Hanoi, Vietnam
The street stalls of Hanoi are lined with hearty, careworn women who come from villages well outside of the city, leaving behind their husbands and children in order to earn enough to keep the family afloat. They live in cramped boarding houses with 10+ other women, waking well before dawn to purchase their selection of goods from the wholesale market and set up in the manic streets of Hanoi, carrying their loads in balance baskets, a bamboo bar rigid across their shoulders, or a cornucopia of produce fanned out on a bright cloth in the center of the sidewalk by the time the city is only just awaking. In two weeks time, women will earn the equivalent of roughly $20 USD to bring back home. Family is everything to the Vietnamese--they worship their ancestors as a kind of deity and work grueling jobs to give their children the best possible opportunities. These women are selfless beyond comprehension and I don't imagine I could ever complain about a days work again in my life without first picturing them.