Day 95: November 23, 2014

This morning we had breakfast at the guest house where we were staying at 7:15am, which was banh mi op la. We then got on the bus, played some card games while waiting for our professors and the scientists that had come along, and left for HCMC. We stopped at a dragon fruit farm along the way and also lunch. For lunch we each received a clay pot of rice and shared chicken, two kinds of pork, vegetables, tofu, and egg. Dessert was bananas and homemade yogurt.

After our four hour bus ride, we made it back to the dormitory. The trip was much more fun than I thought it would be, but I was glad to be back. We hiked through the jungle to look for monkeys, went on a night hike, and accidentally stumbled across a Buddhist ceremony. I was quickly grabbed by one of the women there and they led me through their prayers. Monica, Vien, and I all participated, and we probably prayed with them for about an hour and a half. The funny part is that the woman who was leading them in prayer answered her cell phone once. Here we are, praying to Buddha and being reflective, when her cell phone rings and she just pulls it out and answers it. Such a strange combination of events!

I unpacked my bags and checked my email before Binh told me to meet him the courtyard with my helmet. When I met him, he went to get his motorbike before telling me that we were going to get his hair cut. He drove us around looking for a place that cut men's hair and we found one a little ways from the dormitory. We walked in and he wanted me to choose his haircut for him. There was a little boy getting his hair cut, and I told Binh that he should ask for the same one. He did, and once his hair was cut we had to wait out the rain for a little bit. It down poured today, which is the first time in awhile that it has done so, but neither of us were prepared as we didn't have a rain coat. We drove through some very flooded streets before reaching the dormitory, quickly changed clothes, and then met again to go get some food.

When we met again I had forgotten my helmet, so I had to borrow one from one of the guards. You would never know it though, as it was a helmet with pink flowers on it. We drove through some more flooded streets until we came to the place he was searching for, which served a fried chicken leg with rice. It was a lot of food but so good! On the way back, we almost got hit by a bus that was switching lanes and I thought for sure we were going to crash as I could feel the back of the motorbike start to fishtail, but Binh somehow kept it under control and we were both kept safe. Back at the dormitory, we got some drinks and joined English club for their gala they hold on Sunday nights. I was basically used as a marketing ploy to get more Vietnamese students to come, as they had me sit outside at a table, but oh well. It was a fun time, although a little long, and afterwards a bunch of us went to the courtyard and I listened to them sing Vietnamese songs and play guitar.