Day 12- Ho Chi Minh City: The “State of South Vietnam”

Today was ‘heavy’ as Matt put it. Lots of walking, touring and exploring. Some of us also woke up a bit ‘dusty’ from the night before, but with all there was to do, once we stepped out the door we pretty much didn’t notice it. A group of the local staff took the 19 of us + 4 or 5 of the orphanage volunteers out and about to acquaint us with the city. We were a giant herd of foreigners roaming the streets.. not inconspicuous at all. Our first stop was the War Memorial Museum which was extremely interesting and somewhat sad. The museum held a very strong anti-American sentiment which is understandable, and it was pretty intense. There were several exhibits that really made you cringe.. the war prison exhibit and the agent orange exhibit had some graphic photos and some really horrible stories to them.. And being one of only two Americans in a group of about 30 it was tough to own what our culture did to the Vietnamese culture during that time period, regardless of the motives or rationale. I know none of the staff or other volunteers thought anything about Sarah (who is from Baltimore and just graduated from the University of Maryland and is headed back for their med school program) or I but it was still an interesting feeling. And I did get a few questions from people about the war and all I could do was answer them the best I could.

After the War Memorial Museum went to the post office and the Royal Palace which is where the King of South Vietnam lived until 1976. The palace was huge and lavish in its own kind of outdated way. Then we went to a couple of markets which the boys essentially sat and had a pineapple smoothie and ate strange fruits (stay away from the derrien, it tastes just like it smells) while the girls shopped for fake handbags and failed miserably at bartering.

Now we are back at home base and winding down for the night. Tomorrow we’re heading to the schools to observe some of the classrooms, and this weekend a group of us are going to explore the Mekong Delta. I’ve gotten to know almost all of the other volunteers on some level and its pretty cool to hear their back stories. Some have traveled a lot, some not at all. Each story is unique and it makes you realize how big the world is. Im already starting to dislike the Aussie accent though… foreseeable challenge number 4…