Our Gum & Cigarette Lady

There is a woman who sits outside of our apartment building every day selling gum and cigaretts (and various other things) out of a rolling stand that she rolls out onto the side walk every morning and back in every night. Ever since we moved in, she has offered us friendly smiles whenever we see her, but she has proven to be so much more than just a friendly neighbor.

She is our mail recipient - on two occasions when someone has sent mail to our home address: 147/1A Nguyen Tri Phuong, F8, Q5, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, as oppossed to our mailing address at the school, the mail person has given her the letters and she then gives them to us. So apparently we can recieve mail at our home, you just have to write c/o Gum & Cigarette Lady.

She is our emergency door opener - one day when Steven locked his keys in the house, effectively locking himself in the vestibule of our building, unable to get back into our apartment or out onto the street, she came to his rescue and let him out of the building with her front door key. Steven didn't even have to tell me what happened because when I returned from my run, she pantomimed the whole incident to me, laughing the whole time. Steven was so grateful that he said he might start smoking just because of her (since he doesn't chew gum).

She is our taxi hailer - just one appealing look at her when our regular xe om drivers aren't around and she is on the job waving over someone from down the street.

She is our friend - every so often, she will walk over to me at the door as I return with a large purchase - hanging pots for our balcony, a new broom and dust pan - and ask me about them, making what sound like approving comments as I demonstrate my new purchases. I am looking forward to giving her some of our fresh basil once we have our first crop.

Today I asked her her name in Vietnamese, but she didn't understand me. I am going to keep trying. I think she'll appreciate it.