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!