My Trip to Saigon 29 April - 2 May (part 1)

35th Death Anniversary Gathering on 30 April 2010

On the evening of 28 April I traveled to Saigon to meet Diep and Megan who had went ahead because Megan was on a scheduled week holiday from school.  This time in Saigon was a little different for me because I spent more time with Diep's family than I usually do... not particularly because I wanted to.

On 30 April Diep, Megan and I went to Can Giuoc Town in Long An Province.  From the town, we took a small ferry across a river towards a cluster of properties that belong to Diep's relatives, to gather together to mourn the loss of her cousin's husband.  The gathering isn't really mourning as much as it is tradition and custom for animists.  I don't recall anyone actually talking about the man who died, and I spent most of my time trying to figure out who was who.  This gathering, in Vietnamese, is called a "Dam Gio" and mostly entails drinking and eating.  Without Diep and Megan there to watch me, I would have been sucked into the drinking part until I was as loud and beligerent as the rest of these guys.  The drink of choice was a local brand of "ruou de", better known as moonshine from the parts I am from.  This was just the beginning of the day...