Day 5: August 25, 2014

Even though I didn't need to be up until 9 or 10 this morning, I woke up at 6 to the sun shining through the window and the sounds of traffic below. After mindlessly checking Facebook and emails, I decided to go explore the area surrounding the dormitory. I went one block over and, of course, managed to get lost. I forgot what street I had crossed onto and ended up walking the block twice before finding the street back to the dormitory. I passed this police officers who motioned that I had made a circle and I just laughed and nodded yes. Then a motorbike driver pointed at his bike, basically asking if I needed a ride so I just shook my head no.

We ended up bringing 7 pizzas back with us last night after the pizza party and put them in the lounge so I decided that for breakfast I would just have pizza and some passion fruit. I went with Monica, one of my roommates, and her partner student to learn how to use the cafeteria downstairs. She also showed us what the words are for chicken, fish, and pork so we can least have some idea of what we are ordering.

Since I didn't really know what else to do, I went with Dan, Brian, and Kong to a street vendor while they had a more typical breakfast of rice, fried egg, and pork with fish oil. Dan and I then went to a coffee shop and watched the traffic outside. Soon afterwards we left to attend an orientation session about classes and meet some of the other staff members of the Vietnam Center. Julio, the big man on top, explained to us that there is a lot going on behind the scenes here in Vietnam. For example, for every 3-4 police officers that we see, there is one not in uniform who is also around. We also learned about some of the cultural differences between Vietnam and the US. In the US, if you are asked to do something you do it as soon as possible because we value efficiency. In Vietnam, however, it is not as efficient and things are done on a much more leisurely mindset. It was also explained to us that Vietnam is considered more cons meristic than the US because they missed the decades during the war. Now, it is very important to them to be able to show that they have the newest phone, can afford to do things, etc. It has also been evident in our short time here that they really enjoy taking selfies and are constantly updating Facebook about where they are and who they are with, which is very different from the college age in the states.

After learning more about the culture, Julio told us that we are more than welcome at any time to come their offices either to talk with them about life in Vietnam or to get travel advice, which is really nice. We also have an updated address to send mail to, which I will post below. After getting to know more about classes and getting our first assignment (totally forgot we were to actually LEARN), we headed to a restaurant called The Black Cat for lunch where I got a sourdough burger and a blackberry, banana, and orange sorbet shake.

Lunch was the last scheduled activity we had for the day and we were free to explore District 1 which is a much more tourist part of the city. The dormitory is in District 10 where many more locals lived. Whereas we have street vendors in District 10, District 1 has shops like Loubiton and fancy hotels. We wandered around for a little bit and then hopped in a taxi to go to a spa where you can the dead skin eaten off your feet by little fish! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to participate because I have a blood blister on my foot but hopefully we will go back! For a 30 minute "Dr. Fish" session the cost was  210,000d. When we were done it was raining pretty hard outside, so we hailed a taxi and got a ride back to the dormitory.

French Church in District 1.

The sign at the spa about the fish

Before we ventured out for some street eats I had to go buy school supplies for tomorrow because it's the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL. Each class, except for Vietnamese, meets once a week and on Tuesdays and Thursdays we do service learning. It will be very interesting to see how these classes go! Too bad we already have an assignment for tomorrow..

For supper I went to the market with Tori, Alex, her partner student Thing, Summer, and Dan. Tori, Alex, and her partner ate at one place while Summer, Dan and I ate at a different one. Since we weren't exactly sure what anything was and the people working didn't speak English, this man that was eating nearby came up and helped us, which was super nice. He asked us what we liked, if we wanted more traditional food, and then basically ordered for us. I ended up getting pork and rice, and although it was good, it did burn my mouth a little.

Pork and rice for supper!

At orientation, we were told more information about our first excursion, which is this weekend to the Mekong Delta! I'm super excited to go there because it is a rural area where the people depend on the water for their livelihood. Also, our partners from OU get to come with us, which will be a blast! There are no classes Monday or Tuesday because it is Independence Day here so we will be gone Sunday through Tuesday. We get to do a homestay, try snake, and also try our hand at fishing with the locals while talking to them and learning more from them. Speaking of excursions, I really should go through my guide book and figure out what places I want to visit in HCMC and the surrounding area.

Send mail to:
Ashley Quinlan Room 1208
KTX Bách Khoa
497 Hòa Hảo, District 10
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

or

Ashley Quinlan
SaigonLand Bldg. 4 Fl.
7 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam