Day 8

So language class was actually very entertaining today! In an attempt to teach us numbers, we played a game where we were in two teams and on both sides we got numbered 1-9. When the teacher called a number, the person on each team with that never had to run from their desk and grab a paper from the front of the room. It got very aggressive very quickly haha. The first time my number was called, I smashed my face on my opponents shoulder... Sorry Kholer! 

From lunch, it's a chicken head (beak pointing down). Very crispy and not much to eat.

The numbers were in an attempt to teach us how to bargain at markets in Vietnamese. This was because after class, we hopped in a bus and went to the Ben Thanh market. It was very reminiscent of the Turkish bizarre and just named me very anxious. How do you say "stop touching me" "stop talking to me" and "leave Britney alone" in Vietnamese? It was always "Miss, what you looking for?" And maybe they'd touch your arm to try and get you to look at whatever crap they had that you could see an identical version of if you kept looking straight. Look, if I'm interested in something, I'll come to you! I didn't buy very much because the haggling (which I did do, as well as everyone else fairly well) was not something I enjoyed. Just let me pay a good price and leave me alone! 

The food stands were definitely my favorite. No idea what half the things were, but it all looked great! Big tubs of tiny dried shrimp and an array of dried fruits all open to whatever cared to land on it. Sam and I got a drink made from pressing sugar cane, and it was delicious! 

After that we changed and went to Vina Capitol, which is a charitable investment NGO. They manage money and invest, and then use the profits to do really great things for the lower income Vietnamese people. They take ethnic minority girls and put them through school; they pay for kids who need heart surgery, and many other things. Their whole thing is trying to make impact, and it was great to see that they were doing just that. Very interesting company, regardless of the fact that, at one point or another, pretty much everyone was falling asleep 😛

For dinner we went and got "pancakes" (which were a thin, crispy thing with delicious stuff in the middle. Think Vietnamese dosa) and they were delicious. My corner of the table plowed right through two and a half of the decently sized plates. 

After that we went to karaoke. Well we went to something, I'm still not entirely sure what it was. It seemed the place only had one room, and it was small enough that the 25-ish filled the little private room. Everything was guided and there were two TV's and two microphones. Our group had not had any alcohol in them yet, so it was interesting to see who could have fun with it sober and who became a wet blanket. Kristen, Beth, Rachel, and I sang so much that Kristen's voice was definitely sounding rough the next day. Oddly enough, the songs that got everyone going were Kesha's TikTok, Katy Perry's Firework, and Abba's Dancing Queen. It was a good time 😊 

Some people went to a club after that, but a bunch of us crashed at the hotel. Tomorrow is lots of business, so gotta be on your A game!

The sign for the karaoke said "make impression never gone"

Day 7

Cheese wafers are the Rits-bits of Vietnam. 

Today was beach day! And considering I'm not a beach person, it was great. We woke up way too early and drove two hours (or rather slept two hours on a moving bus) until we reached a cute beach town. 

It turns out that not only can you find Jesus in Vietnam, but you can climb inside of him and stand on his arms. The only catch is that the giant statue is on a mountain and the only way to get up is via a bizzillion steps. You also need your shoulders and knees covered. And take your shoes off. And do the hokey pokey and turn yourself around. And assuming you've succeeded in accomplishing all these things, you are then allowed to enter Jesus and climb up the narrowest spiraling staircase, which is a teeny-tiny two way staircase I might add, until you see one of the coolest views. You could see so far! Ocean on one side, sprawling towns and buildings on the other, it was amazing and the pictures don't do it justice. We were all pouring sweat before we even got halfway up the hill, and it was just downhill from there. No one could wait to get into the ocean. 

And the ocean did not disappoint! Warm to the point of near bath water, and shallow enough that you could go out a fair distance and still stand. Also, we found Nemo (aka a small black and yellow fish that touched Beth's butt. We assumed his classmates dated him to) played some games on the beach, and had a great time! I was even singled out of a bunch of us to take a picture with some guy! No, this is something interesting but at her something that happens all the time with our group. In fact, a girl stopped Kristen and I to take a picture of us in Jesus. Being tall and pale with curly hair in Vietnam means you're never far from someone staring at you! People take picture of us taking group pictures all the time.

Alex and Bryan took a bet and sadly Bryan won, which means that most of us ended up getting sunburnt to some degree. Minus those of us with dark skin, it ranged from "a little pink on your cheeks and shoulders" to "Evan, you are so burnt!"

I was going to say that tonight were gonna sleep like logs, except that considering I'm typing this on the bus ride home, most of us already are! Which is amazing consider the bus driver beeps the horn at least once every 5 minutes. It's gonna be a long two hours... 

Tonight will be low key hanging out at the hotel, and tomorrow we're back to UFE and company visits! Also happy mothers day! 

So nighttime update: 7 of us went out to this little hole in the wall place and ate this delicious noodle soup and I ate a joint! It was like really stiff jello, for those who were wonder. 

Also for those who were wonder, I am not sick! I have not gotten sick despite the many others who have! Hopefully I didn't just jinx it but so far so good!

Day 6

Today we went to visit Cu Chi, where you can find the infamous cu chi tunnels. Bright and early we were on the bus and heading on the hour and a half drive with little to no expectations. We passed cows, rice paddies, and what looked like little restaurants with hammocks instead of chairs (why don't we have this in America??). It was interesting to watch the urban sprawl turn more and more to rural country side. As many stray dogs as there are in the city, there are way more out there. 

Being in cu chi near the tunnels was amazing. First off, all you see is this pretty thick forest. It has finally grown back from being completely barren from being bombed and blown to bits. We gathered in a little building where we watched a movie about the tunnels with a heavy Vietnamese bias. And while it's completely warranted considering where we are, it was certainly a change from the usual presentation. "Like a band of Devils, [the Americans] shot into woman and children." Dr. Berman said a few things about the tunnel and then we were off. They have widened the tunnels for tourists, and even so, many of us had dirty knees by the end. 

They showed us how they hid the entrances and air vents. Incredible. A man popped out of one of the hidden entrances, and then just as quickly the entrance disappeared again. They were brilliant and thought out everything they did with such calculation, it's no wonder why it was so effective. 

Being fairly claustrophobic, I had no desire to go into any of the tunnels. But as we got to the first tunnel, I remembered Mike (one of the trip's advisor) telling us that was something we really had to do. So I took a deep breath and went down the steps and it let into a little room. The rooms they created to live in underground were incredible. Ok, this isn't pleasant, but I'm still ok. Oh wait, we haven't actually gotten to an actual tunnel yet? Oh. Well then. I was directly to the tiny hole in the wall and the panic set in. I followed Malik and, not gonna lie, I stared at his butt the entire time. Stare at Malik, don't look up, down, or to either side. It was short all things considered, but as soon as I got out I volunteered as a coat rack to hold people's things because I was not going into another tunnel. Rachel and I hung out with Bryan (the program coordinator who came on the trip with us) as we all avoided going in any of the other tunnels. Feel free to read everyone else's blog if you're interested in hearing about the other tunnels! I heard there were bats in one of them! 

Dr. Berman had told us more than once to try and get away from people and listen to the nature and imagine going through the forest without any trails. While there wasn't really anywhere to go, staying out of the tunnels gave me a chance to really look around and think about what had happened here. It made me feel sick. And I was amazed because no one else seemed at all upset. People were joking around and so on, and there I was feeling sick. I'm not trying to sound like I somehow had this insightful perspective far superior to others, but why was no one else upset?? This is a battlefield where people on both sides murdered each other! And the Vietnamese tour guide who worked there was so proud of everything! The tunnels, the traps (he was even making jokes when showing how they worked), how clever they were, he talked about it all with a smile. I think both sides did horrible things, but this was just a little grotesque in my mind. 

Another thing that blew my mind was how willing they were to turn it into a tourist site with a shop halfway through with drinks and trinkets to buy. It all just seemed so irreverent and out of place. But no one seemed bothered about that either. 

By the end, I just wanted nothing more than to get out of there. I was so upset about it, but I was party of one as everyone joked around like nothing was different. I asked Dr. Berman what it was like for him coming back (he fought in the Vietnam War when he was 22), and I think he is one of the bravest people. He said it's different coming back with us, especially all chatting and such, but I don't think I would have been able to do it. It made it that much more meaningful going with him. 

When we did go, we got lunch on the Saigon river, which was beautiful. The plants on the river were so thick it looked like a field instead of water. 

We then stopped by a temple that commemorated the people who died during the war. It was beautiful. I didn't go in because I was only wearing shorts, but even the outside was beautiful. 

We then made a quick stop at a massive district cemetery of the fighters killed in the war. The graves seemed endless. We saw the stone of a kid who was only 17. I walked with Danielle and we just soaked it in. It was really interesting to follow the war on their side. Brought a lot of perspective. So did talking to Dr. Berman. 

So that was the day today. We'll probably go out tonight to a club called Vuvuzela. 

Also karaoke everywhere, no joke.

Day 5

We're not dead yet!

Everyone actually came to the visit today, which is practically a first! People are getting sick right and left, so the fact that we were all here was quite an achievement! 

At UEF we got a long lecture on the different religions of Vietnam followed by another tiring language class. We were all already super tired (we went to a club last night and regardless of the lack of dance floor we tore it up!!) so the lecture plus the late night made the effort in that class so much harder. And seriously, if she tells us to shape our mouths like we're putting an egg in there one more time! But anyway!

No, dear reader, not a breath mint; it's "mouth perfume" that wants you to cheer up!

Instead of a company visit, we went to the US Consulate today. It's crazy being somewhere that I've seen in history books. Wait, speaking of history books, you know the ionic helicopter lift picture? Well that building is actually NOT the embassy, and they're tearing that building down this year! It's so iconic to us but obviously means nothing to them, so the building is coming down. We're gonna make sure we see it first. But back to the Consulate! So the Consulate used to be the embassy (the second one actually) but post reunification, the embassy is in Hanoi. So we listened to a some of the officers talk about what they do at the Consulate and took a tour of the grounds. It was great to see the plaque commemorating the officers who died while defending the embassy during the Tet Offensive, and yet right on the other side of the wall as the Vietcong's plaque commemorating their men who died attacking. The dichotomy was an interesting perspective. 

Lunch pic

We then hung out with some Vietnamese students at the English center, which is part of the consulate but in a different building. They asked us questions about university in America, and then we just talked about food and what we like to do and that was really cool :) It's good fun trying to understand each other, but we make it work! They all try so hard to speak English, it makes me wish I was less horrific at Vietnamese hahah. 

Tonight was so much fun. The girls went out with our Vietnamese hero, Kate. She took us under her wing day 1 and from helping us cross the life-threatening street to showing us where to eat, she's been so awesome to us. So we all went shopping and had a girls' night, which was great! The best was when we ended up having a dance party on the sidewalk and we had a store worker come and dance with us and people took videos and it was a good time! 

Eating street food! Pizzelle and cake should be a street food in America. 

As seen while shopping. You can't make this stuff up.

Also, we got our Ao Dai today, and when we got measured for them we were told we'd look sexy, and if I may be o bold, she was definitely right :P

Day 4

Oddly enough, glass egg was not a dish apart of this morning's breakfast. But it was today's company visit!

So the day started off to an interesting start. Instead of the usual heading to class right after breakfast, we visited a Daoist pagoda. Beautiful and weird. Beautiful in that the carvings and such were so intricate and ornate. Weird in that, between the plethora of pigeons, the pond of turtles, the one giant turtle, and the tank of fish, it seemed as much a temple as it did a zoo. 

Today's lecture was about Vietnam's cultural history. It was interesting, sure, but definitely the best part was the rambutan we got at break! Like a lychee that never shaved. We also got guava (not a fan) and some durian cake thing that was so weird. 

After changing at the hotel, we headed to our company visit for the day, Glass Egg. Such a cool company. They do outsourced art for video games with a focus on cars, and work for big names like Microsoft and EA. We weren't allowed to take any pictures because we were walking around the artists making the elements of future games, so privacy restrictions are high. But it was so cool! They then took us into a briefing room to show us a presentation and take questions. It's hard to decide if the discussion about the company and the samples of their work or the discussion about the CEO having to flee the country at the fall of Saigon was More interesting. Their work is flawless and they were telling us that because the current gaming systems are so powerful and everything is rendered in real time, they have to model each screw and bolt. Making a single tire takes 2 and  a half day. Amazing! And listening to everyone's story about either starting or moving to Vietnam, and especially the CEO's story, it felt like talking to a real life documentary. So cool. They also own a nightclub called Lush that we will be checking out tonight :P Time to get our dance on!

The other thing we did today was get fitted for tailored suits. I'd say the majority of the group opted to get one, so hopefully they're great! Stay tuned, tomorrow we get back our Ao Dai!

Day 3

The chicken dance lives on in Vietnam. 

It's becoming Survivor here. People keep getting sick and it seems that everyone ranges from "very sick" to "I'm mostly fine" with no one feeling 100%. Be it from the food or the crazy heat, it's hard to tell, and more likely a combination. But those of us who didn't vomit during language class continued on! 

In addition to language class (which was its usual entertaining mess) we had a speaker talk about rural development in a region call the Mekong Delta. This is the region where they farm the catfish that murdered the US catfish market, and do other farming (like rice). It was a really interesting talk but a lot of the issues that came up were problems due to 'well it looks good on paper, but in reality...' which is frustrating. 

After class we went to lunch, which is always a meal and a show thanks to my lovely companions!

 

Another fun thing is that on the first day, during UEF's welcome ceremony, they did a dance to a song that we have decided to adopt as our on and now play it every time we get in the bus. http://youtu.be/9R3ZrbFYXPA

Today's visit was to the US commercial service, which is part of the US Consulate. They are involved in getting US investors to put their plants and offices in Vietnam. It's lucrative because labor is so cheap, but there's a problem with the few number of skilled workers. 

We had a laid back rest of day considering people seemed to be dropping like flies. The Vietnamese student who has been taking care of us, Kate, took us to dinner at a place that had a kitten in the room we were eating in, and yes, we most certainly did play with it (against our better judgement). Very sorry I have no pictures of the cat :( (but here is some food!)

After that we went to a super cute cafe that had waterfalls and ponds inside and Kate bought us these little cream puff cakes.

All in all a good day! The group is all really awesome. Everyone is really cool and fun to hang out with. 

It was also a day of weird animals. Besides the kitten in the restaurant, we also saw puppies in a bike basket as well as chicks for sale. And lastly, I leave you with a chicken under a wire basket on a sidewalk. (in between the pole and the bikes) 

Day 2

PHO-INALLY we got some pho! (Fun fact, pronounced "fuh") But first!

More language classes today. We are getting to the point of saying actual sentences like "what is your name?" and "very nice to meet you". Another horrible speaking failure for all, but it's getting better!

We also had a guest lecturer on urban planning and development, which was pretty interesting. Vietnam was only supposed to have something like 4 million people in it, but today it has over 9 million, so development is an interesting situation.

Lunch was another day of tasty unknown things to put over rice. I'm not sure why we don't do this in the US because it's awesome. 

After lunch we changed into our professional attire and drove to Phu Mi Hung, our first company visit. They are working on making city centers in South Saigon. They are essentially making a little city within Saigon; it's so different from the surrounding city, But everything is so meticulous thought out. And futuristic! For no reason that we could think of, they have these things where you could put your elbows on a specific place and put your hands over your ears and you could hear music! Very cool even if somewhat impractical for actual use hahaha. The thing was, it was so clean and nice that it was almost TOO nice. Like there were no street vendors, things looked pretty western, etc. It was created to be like a little bubble you could stay in (especially for forging investors) and I'll tell you, it is definitely a bubble! 

People watching in the city and on the roads is amazing. A personal favorite is the attire of ladies on motorbikes. Everyone wears a helmet, but woman also wear masks to cover their mouths. No idea why men don't, but some of the helmets and masks are so cute! Also, they ear shirts, heels, carry huge boxes, and still have no trouble driving. It's amazing! 

(such a nice propaganda poster! Pretty!)1

When we got back to the hotel, we hung out with Vietnamese students who brought us bubble tea. They took us to dinner at a pho place, finally! SO. GOOD! I got beef in mine and let me just say that if fatty beef, tasty broth, and long rice noodles don't make you happy- you should probably see someone. 

We got a little silly and two of us tried eating the pho by holding the spoon with chopsticks. I managed to get the contents into my mouth, but couldn't pull the spoon out so: fail. And we got some charming pictures out of it haha.  

After the pho they took us to sit and get street food. Still not sure what most of it was, and no one could eat any more after all the pho, but what we tasted was delicious!

We also went to the Diamond Plaza. As much as I'm not into kidnapping, it was REALLY tempting!

And I'll leave you with the best irony I could have asked for. A fancy restaurant in a communist country named...