More random life

This lady sits outside and cross stitches.  ALL day.  In her ethnic dress.  And she is NOT happy if you take her picture.  Maybe this is just culture shock, but I was a bit indignant.  Now, if you're going to sit outside in a tourist town in your ethnic dress, I would think you would expect to get your picture taken... but that's just me.

One of those SORT OF scenes from home!  We were SO stoked to go to WalMart.  Pitiful, I know, but it is hard to explain how wonderful something as simple as a Ritz cracker, real bread, or a jar of peanut butter can be!  It is FAR from my favorite place at home, and you know I love the "sites" on vacation... but we opted for a bus trip to Walmart in lieu of a temple or pagoda visit! 

One of the many cottage industries... shoes!  Since Laney had quarter sized blisters on her little feet, I looked in every shoe shack we passed for some of these sweet little slippers to fit her... to no avail :(  But she did get some great little "Asian Pretty" numbers with a lot of flair.  They fell apart the first day.  Literally!!

The industrious ladies (and men!) on the street take ripped up antique tapestries and make these fabulous hats!

This boy's sporting TWO popular hairstyles... one we like to call the "reverse mullet," a tuft of hair left to hang in the front when they shave the rest of the head.  He was also able to keep a tuft in the back.  You might remember the "rat tail"??? 

The Infomercial stand at the market :) A peeler, shredder, corer slicer something gadget...

Like goldfish... only seaweed and tomatoe flavored!

The Budweiser "truck." Universal, I guess.

The only sign in English around -- it says "Only pee, no poo!"

But it's really fancy. It's a squatty, but they have soap!

The fire truck. Notice the phone number on the side? 119!

So close, yet so far away :)

These "recycling" cans seemed a bit out of place next to kids pooping and piles of trash on the streets. As far as I can tell, "recycle" means "put all your trash in the can so the old ladies whose sons drive Lexuses can pick through it for whatever they think might be useful." No kidding, sometimes when I take out the trash from our apartment (primarily produce scraps and toilet paper!) the ladies don't even wait for me to finish dumping it, let alone close the lid or leave, before they start foraging. Now, I'm resourceful and I believe in taking care of our environment... but it still shocks me that a plastic bottle or ripped bag would be so useful that it warrants digging through someone else's toilet paper.

Out of all the Western goodies I would wish for, soda is definitely not one of them. But I used to say that about the McDonald's in our provincial capitol, too! (We've excitedly rushed there both times we've visited!!) It hasn't caught on for me yet, but it's still comforting to see Coke or the local fave, "Future," which looks just like it. There are also dead ringer imitation Oreos (not at ALL the same flavor, though!) and teddy grahams (also nothing close in actual taste or content...)

The girl in the Nashville jacket next to the lady in native dress (which, if you're a grandma, almost always includes a baby strapped on your back!) Kinda sorta made me feel at home :)

Potato chips on the street!

(Haven't tried them yet; they smell like rancid pork fat, but they look normal!)

I've seen Nikf, Mike, Nikke,

As well as abibas, ailadas... it goes on and on!