Before I get into all of the details for Vietnam, I wanted to share a video recap of my month 4 in the Philippines created by Stephanie Below:
Country: Vietnam
City: Can not disclose this information
Language: Vietnamese
Currency: Dong (22,100 dong to $1 – not the easiest conversion rate)
Time difference: 12 hours ahead of EST
Weather: My team is blessed with our location, which is right next to a beach and mountains. As such, it tends to stay in the mid-80’s right now, with the evenings around mid-70’s.
Photo Credit: LB (Lauren Bond)
Photo Credit: Rachel Workman
View from our hotel balcony (Photo Credit: Rachel Workman)
Local meal eaten recently: Pho (a soup made with broth, rice noodles, herbs and meat). It is often eaten for breakfast here, depending on which region of Vietnam one is from. The mother and grandmother of our contact here will be cooking our meals M-F (we pay them out of our team budget) and I must say Vietnamese food is hands down my favorite yet!!! Lots of veggies, spring rolls, soups, noodles, miscellaneous meats (can never quite tell what they are), tofu and rice, rice, rice!
Chicken Pho
Living Conditions: We get to stay in a quaint little hotel for the month. While they are not quite the same as what we are used to in the States, this is by far the most comfortable set-up I’ve had yet on the Race! Not only do we have large beds (2 share one), but we also have A/C in our rooms and hot showers the whole month (first time for any of my sites)!!! Those are two huge comforts I thought I would not see again until my return, so it’s a huge blessing!
My bedroom
As you can see below, you walk in to the toilet and the entire room becomes your shower. There is a drain in the corner and you just shower right there. It is definitely unique, but hey, it has hot water coming out of it, so no one cares at all. They also have a bidet shower that none of us use. Ha!
Another unexpected luxury is that we have wifi at the hotel, so I’ll be able to text, skype and email much more frequently. So, if you want to chat or have any questions, just let me know.
Team Projects: This month is more unique and low key because of Vietnam being a closed country. So, we will be doing a lot of work at a local coffee shop – could this be more perfect for me?! Most of the time we will be getting to know locals and students and helping teach them English, along with simply building relationships at the shop. Then, in the evenings, after we leave there, we will be doing more focused English teaching elsewhere. There are a few other side projects as well involving lepers and children, but we honestly don’t have much information on either of those yet.
Interesting Fact: I’ll have to share some of the more specific location facts with you all later, once I’m back. In terms of Asia in general, they really value cleanliness and take excellent care of their homes. As such, it is customary to take your shoes off before entering any place, whether that be a home, shop, hotel or even bus! We had to put our shoes in little bags during the sleeper bus commute and they took it pretty seriously…one Vietnamese man was scolded by the attendant when he tried to start putting his sneakers on in the bus at a stop. It was unnerving when I first kicked off my shoes and just left them outside a shop, on a very busy street, but you just use the honor system. Besides, my American feet are far too large for any of the locals to wear around.
What surprised me:
- How many mini Buddha shrines you find everywhere, from the dashboard of the bus to a local coffee shop. I knew the temples and shrines would be a common thing here, but was still taken aback by just how prevalent it is.
- Just how diverse this country is in terms of landscape. You can find everything from busy cities full of people to winding rivers carrying farmers around to beautiful beaches and mountains. There is so much to explore here! Also, there are more scooters here than I’ve ever seen in my life! Crossing the streets can be a bit scary as there are just rows and rows of them coming towards you at full speed.
- The very public prevalence of drugs and prostitution, and how many American and European men were involved, especially in Saigon. It was even mentioned in our hotel rules (see #5):
Off day opportunities: There are plenty of beautiful places to go hiking/camping, as well as scuba diving and shopping. They also have many spas and resorts in our area. My team hopes to go to a nearby island and try out an amusement park/waterpark.
UPDATE: Our location is actually much more open religiously than others in Vietnam. As such, we have been able to share more than previously expected (per our host), which is a huge blessing! So, Im able to share a good bit of photos and information and have done so through Facebook
