Who's Evolved?

H is a local guy on our project who has terrible dress sense, a mouth full of yellow teeth, appalling English and even worse breath. This often detracts from the fact that he is highly intelligent, capable and really good company (from a distance).

This is the same person who pretends that he can't understand my Vietnamese swearwords, in an attempt to rattle my confidence so that I don't use them. We get along very well.

We have another guy, R, who is working with us. He has excellent English, a good sense of humour and a fairly strong Portuguese accent. He also works with H and they don't always get along.

We were at lunch yesterday and I commented that I think H's English seems to be improving since we started this project ... albeit quite slowly. But there is definite improvement and it's not just in our ability to understand the accent.

R said [with strong Portuguese accent] "Oh yes - maybe. Probably his English has improved but even cunts are evolved."

The way he said it, I thought he had said "even cunts are evolved". Especially given that he and H don't always see eye to eye. I was shocked ... until then I thought we were having a pleasant conversation and then this, out of the blue, delivered with a smile. 

Me: "What? R what did you call H?"

R: "'Even cancer evolved'."

Me: "Oh. That's not what I heard I thought you were being mean to H."

R: "What did you hear?"

Me: "Something else. Never mind."

Warning Signs

A couple of weeks ago I bought a pirated Vietnamese phrasebook from a street vendor.

He had an interesting sales approach, too. Once he’d locked me in for the first sale, he started his cross-sell technique:

“How about Lonely Planet book? Lonely Planet Vietnam?”

-- “No I’m OK. Thanks. Just the phrase book.”

“Some other book? Cambodia? Lao?”

-- “No I have other travel books. Just this is OK. Thanks. No time to read so much”  [humble potato smile]

“How about cocaine? You want cocaine?”

-- “Oh. Umm. No thanks.”

“No? Sure?

-- “Sure.”

Heroin? You want heroin?”

-- “Oh. Umm. No thanks. Just the book thanks. I’m off to dinner now.”

“Sexy Lady? Massage?”

-- “Oh. Umm. No thanks.”

I paid my $4 and we bid each other farewell.

I really have to wonder what was happening in the Cross-sell Skills Workshop he attended. Surely postcards would have been a more practical step? 

This is my favourite page.

There's a Storm a Brewin'

This morning I made a last-minute decision to get a cab to work. Luckily. Because about 15 min ago we had some flash floods.

This is the view from the window at work just now.

Sloppy Spud: this potato has been in Vietnam for 2-3 months and has started to think they’re a local. The SS has a job, rents a motorbike and has started to think that he or she can read the clouds and smell impending storms. (If you look carefully, you can see their nostrils flare as look up into the sky when it is cloudy.) One day they ignore some obvious signs, including a faint spitting of rain, and get caught out badly in a downpour. The Sloppy Spud usually arrives at work with wet clothes and a frown.