Singin' in the rain

Hello gentle readers, just a warning that the keys on this keyboard are terrible and i may miss some capital letters.
I'm writing to you from Hoi An, a bit of a tourist trap, but also very lovely (mom, dad, zayde, it's akin to our "religious shopping experience" in Tzfat). There is an old city here that hasn't changed for about 200 years. The streets are narrow, the buildings are only 2 stories and you can see the Chinese and french influence. It's really pretty. I thought I'd see more architecture like this in other cities here, but i haven't.
The city is famous for its tailors. One can get all manner of things made to order. I broke down and got a cotton summer dress and a wool coat (one I certainly do not need) made.
I went to My Son this morning, some old Cham ruins. Apparently it's a UNESCO site. It was jungle-y and overgrown--lots of atmosphere. I'm told Angkor Wat is a million times more spectacular, so I can't wait to see that.
I'm already feeling a little bit of a time crunch here in Vietnam. I've been here nearly 2 weeks and haven't even made it north of the DMZ. So much to see, so little time! Anyways, I decided to spend about one more week here. Then, i'm going to fly to siem riep, the city in cambodia where angkor wat is. From there i can get into Thailand and malaysia. I decided Thailand and malaysia were more of a priority for me than Laos. If I have time near the end of my 3 months in SE Asia, I can get into laos from Northern Thailand.
Allow me to wax philosophically for a moment. I'm getting a little more used to being on the road and going with the flow. I'm noticing that if i'm open to meeting people, finding fun new things, etc, opportunities present themselves to me. My point is, if you don't worry and are open, good things come your way. Life lessons from Lauren.
It's pouring rain here, which is less than pleasant, but thanks to my technical quick-dry REI travel clothes, I dry off pretty quick.
Here's a bit of culture shock for you all. Last night, I had a few beers with about 5 other people I met. We drank "fresh" beer, which seems to be home brew. It was unbelievably cheap. 5 BEERS FOR $1!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE DRANK 25 BEERS FOR $5!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm still having a hard time fully grasping this.
My chore this afternoon is to figure out how to ship home all this crap I bought.
I hope you are all well.