About 4 hours ago, with a long empty Sunday evening stretched out in front of me, I thought I'd write a post about Vietnamese parties. Then, as I went downstairs to make some tea (you can take the girl out of England, but.....) I found myself on the back of a motorbike being whisked away to the beach for a.... family party.
A feast for 27
Having grown up in the Otto/Stephenson clan (both families being renowned breeders), some aspects of these gatherings are very familiar. We also enjoy large rowdy meals; with 30 or so family members ranging in age (and behavioural age) from 0 - 93, laughing, teasing, shouting, children dangling off chairs / trees / hammocks / roofs, lots of food and drink, someone sleeping on the floor etc....
There are subtle differences though. Things I'm less familiar with including;
- throwing all scraps and bottles onto the floor
- scrawny dogs eating said scraps from around your feet
- people pissing off the edge of the restaurant platform
- being given the chicken's head as a prize delicacy
- having whatever watery iced drink I have in front of me topped up with whatever someone else has at hand....beer, coke, or green tea, or worst of all, 'sting' (the local version of red bull)
- hookers sitting at the next table eyeing up the younger guys
- the lady who's drunk the most (apart from grandma) telling me she's due at work in a couple of hours. At the hospital.
- grandma vomiting from her hammock after one-too-many glasses of said watery-iced-beers (granny, don't get any ideas!)
The aftermath
So, I'm back at the guesthouse, feeling a bit bewildered by the last few hours, a bit tipsy, and glad to have been to another party instead of just sitting here typing about them :o)
Hi Lucy,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Martin and I am writing to you on behalf of a website that I am currently involved in starting up. We aim to provide prospect volunteers with all the information they need in order to feel confident in their choice of organisation, position and destination, as well as inspire people to make the jump and try out volunteering.
As a part of that, I was wondering whether you might be interested in answering a few questions and perhaps sharing any advice you may have for people who are considering to volunteer.
If you think you might have time to do this, I’d love to hear from you. You can reach me through info@volunteeringinfo.org, and you can view the website I’m representing at http://www.volunteeringinfo.org.
Thanks, and keep up your amazing work!
Martin Jonsson
Hi Lucy
ReplyDeleteanother great bit of writing. i loved the sweating description - as I write it stings my eyes, drips off my chin and trickles down my back. Viva Hanoi!
Keep partying!
x Chi Kathy