Earplugs

Earplugs saved my life. Really. I sleep with earplugs at home, and I never realized how much I relied on them. So far, I've been waking up at 2 am every morning. Most of the time, I can't get back to sleep. I'll be just to the point of drifting off, and there will be one dog that barks, or one car that honks in the distance, or at least the crickets singing at the tops of thier little lungs (or legs, I guess, as the case may be). At home, when this happened, I just threw in my earplugs and went blissfully back to sleep. Like a rock. No problems there. Here, I forgot to pack my earplugs!!! (What was I thinking?? I even looked at them on the dresser, all 6 pairs, there in a pile, but never quite made the connection to put them in my suitcase.) You would think that a girl who keeps 6 pairs of earplugs next to the bed would have thought at least that far in advance. What can I say?

Well, Nguyen's cousin, Thu, showed up on Tuesday, and I asked her to help me find earplugs. While Anthony and I took a taxi back home from the department store, she went on a hunt (unbeknownst to me) and showed up at my hotel room about 20 minutes after we arrived WITH EARPLUGS. She said she had to really search for them; they aren't popular in Vietnam. Well, people, if you decide to come here, I recommend bringing some if you are from the country/a small town like I am!

I put those babies in at 3pm and slept until 4 the next morning. 13 hours. Oh, God, it was heaven! I woke up a couple of times, once to close the balcony door at 6 pm and take a phone call, and again at midnight for the 'obvious reason.'

Hooray!!! I can sleep like a rock again!