Well Carly and I didn't start off the day on the right foot. We were supposed to be in the lobby ready to go by 8:00 AM and we woke up to a loud knock on the door at 8:07 AM from Bryan (our program assistant adviser, whoops!!). We both set multiple alarms and neither of us heard a thing! (I looked at my alarm later and saw that I it for 6:45 PM not AM, my bad).
Anyway we all boarded the bus and were on our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels. The Cu Chi Tunnels are a very extravagant network of connecting underground tunnels more than 250 kilometers long that the Vietnamese used for the American-Vietnam War. Prior to the trip I had ideas in my mind of what to expect. I thought that it was just going to be like a museum with a model of the tunnels. I also thought that it would just be replicas of the tunnels that you could walk in standing up and not actually the real deal. Boy was I wrong! I actually crawled in the same tunnels as the Vietnamese soldiers (well they expanded it slightly so Westerners can enter, but essentially the same thing). It was VERY difficult! (By the time the day was over I was filthy and covered in dirt literally from head to toe, and yet no one else was dirty.) I have no idea how they were able to do it between the cramped space and the 'trapped' feeling of being underground for an extended period of time.
However, before we got to climb into the tunnels. they did show us a video of the war. This was hard to watch because it had a lot of Vietnamese propaganda. They showed a woman and called her an "American Killer Hero" which was hard to hear. They also had all of the weapons and tactics that they used on display. There were example traps and tricks of how they caught Americans. Overall, it was a once in a lifetime experience to be standing on the same grounds as the US and Vietnamese Military.
Next we went to lunch at a restaurant in the vicinity of the tunnels. The restaurant was on water and over looked a river. The food was pretty tasty! They had rice, fried tofu and fish, sauteed noodles with beef and beef with vegetables. (Like the other day, I don't know if it was actually good or if it was good because I was just so hungry since I did not eat breakfast).
We got back to the hotel around late afternoon and I was sooooooo exhausted to say the least. Everyone had different dinner ideas in mind so we broke off into our own little groups. My friend Anh invited me to go shopping with her Chi and Ha so I took them up on their offer and they picked me up around 6:30. We actually didn't even end up shopping (which was fine) because the restaurant that we went to took so long! We went to a hotpot place which is very common in Vietnam. Talk about being the center of attention. I don't think I have ever been the only American in one room before. It felt weird being watched but I did not let it get to me. (It also didn't help that I was about 2 feet taller then everyone else)
After this we went to the park and met up with some more of their friends. But this park was packed! It reminded me of central park but the neat thing is that there are waiter like people that come and give you news paper to sit on and then they come and get your food and drink order. There was music playing and people walking around selling their goods. It was a really neat experience!
Another tiresome day and I have a feeling that tomorrow will be too!!
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