Today was the first day our entire group was together. Trung came around May and Duy Anh came early June. Vuong, Mai, Alice and Nhan arrived in Vietnam on June 18th and spent the night in Bien Hoa at Nhan’s grandmothers house. Tommy and me arrived late Saturday, June 19th. No one except Tommy had trouble getting his box into the country. On the way out of the airport, the officials only questioned his box. With my weak ability to speak, I tried to explain that there were toys and books to donate to the orphanages. The officials were concerned about the 400 toothbrushes, but they eventually allowed us to pass probably due to their frustration with the bad Vietnamese.
The next morning, we all met for breakfast. My aunt dropped me off at the hotel and came to talk with my other group members about our plans. Currently, our agenda is to leave Kien Giang on Monday June 21st. That following day we’ll be doing doctor visits to administer Hepatitis B shots, take a family portrait to develop and donate, and then conduct our own survey. Then we will plan to play games and teach the landfill kids at the school. Finally, towards the end of our trip, we will donate care packages and food to each family.
After breakfast, we went to the fabric store to buy silk for Ao Dai the Traditional Vietnamese dress for me, Alice, and Mai. Total cost to get the fabric and labor was $25. We spent an extra $3 for the fabric for the three legged race activity for the students. Trung then proceeded to be our tour guide for the rest of the day. We took the typical tourist pictures at City Hall, the Opera House, Post Office, Vietnam Museum, and along the way we saw three famous Vietnamese celebrities.
Because the heat was unbearable, we made multiple pit stops in the Vietnam malls that included Diamond, Vincom, and Parkson. These gigantic malls are very fancy and were better than any mall in Madison, probably more comparable to the Galleria in Houston. For instance Diamond had 13 floors. The stores included but not limited to Gucci, Burberry, worldwide renowned designers, etc. The only thing we could afford was the food at the food court. Everyone tried Vietnamese food and drinks and so far no one has gotten food poisoning. Most of the stuff at the mall was triple the price it is normally on the street, but to put price into perspective a plate Bahn Quon, rice noodle wrapped around meat, was three dollars.
Still jetlagged, we all needed a nap around 2pm, which is 2am in Madison. Our plan was to meet at 4:30 but everyone overslept. So, we finally left the hotel at 5pm in pouring rain. Currently in Vietnam it’s the rainy season. Luckily it wasn’t too hard of rain. We spent the night bowling, eating ice cream, and going to the night market. The bowling lanes are extremely waxed and a lot shorter than American lanes. Vuong and Tommy managed to get four gutter balls in a row. The ice cream here is so cool. They take a coconut, fill it with ice-cream and exotic fruit such as dragon fruit, watermelon, apples, pineapples, and stuff we can’t even name. The night market was probably the most eventful. Bargain shopping is such a pain as a tourist. Merchants raise the price triple to what it normally would be. Immediately lowering the price by ¾ the merchants were still willing to sell. Tommy bought a new pair of Billabong swimsuits $3.50, sunglasses for $2 and a shirt for $7. After this extremely long day, we were all exhausted and ready to go to bed. We have to be up by 7:30 am to leave for Kien Giang.
– by Ann