I have a question… Why do people jet off to NYC, Paris and Milan to go shopping? They should definitely just come to Vietnam. I have never seen shopping like I have while here. It is a shopaholics paradise. I got so much for my money and am so happy with everything I bought. I found a beautiful North Face winter jacket which is a zip out (the fleece inside zips out to have a nice fleece sweatshirt and a spring jacket) which would cost at least $200 at home for only $30. I was so excitedJ. Everyone at home, you will be getting all of your Christmas presents from Vietnam. Hope you don't mind haha.
The first day while in Vietnam, I was able to go to a school for the deaf and interact with the children and take them to the local zoo. It was somewhat overwhelming because when we got to the zoo the children were so excited and were running wild, like little children do (probably ages 4-8). When we were on the bus we were paired with a child for the day. We sat with them on the bus and then we would be responsible for them for the trip to the zoo. Of course I was the one with the most hyperactive child in the entire trip. So when we got off of the bus we had snack boxes for them with juice boxes, chips, apples, oreos, etc. and of course my child wanted the juice box and oreos. Like he wasn't hyper enough, he wanted the items with the most sugar to give him more energy. Needless to say the trip was a little stressful because I had to chase him around while staying with the entire group. He would run ahead and it's not like I could really shout to him to stay with me or to stop what he was doing because he was almost 100% deaf, although he did have a hearing aid, but his primary language was Vietnamese. It was a long day but overall I had a great time because I got to have the experience and see how these kids were being educated and living. It was very eye-opening.
That night Amy had to go to a coffee house music show for a class paper. I decided to go because the description sounded really interesting. We got there and the show was actually really good. We got to see live music being performed in Vietnamese. I had no idea what they were saying but the performers were really good and fun to watch.
The next morning we were off to the markets. I was so excited about shopping in Vietnam because everyone I talked to who went shopping the day before got so much cool stuff for very cheap. We spent the next three days shopping I got so much stuff for so little money so it was worth it. It was awesome!!
On this voyage, the faculty brought along their families so there are a lot of little kids running around. The kids on this voyage are awesome! So the second night we were in Vietnam, Amy and I babysat twin two-year old girls named Olivia and Sienna. They are the daughters of one of the professors on board. We had been playing with them occasionally while on the ship and let their parents know that we would love to babysit them if they ever wanted a night off. So they took us up on our offer. We taught them how to paint with our watercolors and they made handprints with the paints. They were so excited and having a great time. Trying to make sure that twin two year olds don't get paint on the table and to keep it on the huge piece of paper that we had is no easy task. We had to scrub the watercolors off of the table, but it came off so it was okay. We took them to our room to get Finding Nemo, because that was the one movie they didn't have but of course the one that they wanted to watch. They loved our room and didn't want to leave. Olivia and Sienna saw our mini Dodo Bird stuffed animals that we got in Mauritius and became hooked. We told them it was okay if they brought them with us to watch the movie. We got the girls cleaned up from the paint and made our way to their parent's room to watch the movie. We got the girls to the room and put in the movie and tried to get them to settle down. We got them in their PJs and lay down to watch the movie. Eventually they settled down and about half way through the movie it was bedtime. Their room was right across the hall from their parents with a monitor in the parent's room to hear them. We read them stories and said goodnight and they went to bed. Their parents came back a couple hours later. We just watched movies and stuff until then. It was a lot of fun babysitting the twins. They are so funny and keep you entertained. Some of our friends don't understand why we would volunteer for that, but honestly I had fun and would do it again in a heartbeat.
We spent the majority of the next couple of days shopping and seeing the city. It was a lot of fun, especially when it would start down pouring and we would get stuck in it. I was soaked from head to toe—that was a lot of fun.
In the morning, we got off of the ship and made our way to the ATM to get some more money out. We ended up running into Mike, the videographer on board, and his wife Dawn, and their twin daughters Rachel and Riley. They were there getting lunch in the hotel in which the ATM was, along with another family that is on board, Lucille and her kids Miles, Lyla, and Ellis. We were just hanging out talking in the lobby and the next thing I know Rachel is on my back and Riley is in my arms after begging to be picked up. It was kind of funny actually. We ended up walking with them down the block and ended up saying we would attend the Water Puppet Show with them. The kids were having a blast walking with us to the museum where the puppet show was and the parents loved it too because they had a break while we were holding the kids hands walking down the street. We made our way to the museum to look around a little bit, which was actually really cool. There was a statue of Ho Chi Minh and various artifacts to look at. The puppet show started and was actually one of the weirdest productions I have ever seen. There were fire breathing dragons, which scared Riley so she was clinging onto me for that segment, and various other things going on in the puppet show which were interesting. I don't know how else to describe it, other than being a very weird, interesting cultural experience.
On our last night in Vietnam, Amy, Carly and I made our way to the airport to pick up Ed. He was coming back from the United States and we wanted to surprise him. We got there a little early because we knew that flights in Vietnam could be unpredictable, and we were unsure about his flight info. We knew that his flight came in at 10:30pm—but so did about ten other flights. Good thing there was only one international arrival terminal. Around 10:45pm he came out of the gate and was excited that we came to get him. It was good to have him back. The ship wasn't the same without him. We grabbed a taxi and made our way back to the ship.
The next morning, Amy, Ed and I went on an SAS trip to the Cu Chi Tunnels—the tunnels used in the "American War" when bombs were being thrown around. They are TINY tunnels that you literally need to crawl on your hands and knees to make it through. We were able to crawl through three tunnels to know what it was like during that time. The crazy thing was that these tunnels were virtually doubled in size than what they were during the war, because they made it into an historical tourism site. So those tunnels that I crawled through were actually smaller just a few decades ago. Word of advice: If you have even a twinge of claustrophobia, I would not recommend crawling through these tunnels. I'm not claustrophobic but while in the tunnels, I was starting to feel it.
After returning to the ship and getting cleaned up, we took Ed around to all of the shops so he could get what he wanted, since this was the only time he would be able to get shopping done. We got some lunch, which I have no idea what it was. It was spring rolls, which I have no idea what is in the middle of them, and I think I prefer to keep it that way, and Pho which is some kind of noodles and chicken. It was okay, but not the greatest. Everyone was raving about the Pho saying that we needed to try it, and honestly I wasn't that impressed with it. Maybe it's just me, and the fact that using chopsticks to eat it was just way too difficult.
I loved Vietnam and would return in a heartbeat. I wish I made it to the Mekong Delta to see the little villages along the way. Maybe next time, but all in all my experiences in Vietnam were awesome and have nothing to complain about. I loved it. Next up is China and I get to go to the Great Wall and could not be more excited about that. Until next time…
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