Hello online neighbor, I'm glad we're together again!
I've been thinking about the importance of good neighbors and the role they play in our lives. My online neighborhood network is made up of family and friends, who follow my life through status updates, new posts, photos and comments. A few ways we stay connected are through reminiscent "remember when" comments, chat sessions with friends, fancy apps that declare ones relationship status and how they are connected to the rest of the "neighborhood" and friendly "pokes" to say hello. Although these neighbors may not be able to water your plants for you when you're out of town, they will always be there when you need a laugh or just want to connect with someone.
On the other hand, there are the people who live around you and the benefits they provide, like making a livable, enjoyable, secured place for living. These are the people you rely on to watch your place when you're not around, lend you a cup of sugar and make you more alive through their new friendship. I would describe my neighborhood in Da Nang as loud, friendly, and close knit. We live on the street of the welders and carpenters, so naturally it is quite loud on our street. Not mention the weekly Karaoke sessions that start at 8am and go all day long. Needless to say, there isn't a whole lot of peace and quiet on the streets once the sun comes up. The people who live on our block could all pass for family in my book. I can't tell who lives where, or who's mom, brother, sister, cousin is who, because it seems they all live everywhere. There is an open door policy in this neighborhood, if the door is open, you're free to come in. We were made aware of this policy early on, but luckily we were eased into it with the neighborhood kids. It wasn't until we had three regulars at the house, Cam, Thinh and Hung, that the rest of the peeps on the block felt comfortable walking in... WHENEVER they wanted:)
The ladies of the neighborhood will walk in and bring you food, help cook, try and show you what you're doing wrong and how to do it right, like sweeping for example, or just sit in bed with you and google translate and try on jewelry. The men will walk in for a quick game of Chinese Chess and a LaRue, and the old women walk in probably because they have no idea where they even are:)
However, its the kids that come over on a daily basis that have made this neighborhood special. They are a huge part of our day and will be a huge part of our experience in Vietnam. Although we have our three favorites, we still experience an influx of around 8-10 kids trickling in and out throughout the day.
Piotr and Cam (pronounced Gam.) Cam's grandma lives right next door to us.
Tai and Hung. Tai is Cam's little brother. He doesn't venture over that often. Hung is the most adorable little girl I've ever met. She is the daughter of the cooking lady (2 doors down from us.) Hung is very smart, she repeats everything in english and she loves to come over and color. Her artwork, along with the artwork of Cam and Thinh is displayed in our kitchen.
Thinh and Cam posing on Piotr's motorbike. Thinh (pronounced Ton) is sporting the colorful clown wig and Cam is giving us a nice leg shot.
The hammock has been a HUGE hit with the entire
neighborhood. 75% of the day it is being used, 1%
of that time is by Piotr or I.
Neighbor girl, Uyen.Cam showing off for the camera again :)
This is Ba. Ba is what you call Grandma. Ba is a funny lady. Piotr calls her a jokester. She's always walking around laughing at herself :) I would say she puts in a good 5% hammock time:)
Cam and Thinh. Strike a pose boys!
In honor of the New Year, our neighborhood put up the Vietnamese flag up and down the block. Here is Cam showing off his national pride.
Piotr and Cam making a batch of delicious Vietnamese coffee! Mmmmmmm :0
The neighbor ladies, myself and google translate, chillin on my bed. The ladies decided to get out all of my jewelry and try it on. The lady on the right is the cooking lady (Hung's mom). She feeds the neighborhood every morning and afternoon, right outside her house. The lady on the right is Cam's aunt. She is pregnant in this picture. I haven't seen her in a few days....I think she may have popped! Her and her husband live right next door with grandma.
As you can see there is always something going on in my neighborhood in Da Nang. Thanks to the people in these pictures for making this such a beautiful, friendly place to live.
So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?
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