Day 98: November 26, 2014

I grabbed a banh mi op la for breakfast this morning before heading to class with Cate and Alex. I used to buy fruit from Co-Op to eat for breakfast, but with such limited time remaining I decided that it would be better if I eat Vietnamese food all the time. It was well worth it, as the sandwich was so good with the soy sauce and pate. But let's not talk about what pate is, because then the sandwich isn't so great.

We got to history class and learned about Vietnamese history after the war before watching a documentary about Agent Orange. The guy who made the video came to our class to show it to us. He grew up in Vietnam during the war but is now an American citizen--ONLY an American citizen as he pointed out. I think he stressed that to show us that he didn't make this film as a Vietnamese angry with the US government but instead as a concerned citizen of the States who realized what affects Agent Orange had on all people in the war, including the soldiers from the US. The film obviously had some pretty graphic images of those affected, but it's one of those things where you feel like you have to watch it because of how much they suffer. The crazy part about the whole story is that he used to work for Disney but was laid off while he was making this film. Later, he found out that Monsanto and Disney are basically financial partners. Since Monsanto is the one that produced the majority of Agent Orange for the war, they didn't want him to make a video about the effects it had and so Disney laid him off.

I came back to the dormitory after class and got lunch with Binh at the Co-Op Mart. I had some fried rice with fresh spring rolls. We got some 3,000d ($0.15) ice cream for dessert from Jolibee before he had to head off for class. I'm definitely not going to be used to paying Western prices for things when I return. For example, my banh mi this morning was 13,000d, or $0.65. Our Vietnamese professor the other day told us that 13,000d for a banh mi was expensive, but I ordered it this morning with two eggs instead of one. In sociology yesterday, we watched a short video about Vietnamese food in Chicago. The place that was featured sold banh mi for $7! Not only is it made differently than actual banh mis in Vietnam (jalapenos instead of chili peppers, soy sauce with gluten instead of soy sauce without), but it is also over 10 times more expensive!

I came back to the dormitory and took a nap before beginning some of my final papers. It's weird, because although we are still here next week we don't have any classes. Not complaining though as that gives me plenty of time to do what I want! I decided to get some fried corn for supper and headed out, but the lady wasn't there! Instead, there was a man in her spot who seemed to have the exact same cart and everything. Maybe he was her husband. At least that's what I'm telling myself, because otherwise I feel like I broke some bond between us. I came back to the room and spent a while talking to Cate before realizing that I was getting absolutely zero paper-writing done and that I should just call it a night.