Addiction to connectivity

How many times a day do you find yourself checking emails or or thinking that you NEED to check emails. If you sit in front of a computer all day, that probably isn't even a thought, it is simply an automatic action. Also, since nearly everyone has a "smart" phone, you don't have to think about it, because it automatically comes through! But seriously, how many lives would be lost if you ignored your emails, text messages, phone calls and (God forbid) Facebook for a day? What about a week?

On my travels I am one of the few that still does not have an iPod/iTouch to carry around in my pocket, I still travel with a small netbook (my big clumsy fingers aren't adapted to the small touch screens), so it requires a little extra effort to get out the computer and get online - granted, not a big deterrent. I notice myself often asking "Do you have Wifi?" before getting a place for the night or even for a meal. The other day I talked to a guy who had been traveling for months, that had TWO iPods - one for data, one for media - and admitted he is addicted.

The point is, even if you break away from the "real world", and leave everything behind to travel the world, the desire to get online doesn't always follow; it still requires extra effort. Even though I automatically ask for Wifi a lot, I can easily go without it. I have been on boats for a couple of days at a time, or villages with absolutely no internet distractions and I don't miss it one bit, but when it is there, it is tough to ignore. It is like going on a diet and having a piece of chocolate cake (or whatever your vice) put in front of you.

So now, I am going into the jungle for a couple of days, we'll see how many lives are lost when I don't check Facebook for that time! :) Could you do it too??

Small stools and dirty floors

When walking around in Vietnam, it seems that every few feet there is food to be eaten. There are normal restaurants as in any other place of the world, but the more common and popular places to eat are rickety looking, sometimes mobile eateries that set up small plastic tables and tiny plastic stools. Sometimes they are set up in front of someone's home and they use an inside kitchen, but other times their whole set up is right there in the street: the pots to cook in, and lukewarm buckets of water to wash the just-used dishes in.  Now, some people may be turned off by such an experience, especially considering this is all happening on the side of the sidewalk, very low to the ground, where thousands of cars, motos, and people (and animals!) are passing by each hour kicking up who knows what. But to someone who just loves food as much as I do, I just want to know which one has the best food! And that's when I met Hoan.

Tet

For many Westerners (particularly Americans) the word Tet was made famous during the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam/American war. The attack took place on the first day of the Lunar New Year known in Vietnam as Tet. It would be like saying the "New Year's Offensive". On January 31st, 1968, the North Vietnamese Army (NVA) and the National Front for the Liberation of South Vietnam (NLF; also commonly referred to as the Vietcong) launched the largest scale attack by either side of the war to that point. The widespread reporting of the Tet Offensive had a huge psychological impact on the world and marked a turning point in the public's perception of the war.

Tet is the most important holiday in Vietnam with many customs both before and after the actual day. Since it is an extremely family oriented holiday, travel can be very difficult the week preceding and the week following Tet - which is why I am stuck in Hanoi until the 6th! Tet is a time to honor the ancestors by repainting their tombs (many are buried on the family's land, often in the rice patties); those that live in the city will hang pictures of their ancestors on the wall, or display them in front of their store front - sometimes there are over one hundred pictures! Last week, the streets were packed with people shopping for gifts as well as stocking up on food and necessities (as much will be closed after Tet), paying off debts (it is good luck to be debt free on the first day of the New Year), visiting the pagodas making prayers and offerings. I participated in this last ritual by throwing a few thousand Dong on a plate in one of the pagodas in town. I attribute this act with a big stroke of luck (or Karma!) the very following day.