Christmas Eve was the Dorinly Cafe' grand opening. Maggie and I attended. We were the only non-Vietnamese. The opening featured a nmber of fine singers and muscians, including the owner's wife who also played piano, his younger brother, a back up keyboard player and guitarist who was especially good. The owner even sang a song dedicated to us. Pretty damn amazing in a country where I am a complete stranger.
Christmas day in Da Nang looks pretty mch like any other day. Maggie and I had breakfast with Chuck [initial contact] and Tuyet [university language instructor], a long leisurely morning in a small restaurant located in a side alley off Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Street not far from the university. It was the kind of alley I would hesitate to enter on my own but the restaurant was, in fact, quite pleasant. We talked of many things: English and Vietnamese language, travel plans, experiences in Vietnam and America. After about three hours, we left with Tuyet to have her acupuncturist look at Maggie's painful shoulder. He could not help but the trip took us down another side alley that we would not otherwise enter.
Made it to the Bread of Life restaurant, the place to go in Da Nang for western (mostly) food, where they serve American, Australian or English traditional Christmas menus. Shared a table with a Marine Vietnam vet who is now married to a Vietnamese woman and has two young children. On the way over we crossed the Song Ha Bridge on foot during its rush hour closure. Below us families were out on the riverbank plaza. There were kids tooling about in small electric cars, an inflatable fishing pond and food vendors.
After dinner we walked along the promenade that parallels Bach Dang Street. Lots of people were out as well, enjoying the lights and warm evenning. We saw a long line of people waiting to photograph themselves in a Christmas booth In contrast, construcion workes were on the job a a near by building site. So here we have the contrast of thr two Vietnams: one is a modern, trendy society, the other a third world country where hard work is the inevitable lot in life.
Our walk revealed to us the light show under the Song Ha Bridge: the piers light up with different colors and in sync with lights on the suspension cables. We had seen the cable lights previously but that was only half of the show. All pretty cool. In all, a good day out with Maggie.
All so much better than Christmas in Vietnam 1970.
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