Day 8: August 28, 2014

My first and only class this morning was Vietnamese at 8:00am, so I had to get up much earlier than I would ever like to. In order to make it to class on time, we leave the dormitory around 7:15, so I had to be up at 6:30. This class is every Monday and Thursday, so those days will definitely be tough for me!

The taxi that took us to campus was trying to get as much money from as possible. He took us way out of the way before we went to OU. But since none of us know Vietnamese, we weren't sure what to say and just let it go. A cab ride that should cost us 80-85000d ended up costing 140,000d! When we got to campus the five of us who are in the class (Cate, Summer, Alex, and Tori) headed to a bakery to get breakfast. I got a green muffin for 8000d. Don't ask me what flavor the green is because none of us know, but it was good!

After class we met up with the partner students and had lunch (22,000d) and ice cream (5000d) from a street vendor. I had rice with green beans and pork and it also came with soup. It was good but not my favorite. The meat here is very fatty so it's kind of hard to adjust. I also wouldn't consider myself a picky eater but I find myself leaving more food on the plates here than I ever have before.

Lunch for the day. A little soy sauce adds a lot of flavor.

When lunch was over, we headed back to the campus to get something to drink. Thao knows that I enjoy eating corn, so she told me I should try corn milk, which is apparently a very popular drink here. I opened the lid and the smell of sweet corn overcame me. I was nervous to taste it, but it tasted just like corn. I'm pretty sure you could make this drink anywhere as long as you corn, a blender, and a strainer.

Corn milk served with ice.

The partner students also bought durian fruit for us to try, which is famous for its awful smell. Once they brought it to us, I recognized the smell from the streets. All this time I though the dumpsters we passed just smelled awful but it was the vendors next to them selling the fruit! It smells like very over ripened fruit. I hesitatingly tried it, and it was not good. I thought it would taste like papaya or mango but it has the consistency of cheese and is not sweet.

As we walked around today, we went through a park where there were quite a few people exercising. I didn't expect to see the Vietnamese exercising because I associate exercising with a class of people who have free time to do so. I'm sure it's not the street vendors who are exercising but instead those with a little more money and possibly cars. It's just bizarre to walk through one neighborhood, on one street, and see cars, motorbikes, street stands, people exercising, and people sorting garbage. All of the social classes seemed to be represented everywhere we go.

After everyone was done with classes and back at the dorm, a group of us headed out for supper. Note to self: Vietnamese do not eat at 7:00. We walked around the streets for a while looking for a vendor that was still open, but they all must have been sold out of food. As we wandered around, we went through a few alleyways where there were little restaurants with people drinking beer and having snacks. At one of them, a guy asked us where we were from and wanted us to sit and chat with him. Our hunger took over, however, and we had to decline as we looked for a place to eat.

We eventually found a place to eat that was serving something like a Vietnamese-style chicken noodle soup. I'm learning very quickly that noodles are not my favorite food, so I just ate the meat. As we were beginning to eat, all of the lights on the entire block went out. None of the nearby Vietnamese looked surprised, so it must happen quite regularly. I've decided that because the fruit here is so good I should get lunch with the partners everyday and just eat fruit for supper. That way I won't get too sick of noodles and rice and can still enjoy the fresh fruit!

Not sure what the proper name is, but I call it Vietnamese-style chicken noodle soup.

When the lights go out, all you can see are the headlights from the motorbikes!

Other things noticed today: I have horrible bug bites. I'm not sure what they're from, as I haven't really seen any mosquitoes around, but it's possible that I'm getting them at night since the ants are pretty bad in the rooms and there isn't any glass on the windows. It does make me a little nervous for trips outside of the city, but I'll just have to bring along bug spray! Also, the Vietnamese don't necessarily use toilet paper. In the bathrooms at OU, there is a spray handle that you are supposed to use. Kind of weird, but most of the Loyola students just carry around toilet paper. I tried the bread Thao gave me yesterday, and it is great! It's a French bread that has been toasted and there is a layer of butter and sugar on the bottom. Sooo good!

Tomorrow is Friday and that means it's the start of the weekend! We will be going to a few museums tomorrow with our partners with OU, Saturday is free for ourselves, and Sunday we leave for the Mekong!