A Vietnamese doctor in Angola on 1/25/22:

Until September of 2019, I didn't even know there were Vietnamese in Angola, then I met a Vietnamese who had just returned from there. Hearing his story, I wanted to go to Angola, of course, but never thought I would be so close so soon. Though there are buses from Windhoek to Angola, one must be quarantined for 10 days after getting there, and I'm not even sure if Americans are allowed to enter Angola by land right now. In any case, I'm too exhausted to seriously consider such a trip.

Below is a new video by a Vietnamese doctor working in Angola. Before Covid, there were Russian, Cuban, North Korean and Vietnamese doctors in Angola, but the North Koreans are gone. Among foreign doctors still there, Cubans and Vietnamese are the most numerous. There are also Vietnamese immigrants, including some very successful businessmen.

In the video, the doctor and his wife follow Maria as she takes $3 worth of tomatoes to a roadside market to sell. At 2:39, Maria points out to the doctor where she saw a thick snake recently. Notice how she addresses him as "doutor." They're speaking Portuguese, of course, as in "cobra" for snake. At 3:34, they pass a sugarcane field, a woman picking string beans and a peanut patch. Like Maria, she must carry an infant while working. At 5:01, they run into three girls and "Daco's wife," who's also with a baby. They, too, are going to the market. Notice the constant laughter. At 5:39, the doctor says he's now leading a flutter of butterflies, meaning the six women behind him. Butterfly is also a Vietnamese slang for vagina. At 6:25, Daco appears. He says he's had a bit to drink. At 6:54, they pass some Mexican sunflower plants. Daco, "Girassol." At 7:40, there's a man chopping wood. He and another man have fell these fairly thick-trunked trees with just an ax. After asking what kind of wood it is, the doctor realizes it's not hard enough for a chopping board, so won't buy a chunk. At 9:30, they reach the market. Besides fresh produce, it also offers bush meats, the doctor explains. At 9:56, we see a man selling kapuka (homemade vodka) and barbequed rats on a stick. At 10:05, we see a bar so inviting it must cause infinite anguish in all sensate beings. Saying, "Bom dia! Bom dia!" the doctor then asks if it's OK for him to videotape everybody. It's not a problem. Overhearing a woman say, "Cina," the doctor explains that he's not Chinese, but Angolan, which cracks people up. In Vietnamese, he explains to viewers that Angolans usually don't like Chinese, so when they think he's Chinese, he has to joke that he's Angolan. (This response, though, leaves open the possibility that he's in fact Chinese!) Noticing two wooden mortars, he says they're just like Vietnamese ones. At 11:33, Maria tells the doctor there are caterpillars for sale. They're in a bowl on an upright crate of beer, so must go well together. (Damn, rat kebab then caterpillars with beer, and all I had for breakfast were eggs sunny side up plus some pork sausages.) Since the doctor only wants live caterpillars, he won't get these. The doctor ends up buying wild cucumbers, sugarcanes and lots of bananas. At 16:43, Daco says there's a man grilling a monkey, but the doctor explains, "Não comemos macaco." We don't eat monkey. At 17:03, we see a man in an Inter Milan shirt holding up the tail of an ungutted monkey with his fur barely burnt. At 25:30, they're back home, with the doctor expertly peeling and chopping sugarcane for four of Maria's children, none older than eight, it seems, while she breastfeeds the baby. Again, notice the constant laughter, including from the doctor's wife offsreen.

Finally, do you see anyone wearing a mask or keeping social distance, much less squirting their hands constantly with hand sanitizer?! And this is a video from a doctor!