credit though, they are tough little buggers. I see them run down gravel roads in bare feet to kick back a soccer ball worn to the point of bursting. I see others fence with tree branches and land blows that would fell an adult. My own nephew is missing one eye from this past activity. Some toys I see the young children play with that would be banned in Canada with small parts that can be swallowed, and probably are. I have seen a lot of burn marks from contact with hot motorcycle exhaust pipes.

Another hazard that is shared by all people, not just the kids, are the uneven sidewalks, curbs, or lack of them. Also, motorbikes are parked everywhere. There may not be room for a pedestrian to walk as the sidewalk is being used in some manner for a business, or parking area. The walk in front of the business is often reshaped into something different making is so uneven, that a person has to constantly be looking where they are stepping.  Things may be changing a bit. I have seen some kids in the city playing with more toys than in the past. Maybe people are making more money, or maybe toys are finally being imported. There are many more things here that can break toes, or cut limbs. Children here have to learn very fast and very young how to prevent injury.

Now….. Brad and I are off for an adventurous driving lesson. He has some limited experience with the rules of the road, but a person can not really know how to drive here until immersed in its madness. Should make for some interesting comments……