So today has been so exciting! I can hardly believe I am
half way around the world!
The journey here was interesting to say the least. We
basically ate and napped the whole way because we had no relevance to what time
it was. We certainly bonded as a group during that time as we took loops around
the plane aisles. We met an interesting man on the plane who was from Vietnam
and he gave us a lot of handy facts about Vietnam, such as:
·
They do not use water bottles or cups, but will
give you a drink in a baggie with a straw
·
Sometimes toilets are holes in the ground
·
A barbeque sandwich should cost under a dollar…so
do not get ripped off
·
The exchange rate is currently 20,600 dung to 1
US dollar
·
1000’s of mopeds will try to cross an
intersection at one time
·
The police will take your moped from you on the
street if you do not have its registration with you
When we got to Hong Kong airport, I bought my first beer
(Heineken)! So exciting since the drinking age in Hong Kong is 18 and they
didn’t even card us! We got into Ho Chi Minh City around midnight last night
and got back to the hotel around 1:30 am. Two kids lost their suitcases, but they
should have them by today or tomorrow. This morning we went to UEF (The
University of Economics and Finance). They had a welcome ceremony for us, where
they performed puppet show and sung songs for us. We were paired up with
Vietnamese students from the school. My student friend was named Tian
(pronounced Ton), he was an economics major, which honestly sounds like easy
math classes to me. Next, we exchanged gifts with the people at the school.
Well we basically got gifts from them, and we gave them some Pitt stuff.
Next, we had our first Vietnamese language class! It was so
exciting to learn some phrases. ‘Bang den a ye’ means ‘What’s your name?’ when
you are talking to a friend, and you would respond with ‘Doy den la Jackie.’ Hello
is ‘sin chao.’ Thank you is ‘gam on’ and sorry is ‘sin loui.’ ‘How much does it
cost’ is ‘guy ni beau new’. (All of the previous spellings correspond to the
Vietnamese pronunciation.) The student that helped me during this class was
named Tu, but she went by Lizzie. She and her friend invited us to go out with
them tomorrow night as well.
The lunch they gave us was really good too! We had rice with
vegetable soup on top, pork covered in fried rice (which looked like rice
crispie balls), chicken, cauliflower, and cherries (they looked like mini
apples). It was interesting to learn to eat with chop sticks and try new foods.
This afternoon, we went to the US Consulate in Vietnam. We
learned about the politics and economy situation in Vietnam. During our
briefing we learned that Vietnam has little crime, and most crime occurs from
purse theft…we were very careful about keeping a hand on our bags even if they
were over our shoulder for the rest of the day. It was raining a little while
we were there, but we took a tour of the grounds, which holds significant landmarks
to incidents from the Vietnam War. Part of the old embassy’s groundwork can
still be scene at the consulate’s location.
Tonight we have a welcome dinner planned at a traditional
Vietnamese restaurant. Our guide, Tran, says you have to roll the food with
your hands to eat it. I could also use a nap right now, but I have dinner in 30
minutes…
One more comment is the absurd amount of mopeds that are on
the streets! You have to be careful not to get hit, even when it is you’re turn
to cross a road or you are on the sidewalk. Well that’s all for now!
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