Dog thievery: a common problem in Hanoi. If you ask any Hanoian about dogs being stolen, they all respond with a shrug and "it happens all the time". Apparently, puppies are stolen in order to be re-sold, while adult dogs are stolen for, well, dinner. My friend Gabriel has bought three different puppies, and all three have been stolen. On one occasion, he was walking his dog down the street when two men on a bike grabbed the leash, swooped the dog onto the bike, and drove off... all while driving at a relatively quick speed (these were obviously trained professionals). His other two dogs were both stolen from his garage while he was out on an errand. Although the loss of these cute dogs is definitely saddening, at least we can still believe that they will be sold to another family, and have a chance to live out a long, happy life. Gabriel has since purchased an unattractive puppy with disfigured hind legs (it wobbles strangely as it walks), and he's fairly certain that no one will attempt to steal this one.
Son's family's dog, Mi, was stolen two days ago; she was over ten years old and her fate was a bit more clear. According to his uncle, he let the dog out for a morning roam around the block to take care of business, and as he looked out the window, saw her being dragged behind a motorbike by a rope. His uncle ran downstairs and jumped on his own bike, determined to get Mi back, but the men had already pulled her onto the bike and sped around a corner. It's with instances like this in mind that I refrain from eating dog, no matter how much of a delicacy Vietnamese people claim it to be. Really, American dogs just don't know how good they have it!
And on a completely different note-
This evening a couple of us got together to go to a North Korean restaurant with our Korean friend Min (who I lovingly refer to as Min-ty Fresh). According to Min, this restaurant is run by the North Korean government (only the few countries that still have good relations with N.K. are allowed to have this sort of restaurant). All of the employees have been sent over from North Korea, and they are not allowed to leave the vicinity. Additionally, every night from 7-8pm, the women perform traditional North Korean propaganda music... which made for a truly entertaining evening. My friends and I decided that since any opportunity to dance with North Korean women is extremely limited, we might as well get up on stage and shake it around with them; this we did to the great enjoyment of all the other Korean restaurant guests, who quickly got out video cameras to record the whole affair. The food was phenomenal, and the eating atmosphere was made even more intriguing with the propaganda videos being played on a giant television on the wall. We quickly befriended a nearby table of Korean businessmen by accepting to take shots of Pyongyang Liquor (Min informed us it would be considered an atrocity of we refused). They then proceeded to serve us alcohol mixed with bear bile, followed by ginseng vodka... the last being the least offensive to the taste buds. Two of my friends managed to acquire English tutoring jobs off of these friendly, red-faced fellows before we parted ways. Overall, it made for a very comprehensive experience... I shall definitely be returning.
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