Friday night I was attacked by bed bugs in the mattress of a questionable hotel-room inside a guest house in Hue City. I don't know why I agreed to stay in that particular room in the first place, as one had to walk down a gated alley into somebody's courtyard in order to get access to the room. I also don't know why the broken air conditioner, the musty smell, and the general lackluster-ness of the room didn't send me strutting in the opposite direction. But after spending seven hours at a spirit possession ceremony in the mountains just outside of Hue City, I think all I really wanted to do was just rest in a comfy bed...
Well, I got little rest--as the next morning I woke up to scattered ruby red bites along my waist, my chest, and most horrifyingly, my face!
To make a long story short, I now live in a new room, yet must sleep with all of the lights on in order to confuse any bed bugs that may have followed me--and to calm that general feeling of creepy crawlies on my skin. I hope to get over such a habit when I come home to Ted--but he is a heavy sleeper, and may not care that I ask to keep my two dozen nightlights on.
Thus we come to the problem of the last several days--
I've been having a difficult time falling asleep, though I force myself to go to bed fairly early. I think I got into a bad habit of staying up very late (out of my fear of the bugs, mind you), and then waking up late, and then napping in the late afternoon in order to catch up on much needed rest. Now I seem to have fallen into a cycle of staying up late, waking up late, taking four hour naps in the afternoon, and STILL feeling incredibly exhausted.
Today, though, I tried a little change. Instead of sleeping in until 9:00am, I forced myself to wake up at 7:00am (which was actually more like 8:30am). After showering to a Beach Boys "Love You/15 Big Ones" soundtrack, I packed my laptop, my books, my wallet, and made my way down the street to use the fantastic internet at a mediocre restaurant. I like coming to this restaurant because the internet is super fast and the owner lets me sit at the balcony so that I might have privacy and feel the cool Hue City breeze in my hair--But what I don't like is the tourist-friendly versions of what passes for Vietnamese food served here. It pains me to pay twice the price for a dish that is... pretty fucking nasty. Last week, though, I learned my lesson--and come for breakfast only.
Breakfast happens to be really decent for the price: a generous four egg omelet with cheese, tomatoes, onions and a fresh hot baguette is only 2.50 USD. And if you know anything about me, you'll know how much I love my eggs. In fact, there's an entire song dedicated to the love of eggs!! (In Korean and in English!)
I think that video pretty much sums up the gentle admiration I harbor for eggs.
Today is a day full of work--but I know that crepes with lemon sugar, or perhaps, an Endless Love vanilla-chocolate ice cream cone will be my welcome reward.
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