Mosquitoes are truly a bane to mankind.
The mosquito bites that I received two days ago have now swelled to enormous proportions, and have consumed about half of my arm. It's extremely itchy, and affected me for most of Day 6, but that's all good. I think I'm actually allergic to mosquitoes...
For breakfast this time, we had some food slightly similar to food in America. Eggs and bread! I think this was the first "light" meal that we've had so far in Vietnam. In fact, it always seems like breakfast is the most substantial meal of all, and all the others are either less so or comparable. After the quick breakfast, we headed back into the Mercedes van, and made our way down to Can Duoc to visit some more family, and also pay our respects to our deceased relatives, whose tombstones resided in the area.
Can Duoc seemed to be a little farther than Can Giuoc, and about an hour drive. Despite the massive size of Ho Chi Minh City and the countryside, I'm starting to actually get used to the look of the area, and have memorized several of the locations that we usually pass by. The city is always bustling, and filled with hundreds of bikes, vans, and taxis driving on the road. I wonder if they have GPS here. I would really get lost if I attempted to navigate somewhere.
When we arrived at our destination, we had to take a 10 minute walk to the house we were visiting. Upon touching the ground which was dirt, everyone ushered us to get onto the road. I questioned why until I looked and saw tons of red ants running. When I made it onto the road my dad noticed an ant that had successfully climbed onto my shoe. We destroyed it before it could do any damage. My cousin unfortunately had a different fate. She was wearing Crocs, and some of the ants were able to make it inside and bite her on the foot. The bites quickly swelled and grew red, and we had to administer some anti-itch cream immediately. My uncle told me that ants here in Vietnam were extremely aggressive, and their bites hurt much more than those in the US.
The path to the house was accompanied by a nice view. The trail was narrow, but was surrounding on both sides by bodies of water. We had to move to the side several times to let some motorbikes get past us. I think it would be fun to ride on a motorbike in the countryside. I wouldn't have a problem having someone drive me. If they can drive in the city, they can drive anywhere... (foreshadowing). After about 10 minutes we made it to my great-grandma's house. The property itself was lined with a fence, and stretched out quite a ways. It was quite substantial, and my dad told me that my great-grandma was a very popular figure a long time ago. He told me that growing and selling rice used to be a possible job in Vietnam. One year, however, everyone's crops failed to yield any rice, but my great-grandma's crops were one of the few that was still successful. Through this, hundreds upon hundreds of people lined up and were fed by her crops. Decades later at her funeral, thousands of people attended to send their regards. Beside the house was another small hut, which housed the tombs of my great grandma and grandpa. We continued onward to the house we were visiting.
Within another five minutes, I smelled the smell of fish sauce. Quite the enjoyable scent. Just kidding. We continued onward and were greeted by many family members who were already at the house. By this time it was only 1100, but it was super hot. The sun was out and I was sweating all over, and the backpack I was wearing wasn't helping. I took refuge under a little covering and cooled down under a fan. Immediately, I heard the call of a hen (rooster/chicken/etc.) I looked over and saw two of my cousins looking at two hens fighting. The hens jumped in the air and kicked their legs at each other to fight. They also flapped their wings to slap each other. Quickly, someone came over and yelled at them for releasing the hens. One of them actually seemed to escape when they tried to catch them. I later learned that these hens were fighting cocks, and were essentially worth good money for their fighting abilities. Cockfighting is illegal in the US, but it was still cool to see. I think in China they have pigeon racing.
For lunch we had some more rice and assorted meats, followed by some soup. I really can't get tired of eating large entrees every day, and so far it's been good since I haven't gotten any major food poisoning yet. (Let's not jinx it again). Afterwards, we followed dad as she showed us the second portion of the house, which was actually a fish sauce factory, which was where that smell originated. I saw several large containers, which I assumed has fish sauce in them, and dad explained how the fish sauce was made. It looked pretty dirty, and the fish sauce smell was quite intoxicating. Still, I've never seen a fish sauce factory before. For the last few hours before we had to leave, I explored the nearby area, took some pictures, and then sat down to relax since my mosquito bitten arm was starting to bother me. Later on, everyone piled inside as it rained heavily. Rain comes quick here, and you can tell when it's coming. The wind speed kicks up, and within minutes, rain is pouring down hard on the ground. We don't get this kind of rainfall in Albuquerque, that's for sure.
There's something that I've noticed while in Vietnam. It's that the solicitors are real. Every single place that we've went to and stayed at in Vietnam, there's always a random person who walks up to us and shows us lottery tickets, wanting us to buy them. I guess they're just an annoyance, since all of my family members just ignore their existence, and eventually, they just walk away. But they're quite the pros at soliciting. I didn't think they'd make it all the way down to our house which was a 10-15 minute walk down.
On our way back to the van, we were offered a ride on a motorbike to prevent walking back down. My sister and I agreed, but my mom and dad decided to walk. My wish was fulfilled. Although a short ride, it was still fun. We went pretty fast despite being on a really narrow path, but I knew I could trust the driver's abilities.
Another day, another location, more fun. I think tomorrow (or today since I'm writing this), we'll be staying in Ho Chi Minh City, and I'll be watching another movie, Transformers 4. Mom's going to be cooking some bun bo hue. Let's see if they like it. Alright, until next time!
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