Day 1 - March 21, 2005                                                [Main]

Kendra Hanagami & Arlen Kam

Yesterday, when we arrived in Vietnam at 11pm, the temperature was 82 F and the common consensus was, "its hot!". As we left the airport we were greeted with the music of the street; the cacophonous sounds of horns, which are used so frequently that they have completely lost their purpose. Once at the hotel, we were amazed by the showers because it had side jets that massaged you as you stood there. It was a hard life.

Today we explored the city, and we were able to put our split second rule for crossing the street into effect. Crossing the streets were like running the gauntlet; you just gotta step out and keep on walking and hoping that the zillions of motor-bikes won't smash into you. The city is pretty neat, and surprisingly we all felt somewhat comfortable in the China-town like environment, despite the high humidity. A lot of us went in search of dress/suit shops and were pleased with the vast selection that was available.

First we visited the Thong Nhat Palace where we saw strategy maps from the Vietnam war. Many of the upstairs rooms were for the President and his family to entertain international leaders and other guests, but for some reason, the colors and styles strongly resembled the 70's. Go figure.

We also visited a Vietnam War Museum. It had a huge impact on all of us with the vivid pictures of Agent Orange and Napalm victims. The pictures were incredibly graphic, yet they showed us a side of the Vietnam war that we had not seen so much of before.

To finish the day, we visited an orphanage and brought them tons of clothes, stuffed animals, and candy. We spent a lot of time bonding with them. We had learned key phrases such as "how old are you?" and "my name is" and other such conversation starters. By the end of our time there we learned how to say all the colors in Vietnamese, we established that they were actually calling Peter crazy, and I think I saw Heather teaching them to dance outside. It was really a wonderful thing to bridge the gap so quickly.

By the way, we've also decided that it is impossible to eat a bad meal in Vietnam. The food here is absolutely excellent, and the entertainment at dinner tonight could not have been better. Two waiters threw rice to each other from across the room. Try to figure that one out without further explanation.