Tuesday (day 9)
Today we started the morning with our traditional Vietnamese Hotel breakfast. It's definitely starting to get a bit old and repetitive, basically like your American continental breakfast at any given hotel.
After breakfast we boarded our bus and headed off to UEF. There's already a status quo of where you sit on the bus and one person moves and the whole bus has like a culture shock or something. It's kinda funny.
At UEF we started with a brief culture lesson. We learned a lot about motorbikes which was cool to learn about because they are SO important to the culture here. I mean it's like a really rare day when you don't almost get run over by a motor bike in this country. Since language class finished so early, we kinda had some time to kill in our classroom. Well we decided hangman would be fun and completed a few rounds of that before giving up and the room just turning into chaos.
Though our free time didn't last long because our teacher showed up and we started language class. We learned about how to say stuff like so hot and so delicious. The word for so is fun to say so the whole class was getting pretty into it. By this point in the week we end up just having conversations with the students who help us out. It's nice because by now we all know most of the students and we can have real conversations of substance and depth.
After we went to our usual restaurant and had the "corndog shrimp" which made everyones day. But other than that, we are all excited when we get to lunch somewhere else. Though there was this one thing that I think was pork but it tasted like bacon of substance and it was delicious.
Next up was the NaviBank of Vietnam. For the first time on the trip, the business professional we talked to didn't speak English, so our good friend Tuan from UEF came and translated for us.
My friend Amy needed to find a Vietnamese book for her brother, so, in the company of our friend Jake, we ventured out into the city on foot in search of a Vietnamese book store. We stumbled upon an absolutely delicious French bakery. For one of the first times since getting here we had bread, well good bread. I got a smoothie too. It hit the spot.
After we went to an Italian joint and got something of an equivalent to Olive Garden. But being that we haven't had noodles of that genre in so long, they were absolutely delicious!!!
Wednesday (day 10)
Today, technically, was a day to sleep in! Instead, Amy, Jake and I, the adventure crew, went to this lady called the Lunch Lady for breakfast. Basically, she is this woman who is a street vendor who locals give ingredients to and she makes a different bowl of pho everyday. We learned about her because she was on "No Reservations" on the food network. It was absolutely amazing, when of the best meals I have had yet! I've no idea what it was but I ate it right up. They also brought us out these spring rolls with a spicy sauce which were amazing too!
Today was our last day of company visits, a very bittersweet feeling.
We first went to Saigon Newport Corporation. Basically what it is is a Navy run, government owned port which seems to control to the import and export business in Vietnam. We were greeted and shown around by a Vietnamese Naval officer who was very nice and outgoing. After a briefing on the company, its history and its purpose, we took a quick tour of the port. We had this super cool view of all the crates with the main city in the background. After the tour we were waiting for the elevator, when the officer asked why I looked familiar to him and if I was a movie star. It kind of was the highlight of my day!!!! I told him that if I was I would give him my autograph.
Next up was lunch in one of the most beautiful restaurants I have seen here. You could have told me I was at a 5 star Mexican or Hawaiian resort and I would've believed you! The food was delicious too! I'm not quite sure what it was that I ate, but it was perfectly spicy and flavorful!
After lunch we went to Kien A Corporation's apartment complex, the name of which I forget now. Basically they have about 700 apartments which they sell to lots of international, as well as domestic, clients. We were fortunate enough to tour a 3 bedroom apartment and the unfinished penthouses. Both were beautiful. The view from the penthouse was absolutely extraordinary! You could see for miles and it was city lines everywhere.
We got back to the hotel and decided it would be a good time to clean up the room a bit. It is the cleanest it has been all trip!!!
Then the adventure squad decided to take a trip out on the town and get a bite to eat. We stumbled upon a german bakery, where, if the items had been sitting for "too long", they became free, so we got free hotdog wrapped in croissants! And some bread and jam. It was delicious.
We then hit up what is supposedly the best local bar in the country with a drink that is world renowned. It was a passion fruit mojito. And I have never tasted anything nearly as amazing. We were on this rooftop overlooking a busy road and casually sipping on mojitos. It was definitely something we couldn't do back in America.
For dinner, I got me a pizza. Oh boy, pizza has never tasted better.
Now I am laying in bed, finishing my thoughts before it is time for me to clock out for the night. It has been a long day but I can't wait for more tomorrow.
But I also can't wait to see everyone and talk to everyone soon!
Chao!
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