Ho Chi Minh or Hanoi?

Yesterday afternoon was our last day at the building site on Dragon Island. The house is 99.9 per cent finished. The last thing we did was to cement some bricks around the "window". It looks like the dodgiest thing in the world. Unfortunately there is not a lot of money for building materials so the window is just a grill without any kind of cover over it. There are gaps between it and the wall. The door doesn't have frames, its just exposed brick. The brick is very cheap and easy to break as it is made from some kind of clay. There is just metal sheeting for the roof and no insulation or anything fancy like that. Nevertheless, its a home, and its a hell of a lot better than what these people were living in before, so we all feel happy about that.

To celebrate, Bob, the head builder, organised a little party. This involved lots of food and lots of rice wine. Having vowed the night before never to touch rice wine again (it is a potent and evil substance) I was torn between my desire to drink and my desire to remain breathing. The women cooked a beef soup for us with carrot which was really, really yummy, with fresh bread. I seem to have FINALLY mastered the use of chopsticks to my relief (not being able to use eating utensils is very embarrassing in all cultures). About ten minutes into the meal, out came the suspicious looking bottles. We all groaned as we knew what we were in for. The builders ask you to either Ho Chi Minh (take a full shot) or Hanoi with a friend (you drink half, they drink the other half). The boys are pretty much forced to drink, as it is rude not to accept. I don't think women are really supposed to get crunk in this culture, but they still encouraged me to down a few... ok maybe a lot.

Suddenly I realised I was sitting in the jungle with real Vietnamese people eating real Vietnamese food, experiencing real Vietnamese life. It made me really happy to know that I'm living amongst the culture, not viewing it from behind a glass window. This isn't some crappy tour. I feel like a part of this world.

I love the people here. I love how they help you out even though you can't speak their language. I love how they tell you are "diep" even though you have sweat pouring down your face and cement all over your clothes. I love how they live simply yet are so happy.