In the evening I walked to Tao Dan Park, which was crowded with people exercising and relaxing on benches. I sat on a bench and listened to a saxophone duet, the music calming my nerves.
Saigon at night is a different place from the one I know in the early morning. Electric lights paste rainbow colors on the streets and shops and the atmosphere becomes festive. A store on Le Loi Street which I pass in the mornings does not look interesting, but this evening the shop window caught my eye and I decided to enter. I stopped at a row of books and pulled The Summing Up from the shelf, opened to a random page, and was transported into the world of a richly talented man who had lived a magical life. I was tempted to buy the book for 230,000d ($10), but realized I would soon be in Chicago with access to the library.
This morning I woke at 6:00am and ran twelve loops (six miles) at Tao Dan Park. During the ninth loop a local runner started a conversation with me. Afterwards I stopped at 7-11 for my usual morning meal of egg sandwich and rice. I can't find a store that sells chocolate milk.
At 9:30am the jackhammer started again and continued for an hour. I wrote my AirBnB host to ask about it and the jackhammer soon ceased.
In the late morning I walked to Diamond Plaza, which is adjacent Notre Dame, to visit the American Library. After a thorough security check and passport inspection I was allowed access to the room, which was crowded with young people. I looked over the meager book collection and found two titles I could sit with, Kant's Critique of Judgment and Thich Nhat Hahn's Miracle of Mindfulness. Wanting to read for just a short while, passing on Kant seemed the best choice, so I sat down with Hahn's book. I was transported to 1988 in DeKalb, Illinois, where I was given this book to read by Richard Quinney, a talented professor and photographer. I read three short chapters and began to feel immensely tired, craving an afternoon nap. I left the library and returned to the studio, where the jackhammer was silent and I slept soundly for ninety minutes.
Tomorrow is my final full day in Saigon.
