Alrighty, here it goes. So this past weekend we went to Hue. This is the city that all of our roommates go to college in. It is super pretty and definitely my favorite place thus far. Surprisingly, there are TONS of tourists there. Most of them are French, and in all the markets they kept calling me “Madam.”
The city is super pretty (cool jungle)and has the Perfume River that running through it. On the first day, we visited lots of different monuments. We went to this place where all of the Kings lived (VERY similar to the “Forbidden City” in China). We also went to a bunch of the Kings’ tombs/burial areas-super ornate carvings and statues. Each “tomb” was this HUGE area that looked like a giant, decorated park. We also went to this thing called a Pagoda which is some sort of religious temple and got to see all of these monks chanting and singing.
Then we ate at this AMAZING five-star restaurant right on the river. We all got to eat this cool, crunchy rice that is cooked in little individual clay pots. They also had all this stuff that had been steamed in leaves (I call them Asian tamales). Ummmm….some kids tried the fried, frog skin but I was NOT one of them. Sorry I’m not sorry!
That night we ate at this Italian restaurant because Alice thought that we might all be missing American food. We had weird pizza and desserts….it was HILARIOUS to see the Vietnamese kids pick at and push around their food. Mushroom was not a happy camper, and neither were most of the other Vietnamese kids. HAHA ! It was so funny to see them act like we usually do around all the strange Vietnamese food. We also tried to tell them that this isn’t really “American” food (aka-the food was pretty bad and we didn’t want to give them the wrong impression).
That night we got to take a boat ride (on a sweet dragon boat) up the Perfume River. Traditional musicians and singers in these beautiful Kimono-like outfits performed for us!
We ended up spending the night in Hue so that the roommates could give us their own personal tours of their city on Sunday. Mushroom and I had a ball! We got to ride everywhere on her motorbike which is totally the best way to see Vietnam. We drove through markets, rice patties, farms, the countryside, gardens, everything…
First we went to this village known for its arts and crafts. We got to go into this lady’s house and use this black ink to smear onto stamps and then press onto hand-made paper. Then we got to paint them and roll them up into bamboo holders. Then we went to this old man’s house where he makes these beautiful paper flowers. We each got to make a petal by wrapping paper and a string around this wooden thing and then hammering it…mine came out terribly! But my little Mushroom decided to buy me a whole bouquet!
Then it was off to the market to buy supplies for our lunch. Mushroom and I joined Joey and his roommate Hien at Hien’s house. Hien’s mother made us this amazing salad thing with super thinly sliced vegetables. It took her all day to make it and it was yummy!
Then Mushroom and I went to this beautiful garden and looked around before hitting the neatest market ever (we spent about 2 hours there). Finally, we ended at this huge place called the Co-op Mart. It’s kinda like a multi-level Walmart with a food court. We decided that is would be fun to sit down (finally!) and paint pottery. We were the oldest kids by at least 10 years but it was worth it! All the kids kept laughing at my pink, poka-dotted elephant and would ask Mushroom if I was crazy! Ha!
This week has been UBER tiring! Bao’s soccer tournament started on Monday and I have been playing soccer nonstop since, LITERALLY! We play morning, noon, and night! My girls’ team has lost every game so far, but I am still so excited that they were willing to play against all of these boys! They all started off really scared and nervous, but really started to get better towards the end of the tournament.
Tomorrow is the final day of teaching...so sad! I am going to miss them all so much! They all keep coming to the guesthouse to play soccer with me, look at my pictures, and listen to my music. The kids have ALL asked for my email address, yahoo messenger account (I don’t have one), and just recently told me that they can’t find me on facebook! I feel like a celebrity! Just kidding?? My class is super excited about the letters I am having them write to students in America. They’ve brought in pictures to attach and most have written over 3 pages. Should be fun for them to have American pen-pals! To celebrate the last day tomorrow, we are going to throw a big party with movies, music, and All-American pb&js!
The restroom we are building is coming along as well and should hopefully be finished by tomorrow (fingers crossed). We doing all of the finishing touches and are even painting a sweet mural on one wall.
This weekend we are heading to Quang Binh, Mushroom’s hometown, to see neat sea caves and more tunnels! Should be fun! Can’t believe we leave for Saigon on Tuesday (20 hour train ride UGH). I will miss these roommates and all of the great people I’ve meet along the way (we get new roommates for the second half of our stay here).
Ahhh, can’t think about that now….gotta go play badminton with the school girls.
Xo
Logan
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