New Year's Eve and Day in Can Tho

Happy New Year to all, as I am pretty sure everyone reading this blog is now in a location that has passed into 2013.   Hope it was a fun time and here's to 2013.

We were swept away in 4 taxis (we have a very large group this time-around), traveling to an unknown location in Can Tho for our surprise New Year's Eve dinner, coordinated by Henry, who is the coordinator for International Extremity Project (IEP).  We arrived at an outdoor restaurant ~ almost all restaurants in southern Vietnam are somewhat 'outdoors' ~ and were directed to a large, long table set for us.  Due to our large constituency ~ we have some extra folks along this trip who are family members of medical team members and/or donors to the project ~ we had to add a couple of additional tables to accommodate us all.  Amy and I had purchased party supplies in San Francisco and they weathered the cross-continent trip well.  Every NYE party needs some good party favors, right???

This is Bruce, one of the lead surgeons and co-founder of IEP.  He always loves a good party!!  (the thing on his head is a flexible sleeve that protected a wine bottle that was brought along for the party...this is par-for-the-course with Bruce)

One-half of our table...everyone's having a good time!!

Michelle and Julia (mother/daughter), who have come along on the trip for the 1st time.  Julia is 17 years old and very excited and interested in all of the goings-on!

This is Flecher Fleurdejon (yep...that's his name) and he is our documentary filmmaker and professional trumpet player.  He has come along on all of the missions since 2004, just like us.  He lives in Berkley, CA.

This is the youngest member of our group ~ Ziggy, who is 7 months old.  His dad, Jonah, is one of the surgeons and his mom, Abi, is a professional adventure/underwater photographer.  He's a super-mellow and happy baby who has traveled like a champ!  This is not his 1st overseas trip, though...at 3 months they took him to Tulum, Mexico.  He's a world-traveler!!

These are some local musicians that were hired to play traditional Vietnamese music during dinner.  It was beautiful music and their instruments were just gorgeous and so interesting.  The one on the left was a 2-stringed instrument that seemed a cross between a banjo and a mandolin.  It is called a đàn nguyệt (pronounced 'dan nyet...translation = moon lute)

 We had a lovely dinner ~ as per usual, very pork-laden (as is traditional in Vietnam) ~ but quite delicious nonetheless.  A few of the dishes are shown below...

Pork Spring-Rolls with a beautiful rose made of thinly-sliced tomatoes

This is a grilled shrimp (yes, shrimp).  You basically pull the head off and eat the tail meat and can, of course, suck-out the contents of the head too.

A more complete photo of the shrimp with legs and all.  There is a skewer that is extended through the entire shrimp as well.

The party began at 8p and was to have lasted to 1a, but with having spent all day doing screenings, most were a bit tired, so around 10p the majority of the group began to scatter.  Amy and I returned to the hotel with several folks and then went out to walk around for a while to see what was happening in Can Tho on New Year's Eve.  The short answer is practically nothing...at least where we were strolling.  They do have the streets decorated so nicely and so we got some great photos of the lights.

This is the 'night market' street.  It opens at 5p and closes at 11p.  You can pretty much buy anything you'd want to buy at this market.  I do like the lanterns that are hanging above the street.  

A black kitty sitting in the alley.  His eyes sure lit-up with the flash.  This is for my nephew, Trevor!!

Street decorations down a main street in Can Tho.  They are quite lovely and run the entire length of the street.

A view from below....don't know if you can tell, but there are illuminated flowers in the middle of each 'ribbon' of light.  Really pretty.

One of my favorite Vietnamese phenomenon...the electrical poles and all of the crazy wires, etc., that stream in/out of it.  I love they added the holiday lights to the occasion.  What's one more string of lights, right?

Makes me think of the scene in A Christmas Story where Ralphie's dad is plugging in another strand of lights into the already-overloaded plugf.  :)

Another view of the 'night market' street. 







Several folks retired for the evening and then a handful apparently decided to walk back to the hotel from the restaurant and found some manner of street party that they joined and there was rumor of Bruce and Flecher rapping with some locals, as well as Flecher, our documentary filmmaker, playing his trumpet (he's actually a professional player) with a local band that was playing at this party.  This group seemed to be the most dedicated to ringing in the new year, as I know I fell asleep about 5 minutes before midnight and Amy says she fell asleep about 2 minutes before midnight.  Oh well...I was awake when it became 2013 in the USA...does that count?????

It was a pleasure to sleep-in until 8a on January 1st and since there was no official work, several of our group decided to travel to Soc Trang.  Amy and I decided to bypass this group travel experience, as we have been to Soc Trang in the past and both really didn't want to be traveling on a large bus with a large group for half of the day.  We really didn't do much other than label a load of pictures (a must-do otherwise I cannot remember who anyone is or what anything is about).  I also worked on a lecture I have just found out I will be doing in Saigon at the Pediatric Hospital #1 on Brachial Plexus Injuries.  Sadly, I didn't bring any of my long-standing lectures, as I have a new laptop, and so am creating it from scratch, but am nearly completed.  We strolled in the afternoon and dare-I-say, it was quite lovely in Can Tho ~ a light breeze wafting off of the Mekong River with the temps in the 80s.

We did encounter a truly Vietnamese situation of which, even after 3 previous trips to this lovely country, we don't understand.  We went to a local restaurant to have some juice and perhaps a bahn mi (sandwich on wonderful baguette).  We have been to this place several times and remembered as we were sitting on the balcony that in the past everything we had tried to order they weren't serving or didn't have.  Sure enough, we ordered our juices (me - pomelo, Amy - watermelon) and then our desired bahn mi.  The gentleman then says, 'no bahn mi,' 'no food,' 'no bread.'  Again...so perplexing as there is a 10 page menu of so many things!!  This is just a mystery that we will never figure out, I am sure.

We then moved along to another locale and got a little lunch.  During out stroll, we noticed a stage was being erected in the street near our hotel and it appeared to be for music/dancing.  The best part is that it was being sponsored by Zumba Viet.  There really couldn't be 2 things more polar-opposite ~ Zumba and Vietnam ~ so this made this super-funny.

My lunch for the afternoon.  Fried rice with eggs.  Was quite delicious.

Beautiful strawberries in the market.  The fruit here is so wonderful!!

A couple of boys at play in Can Tho.  They are so happy and having a great time.

A little guy running along the sidewalk with mom and friends watching nearby.  I love that he looks like he's flying...ready for take-off!

Long-view down a local street.  Walking in the street is really the option most of the time, but the cyclo drivers are very aware of walkers and so it doesn't feel so risky.  

Cute character...at a shop selling milk.

Mom and little girl on their cyclo.  Love that she has a helmet, glasses and mask on for the trip.  Don't often see kiddos with helmets.

Local roosters strolling about Can Tho.

I think these are like a sour cherry.  I think the colors are beautiful and lovely.

In case you tire of Vietnamese food (how this is possible, I don't know!?!?), but Tex Mex is available!!

Can Tho sits on the Mekong River and river traffic is quite plentiful.  Women basically 'run' the river and the boats.  Interesting...they are in-charge.  Awesome!

A woman transporting folks on her boat + their BIKES!  :)

These 2 little girls were strolling around the park just next to the river and came up to us to say 'hello' and to ask what our names were.  We told them and asked them what their names were, which they told us.  They were about 7 years old, super-cute and in the Vietnamese tradition, were holding hands as they walked.  We often get children saying 'hello' as we walk-by, which is so wonderful! Love it!

Steamroller, anyone?  Perhaps some street repair to commence soon?

This is a common occurrence in Vietnam, as cyclos are the main form of transportation for most folks.  Babies are placed in a basket just behind the handlebars in either a little basket (looks like a small shopping cart) or in this case, a little bamboo high chair was fit into the front of the cyclo.  Always so interesting to see, but seems to work well here.

Street-food vendor's cart.  Selling all manner of chicken parts (see bottom-level of cart) and will make a spring-roll with noodles (top-level) and vegetables.  On the left hand side of the bottom-level are chicken heads...don't know if you can see them very well, but look closely if you so choose.  :)

This is a woman making a crispy rice cake that is very thin and some are covered with sesame seeds, black pepper, etc.  

Stage preparations are in process....

Sponsored by Zumba fitness.

A 'feedback box' located outside a small restaurant in Can Tho.  Wonder what type of feeback they receive???

Post box outside of our hotel.  Very cute.  












This post is getting a little large, so I will continue it on a separate entry.  Hope you are enjoying my adventure!  More to come...

xoxo
Stacy