Yummy Vietnamese Food

Why

Cute cats and dogs - for friends, not food!

Living in a country where some people still eat cats and dogs (as well as horses, mice, rats, snakes, lizzards, and insects), it is nice to find some cats and dogs that are treated more as pets than as lunch! We are designing t-shirts with a cartoons of a cat and dog that reads "Cats and Dogs are Friends not Food!"  Because of the heat and humidity, most of the animals below are resting. . .in fact, most people here in Can Tho go home for lunch and take a cat nap every day after they eat.

When I first saw this kitten, I thought it was a rat!  I screamed! 
It is the resident kitten at Mango Hotel, where my friends live. 
It knows enough not to venture out into the street, where surely it would be killed. 
It even knows how to ride the elevator up and down!

My friend Minh, formerly a Fulbright student in Missoula,
with a friendly kitten, in Hanoi

My cute kitchen cat, with washable towel that can be unbuttoned and washed!

Strange and alarming foods!

While most of the food I have found to be quite delicious (stay tuned for a blog posting on delicious food later), some foods here are strange and usually rather disgusting to my American palate.

Snake liquor - it would make me sicker! (Mom, close your eyes!)

No girl scout cookies here!  This guy came down my block with his cart and scale to sell durian,
which smells and tastes like rancid baby poo to me.  What would I give for a thin mint cookie!

Some people love octopus, but I am not one of them.

Foetal duck egg is a delicacy both here and in Laos.

Thit Cho - Dog Meat is eaten more frequently in the north.

Oh dear - thit meo (cat meat)

Rat meat - at least it is a good use for rats, which I don't really care for!

I actually am able to eat lotus stems, but I do find them rather exotic!

This restaurant is selling Tiger beer and dog meat.

 

Home sweet home!

My home here in Can Tho is designed on the principles of Feng shui, a Chinese system of geomancy using the laws of Chinese astronomy and earth to improve one's life by receiving positive energy or "qi." 

It is designed as a long boxcar style of home, one room wide, but very deep.  I think the wind is supposed to blow through the house from front to back and clean out bad energy.  In any case, this style of construction doesn't have good air circulation, and the windows are only in the front and to the courtyard.  I tend not to open my back door as the back yard is a paved storage room for the landlords, with a dead tree and lots of junk.  In addition, the house next door has been turned into a business for testing the strength of materials, including metal and cement, so they are often sawing or using chemicals in their tests.  Phew! 

My house came mostly furnished, though I have added to the furnishings.  It has hot water in the bathroom (though not much water pressure), air conditioning in the front part of the house, 2 floor fans, and a front garden space that I am filling with small plants.  I have 6 Italian basil plants there, waiting for transplanting! 



My first visit to the house, before the landlady cut down the beautiful pine tree!

My front garden with orchids and mums

 

Learning to make wire & fabric flowers with my coworker, in the living room

Office/store room/guest room

My bedroom, with hand sewn sheets to fit the bed

 

Inner Court Yard with Laundry

Phuong, my cleaning lady, in the kitchen

Another view of the kitcehn

Bathroom, with western toilet, tub, and sink!

 

Lanterns and Moon Cakes

Two weeks ago, Vietnam celebrated the Moon Festival.  Businesses set up stands to sell moon cakes the month before the holiday.  Moon cakes are a mysterious confection of baked dough--some are filled with, to my mind, horrible things like black eggs, while others have meat and dried fruit, reminiscent of Christmas fruitcake mied with mincemeat pie.  Vietnamese people in Can Tho like to exchange moon cakes obtained from far away provinces. 

And then for three nights, children went up and down my street carrying lit lanterns and getting cakes, a bit like an early Halloween.  Some people even floated small floats decorated with candles and flowers on the river, akin to the Harvest Fesival in Thailand that takes place on the full moon during November.

The Lasting Devastation of Napalm

My friends and I spent a somber three hours in the War Atrocites Museum in Saigon.   The following photos are from an exhibition by Japanese and Vietnamese photographers taken in the US, South Korea, and Vietnam. 

The lasting impacts of napalm cross borders.  What scientists invented this horror?  And what people allowed it to be used?  

While the US victims have received some compensation, no compensation has been provided to the Vietnamese victims.  And the genetic legacy of this terrible war continues.

 

Eight year old Do Duc Duyen jokes around with his mother after breakfast.  Duyen's instinct for living has enabled his parents to overcome their difficulties, and he continues to givem them strength through hís joy in life. 

Nguyen Hoai Thuong wants to touch a flower.  She was born in 2008 to Mrs. Tran Thi Cam Giang,
living in Cu Chi District in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, born in 1964, in Vinh Long Province.  He sufers from Recklinghausen disease.

Dan Loney has many symptoms related to toxic chemical exposure--numbness, nausea, and headaches.  His wife has suffered several miscarriages, and hís daughter was born with an arm that ends below her shoulder.  She is very beautiful.

Mr. Ke Van Bac was born in 1988, in A Luoi District, Thua Thien Hue.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Chot ís 62 years old, the mother of 2 children.  Her husband, Nguyen Sat, was a soldier in the old regime and was based near Hoi An City.  One of her children, 38 year old Nguyen Vinh, began to manifest severe health problems at the age of 2, when his legs and arms began to shrivel.  Day in and day out, he lives in a bed.  Hís only interruption comes every 3 days when his mother carries him outside to bathe him.   

Mr. Nguyen Van Loc, with his mother and two sons, in Quang Tri Province.

Pham Viet Tuong was born in 1990 in Quang Nam Province.  Tuong was the best student in hís class
for several years and wơn the silver prize for chess in Quang Nam Province.

Nguyen Hoang Anh, born in 1991, is always eager to learn.  He lives in Ho Chi Minh City.

This is the radiant face of Thuy Linh, whose miraculous legs have helped her overcome
being born without arms.  She is a gifted painter.  Linh's grandfather,
a helicopter pilot, handled Agent Orange from 1962-1970 and pased away from
leukemia in 1972.  Now Tu Du Hospital in Hoa Binh village is caring for Linh.

Dan Jordan is officially acknowledged as a victim of Agent Orange.
His son (above) has congenital deformities of his hands. 
Dan Jordan and other veterans took the lead in the class action law suit
against the chemical company that produced Agent Orange. 
The suit was settled in 1983 for $180 million.  



Ms. Pham Thi Vuong ứa bỏn in 1978 in Quang Ngai Province. 
At age 27, she is only 0.8 meters tall and weighs only 12 kilograms.  
The lower half of her body is paralyzed. 
She helps support her family by making and selling crafts.