This morning we headed to UEF for our final culture and
language class. It was so sad to know that this was our last day in the usual
school routine in Vietnam! Over the last two weeks Vietnam has become my home
and my Pitt and UEF friends have become my family! After our culture class,
reporters from the news came to the school. I had volunteered the first week to
be interviewed, so I was one of four people to be interviewed. We just had to
talk about what we thought about our trip, the Plus3 Program, our Vietnamese
classes, and Vietnam as a country. We are treated like celebrities here
sometimes, which we find humorous.
Next, in language class today, we had an oral test! I was so
nervous, but we all knew the teacher would grade us very easily. We had 30 minutes
in class to review with our teacher and UEF friends before the test. During
those 30 minutes, we had to memorize a paragraph where we would talk about
ourselves in Vietnamese. For the test,
we were paired up with someone else in the class, and our pairs would then
choose a slip of paper that told us what subject of conversation we would be
tested on. Our group would have two minutes to prepare, then we would have to
go up to the front of the room and carry on a small conversation with our
partner in Vietnamese. Afterward, each person in the pairs would have to repeat
the paragraph about ourselves we had just memorized in Vietnamese. It all may
sound harder than it actually was. I am actually really glad I got to learn
more than just 30 words of Vietnamese, but instead learn to actually
communicate in Vietnamese. The paragraph said something like:
Xin Chao. Toi ten la Jackie, nou’gi My. (Hello, My name is
Jackie, and I am American)
Toi la sinh vien hoc la Dia hoc Pittsburgh. (I am a student
at the University of Pittsburgh)
O My, toi la song Pittsburgh. (In America, I am from
Pittsburgh)
O Viet Nam, toi di dau Vung Tao, Cu Chi. (In Vietnam, we
went to Vung Tao and Cu Chi)
Rat sau nhung thu vi voi va vo…(something like that) (I am tired, but it was
interesting)
Xin Chao, Hen gap lai. (Goodbye, see you again)
We were graded on a scale of 1-10 based on our memory of the
language and pronunciation. I got a 9/10. 2 people get 8’s, 5 got 9’s and 5 got
10’s. Our teacher said our class learned the language quicker than the Pitt
students who came last year.
For lunch at UEF, I had grilled pineapple and rice! I am
definitely going to use the chop sticks I bought here when I go home. After
lunch was our futbol game against the UEF students/soccer team! I was so
excited to get outside, run, sweat and have fun! We actually beat the UEF team
3-2! We had to wear our UEF polos during the games, which made the 100 degree
weather even hotter, but I did not care after a while. We played on a mini
soccer field with 5 people (2 girls and 3 guys) including a goalie! Our first
shift, which consisted of me, Elliott, Tim, Ricky and Hailee, did a really good
job! I contribute my effort to the team to Elliott, who patiently practiced
with me over the week at the hotel! During the game, locals gathered along the
fences to watch us play! We also played a few games with the UEF students after
the soccer game and ended by learning a traditional Vietnamese dance. Prizes
were awarded at the end and each team received a box of our favorite local
fruit and cookies, which we devoured on the bus on the way home! When we got
back to the hotel, Elliott and I went swimming because we were so sweaty and
gross from the day. We also went swimming because we did not want to pack and
think about going home.
For dinner, we went on a dinner boat cruise on the Saigon
River with the faculty from UEF. The weather had cooled off to be pleasantly
warm by then and the food was delicious. They serviced chicken soup, coconut
carrot shrimp salad, shrimp crispies (shrimp with fried rice surrounding them),
and noodles with pork. There were also two traditional Vietnamese dancers who
performed, as well as live Vietnamese musicians. The view was beautiful along
the river, and it made not want to leave the city even more! Small gifts were
exchanged at the table, as well as our group presenting our trip guide, Tran,
with a picture of our group, which she loved! If I have not discussed Tran yet,
she is our awesome trip guide, who goes everywhere with us and helps us
communicate in Vietnamese. She is so small and so sweet, and she has even begun
to joke with us Americans while we were there. 
When we got back to the hotel around ten, our UEF friends
were waiting for us. We all were sad they could not attend our last dinner in
Vietnam, especially since we have had dinner with them almost every night and
they have warmly introduced us to secret places in HCMC. They had decided to
spend the last few hours we had in Vietnam with us though, even though it was
the middle of the night. Our plan was to leave the hotel at 3 for the airport,
so the UEF students came and hung out with us the hotel since us Pitt students
had decided not sleep. (I am writing this blog entry as I sit on the plane to
San Francisco.) The UEF students then gave us small gifts in the hotel room!
Some of them were bracelets of key chains they had made or bought. Most of the
gifts had something to do with Vietnam, which also made them special. The room
was bursting with friendship and smiles! Around midnight I decided to finish
packing. It was so sad to think of everything we were leaving. The students had
planned to ride their motorbikes to the airport as well to say their last
goodbyes to us! Tears were shed from both parties at our group and the UEF
students/Tran said goodbye to each other! We actually were saying “Hen Gap
Lai,” which means “See You Later.” 
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