Dear next year's group!

Hello and congrats on picking and getting into the coolest program ever. You're gonna love it! But if you're like me, you probably have some packing questions. Allow me to save you form some of the struggles that we experiences this year.
I present to you my extensive
DO'S AND DON'TS OF PACKING FOR VIETNAM PLUS 3

-Don't bring a suit jacket! Guys or girls! I promise you will not wear it!
-Do bring a suit skirt with bunch of tops to wear.
-Do bring a ton of underwear and socks, or be prepared to wash them. You're gonna get so sweaty and will probably go through multiple pairs in one day.
-Do bring a million shirts for the same reason. You will soak through every one you wear.
-On beach day, bring at least one full outfit (including undergarments) to change into, and probably come than one extra shirt. We had a somewhat nicer lunch, and no one had anything decent to change into.
-Do bring something long to wear into Jesus. This is for guys and girls. They won't let you in if you don't cover your shoulders and knees. I brought a long skirt that I just though in my bag and that was great.
-For shoes, you're going to want at least one pair of nice shoes for company visits and such, a pair of sneaker for Cu Chi and the sports games, walking around shoes for just chilling in Saigon and such, and flip flops for the beach and pool.
-Do bring lots of business casual stuff. You will be changing into business casual almost every week day.
-Ladies, sundresses are fine for business casual. A cardigan is suggested because it got a bit cold in some of the companies. The theme was either a sundress or a skirt and blouse. No suits.
-Guys, khakis and button downs are your friend. Ties are pretty optional. I'd say bring one and look extra spiffy. Bow ties are cool too, we had a couple of those.
-Do not bring converters, you won't need them.
-Do bring lots of pharmacy stuff with you. Most of our people got sick in some form or another, so be prepared. Suggested things to bring: Motrin/Tylenol, imodium, pepto bismol, Day/Nyquil
-Laides, do bring spandex to put under your dresses. That boat dinner was windier than I anticipated...
-Do bring a day bag of some sort (guys too) because a lot of times you had to go somewhere right after class and then the question of where to put your books and 6 bottles of water came up. Backpacks worked fine, drawstring and cross body bags were really good. Keep in mind something to throw your clothes in for the beach too.
-Feel free to bring a nice SLR camera, but I say don't bother. Everyone ended up taking pictures on their phones (even the kids who had brought nice camera with them). I think we might have had one kid bring a digital camera, and I would suggest that over a big camera. But if you have a phone that takes nice pictures, just bring that.
-DEFNITELY bring tissue packs! Not everywhere you go will have toilet paper! This is obviously more of a concern for the ladies, but it wouldn't hurt for everyone to bring one. You will discover all the uses of tissues.
-Do bring cute clothes for the club. More than one outfit, too, because you'll probably be going out a fair amount (sorry Dr. Berman pretend you didn't read that!)
-Scissors was a random thing we wished we had brought. Just remember to check it in your bag should you chose to bring a pair. Nail clippers work for most things in a pinch, too.
-Don't bother with any heavy rain gear. If you really want, bring a light rain jacket or a small umbrella, but we never needed any of that.
-Do set up a Skype or Viper and don't bother getting a phone there. Just use your phone on the wifi when you're at the hotel.
-A blanket will be really nice to have for your stay in hotel towers and on the plane, but you won't need it once you're there. But that plane gets really cold, bring socks and comfy warm clothes.
-Don't bother bringing a lot of things to do on the plane. As long of a ride as it is, most people just slept and watched the provided movies. There are plenty to keep you busy.
-In terms of what to bring for gifts, they love everything that has Pitt on it. Tee shirts are good, lanyards, keychains, hats. They gave us a lot of key chains. Small things. I brought really cool highlighters and colored pens and that sort of thing, which was also good. You can bring as many as you want, but I'd say 1-3 is probably good.

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR BEFORE YOU LEAVE
-make a Facebook group
-make a GroupMe. This was our primary method of communicating to make plans when in country.

OTHER PRO TIPS:
-When you have a really long bus ride (Cu Chi and the beach especially) you can either sleep, or write your blog on your phone! The later is suggested!
-If you have a bunch of suits at home, don't buy one. But otherwise, DO. It's really nice having a custom suit! I got a jacket, pants, and skirt for something like $150. Worth it. Sam almost cried of joy when he got his.
-Depending on how much you buy (and if you get a suit or not) you'll probably spend somewhere around $250-$350. It's really easy to not spend money if you don't want to (meals and cabs are really cheap), and it's simultaneously really easy to buy everything. Nothing is that expensive so much as buying food and drinks at the co-op and gifts add up quickly if you're not paying attention. (Also buying drinks at clubs gets expensive, but ignore that part Dr. Berman!)

Hopefully that covered any question you could possibly have, but if not, feel free to ask!
Enjoy the best trip ever :)

Final thoughts

Well, I'm home now. It's weird going from 100 to 0. Everyday was so crazy, and now it's just like "now what?" I'm still not feeling great, but at least I didn't get sick on the trip!

I have to say, definitely one of the most fantastic experiences I've ever had the pleasure of attending. First off, shout out to my companions and fellow travelers. I'm not sure how it happened, but we were all like best friends from day 1. There were no cliques, no fighting, no couples (minus Jeff and Ariel, but she was a UEF student, so we still avoided any drama with that one), it was great! I miss them all already and we've only been gone for a few days. I think you could have put us in a Walmart, let alone an amazing country, and we would have had a good time. So far we're still staying in touch, which I'm really glad about because I had an amazing time with these guys. Some of the goofiest people I know, and couldn't have picked a better group to spend 2 weeks with.

Second was the fantastic people we had making this whole trip actually work, which I still think is an amazing thing to have pulled off. We're still sad Mike couldn't come, but Bryan made for an A+ replacement. Meeting him at the Rex in our suits will remain a highlight for me :P Also an excellent source of restaurant recommendations should you ever find you need one. 

Dr. Berman was such a valuable resource to have. The trip really wouldn't have been the same without that extra added perspective he offered in his occasional stories and relevant lectures. As I said before, I'm still amazed he does the trip, but am forever grateful he does! 

On the Vietnamese side, Ms. Loan (who I was remiss in not mentioning earlier) was such a huge part of making this trip actually work. She did so much for us and I am so grateful she was there to help manage us goofballs.

To anyone considering visiting Saigon- GO! It's amazing! You have to be willing to eat some interesting stuff, and sweat enough to fill a kiddie pool, but I promise it's worth it. The people are so hospitable, the food is amazing, the culture is beautiful, the history is fascinating. My only regret is that we didn't stay for longer and get to see more. I would have loved to have gotten to go to the Mekong Delta or Hanoi, but Ho Chi Minh City will always be one of my favorites. I learned so much, met so many great people I want to keep in touch with on the Vietnam side, made so many new friends to hang out with on the Pitt side, and had the adventure of a lifetime. 10/10 would recommend. 

Day 12

Last day :'(

Today we got in the bus decked out in our closest thing to "sports apparel" as anyone had brought. A mix-match of Pitt shirts, we were so ready for our friendly soccer and basketball matches against the UEF students. Walking into the gym, we were all very surprised to see UEF's actually soccer and basketball teams. Awesome. Being completely un-athletic, I chose to sit on the side as team cheerleader, which probably would have sounded more cheery if my throat wasn't scratchy.

We won soccer, they won basketball (or other way around, I don't remember) so we all walked home winners. After the games, we exchanged small gifts with the UEF students. Mostly t-shirts, key rings, and that kind of stuff. Many a sweaty picture was taken.

We finally had an excuse to call Bryan "Coach"!

Back at the hotel, some of us went swimming, some got in some last minute shopping. Then it was showers and getting dressed for pictures, followed by a fancy farewell dinner on a boat!

Bo looking very dapper in Kristen's Bow

Dinner was so much fun! No one was ready to go home. When we got back to the hotel everyone packed before we went out for a final hurrah. Most of us went out to a little.. uh... park pond thing? It was like a big pool with a tower sort of thing inside that you could walk up and look out. It was really nice just hanging out with everyone before the 2:30AM check out and ride to the airport.

Dan and Totoro in the airport

Day 11

 You are all cordially invited to my wedding!!! But the story of getting proposed to later!

So today was our last day of classes at UEF. We had a culture class ands language class. Culture was funny because somehow everything was actually a genital and everyone was sort of just like "Oh. Well then." and this guy was so enthusiastic and charismatic about it too. Very entertaining. Language class was a relief to finish because that was one of the most difficult things! Today was our "test" which meant a lot of glancing at the Vietnamese students for help when trying to speak haha. But I'm glad we learned the little bit we did.

After class we went to a Buddhist pagoda. This is the pagoda where Thích Quảng Đức and the other monks started from when they walked to the intersection and Thich Quang Duc self-immolated. He was protesting the south Vietnamese government that we were supporting. Talk about a slap in the face. But anyway, the pagoda was beautiful. Even with the changing color LED lights, it was still such a regal and elegant place.

After that we walked to his memorial of the corner where he burned himself. It was a beautiful memorial, but the whole thing was a little not real life. Like the intersection was so full of traffic, it didn't seem fitting. But there it was. That historic and iconic moment was just another part of city life.

Next we walked to the War Remnants Museum (formally the American Crimes against the Vietnamese people). It's a Vietnamese museum dedicated to the Vietnam/American war. I specify "Vietnamese" museum because it was VERY much from a "we beat the invaders" perspective, which is called for I suppose. Before I go on anymore about the museum, it's time for the weirdest thing that's happened to me (or anyone it seems) no this trip.

So we're about to go into the museum, and I mean like we're on the steps about to walk in. I am in the zone and ready to face the atrocities. Then, two kids (a boy and a girl) come up to me. "Do you remember me?" (Only the girl was talking). "Oh yea, I met you guys at the American Center!" The American Center is somewhere where we hung out with Vietnamese students our age and just talked. When I say I "met them" I mean I really just took a picture with them. That was it! Didn't know either of their names, ages, anything! Moving on! "Well we have a gift for you, come over here." To which I grabbed Kristen as I mouthed "don't leave me" and we walked over to where the girl handed me a bag. Inside was a leaf thing with large... shrimps? hanging down. She explained to me that the boy thought I was so beautiful when he first saw me that he stayed up all night making it for me! Oh wow! It was one of the coolest things! But how did they find me? Well apparently they looked up our schedule online and waited there for me. Just for some perspective, the online copy says we're at the museum at 2. We didn't get there until 3:15...

So not having any idea what to do, I thanked him profusely and eventually Kristen and I left. You could tell he wanted to say something, and the girl kept elbowing him in a "go on" fashion, but he never said anything. My professor asked if I was going to meet up with him, but I didn't even know his name to write him a thank you!

My future husband Loc

WELL! I might not have known his name, but he knew mine! That night I get a Facebook message from him.He explained that he made it form coconut leaves and that they were "glassshoppers." He also wrote "Really, today, I prepared any question as any answer to talk to you. But, when i met you, i don’t understand why i am speechless

smile emoticon May be i very suspensed" Still not sure what it means to be suspensed, but oh man!

The joke with my being married is because earlier in the day, we had culture class. We learned about the significance of numbers in Vietnamese culture. We learned that if you like someone, you give them one rose, but before you want to marry them, you given them 9 roses. Guess how many glassshoppers I got! Yep! So yea, you're all invited to my wedding now :P

The rest of the museum was by no means lost on me. I walked through, glasshoppers in hand, and was taught a Vietnamese perspective on something I thought of as US history. It was suffocating and surreal in there. Pictures of children deformed from the effects of agent orange, weapons, death counts, etc. The whole thing was vile for both sides. And as glad as I'm glad we went, I was just as happy to leave.

That night was our last night out, so we went to dinner and then to the club Apocalypse Now, which was not nearly worth the hype.

Day 10

Today started boldly but ended less so.

I went to the ATM by myself this morning. It's really just a block behind the hotel, but I felt really good about it! Like derpy Arielle can manage this! It was a good start to the day, and the day was only going to get better.

Today we didn't have class; we had food. We got to sleep in late (although breakfast closed somewhat earlier so we had to get up anyway) and instead of class at UEF, we drove up to a five-star hotel. It was gorgeous. Our scraggly group was way out of place in such an elegant setting. We stalled by taking a tour of the beautiful pool, and finally we were ready for our cooking lesson. We learned how to make fresh spring rolls (everyone expected mine to come out way better than it did haha) and fried ones (which were much less complicated to make). The lesson was fun and gave me wildly unqualified ambitions to cool Vietnamese food when I get home.

But the best part of the day was lunch. We had free rein of this fancy hotel's lunch buffet, which was one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen. I'm so grateful my foodie family taught me to appreciate good food, because everything was phenomenal and some people were just not seeing it as anything past "food." I had whole fried fish (tiny fish, heads and all, that had roe still in them), delicious cheeses (which this country has none of), pairs poached in wine, raw salmon so delightfully marbled, hot pans of a variety of dishes, fruits, pho to order, and so on. Amazing. It was a religious experience. The other major foodie, Sam, and I stood there planning our courses in order to make the most of the extravagant spread.

When they finally dragged me back to our less fancy (but still very nice) hotel, we changed and went to our final company visit at the Saigon Newport Corp. This was an interesting visit because first off, it's owned and run by the navy, and secondly I'm considering supply chain management as my major.

Sadly, I have a bit of a cold and couldn't pay attention to anything. During the presentation I was more concerned with not breathing like Darth Vader than I was with paying attention to the video. We got back in the bus and drove around the huge trucks and ships waiting for massive cranes to move the shipping crates to and from. A supply chain masterpiece I couldn't appreciate thanks to the once every 5 minutes on the 5 minute sneeze.

Back at the hotel, some people went back to Ben Tahn. I had the holy mission of finding sudafed so that my nose didn't explode from the pressure when I was on the plane. Kaylene was kind enough to accompany me, and thank god for that! As bold as I felt going to the ATM 12 seconds away from our hotel, my confidence quickly shrank as we got fairly lost trying to get to the easy to find clinic. After testing 2 other clinics, we reached our final destination only to be told that the drug in sedated cannot be found in Vietnam. Awesome. I was getting really flustered and panicked. We had to cross the street so many times, and that in itself is taking your life in your hands. More frustration, and I was ready to leave, but luckily Kaylene was there to ask where we can get a substitute drug, and we were off on yet another perilous walk. Finally got what I needed. On the way back, we stopped at this crazy toy store and I bought a Totoro stuffed animal :)

We spent the rest of the night trying on our new suits, which made us look awesome- pool hair and all. Some of us decided to go to a fancy hotel (The Rex, where they filmed the 5 O'Clock Follies) to "happen upon" our advisor Brian. We were by far the best dressed there.

Featuring (left to right) Pete "Snowball", Kristen, Edziu, Dan, yours truly, Beth, and Sam (bottom)

A quick apology

Very sorry to those who have been following my blog that I haven't been updating the last few days. It got crazy busy and I didn't want to short change any of the entries by just rushing to post something. Also I got sick (a cold, nothing too bad) but that also put a damper on any productivity. So without further ado, the final days of the trip!

Day 9

In Vietnam, when it rains, it pours. We were finally treated to some Vietnamese rain complete with thunder and lightning! 

Today we didn't go class, but rather went straight to the bus for the hour ride to VSIP (Vietnam Singapore industrial park) where we would be hearing from both VSIP and II XI. Looking out the window on the ride made me realize that one of the big differences between US and Vietnamese commerce is that, for as many super stores as we have in the US,  they have that many more little tiny shops that sell only a few types of things. 

VSIP and II XI were very interesting. II XI is a high tech company that has a factory within VSIP, which was really because because we got to tour two of the different product lines. I got to witness a real life How It's Made- I feel complete. But it was really interesting because we keep hearing about production and manufacturing being moved to Vietnam, so it was cool to see it in action. 

Everyone was tired (some people are really not doing that great) so we called it an early day and many of us just collapsed and fell asleep. The rest of us either relaxed in the pool or went out to get some ice coffee and chill out at a cafe. 

The post office 

Tonight will probably be bahn mi (Vietnamese sandwiches made on French bread) and maybe go to a club. Rumor has it were going to a cooking class tomorrow, so I'm excited!