March 8th - morning market and cooking lesson

March 8th: Women's Day (sort of a Vietnamese Valentine's Day) - lots of flowers being sold. Some things are universal. By the way, the woman in the mask is not because she is afraid of spreading some contagious disease. The Vietnamese women are obsessed with not getting tan, so many women cover themselves from head to toe, including long gloves and face masks.

I woke up early and was about to head to the morning fish market, when 7 students were waiting to go exploring as well (I love this class - they are so adventuresome). On the way to the river (about a 5 minute walk from our hotel) we passed the vegetable market. No mangosteens on sale here - too early in the season. This makes me , and many of my students who have heard so much about them, not just from me but also from our Vietnamese language teacher, very sad.

The fish market

squid and cuttle fish

I had the opportunity to just sit on a street corner and watch. This is one of my favorite past times ever.

Most of the vegetable market is covered by low tarps. Unlike the Vietnamese, I have to duck my head to walk through. It makes me feel tall.

There are narrow walk ways through the market, which are not only crowded with too many people, but also bicycles, carts and motorcycles carrying goods to the stalls. It is quite a crazy scene.

Hoi An from the bridge

banana motorcycle

I took my group of 6 students to a cooking lesson this afternoon. But first we were toured through the market. I tried a fruit I had never tried before (I thought I knew them all) called vou sua, which means "breast milk." It was very delicious - round, soft and sweet. Here is Max trying duck egg with embryo.

We then took a boat on the river for about 20 minutes to the cooking school.

boat with large fishing net behind

some type of flower

Liz, one of the parent chaperones, with her fresh roll.

Our cooking lesson included making rice paper from scratch, green papaya salad, eggplant with tomatoes, lemongrass and scallions, and decorations from tomatoes and cucumbers.

Jack on the boat ride home (It was his 14th birthday today. We celebrated with a birthday cake party before dinner.)