Happy New Year of the Golden Pig!
We were in Vietnam for Tet, which is their lunar new year and they were also celebrating the Year of the Pig as we found many of these guys all over the place. It is also a special year of the 'golden pig' which comes around once every 60 or so years and is said to be a lucky year to have a baby.
We had a great time in Vietnam, the beach was great (besides the dead pig and two bags of intestines we found on one romantic sunset walk). The best part though was meeting Mr Phoung, who is a guy I sponsored through the KOTO training program (http://www.streetvoices.com.au/). Sponsoring can be a disconnected experience, the person who benefits from your donations a million miles away, and sometimes just a World Vision sad face, not a real person. Hearing Mr Phuong tell me that his mother died when he was 5, and he 'has not seen' his father; that he went to live with 'another family' until, at the age of 13 he had to leave because they 'couldn't eat', was very moving. He came to Hanoi, alone, at 13 years old and worked cleaning the sewers until he was 20, which was when he approached KOTO and asked for a place in the training program. A friend of his had done the 18 month program and told Mr Phuong all about it. He was, as he says 'very happy' when he was accepted. After our chat I was choking back a few tears, and seeing how happy he is now was really great. He now works in an Italian restaurant in Hanoi, which we visited that night.
We also had a few days in Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City. We went to the War Remnants Museum which was pretty shocking. They had all these photographs of victims of Agent Orange and napalm and other photos of US soldiers that put Abu Graib to shame. Mind you, it was VERY one sided. When we went to the Cu Chi tunnels the next day, we learned about all the barbaric traps that the Viet Cong would set for the US soldiers. Still, I find it endlessly ironic that the US are the loudest opponents of nuclear and chemical weaponry and yet have used both in wartime. Does anyone else know - is the US the only country to have used chemical and nuclear weapons in war?
posted by nancyshack @ 11:24 am
12 Comments:
Nukes is still just the US - Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Chemical weapons were used in WW1 by both sides and I'm pretty sure were outlawed after that with the Geneva Convention.
However, that would probably say something about using chemicals against people and therefore the US felt it was OK to use defoilants (Agent Orange) in Veitnam as it was used to deny hiding space.
Saddam Hussein used chemical weapons in the Iran-Iraq war (and against the Kurds which may not technically have been a war). Don't know if Iran responded.
And that's about the limit of my knowledge except that they're not always a good idea in case the wind changes.
Hoping for a happier post next time. Glad to hear of your trip.
Glad to have you back blogging Petal. I've been lonely without you (is that pathetic ? please say no). Sounds like a good trip.
My war knowledge is rather limited to shag all apart from the good ole ANZAC's I'm afraid, so can't help on the question. Lucky for Muz.
Hope you had a good birthday ? Did you do anything special ?
Wasn't aware of the 'Golden Pig' thing. Lucky I'm having a baby hey. Is it lucky for me or the baby do you know ? What's the significance ?
we lucky too! have baby!
Hey, Happy Golden Pig everyone. Although it doesn't sound like too good a year for pigs when bits of them are scattered across the shoreline. Yuch! Guess I'd have a hard time finding Kosher in Vietnam Huh? Re: the war thing. I agree with Gwen and once again thank Muzz for his extensive knowledge on, well just about everything really. I actually really truly own a copy of World Wars for Dummies. Not to start one or anything. Just to find out what happened in the first two. Darn it Nancy and Gwen, if it wasn't for the likes of you, I would have learnt something at high school and I wouldn't have to buy all these dummies guides.
Hey don't blame me, i was busy havin' a good time at high school and laughing at Gwennie's jokes.
And Jono...us too!
we have baby too...
oink oink....I smell a piglet in the offing!
When in Rome...or when in the year of the progenous Pig eh!
Congratulations to you both!!
Excellent. So the golden piglet is out of the bag. Congratulations to everyone that has gotten knocked up and is due this year. All these little Gwens and Nancys to look forward to. I was thinking about buying a puppy. Does that count?
Come on Phyllis. You can admit it. We all know about your plans for world domination.
And while puppies are nice and often known as child substitutes, I don't think they do count. But best of luck with it.
Puppies will one day rule the world by their cuteness. Go for it Phyllis.
Apartment life will dictate no puppies for me in the near future. And anyway everyone knows that cats will help me rule the world. they have the evil, self involved disposition I need. Plus they are just so cute when they expose their bellies for a scratch. As am I.
Happy New Year to you all too!
On New Year's Day a friend of ours told us it is bad luck to wash your hair or do any household cleaning at all. Unfortunately for me (but good news for Anika!) we were moving house on NYD and due to the 'no cleaning, bad luck' clause of the Chinese new year I was stuck with doing the cleaning on the Monday 'cause Nika was at work and I had taken the day off to unpack boxes at our new place. (ie. not clean our previous premises...)
No fuss though.....all the luck in the world must surely be coming our way.....as we had smelly hair for a day and did no household cleaning......hhmmmm....I seem to recollect having come across this behaviour before and am still waiting for the luck?!
I remember visiting the War Museum in Vietnam and it was very shocking. I am not sure if it is the same one you guys went to? The one I went to even had a guillontine (not sure how to spell it?) on display from when the French invaded. (I think I have a photo of me sitting under it looking like an idiot tourist!) The thing I just cannot remove from my memory is the jars of unborn deformed (from Agent Orange) children that were on display. That actually made me physically sick. There were babies with 2 heads and 5 legs and similar stuff like that. I just find it soooo unbelievable that humans can do such atrocities to each other? And we continue to do so, even after experiencing the devastation and repercussions......sorry, i just find war and destruction so upsetting and confusing....
When we were at the Danang Airport we were strictly forbidden to go into certain areas due to the fact that there is still Agent Orange in the surrounding areas and they could not garantee our safety. That was kinda scary to think that this chemical was still so prominent after all these years! And still affecting not only the Vietnamese but people from abroad as well.
When I was in Vietnam it was also Tet and it was a glorious time to be there, except if you needed to use a bank or any type of government agency. Everything completely shuts down for about 3-4 days. Is it still like that?
Anyway......blah, blah, blah.....your adventures always trigger off a whole spate of memories for me. Which is good.....and 'bad'. Thanks for the email regarding the 'piglet'. You know that you are stuck with that now, don't you?! I am over the moon excited for you both. Yaaaaayyyyyy!!!!!!
Will you be coming home soon? xxxxxxxx
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