Day 32: September 21, 2014

This morning was dedicated to homework since I was meeting with Thao for the afternoon. She picked me up at 11:30 on her motorbike, and we went to District 1. There was this building that was having a sale, so we decided to check out. Each floor was like a different boutique, so you had the chance to look at all of these stores and their sales. Thao told me that none of the clothes would fit me, so I just spent the time looking instead of purchasing. The top floor was a canteen, and we each got our Zodiac sign in henna for 20,000d. We also decided to get a snack up there. I told Thao the only thing I recognized was the sign that said "hot dogs" so we got one of those, some pork balls, and what turned out to be cream puffs. The pork balls and hot dog came with a mixture of chili and tomato sauce to dip in. The hot dog was not the same consistency as those of the states but it was nice to show Thao something we eat versus her continuously showing me something they eat.

After we were done with lunch we went to a place that was famous for its banh mi and some other food. Thao ordered each of us a ham (or as it's called here pork) banh mi and the food that the place is famous for. The banh mi was good but the ham had a lot of fat on it that I picked off. The other food was not so good. It was rice flour with meat in the middle. The whole thing was then wrapped in banana leaves and it was cooked (you don't eat the banana leaves). I did not like the rice flour but the meat was good, so I tried to pick that out.

When we were finished with lunch, we headed to Bitexco Tower to look in some of the stores there. We found our way to the level with food where I discovered an Auntie Anne's Pretzel Shoppe. We ended up getting ice cream at KFC before heading back down.

The next adventure on our list was to head to an English club that her sister works with. We had to pay 10,000d for the lesson, but when I walked in all heads turned. They don't get many native speakers to come, so a lot of people wanted to talk to me. I got a lot of questions about why I was in Vietnam, why I chose to come to Vietnam rather than some other country, as well as my impressions about the country. I also got a lot of comments about my height, which by now I'm kind of getting used to. For example, today I was standing on the sidewalk when this guy just come up, stood by me, and gestured at where his head was on my body. But everybody at the English club was super nice, their English was actually pretty good, and they invited me to come back. Hopefully I will be able to go back a few times this semester, but since they only meet on Sundays it might be a little tough to do.

There were also some Loyola activities to do tonight so Thao and I met up with the group at an outdoor restaurant in District 1 for supper. Each group of four got this little charcoal grill to cook their food on. We ordered beef, pork ribs, octopus, frog legs, ostrich, okra, eggplant, rice, and some other vegetables. All of the food comes out raw and you have to cook it yourself. I only had the beef, ribs, and ostrich, along with the vegetables, but it was all very good.

After supper we headed out to do karaoke. This was very different than how karaoke is seen in the United States. Here, you rent a room out with a group of friends and you all face the same direction as you sing versus somebody getting on a stage. We sang a lot of American hits and tried to do a few Vietnamese but could not pronounce any of the words. It was hilarious watching the partners rap along to Eminem and it was overall pretty fun. It was a good way to end the weekend!