Oh, the subtle ironies of life. As I sat down earlier to write my first blog post specifically dedicated to my love of food, in particular Vietnamese cuisine, I had the misfortune to discover that a colony of red ants had taken up residence inside of my MacBook. I had never before heard of such an infestation, but some web surfing later, lo and behold, I learned that it is not that uncommon of a phenomena in tropical climates; the ants are attracted to the warmth generated by the computer's hard drive or maybe also by the long forgotten crumbs that have managed (How could this be? Me? Eating in front of my computer? Never!) to find their way underneath the glossy (well, once glossy) white keys of my beloved Mac. Hours later than intended and fingers slightly sore from a few hours of using tweezers to unearth the ungodly amount of flotsam and jetsam that has accumulated under my keyboard over the past three years, I am FINALLY ready to tackle my original goal of talking about food, with added vigor partially in the hopes that my ferocious key pounding will keep the ants at bay for good! (As a side note, while cleaning, I had the sudden revelation that, on some level, all of this microscopic junk is part of the in progress story of my college years. Among other things, I found a few false eyelashes and copious amounts of glitter in my excavations. As my refuse up until this point could lead one to believe that I have spent the "best years of my life" moonlighting as some sort of exotic dancer, I am glad that I can now add ant carcasses to my ever diversifying portfolio of personal excrement.)

The question I have received most often in the past two weeks from curious friends and family members is "How is the food in Vietnam?". Frequently, this question comes right at the start of the conversation, even before common formalities such as "Hello" or "How are you?" are exchanged. While this abrupt inquisition could speak volumes about the true interests of my folks, both blood and otherwise acquired, I am all too pleased to indulge their probing as this is where my enthusiasm in both travel and every day life lies. Names, faces, places and the like will always escape me, but I will rarely ever forget a good meal and have been known to obsess over the intricacies of particular ingredients. This tendency to put great thought into what I put into myself has not wavered even as I made the choice to give up eating meat about three months ago. It is a common misconception that people who choose not to eat meat are completely satisfied with one measly plate of limp and bland looking vegetables; for most people, the term "vegetarian" seems to be synonymous with "one who does not like or need sustenance". However, I stand to challenge this stereotype by proving that it is possible to maintain a vegetarian diet and still eat some of the best food on earth. (Again, I digress. Truthfully, at present, I am more of a pescetarian, which is against my general principle of not eating animals, but I am willing to suspend some of my beliefs in the interest of not withering away while I am here. Also, maybe because the seafood is so fresh here, truly meaning it when I channel my inner Long Island girl and say it is "like,REALLY fresh". For dinner the other night, I ate a fish that Lieu, one of our cooks, caught in the small lake outside of our house. Mind you, I see people pissing in this lake almost daily, but the fish was still really good.)

My favorite aspect of Vietnamese cuisine is its respect for all of the tastes and textures and how they interact with each other. Sweet and salty is a common flavor combination and I find that having the two tastes together is far more enjoyable than eating several separate mono-tasting snacks because one is continually surprised by the fluccuation in seasoning. The popcorn at the movie theater here is more sweet than it is salty, and I find that this reversal of Western expectations for movie time food fare made both my popcorn and my drink last for almost the entire duration of the movie, an inconceivable feat on familiar soil.

Fried food is also really popular here, but it never seems to dominate the table; if one aspect of the meal is super oily, then there is sure to be a more neutral dish, like rice paper or just plain ol' rice, to balance things out. Vegetables, especially spinach and other assorted leafy greens, are other common bases for more tasteful foods. Fruit seems more common than a rich dessert to finish off a meal, but this is not to say that delicious sweet treats do no exist. In fact, in this respect, I definitely notice a great French influence--the flaky and ubiquitous baguettes and fantastically frosted cakes that can be found in the many bakeries across Danang remain as scrumptious relics of a bygone era.

At this juncture, I will let my pictures do the rest of the talking for me, as all of this thinking about food and ant slaughtering has made me rather sleepy. There are still so many things I want to write about my time here, especially the volunteer work we have been doing, but I find that there are hardly enough hours in the day to both have adventures and then to later document them. Thus, rest assured that there are many more exciting stories and personal anecdotes to come--their arrival merely depends on my ability to stop eating and start writing!

Cakes!

Clams!

Frog Legs (Blech, one bite and I am not a fan)
Fried Squid
The noodles on the left are a specialty of the town of Hoi An. It is said that their unique deliciousness results from the special well water used in the manufacturing process.

Mixed fruit drinks come in all different flavors, including avacado (it's good, I swear!)
Homemade Ice Cream(I got the Caramel flavor)

Even Ancestors get in on all of the fresh produce. The pink alien looking fruit in the foreground is dragonfruit, yum!

SUPER sweet corn soup served cold for a dessert. Too sweet even for me!


The usual scene of post-meal desimation (Do not let those spoons mislead you! All eating here is done by chopstick, but Hến xúc bánh đa, or little baby clams so small you eat them with the shell on, must be scooped up to be eaten on top of rice crackers.)