19 years later and our house still looks the same. Everyone else around us has upgraded to 2 or 3-story concrete houses but ours still has the same wood walls and aluminum roof. The only thing missing though, is our dear dog who went missing years ago.
I remember taking pictures with my younger brother here one new year. It was during the time when I just lost the two front teeth. I was so embarrassed. It seemed like forever until they grew back out again.
When I was about 3 years old, I accidentally peed in my pants while sitting on that table. I remember crying and calling for my Mom. Interestingly enough, that's the only memories I have of my early, early childhood. (lol) My younger brother and I used to sleep on that hammock. I wonder if that's the same green one. We would play and nap on that day bed. When we're locked out of the house, my older brother and I used to sneak into the house through that tiny window.
(btw, that's my little cousin and his friend. They were prepping to go kite flying when we came. Even though the structure is very old, that house is really clean. The floor nearly sparkle from being mopped so much.)
This is the kitchen. What my Mom was sitting on is a large basin we used to store rainwater. There was no running water when we lived there. Water for drinking and cooking came either from the well or from the rain. Going all the way to the community well to get water each day is such an inconvenience so my parents built a large water basin toward the back of the house, maybe around 10 feet square. All of the rain water was routed that way. In the basin, the clean water is up top while any dirt specs would sink to the bottom. Once a year, we would drain it out and clean it. I remember climbing down a ladder to get to the bottom to help my Mom clean. So before running water came about, we had a boil water before drinking.
Our front yard: Before all these greenhouses were raised, I would stand at the end of our property and yelled out for my old brother and my Mom and Dad to come home to eat dinner. Mom and I used to grow a lot of different flowers in our front yard as well.
Our old neighbors
My Uncle came to take Mom to the doctor on his motorcycle. This is how everyone commute in Vietnam. They are very convenient to maneuver around cars, trucks and pot holes.
Down the street from our house.
