Back in Vinh Long / Correction
OK, I'm back. A little frustrated though, after the power went out here at the internet cafe and I lost about 20 minutes of work on a new posting. I went and got a fresh sugarcane juice down the street, came back to the internet cafe, and the power is back on. I need to remember to occasionally save drafts so I don't lose all my writing.
So let's try this again. First the correction: our photos are at www.pbase.com/tcholz. I really bungled the address in the last post. Pbase will be easier for us and for those who want to look at the photos. For example, you can just click on the above link to go straight to our galleries, and you don't have join pbase or log in, unlike Flickr.com. I'm hoping to start taking more photos, now that we're going to be travelling. I really should start carrying the camera with me most of the time because you never know when great photos ops will present themselves.
I may also start trying to shoot video; I forget my camera has video capability. I did shoot some video of the crazy street scene in District 1, HCMC, after Vietnam beat Malaysia in the soccer semifinals of the SEA Games (Southeast Asia Games). The SEA Games are big deal here, especially the soccer games. After a win, the people take to the streets with flags and red headbands, and in Saigon, at least, it's quite a spectacle. I don't know what to do with the video though. I don't think I can post it on pbase, but I'll check. Some of the internet cafes in Saigon can burn CDs, but this cafe I'm at now can't. I need to get the video off my camera's memory card because video takes up a lot of memory.
We just got back to Vinh Long a couple of days ago. It seems really beautiful and quiet after having been in HCMC for the past several weeks. And it's good to be with the family here again. Yesterday Hoa and I took the ferry to An Binh island with Hoa's cousin Le and one of the children. Hoa and I went fishing, and I caught a pretty good-sized fish -- it think it was the one that's called "elephant ear fish" in English. I took it to the restaurant, and they fried it up for us and brought it back to us. We had a great meal and a lot of fun.
Then we rode our bikes -- and I took a turn riding Le's motorbike -- about 5-6 km to Hoa's Uncle Hoi's place on the island. It was very beautiful, and like everywhere on the island, there are lots of fruit trees. They fed us fresh fruit, including cham cham (don't remember the English), grapefruit, and another fruit I don't remember the English or Vietnamese word for that looks like a lychee. It was all delicious.
And last night I went to a party for the men at Uncle Han's place for the soccer final, Vietnam vs. Thailand. Thailand won, but we had a great time anyway. It was a pretty interesting event. Only the men were present -- I didn't see a woman there, although I assume one of the women did the cooking. We sat on the floor in a semicircle around the TV, with the food in the middle. When I first got there, I thought the beautiful golden brown fried food was chicken wings for a moment, before I realized they were frog legs. They were excellent. We also had shrimp, vegetables, and french bread, all of which could be dipped in the soy sauce with diced chilis.
As usual, drinking was an important part of this party. But we didn't just get a glass of beer of our own to sip while we ate and watched the game. Instead, two of the men were responsible for opening the bottles of Saigon Beer and dumping them into a cooler with a big block of ice inside. Then they'd fill the two glasses we used and hand each to one of the men. Usually, one glass would be shared by two men, each drinking "50%," which is the toast that's made. Occasionally, you'd get a glass with the instructions, "100%," but fortunately for me that only happened once or twice. When I got back to the guesthouse, everyone was sitting outside with a few guests, including a man in "cong an" (police) uniform, who appeared to be fairly high-ranking given the stars on his shoulders. He wanted me to drink 100 % with him, but I had to stop being polite and go to bed.
We're leaving to begin our 4-6 trip around Vietnam soon, probably Saturday or Sunday. I'm sure we'll be near intenet cafes most of the time, except when we're at the National Parks. One of our first stops probably will be Cat Tien National Park, north of Ho Chi Minh City. After reading a little about the park on the internet, I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I hope I get some nice photos, because I haven't really seen very many photos online of the natural areas of Vietnam.
I'm reading one of the cheap photocopied editions (about the only English language books you can find in Vietnam) of Neil Jamieson's "Understanding Vietnam." I've only read the first chapter or so, but it seems like a great book so far. Right now, I'm reading about the role of women in Vietnamese culture. It's confusing because in traditional Vietnamese culture, women are expected to respect and obey their fathers, then their husbands, and then, if widowed, their oldest sons. But, the Vietnamese don't seem to have any tradition of seeing woman as gullible or incompent, as I think we do in the west. More often, apparently, men have been portrayed in the folklore as being bumbling and imcompent. So how did it come about that the shrewd and responsible women had to obey the sometimes incompetent men? Maybe Jamieson will have some answers.
PS for Aunt Sharon: sorry we haven't responded to your last e-mail, we lost your address, if you get a chance please let us know. Thanks.
So let's try this again. First the correction: our photos are at www.pbase.com/tcholz. I really bungled the address in the last post. Pbase will be easier for us and for those who want to look at the photos. For example, you can just click on the above link to go straight to our galleries, and you don't have join pbase or log in, unlike Flickr.com. I'm hoping to start taking more photos, now that we're going to be travelling. I really should start carrying the camera with me most of the time because you never know when great photos ops will present themselves.
I may also start trying to shoot video; I forget my camera has video capability. I did shoot some video of the crazy street scene in District 1, HCMC, after Vietnam beat Malaysia in the soccer semifinals of the SEA Games (Southeast Asia Games). The SEA Games are big deal here, especially the soccer games. After a win, the people take to the streets with flags and red headbands, and in Saigon, at least, it's quite a spectacle. I don't know what to do with the video though. I don't think I can post it on pbase, but I'll check. Some of the internet cafes in Saigon can burn CDs, but this cafe I'm at now can't. I need to get the video off my camera's memory card because video takes up a lot of memory.
We just got back to Vinh Long a couple of days ago. It seems really beautiful and quiet after having been in HCMC for the past several weeks. And it's good to be with the family here again. Yesterday Hoa and I took the ferry to An Binh island with Hoa's cousin Le and one of the children. Hoa and I went fishing, and I caught a pretty good-sized fish -- it think it was the one that's called "elephant ear fish" in English. I took it to the restaurant, and they fried it up for us and brought it back to us. We had a great meal and a lot of fun.
Then we rode our bikes -- and I took a turn riding Le's motorbike -- about 5-6 km to Hoa's Uncle Hoi's place on the island. It was very beautiful, and like everywhere on the island, there are lots of fruit trees. They fed us fresh fruit, including cham cham (don't remember the English), grapefruit, and another fruit I don't remember the English or Vietnamese word for that looks like a lychee. It was all delicious.
And last night I went to a party for the men at Uncle Han's place for the soccer final, Vietnam vs. Thailand. Thailand won, but we had a great time anyway. It was a pretty interesting event. Only the men were present -- I didn't see a woman there, although I assume one of the women did the cooking. We sat on the floor in a semicircle around the TV, with the food in the middle. When I first got there, I thought the beautiful golden brown fried food was chicken wings for a moment, before I realized they were frog legs. They were excellent. We also had shrimp, vegetables, and french bread, all of which could be dipped in the soy sauce with diced chilis.
As usual, drinking was an important part of this party. But we didn't just get a glass of beer of our own to sip while we ate and watched the game. Instead, two of the men were responsible for opening the bottles of Saigon Beer and dumping them into a cooler with a big block of ice inside. Then they'd fill the two glasses we used and hand each to one of the men. Usually, one glass would be shared by two men, each drinking "50%," which is the toast that's made. Occasionally, you'd get a glass with the instructions, "100%," but fortunately for me that only happened once or twice. When I got back to the guesthouse, everyone was sitting outside with a few guests, including a man in "cong an" (police) uniform, who appeared to be fairly high-ranking given the stars on his shoulders. He wanted me to drink 100 % with him, but I had to stop being polite and go to bed.
We're leaving to begin our 4-6 trip around Vietnam soon, probably Saturday or Sunday. I'm sure we'll be near intenet cafes most of the time, except when we're at the National Parks. One of our first stops probably will be Cat Tien National Park, north of Ho Chi Minh City. After reading a little about the park on the internet, I'm sure it's going to be amazing. I hope I get some nice photos, because I haven't really seen very many photos online of the natural areas of Vietnam.
I'm reading one of the cheap photocopied editions (about the only English language books you can find in Vietnam) of Neil Jamieson's "Understanding Vietnam." I've only read the first chapter or so, but it seems like a great book so far. Right now, I'm reading about the role of women in Vietnamese culture. It's confusing because in traditional Vietnamese culture, women are expected to respect and obey their fathers, then their husbands, and then, if widowed, their oldest sons. But, the Vietnamese don't seem to have any tradition of seeing woman as gullible or incompent, as I think we do in the west. More often, apparently, men have been portrayed in the folklore as being bumbling and imcompent. So how did it come about that the shrewd and responsible women had to obey the sometimes incompetent men? Maybe Jamieson will have some answers.
PS for Aunt Sharon: sorry we haven't responded to your last e-mail, we lost your address, if you get a chance please let us know. Thanks.
posted by Tom Holz | 11:39 PM
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