Another Time When I Got to Say Something I Never Thought I Would

While I was on the Mekong delta tour, I met an older couple from France, Elizabeth and Michel.

I was able to practice using some of my long unused French. And while my vocabulary sucks after all this time, I was able to understand most of what they said and I still had enough vocabulary to be able to make myself understood as well. Initially I thought they were here on a vacation, as they were at or close to retirement age, but they weren't. Well, to be accurate, Elizabeth wasn't. She was here on business, and Michel was tagging along for the ride.

Elizabeth puts on events, specifically a circus in France. I don't know if that's all she does, but that seemed to occupy much of her time, what with planning the month of shows, the venues, the hotels, the meals, the transportation, the entertainment times for the performers, and all the rest that goes into executing an entertainment show. She was here in Vietnam for the 9^th year to work with a circus here to bring some of their performers to France for next year's event. And, in between getting that handled, there was time for she and her husband to take in some of what Vietnam has to offer. Hence, the trip to the Mekong delta where I met them.

We got to be quite chatty during the trip and by the end of it, Elizabeth invited me to a party she was having to celebrate the successful arrangements of choosing the performers who would travel to France next summer. As I have no particular itinerary, I decided to stay an extra day in Ho Chi Minh City and attend the party.

Before I get to that, my staying for the extra day meant having a day to fill. I had nothing in particular that I wanted to see in the city. I had taken in pretty much all the things I thought to be interesting, so I just wandered around in the parks near the backpackers area. While I was sitting reading in the park, first one university student approached me to talk, then others. Soon I was in the midst of ten or twelve students who just wanted to talk and have a chance to practice some English. It was fun. I like meeting people like that.

When I took my leave of them, I headed over to the party at the circus venue, near where I was staying. And I met many circus performers. So it was that I was sitting under a circus tent cover thing with a number of beautiful and flexible women circus performers. (This is something that I never imagined that I would put into words: “So some beautiful, flexible women circus contortionists and I were sitting having a party one night...” Rather like never thinking I would ever say something like: “So these five attractive Filipina nurses and I went island hopping for the day...”)