Academics:
International Studies
Tina F.
Semester At Sea
Journal #6
September 30, 2003:
Okay everyone, I have to warn you about this next journal entry. We just left Vietnam yesterday and we arrive in Thailand the day after tomorrow. This does not leave much time to do anything, and I am absolutely exhausted.
See, you have to understand that while we are in ports, we get absolutely no sleep. You want to spend as much time as possible experiencing each country that you stay up until all hours of the night and then get up as early as possible to get in everything you want to do that day. Then, with only a couple of days in between the ports the teachers try to squeeze in as much class time and information as they can, so there is not much recovery time. I am living off of about 3 to 4 hrs. of sleep a night, if I am lucky I will get up to 6hrs. So forgive me if this is not the most thorough journal entry. It may seem long to you, but we had so much fun and did so much stuff that I could write plenty more, I just don't have the time or the energy.
First of all, Vietnam was my favorite country that we have been to so far. The people are so friendly, and love to speak English to us. They also love to take pictures with us.
My first day was spent on the City Orientation field trip. We went to the Ho Chi Minh City hall, then to the post office. After that was the museum and a water puppet show that was very cool. Next was a pagoda, and then some shopping at the inside market. Dwana, Byron and I shopped around for awhile, and then Dwana and I got measured for dresses to get made for only $18. In Vietnam, everything is very cheap, and they take American money everywhere. Everything is a dollar in Vietnam. It is like one huge dollar store.
My roommate Patrice's mom and step dad came to Vietnam, so they took a bunch of us out to dinner and some drinks that night. We had a curfew of 11:00 p.m. every night, so we had to get back to the ship pretty early. See, a few years ago some SAS people got drunk and trashed a restaurant. So the only way the government would let us come back was if we had a curfew. Around the ship port was a 10 ft. fence, which we called "the cage" that had a gate that closed at 11:00. If you didn't get in the cage by that time, you were screwed because you have to have a Vietnam Visa to stay the night anywhere other than the ship. They did have some tents set up selling things, and they sold beer. So all the kids would hang out in the cage together when we came back to the ship.
The next day I went to the Mekong Delta. This was the best thing I have done yet. We took a big boat to the bank of an island, and then they put us on smaller boats to get into the island. They mixed us homemade tea with fresh honey and lemon, and I got some honey from a live beehive! Then we saw how they made coconut candy, and I held a snake, as you can see in the picture (coming soon). Then they took us to another island to a river village. Here we had fresh fruit, including mango, Vietnamese bananas, dragon fruit and dragon eyeballs. Some of the natives sang and danced for us also. We were put on even smaller boats after leaving this island, and then went back on the big boats. On the way back to the mainland they gave us coconut milk to drink out of coconuts. We had lunch in a restaurant by the river, went to another pagoda, and then went back to the ship for the night.
My third day I went on a service visit to a school for the disabled. The children here were so wonderful. Some of them were either deaf or dumb, and others just had physical disabilities. Here is a picture of me with one of the children (coming soon). We gave them presents and played all morning long. They were so much fun, and so excited to see American people. That afternoon my friend Kat and I walked around, picked up dresses that we got made, and hung out. We went to dinner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant with some other friends, and then went to the ship.
The next day four of us girls went to pick up more clothes, use the internet and go shopping. We got manicures and pedicures (both for $3), and hour messages for $6.50. It was any girls dream! We went to dinner, and met up with more people for some drinks. We were excited to find out that the place we went for drinks had a live show. There was a man who balanced a clay pot on his forehead, a very flexible woman doing tricks and some other cool things.
My last day consisted pretty much of just shopping around with Dwana, but there was one really cool thing we did. See, in Vietnam, no one drives cars. They all have motorbikes, and there are no driving laws. Stoplights don't mean anything, and there is quite a bit of honking going on. When crossing the street, you just have to walk and they will maneuver around you. Anyway, so you can take a taxi places, but there are also people to take you on a motorbike wherever you want to go. Dwana and I tried it out, and it was so much fun! I did fear for my life the entire time, but it was definitely an adrenaline rush. Here is a picture of Patrice, Dwana and I shopping that night. (coming soon)
We left Vietnam at 0600 hrs. Monday morning, and I was sad to leave. Everyone had so much fun in Vietnam; we all want to come back.
Well, Patrice, Dwana and I are off to Chiang Mai in Thailand. We are not sure what we are going to do there, but that is what the adventure is all about! Talk to you then!
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