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Published: January 4th 2006
Who are Those Guys Over there??
Those guys over there...enjoy a day of zero wins. This is post-play the first day, a few beverages in; not sure what we're doing, really. Christmas and New Years were pretty good in Vietnam! On Christmas Eve, Marta and I delivered some presents to the neighbors (boxes of fruit). They were touched by the gesture and invited us over for a meal. It was unbelievable. First we sat on a small porch in a three room house - the porch was overflowing with broken fans, tools, light fixtures, etc. If we had been in the states, I would have associated it with a home of a meth addict - clearly that wasn't the case here. We had a very humble meal of shrimp and clams, and some beer. Then, we went across the street for a larger meal with our other neighbors. They had maybe five or six dishes, three of which were from dog!! (Thit cho). IT was SENSATIONAL!! Seriously one of the best meals I've had in Vietnam. Marta, Elizabeth and I all tried it, and we felt guilty not so much for eating it as for enjoying it! I had seconds...(My mom told me Janet fainted when she told her I'd eaten dog. I thought that was pretty funny..) The following day was Christmas, and Michelle and I went to play frisbee in
Giant Condom Man!??!?!!?!???
I never really understood why there was a giant condom man on the fields - but there was! Perhaps the company was one of the sponsors?? Regardless, I was more than a little surprised (at first) to find such suggestive propaganda in a conservative country! district 7. It turns out there's a nice frisbee population here, but I can never play becuase I have work on Sunday afternoons. Afterwards, we went to a four-star hotel buffet - ALL you can EAT and DRINK! I attempted to get my money's worth, I think I did all right for myself. It was easily the most ostentatious/expensive meal I will eat in Vietnam $41! But half the proceeds go to a local orphanage, so in the end I felt much better about myself.
This past weekend, I had an international frisbee tournament for New Years!! It was SWEET!! First, let me say that this was the classiest tournement I have ever been to! They had a sound system on the fields and played a variety of great songs both days. We were constantly dancing on the line!! Instead of eating the token plain bagels and bananas that we get in the states, there were coconuts with the milk still inside for refreshments, cafeteria food from the local university - we had trays with all kinds of Vietnamese food!!, bags with frisbees, shampoo, deodorant, sunblock, condoms...the works. It was a hat tournement (for those of you who don't
The Team!
After the tourney, before the final game...just chillin'. NOtice the sweat patches on everyone from the INTENSE winter sun! know what that is: everyone signs up and then all their names are put into a hat and randomly selected for teams.) There were people from all over the place - Canada, the US, Germany, France, Italy...working in Thailand, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Vietnam... My team lost every game the first day, but had a great time doing it. All the games were close, some were universe point, and we played a beer game with the last team (who ended up winning the tournement). Highlights include: the giant condom (see photos) playing frisbee and talking to a small child, playing in every kind of weather from rediculously HOTT to cold rain, seeing a man catch a disc in the endzone...with four year old child in hand, generally talking to people from all over the place and listening to their experiences. For new years, we had a big frisbee party which was actually a bit lame, so we went to a dance club in the city center! All in the all, the weekend was a success!! Now, I gear up for the arrival of my father in T-minus four hours!!
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anonymous
non-member comment
hi
Hi Moira, I am a big fan of yours and Marta's blog. I am vietnamese but never consider eating those critters. You gals are one up on me. Who says western chics are weak at heart or may be you two are just plain crazy. lol