Most of your posts with pictures of the Vietnamese countryside are so similar to my own Brazilian countryside (including its poverty)one might think the pics were taken here. But the biggest difference is not the hats or whatever, but the relationship with the ground. In Brazil, the ground is considered impure, in a way. Only children will sit on the ground, for instance (an American friend was amazed when I pointed it out to her); for adults to sit there must be at least a small step (even if it is a step upon which people literally step; that's why I say "impure", not "dirty"; the dirt is not the issue here). And, therefore, it would be impossible for Brazilians to cook food and serve it on the floor, like the Vietnamese do. When I see your pics of food, the food itself looks appetizing enough, but the simple fact that it is on the ground gives me goosebumps. Such are the small differences that put whole cultures apart.
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Most of your posts with pictures of the Vietnamese countryside are so similar to my own Brazilian countryside (including its poverty)one might think the pics were taken here. But the biggest difference is not the hats or whatever, but the relationship with the ground. In Brazil, the ground is considered impure, in a way. Only children will sit on the ground, for instance (an American friend was amazed when I pointed it out to her); for adults to sit there must be at least a small step (even if it is a step upon which people literally step; that's why I say "impure", not "dirty"; the dirt is not the issue here). And, therefore, it would be impossible for Brazilians to cook food and serve it on the floor, like the Vietnamese do. When I see your pics of food, the food itself looks appetizing enough, but the simple fact that it is on the ground gives me goosebumps. Such are the small differences that put whole cultures apart.
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