Thit Cho –dog. this is the local meat prepared in all the cafés which line the dirt roads. Lunch break is a sociable time for teachers. We travel pillionpassenger to the family area behind a café to all be served sitting cross legged on a rush mat.  We request chicken. The large television is on. In the café itself dogs scavenge remains of their family which are discarded on the floor. This is strange. At Phuong’s house fish remains are fed to the fish and chicken remains are fed to the chickens. Nothing is wasted.

The second day we walk alone during our lunch break to the café which has an open fire with cooking pots, a corrugated roof and beautiful tiled terracotta floor. The preparation of identical food to that which we had yesterday is immediate, as if we are regular customers. Later the waitress brings over to Peter what I assume is the bill. But it is a note.

HELLO MY HEART IS ALWAYS WITH YOU BECAUSE I LOVE YOU. He is not sure what to do but returns a note.

‘This is a nice restaurant and the staff are friendly.’ I feel that he is not totally entering into the spirit of things. Perhaps my presence is inhibiting. We have some lesson planning to do before this afternoon and set to on the low café table. The waitress spends time sitting companiably at the next table looking both at Peter, his note, and a large worn English Vietnamese dictionnary.