12 Witnesses

Not everyone who read the posts made it to the photoblog to see the pictures I took of Vietnam, so I thought I’d bring out a few of my favorites from time to time.

This week, I’ve not blogged as my return to the church found issue upon issue that required my attention. By the time I got home to my family, when I normally write my articles, I had no energy to write. I hope to return to something of significance in the coming week.

The marketplace site where this interesting jar was stored was, apparently, a “health food” store – or some version thereof.

I have to admit a bit of curiosity to the way in which these fermented lizards would add to one’s health, but I was never able to ascertain the thought process.

Next to the lizards was this liquor, made from a couple of fermenting (decaying?) scorpions and some roots of unknown origin.

It seemed to me that the primary “benefit” of the animals in the “wine” was the belief that the consumption of the drink somehow imbued the consumer with some power or aspect of the creature whose “essence” was being consumed.

This especially seemed true when we arrived in Lao Cai city and spent the day based in a hotel that had animal based wine in jars across its bar.

Toward the end of the day, I decided to investigate and found an enormous jar with an equally large Cobra in it. The body was wound around the bottom, the thickness of my 13 year old son’s arm. I moved a bow tied to the top of the jar to discover the snake’s head raised, hood fanned out as if to strike, it’s black tongue twisting forward out of it’s mouth. The hood was almost as big as my hand. I had left my camera in the room, believe it or not, and never had another opportunity to come back to it.

Imagine my surprise when we made it to the airport in Hanoi and, while looking for snacks to take with us, I found shelves of small bottles of “snake wine” lining the walls of the airport convenience stores. Each of them with a small cobra, hood fanned and tongue extended. While there, a gentleman appeared, I think from China because he did not speak Vietnamese and he and the store clerk communicated in halting English. He asked for “fish wine” as opposed to “snake wine,” but she did not have any. Next trip, I promise to bring back pictures of the snake wine.

On the other hand, Vietnam was once a part of “French Indo-China,” as you might remember from World History Class.  It would seem that the Vietnamese people adapted from the French both a love and talent for pastries.

We stayed in a bakery that rented four rooms above the serving hall. We had all four rooms. The kitchen was below the serving hall and the staff stayed on the floor(s) above us.

This display case was to the left as you entered the building, meaning you had to walk past it every time you entered or exited. I am both proud and disappointed to say that I only tried four of the options in this case during the three days we were there.

This bakery was started by Samaritan’s Purse (yes, the Operation Christmas Child folks – including Franklin Graham) as a place to work and get a start for “at risk” children, including orphans. Once they complete a training school, they get a job in one of four restaurants owned by the group, giving them a start in life they would be hard pressed to obtain otherwise.

This is a good job being well done. Also, I very much enjoyed the food. Three fried eggs with bacon sprinkled over them, served with toast, was $1.80.  Their coffee was strong and well done, for those who like strong coffee.  I do.

Suffering for Jesus on the Asian continent.

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