For the last few days, I have been in the delta region, celebrating the lunar new year with my relatives (Chuc Mung Nam Moi, as we say in Vietnam!). Being in the delta, away from the city, means a different pace of life. I get up at sunrise, not by choice, but because everyone and their dog gets up at this time. Then, go to bed at an ungodly early hour (9:30 last night). You start off the day with breakfast, a walk around the market or neighborhood, and then sit and shoot the breeze with whomever is around. Then, lunch! After lunch, you take your obligatory nap and then shoot the breeze with whomever is around. Then, dinner! Again, shoot the breeze with whomever is around, and it's bedtime! Throw in a few showers here and there and you have my day for the last few days.
Oh, but a change of pace was staying up until midnight to watch the fireworks (a rather disappointing ten-minute show):
Other things that got thrown into the heap:
- Take pictures - lots of them. Apparently it's a new year tradition to take family pictures so I did that with my dad's side one day, and my mom's side another day.
- Go into an orchard of "mang" - which are these red fruits, crunchy and juicy like an apple, but almost tasteless. Actually quite addicting.
- Go to the museum, where I learned (as much as I could by "reading" the Vietnamese placards) about the history of Vinh Long province (where I am right now and where my family is from), what animals reside here (apparently lots of fish - makes sense, it's a delta, after all), and what people live here (turns out there are a good number of ethnic minorities here).
Oh, I did get to ride an ostrich. Yeah, an ostrich. Apparently, not as hard as you'd think it would be. 
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