The Whimper of Roasted Dogs

Well, I finally had all of my rolls of film developed from my recent 5+ week vacation in Vietnam, and while my camera is pretty sucky I still think there are a lot of images interesting or beautiful enough to share. So I”ll try to plug some into my future posts whenever I can…starting here, of course.

This is a balcony of the hotel in the ocean-side city of Vung Tau where for several weeks I stayed with my wife Hong, daughter Jade, Hong’s best friend Quyen and Hong’s aunt (to babysit). One night I gazed down and at the street corner you see directly below in this photograph — in a bit of vacant lot — noticed that some people had started a bonfire. Fun, I thought. Then I noticed they had erected supports for a spit, and watched them bring the spit and set it into place, an animal dangling from it. “Honey, look!” I called to my wife. “They’re going to roast a pig!” My wife joined me and said, “That’s not a pig…it’s a dog.” Sure enough, I looked closer and knew she was right. The most disturbing bit was, I heard some very sorry-sounding whimpering from a dog down there throughout my observation. I’m pretty sure the dog on the spit was already dead, but then why was another dog whimpering? Was it a weird coincidence, or did the dog whimperer know what was happening to a buddy…or was it tied up waiting for its turn? I considered going down closer to take some photos but my wife advised me against it. I judge not here, I only report.

On the same hotel balcony, Quyen (left), Hong’s aunt (left) and Hong – ready to wolf down a crab shell and all ala Darryl Hannah in SPLASH – squat down (the Vietnamese can squat like this forever, in a way that I can’t pull off for but a few seconds) to a fine array of crustaceans. Yes, the picture is posed – Hong’s idea.

My wife Hong (left) and her friend Quyen (right) in a decidedly more dignified pose.

And finally here’s yours truly, Mr. Punktowner, on that same balcony, obscuring the Vietnamese flag of gold star against a field of red — though Vietnamese living in the USA tend to reject that flag (with great animosity) in favor of one with a yellow field and three horizontal red stripes across it. I’m carrying Jade, and wearing an appropriately gaudy tourist’s shirt (at least it has skulls on it). That’s Quyen lurking in the shadows.

Okay, then…more photos next time then, eh?