Day 34: First Day of Fall?

September 23 brings with it the first day of fall in the United States. I looked up the weather in Maquoketa and it was around 50 degrees F. It's just hard to believe that leaves are starting to change in the states when it is still pleasantly warm here. Today, for example, it was 90 degrees F. Not that I'm bragging or anything.

There was no sociology today since we had class last Friday. My history class did meet, however, to go to some local museums. It was a great chance to get to know our professor a little better as well as to learn about the history of Vietnam in somewhere other than the classroom.

Our class met at Open University and then we took a cab to the first museum, which was the Women's Museum of Southern Vietnam. This museum showcased the traditional clothing of women as well as handicrafts, such as weaving fabric and making mats. There were also a few exhibits dedicated to revolutionaries who played major roles during the Vietnam War and quest for independence from France. At first, our group thought it was wonderful that there was a museum dedicated to these women. But as we thought about it, we realized that all of the museums in the city are owned by the government. Basically, the government was showcasing women who made contributions during revolutions but weren't showing any other women. The government is basically picking and choosing what parts of their history you get to see. As I told someone in my class, you have to be critically thinking the entire time you're in this country because nothing is as it appears to be. We didn't go to a museum about the women of Vietnam, we went to a museum about revolutionaries.

The second museum we went to was the Ho Chi Minh City History Museum. This museum showcased different aspects about the history of the city. We saw all of the old currency, learned more about the natural environment, saw some old architecture, and learned about what the city used to be like. It was very interesting, and similar to all of the museum here there was a part about the Vietnam War. As we left this museum, somebody asked the professor if she liked the museum. Her answer kind of surprised me; she said she didn't like it because the government only shows you what they want you to know instead of all sides of the story.

After our museum tour we went to lunch at a restaurant we went to earlier in the semester with our OU partners. Let's just say we were all excited to go here because we like it so much, plus it was a free meal so that made it even better. Our professor ordered fried spring rolls for us and then we each ordered food and  a drink. I ordered a water and ban xeo, which is a Vietnamese egg pancake that has pork and shrimp. Our history professor ordered a fruit juice, and when it came out I asked her what it was. She responded by letting me try it, and when I told her it was good she gave it to me and ordered another one for herself. She also bought us sweet soup to eat for dessert, which is coconut milk with Jell-O, tapioca, and some other stuff in it. It was all good and I think all of us were full afterwards.

The rest of the afternoon was spent doing some homework, and then I had a one-on-one meeting with Wilson. It's something all of us have to do basically so he can gauge how we are adjusting to Vietnam and if there are any problems that need to be resolved. He just asks us questions like how often we're contacting our family and friends, if we're homesick, what we hate, what we want to see changed, how service learning is, etc. We went to this coffee shop where I ordered a blueberry with mint ice cream shake. Sounds like a strange combination but it was so good! The coffee shop was also really cool and a few of the seats were porch swings.

Service learning was tonight and we spent the time discussing stress with the students. After our return to the dormitory, I grabbed some corn and ate with Cate while she had pho. Then I walked to the alleyway to see if I could figure out where the place is that serves bot chien, and I found it! Very excited to eat there the next time I decide I don't want rice.