No. 7 : Part 2 : Ta Van Homestay

 DAY SEVEN: Ta Van Homestay, Happy Water, Mama
After meeting up with My, who was both frantic and probably slightly irritated at us because we disappeared and were walking really slowly, we continued our journey towards the homestay.  When we arrived we met Lee (the patriarch of the family) and his wife who I adopted as my Vietnamese mother and who I referred to as Mama during the remainder of our stay.  She was really amazing.  We settled in, drank some tea and rested our legs.  There was one other lovely Australian woman named Karen who was staying there as well and the three of us took a small path down to the river to dip our feet in.

Mama and Lee's daughter

Lee

The river was cold and refreshing.  I was interested in taking a dip and wandered around picking up rocks trying to pretend I knew what kind they were.  It was beginning to sprinkle a bit and as I was bent down looking for rocks I slipped and fell into the wild rushing water.  It wasn't actually wild or rushing but I thought I would say that for dramatic effect.  Ryan appeared concerned about my safety and my ability to make responsible decisions.  I suggested we play a game where I go to a rushing rapid and submerge my body into the water while he held onto my hands.  We could time ourselves to see how long it would take before I was washed away.  Ryan didn't think it was a good idea for some reason and didn't want to play so we skipped rocks instead.  Ryan has incredible rock skipping skills.  I was fairly impressed. 

When we got back to the house, they were in the midst of preparing dinner.  I was soaking wet so I changed into some dry clothes and hung up my clothes to dry (they never did dry because it started to storm and I had left them outside like a complete fool).  We made some spring rolls, ate some garlic fries as a snack and relaxed a bit until it was dinner time.

One of the little boys was mesmerized by my camera and took some great photos.  Here is one he took.

 We got called to sit down for dinner.  Family and friends sat around a table filled with different dishes.  There was tofu with tomatoes, young bamboo shoots, chicken and vegetables, roast pork, pork with vegetables, chicken salad, dipping sauces, rice, fried spring rolls and here's the kicker: a never ending supply of 37% alcohol homemade rice wine, which they call "happy water".  We learned that drinking begins at an early age and that Mama has the capability to drink up to two liters of rice wine in one sitting.  We learned a lot about the drinking culture that night.  After everyone had gone to bed, Mama and I closed up the night with some herbal tea and a couple more shots.  We had a great bonding session.  I didn't speak Vietnamese and she didn't speak English but she taught me how to count in Vietnamese and it was amazing.  Around 10:20pm I went upstairs to sleep.