Hey guys,
So I was reading through my last few blog posts, and I realized that I haven't actually told you much about what happens in Bến Tre. There are a lot of stories from around Vietnam, but relatively few from Bến Tre. So, there are two stories from Bến Tre that I really don’t want
to get lost in the shuffle.
First of all, the week before I came to Đà Lạt I went with
some of my students to the night market of Bến Tre. I had been before by
myself, but I had only biked through, I had never actually stopped and shopped
there. I went with my third year students, Quyen, Tran, Oanh, Mai and Nguyen. I
had originally invited them out to che, and we went to get dessert first. After
that, though, they offered for me to come to the night market, and I accepted
their invitation.
Walking around the night market
For some reason "FBI" stuff is huge here. I don't understand it.
Browsing through the flip-flops
Shopping at Tien's stall
It was a ton of fun wandering around the night market with
my students. We tried on various articles of clothing, laughed and joked around
and all considered various unwise forms of purchase. Oanh bought me a bracelet,
and Quyen bought me a stuffed animal, gifts I wasn’t expecting but were super
nice. We swung by Tien’s shop, Tien is Tran’s older sister and she works in the
Office of International Relations, so I know her very well. I had a great time
wandering the night market with my students. It just felt like a bunch of
friends relaxing together, my outsider status long forgotten.
Mai, Quyen, Oanh, Myself, Tran and Nguyen
Secondly, this past weekend we went around Bến Tre visiting
more famous historical sites. First we went to see the historical monument to
the Đồng Khởi movement, a communist insurgency in Vietnam that started in Bến Tre. “Đồng Khởi” streets can be found all over Vietnam, but I had no idea that
the Đồng Khởi movement started here.
Đồng Khởi Memorial building
The wooden drums that the VC used to signal each. These drums gave Mỏ Cày (Wooden drum) district in Bến Tre its name.
Inside the Đồng Khởi museum
We also went to see an old pagoda, one of the oldest in Bến Tre.
The pagoda
A flower from a tree in the pagoda's garden. Apparently this tree is native to India
Vietnamese picture
A plaque commemorating Nguyen Sinh Sac, Ho Chi Minh's father, who practiced medicine here for several years.
Shrine in the temple to Nguyen Sinh Sac
Finally, we visited an old 19th century house. The house had been owned by four generations of one family, and the eldest member of the family came out to greet us. She was very friendly and grandmotherly, and very impressed at my limited Vietnamese skills.
The outside of the house
The interior, built in the imperial Hue style
One of the shrines
The grandmother who lived there, her great-great grandfather had been the governor who lived in this house. She was really adorable and very friendly.
The family tree of the owners
In the imperial style there are four steps up to the house: Birth, Adulthood, Sickness, Death
As interesting as the tour around Ben Tre was, the highlight for me was actually lunch. We went to get lunch at the house of Mr. Hoang’s mother. I got to meet her, as well as Mr. Hoang’s sister and a lot of his extended family. They were all very friendly and the little children in particularly adorable, wanting to practice their English. Mr. Hoang gave me a little tour, including, interestingly, the room where his family makes rice wine.
Mr. Hoang's mother in the kitchen
The jugs where rice wine is made
At lunch with Mr. Hoang, Mr. Đay, Mr. Luan and Mr. Vu Hung
At a certain point our driver, Mr. Đay, disappeared into a nearby shop, shouting something. I asked where he was going, and Mr. Hoang explained that Mr. Đay was going to buy a fighting cock. Then Mr. Đay emerged from the shop, yelled that the fighting cocks here weren’t good, and that he would be going somewhere else to purchase them.
So, without further ado, our driver jumped onto the back of a motorcycle and sped off. I asked where he was going, but nobody knew. I asked when he would be getting back, but nobody knew. Well then.
We spent the next 45 minutes lounging around Mr. Hoang’s family’s café, occasionally talking but mostly just drinking tea, wondering when Mr. Day would show up.
Eventually the motorbike pulled back, and Mr. Day got off with a large woven bag. He opened the bag and pulled out a large and beautifully colored rooster. He held up the rooster for everyone to see, as the various onlookers made comments about the strength of the legs and the size of the bird. He put the fighting cock back in the bag, then we said our goodbyes to Mr. Hoang’s family.
The bag
The bird
As we were getting into the car I asked Mr Hoang where Mr. Đay would put the rooster. We had five people, so the car was totally full.
Would he put it in the trunk? No, Mr. Hoang said, of course not. The rooster
would be put at someone’s feet in the back of the car. I was glad I was sitting
in the front.
On the drive back I asked Mr. Đay about the price of the bird, and about how
much they cost in general. He said this bird cost him 900,000 VND, or about
$45. Better fighting cocks get much more expensive, up to 10, 20, 30 million
VND. Still, Mr. Đay was quite glad about this bird, because he had examined
both the rooster’s parents and they were both in great condition.
Bloodline is very important in fighting cocks. Mr. Hoang
explained to me that some owners of fighting cocks never sell their stock at
the market, as they worry that someone will purchase a chicken as a sacrifice
to their ancestors. Doing that is very bad luck, and can contaminate an entire
bloodline, so the owners only sell to private buyers who they know will use the
fighting cocks for bloodsport.
Mr. Đay went on at some length about the qualities of
fighting cocks. Most interestingly, he said the best fighting cocks are
half-Vietnamese, half-American. Vietnamese hen, American rooster.
The rooster,
sitting quietly in the back, didn’t have much to offer on the subject.
Thanks for reading, see y'all soon!
Peace,
Jefferson
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