Dalat

Dalat, Feb 13, 2010-Feb 20, 2010

I just returned from a week in Dalat City, a town renowned in Vietnam for its beauty and pleasant weather. In Dalat, I experienced my first homestay and was once again overwhelmed by the welcoming nature of the Vietnamese people. Here are some of the highlights:
We left HCMC at 7:30 on the 13th by bus and drove about 7 hours to Dalat. If you look at a map, it seems very close and we wondered why it would take so long. Well we learned that the reason is that there is no interstate or anything like that. The road is basically just a string of towns in a row to Dalat. Motorbikes followed us the entire way, so we were constantly honking, swerving, and passing people on the road. Within 10 minutes of leaving HCMC, I began to see more of what I expected-dirty towns, and lots of poverty, but just outstanding scenery. The mountains that you think about in Vietnam- green humps out of the ground, with rice paddies in the sprawling valleys appeared everywhere around us. Remarkable beauty. We dropped other passengers off at various stops along the way, stopping only long enough to throw them out with their bags and speed off before the door could even close. We ate lunch along the way, for which we got half an hour. When we finally reached beautiful Dalat, we had to be ready to jump the heck out because if we took too long we would all get in trouble! Very funny. We all got out and immediately noticed why so many people in Vietnam love the city—the flowers and most importantly, the temperature. It was probably 20 degrees cooler in Dalat than it was in HCMC. We felt such relief from the humidity and heat of HCMC. We walked to Co Thanh’s hotel, where we waited to meet our host families. Co Thanh had organized a person to prepare gift baskets for our host families, so when they finally arrived, we were able to give them traditional presents for Tet (colorful candies wrapped in a big basket). We wrote them a card, Chuc Mung Nam Moi, which means Happy New Year! For our Dalat homestay, we were divided into pairs, and so of course, Brady and I were put together. We were assigned to the Nguyen family: Van Minh is the father and is a professor of literature at Dalat University, Thi Minh Ly is the mother and is an administrator at Dalat University, Chau Long (20) is the daughter and English major at Dalat University, and Thi Chau (22) works in ACB bank in HCMC, a graduate of UEH.

The Nguyen House

Nguyen, Ly, Long, Taylor, Minh upon meeting in Dalat!

Long picked us up. She is very sweet and kind. She welcomed us with flowers and we went to her house, which is not far from Co Thanh’s hotel. The cab dropped us off at the bottom of a street, and we lugged our bags a ways up a street that had very modest stores, and suddenly found ourselves in front of a huge 2 story, beautiful house! The family is very wealthy for Vietnam--they have marble floors and countertops, beautiful wooden furniture with inlaid designs, and every main room has an altar for the “God of the Kitchen”, “God of the Living Room”, etc that has gifts, offerings, and incense in each one. We immediately met the rest of the family. The other sister, Nguyen speaks English also, but not as well as Long. The mother and father speak no English, but greeted both Brady and me enthusiastically into their home with their daughters translating. They are a kind and welcoming family that smile and laugh all the time! We sat and talked for a few minutes, drinking fresh green tea, then they showed us our bedrooms upstairs. Brady and I each had our own bedroom and bathroom that look like they belong in a 4 star hotel. We had beautiful, new, colorful bedspreads, and fully functioning bathrooms! The shower is funny, it’s just a shower head in the middle of the bathroom, you just take a shower in the middle of the room and let all the water go down a drain in the corner. I was very confused at first because the door to the bathroom is a beautiful stained wood, but apparently you just don’t aim for the door and everything works out ok! They wanted us to take showers (maybe we were smelly from the bus ride) before dinner, so we did, then we headed downstairs refreshed to see a beautiful meal prepared and waiting for us at the table. We ate with their family and drank wine from a big sculpture of a horse with a barrel that I think the father was very proud of. We had lots of traditional Tet foods including the big rice cakes that are wrapped in banana leaves and filled with pork. All was delicious and the girls and Brady and I talked the whole time while the mom simply listened (the dad had to go to a Tet party during dinner so he did not join us for the meal). We laughed a lot about American music, and Brady and my attempts at Vietnamese (chuc mung nam moi=happy new year, but good luck saying it properly). After dinner, we went over to one of Long’s friend’s houses where Simi and Ursula were having their homestay. We did a little karaoke, talked to the other family, then headed back to await Tet. We talked 2 hours before Tet came, and the whole time the mother listened intently, giving us more tea, candy, and ginger as we chatted with Long and Nguyen. Finally it was midnight and the family moved upstairs to their shrine room, and invited us to come give an offering with them. The altar is a large bureau that has pictures of the family’s ancestors (grandparents and great grandparents) who had died. Also on the table was an intricate and beautiful arrangement of food: a whole cooked chicken, five significant and special kinds of fruit, wine, candles, paper with intricate Vietnamese writing, and many many sticks of incense.


The Nguyen Altar

We entered the room quietly and Minh, the father, said a few things and moved his incense stick over the bureau. Each person held their stick with their hands clasped in prayer and gently moved the stick up and down in front of the bureau as they prayed. Brady and I were given sticks too, so I prayed for the Nguyen family and for the wonderful opportunity to be welcomed in on the day of the most important ceremony in Vietnamese culture, and be able to participate fully with the family. We placed our sticks on the altar after the prayer, and we all hugged and said Chuc Mung Nam Moi! We went back downstairs and opened a bottle of champagne from Dalat and made toasts to each other. Brady and I each made a toast to their family’s generosity and we wished each other health, success, prosperity, and happiness. Then, Ly, the mother, went into her bedroom and came out with “lucky money” for us, a very traditional Vietnamese custom during Tet when the older people give beautiful red envelopes to the younger people that contain some money. Brady and I received one along with the couple’s two daughters. Then, Nguyen gave Brady, me, and Long another “lucky money” because she is older than we are. Giving the gift is supposed to bring the giver and the recipient luck in the coming year. Their generosity was so overwhelming I felt pretty emotional. We had one final toast and then we all hugged and headed up to bed. Tomorrow, we are going with them in the morning to the pagoda to celebrate Tet! What a day, and what a special family. I feel lucky to have been included in something very special and I went to bed that night with the significance of what had occurred weighing heavily on my mind.

The next day we woke up to a really nice breakfast prepared by oldest daughter Nguyen. Delicious pho bo with mushrooms, beef, and all kinds of other wonderful vegetables. It’s Tet so Brady and I made sure that we wished the entire family a happy new year! I brought down a gift that I had brought for the family-a box of reed diffusers that I’d wrapped using the paper that was around the flowers I’d gotten when I arrived in Dalat. They were all very excited and they placed it up on their mantle, which is the tradition in Vietnam (they don’t open it in front of you). We then all got on motorbikes (they have 2 so Nguyen and I walked a block up to the busy street and found a xe om motorbike taxi) to go to the pagoda to experience the traditional Tet offering. We zipped across the city and ended up in a bustling pagoda, which is basically a temple that the Buddhists use to for their worship. It is designed in the intricate Chinese style of architecture that you imagine when you think of Chinese pagodas. There were tons of Vietnamese people there (Brady and I were the only non-Vietnamese there) and Long and Nguyen told me that that particular pagoda’s purpose was for divination and fortune telling. To get our fortunes told to us, we walked into one busy room in the pagoda, in which there are hundreds of “lucky money” envelopes on the ground under the traditional Tet cumquat tree. We kneeled down to pray before the cumquat tree and picked up an envelope. Inside the envelope is a number (I got 17). We then walked outside (chaotic with Vietnamese worshipers and monks chanting and banging drums and gongs) to an outside structure (keep in mind each structure here is intricate, beautiful) where for a small amount of money (I think it was about 5000 dong or around 25 cents) we changed our numbers over for a fortune. We were given a sheet of paper which I’ve been told says something about having good luck in the New Year, and that God will look down to protect me in my endeavors. It was really neat to see the worshiping process for the Buddhists, and how you have to take off your shoes to enter each building, and how to put your hands together and move them up and down as you finish praying, and how to kneel correctly and how to bend all the way down. I loved just watching all these people do all these complicated maneuvers so fluidly. At the pagoda, we met some of the Nguyen family’s extended family, which gave me the chance to use some of my basic conversation skills that I’ve been learning. We also went over to speak with some monks who were having tea. Brady and I introduced ourselves and wished them a happy new year, and they gave us and Nguyen and Long some lucky money, which is extra lucky when it comes from a monk. The envelope had a special seal on it that means it comes from a monk at the pagoda. Long and Nguyen were thrilled that we had gotten that lucky money.
After the first pagoda, we hopped on another xe om and zipped across Dalat to another, bigger pagoda. Outside of this one we bought some incense for 5000 dong which was lit for us before we entered the big room. There we bent down on our knees to pray to a Buddha statue, and left incense in three different rooms. We walked into a room where they were selling prayer bead bracelets, so I bought two. We walked outside to take some photos of the beautiful zen gardens and structures, when we ran into a monk from the pagoda who took an interest in the only Americans in the entire place. Using Long and Nguyen to translate, Brady and I were able to have a full conversation with this 22 year old monk. He was fascinated with American culture, and added Nguyen’s cell phone number to his cell phone so that we could email him the picture we took together. He was extremely kind, and gave us more “lucky money” and candy. Nguyen and Long were thrilled! Brady and I were too. Add these monks to the list of people in Vietnam who welcomed us with kindness!

Brady and I with a Monk on at the pagoda on Tet Holiday!

We rushed home for lunch that was prepared by the family, and then to Co Thanh’s hotel where we had Vietnamese class on the rooftop. After that we headed to the Truc Lam Zen Monastery wondering how the day could get any better. It was a 10 minute cab ride to the monastery, located a little ways outside of Dalat, up in the mountains. We walked up a steep hill to the monastery and Co Thanh directed us to a small house that we entered. She informed us to sit at the table in the room so that a monk could come and speak to us about the monastery and Mahayana Buddhism. His name was Thic Thong Phuong, and he was a very senior monk in the Monastery. He was joined by a younger monk who had studied in the US and had come back to Vietnam and decided to join the Monastery. They both talked about the goals of Buddhism, the impermanence of life and everything. The practice of Zen is a form of meditation that the monks practice daily for hours on end. They have three sessions of three hours of solemn meditation per day, and when they are not meditating, they are practicing walking Zen. They try to clear their minds of everything because once all thoughts are gone the only thing that remains is the true self. He asked us, Do you know who you are? Do you know who your true self is? When you are meditating, and you hear a bell, don’t wonder who hit it or what it looks like, or when it will ring again, or when it rang before, just hear the bell and know you are mediating. Zen is liberation, and all people must respect each other and have open minds. It was a very interesting speech, which was full of figurative language, just what you would expect from a Buddhist monk. The younger monk was able to relate to us as Americans and so it was interesting to get his take on the religion and why he chose to become a Monk. After the talk, we were informed that we had been invited into the inner realm of the monastery reserved only for the monks and nuns, where we would be given a tour and taught to meditate according to their traditions. We went upstairs to the guest room where we got out floor pillows for the floor and little tiny, hard pillows to place on the floor pillow, on which we were to sit. We got into the lotus position (which I couldn’t do—not flexible enough, so I did the “semi-lotus position) and sat in silence for 15 minutes. The pillow under me was so hard and small that I literally thought I wasn’t going to make it. Luckily he rang the gong to let us know we could stop meditating. I have no idea how these people do it for hours on end every day. It hurt so much to sit on those things that I really couldn’t focus on meditation very well, although I did try to clear my mind and let any thoughts, good or evil, go!
After that we were walked up a long walk and past the gate that restricts the general public and into something that no photo or sentence I write here could ever describe. If you could think of the most beautiful Asian garden, then expand it out over the area of 10 wooded football fields overlooking a shimmering lake with green mountains shooting out of the water high into the sky, then add pagodas and zen gardens and chanting monks and nuns, you may be able to imagine the scene, but unless you walk the grounds, you can never understand the overwhelming, consuming, saturating beauty. It was literally the most beautiful place I have ever seen. At first I tried to capture everything with pictures, then switched to video, but soon realized that nothing could do justice to the way the wind carried the sound of the beating drum or the chant of the monks, or the smell of the flowers, or the breeze off the lake, or the slow decline of the sun behind the mountains surrounding us completely.


A nun met us there to take us on a tour of the nunnery. She simply beamed love and kindness, as she described, in English, the workings of the Truc Lam Zen Monastery. She showed us the nun’s gardens, their living quarters, their eating facility, and the temple where only monks and nuns typically go (all of this is generally restricted to the public) in a beautiful wood pagoda overlooking the lake with a giant Buddha statue, and musical instruments and an ornate and intricate alter. We walked through as monks chanted lines by heart, taking no notice of us or anything else. In the living quarters the nun gave us all a present of a candy off their cumquat tree. Inside was a fortune, which she read to each of us, in English. Mine was about forgiveness flowing like water. I spoke with another nun there, with the help of Vy, who told me that I must practice Zen until I come back to spend more time at the monastery. The nuns had prepared a meal for us, and we ate in their dinner quarters. For desert, they gave us this very special candy that they make. It takes them 2 straight days to make because the process is so labor intensive, but the result is either chocolate or coconut candies that dissolve instantly in your mouth—so delicious. It was Simi’s (a girl in our group) birthday, so Co Thanh presented her with a present and we sang happy birthday. Then this same wonderful nun presented Simi with a book of Vietnamese poems that she and the master of the Monastery had translated, as well as a beautiful collection of flowers from the nun’s garden. Simi was overwhelmed, and so was I. I’ve felt so overwhelmed all along over the enthusiastic kindness that the Vietnamese people have exhibited towards me and our group. This present, warm tour, kindness, and invitation to stay at the monastery any time for as long as we want was too much for me to handle. It was dark at that point, and I’d been watching the sun dip down behind the mountains and turn a beautiful red that my stupid camera couldn’t capture the way it really looked. We said goodbye to the nun (bowing with our hands clasped) and were lead out by Thich Thong Phuong. We walked down the hill around the back way towards the monk’s dormitory, which is closer to the lake, and everything seemed to hit me then. I think it was a combination of exhaustion and awe of the beauty around me, but I was teary. This night was exceptionally meaningful to me, but the reason hasn’t exactly sunk in yet. I’ve seen beautiful scenes before, but I’ve never had this kind of visceral reaction, and oddly enough, I suddenly noticed that I wasn’t the only one who was reacting like this. I heard sniffs and quiet sobs from a few other people in my group as we all walked in silence back to the entrance and our waiting cabs. At one point, Thich Thong Phuong stopped us and we had a perfect view of the lake and mountains surrounding us. Even though it was pitch dark, I could see the online of the mountains against the starry sky and at that point I knew something really special had happened. I think it’s the collection of kindness that we have received, even from people who have given up all wordly possessions and relationships. These people have nothing, but they have everything. Their lives are exceedingly difficult and I don’t envy the commitment that they have made, but I do have to say, I respect their way of life and am happy that they have such beauty surrounding them. I’m sure that when I look back on today, I will realize the meaning of what happened, but as for now, all I can say is that I feel like I really learned something today about myself, and about a people so far removed from my own life and lifestyle. Today, our entire group got a lot closer, as we were all hugging each other because we all knew how big of an emotional impact this place had had on all of us. I’ve never experienced a place that could so emotionally affect so many people at the same time—I’m not sure there is anything else like it.


When I returned back to my homestay house, I wanted to just go right to bed, but I walked into a busy house! I forgot was still Tet, and the tradition is that families visit each other for brief periods of time. The Nguyen family’s friends were there with their two really cute daughters who ranged from 5-10. They all introduced themselves in English, and were just so cute that I had to stay up! I went upstairs and decided to bring down three boxes of crayons and three candy bracelets that I’d brought for just such an occasion! The girls and their parents were thrilled! They all shouted “yay!!” and thanked me in English for the gifts. They didn’t know what the bracelets were, so I showed them my new prayer bracelet and then pretended to eat it and said candy. They figured it out right away and ran through the house yelling “candy!” The parents invited Brady and I over for dinner the next day. The mother, who speaks some English, said she would come pick us up in her car. They left soon after, and we realized that the Nguyens had made dinner for us! So we geared up for dinner and another family stopped by to eat with us (a couple, a family friend). We had a fun dinner, and Brady and I acted out a conversation in Vietnamese that we’d been working on that day in class. Everyone had a great time, and we got a little rowdy with the beer, screaming Mot, Hai, Ba, YO!!!!!!!!! Tonight I noticed the discrepencies in gender in the family for the first time. The girls do not drink, they prepare all the meals, and they clean up all the meals. Brady and I offer to help every night but we are flat out refused, and kicked out of the kitchen when we try to help anyway. It seems very natural to the girls, but Brady and I both noticed this and commented on this.
The next few days were slower. We spent a lot of time in class at Dalat University. We learned Vietnamese history from Thay Hung, the dean of the foreign department at Dalat University. Very close to the Nguyen’s house, so its very convenient to get there. Lots of people are getting frustrated with the language classes. It is very hard to learn the pronunciation and hear the difference in tones. There are 6 tones and no one seems to be able to get them right. I’m slowly figuring it out, but its going to take such a long time to learn anything.
One day, we visited the palace of the last king of Vietnam, Bao Dai. He was basically a French colonial puppet, and was forced to flea to France in the early 1950’s when the People’s Republic of Vietnam was established. The palace is not kept up well and it was fairly run down, and extremely touristy. We tried on some historic Vietnamese clothes, but felt very weird in this tourist trap. After Bao Dai palace, we went to visit most famous poet in Dalat, Duy Viec in his home. What a character! He’s this old man with a really long beard. He’s great at English and is very funny. We met his family, who live with him, and toured his house, which is literally covered in hanging calligraphy paper on which he has written his many poems. He is famous in Dalat for his beautiful writing, art, and poetry. He played his ancient guitar with Brady, who also knows how to play. We sang some songs, then he taught us how to do calligraphy. He was impressed with my blue eyes, so he wrote a poem called Blue Eyes but ended up giving it to another girl who had blue eyes. I bought one of his poems which I found to be very beautiful. That night we went to dinner with from the previous day who had invited us to their house. They have a beautiful home, and I was surprised to find that they were Catholic—they have the crucifix hanging in their front entry way. The food was interesting—tried a little pig ear, which was not very good, and bitter mellon, which was, not surprisingly, very bitter. The family said that it was supposed to be very good for us. After dinner the friends drove us in their car (rare in Vietnam) to the fanciest hotel in Dalat for after dinner drinks. I had milk with mint in it. We all had a great time, especially playing with the family’s two cute daughters (6 and 10).
Nguyen and Long taught us a lot of Vietnamese, taught me a Vietnamese card game (I tried to teach them Hearts, but its hard to explain all the complicated rules). Their cards are exactly the same as ours, so the game made plenty of sense to me. We also went out to get che, a dessert made from beans-its very sweat and delicious, and frozen juice (like juice stop). The parents are so kind, they always sit and listen to us even though they speak next to no English. They happily attempted to teach us Vietnamese by pointing to things.
One night we went to a “water show” which is located at a well known waterfall in Dalat, which is actually a very tiny little bit of water running down some rocks—nothing like the waterfalls we saw in Costa Rica. The water show is basically an amphitheatre that surrounds a stage with a large pool behind it that shoots colored water clear up in the air and is choreographed to music. The show was interesting if not cheesy—it had some traditional cultural dancing along with some more modern Vietnamese pop music. We had box seats and ate food as we watched the show. Long and Nguyen attended with us and enjoyed meeting the other American students.
Our last full day in Dalat was long and eventful. We started early and headed to the ethnic minority Lat village just outside of Dalat, and right at the base of the Lang Vien mountain. We were welcomed into the home of the chief, where we stayed briefly, had some tea, then backed up and headed up the mountain. We split into two groups: the adventure group and the easy group. We were warned that it would be very hard and steep in the adventure group, but I felt that I really wanted to push myself because that group was going to the highest peak in Dalat. So I and most of the rest of the group went with Co Thanh and two members of the tribe as guides. We headed up the mountain for 3 hours, trekking through the jungle to get to the top of the Lang mountain. It really was difficult, the last 1/3 was more like climbing than walking. We climbed up extremely steep dirt walls with the help of the roots and trees. I was exhausted by the time I reached the top, but I finally made it and it was totally worth it. The view was unbelievable—we could see all of Dalat, plus all of the farm land and rice paddies that surrounded the city. We were surrounded by other, lower mountains, and I just was again overwhelmed with how beautiful the whole place was.

We ate lunch on top of the mountain and stayed as long as possible to soak in the beauty. We then had to walk all the way back down the way we came to meet the other group at the bottom for café sua da (iced milk coffee), chay nouc (bottled water) and cookies. We played with the children who lived on the mountain and took a picture of the monkey that was chained to the tree (very sad) then made our way back down to the chief’s house. We were welcomed in to a beautiful dinner prepared in their long house (stilted wooden house) where we all ate on floor mates in a big circle. We had a ton of delicious food (pork, chicken, fish, vegetables, tofu, rao moung, soup)—more than we could eat! After dinner we changed into some nicer clothes and prepared for a cultural exchange ceremony. We went back to the long house where we found a bunch of other Vietnamese tourists. We sat along the walls and were welcomed by the chief, who had changed into his full traditional costume. He welcomed all the other Vietnamese tourists (mostly from Hanoi and HCMC) who were in Dalat for Tet vacation, and welcomed us, the Sinh Vien My (American Students) in the traditional way with a hilarious handshake. The traditional handshake is done by shaking the hand, bending at the knees and waist and shaking your bottom back and fourth. Really funny, but apparently, a real tradition. What followed was one of my favorite nights in Vietnam. We got to see a bunch of traditional songs and dances from this ethnic minority’s culture. There were girls my age who were all extremely beautiful doing dances for us, and guys my age dancing with them, all with long dresses and other beautiful clothes. We drank their special rice wine out of clay pots and long straws with them, and danced and sang all night. Brady and I were the only white men in the entire place (probably nearly 50 people) so we were a hot commodity that night. We participated in nearly every dance. Some were wild and crazy, dancing around the fire in the middle of the room, and some were much slower and personal, where I would dance with one girl, holding hands and trying to match her steps. As part of the cultural exchange, we were to sing a song for the whole audience. Our SIT group all got up to sing “Lean on Me” to which we got a big applause.

The Chief of the Village in his Ceremonial Dress

Our whole group bonded a lot dancing together, and it was a great release after the draining hike earlier in the day. I returned to my homestay exhausted but happy! We were welcomed home by all the Nguyens who had fresh fruit waiting for us, along with some of our favorite che. They also gave us a present! A beautiful bag that is made by the ethnic minority as well as a sack of my favorite candy in Vietnam that only comes out around Tet—coconut candy! I love it! They are so kind and generous! One of them (Long or Nguyen) wrote a beautiful note that has their address email and phone number on it, so I will be able to contact them. They informed us that the family we ate dinner with the other night with the two cute little girls wanted to take us to breakfast the next morning. Brady and I gave hugs all around and headed to bed.
On our last morning in Dalat I woke up early and packed my bags. We heard the other family arrive and we went down to greet them. We all loaded into their Land Curiser and headed to a delicious pho restaurant for breakfast. T hey were so kind to treat us and the pho was really great. The girls were so cute, they gave me and Brady little toys as presents (a smurf and a cat figure). Their names are Sue and Sien and they really warmed up to us at the end. I gave them each a little globe ball that I brought, which they loved. We were playing catch and finding different countries on the map. I would say, My o dau, Vietnam o dau, Phap o dau, etc. Very fun. We all then drove to a coffee shop for some café sua da where we all had a great time learning more Vietnamese. We all laughed a lot, the mother Ly is so funny, she was trying to teach us words but she comes from Central Vietnam where they say things different, so everyone was laughing really hard by the end. We had a wonderful time with both families. The little girls said that I was a doll—apparently in Vietnam, all the dolls have blue eyes, so they started calling me that. I never realized my eyes could be so intriguing! After coffee we headed back to the Nguyen’s house where Brady and I played with the little girls and then finished packing. The rest of the students had gone to a café for lunch, but the Nguyens invited us to eat with them. So we ate an extravagant lunch of shrimp, squid, and many other delicious foods, including rao moung, our favorite! The squid was excellent! Brady and I gave my last presents (a bag of perfume and hand creams for both Long and Nguyen, and a bottle of perfume for the mother) and took our last photos and said our sad goodbyes. Luckily, Nguyen is coming back to Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow to work, and Long said she was going to visit her sister soon, so we will meet up again in HCMC! We loaded our bags into the other family’s car, who had kindly agreed to drive us to the hotel, and said goodbye to the family. We all hugged a lot, and the father Minh even started crying and had to go inside. This family was so kind to us and so welcoming. I believe we really connected despite the language barrier, and I will always remember how special the family was to me. They far exceeded any other homestay of anyone else on the trip. I feel lucky to have met such kind and wonderful people. If I ever make it back to Dalat, I know I will be welcomed back like family. The mother said Nga em as I left, which means Your House. It was really touching and I felt very emotional as we drove away. I will never forget the Nguyen family. The mother took care of me when I didn’t feel good, was always telling me to wear a coat, cooked beautiful and delicious food, and washed my clothes. The father was a fun spirit, constantly giving us more wine or beer, “Mot, Hai, Ba, Yo!” at least 10 times per meal (cheers). Nguyen was the other beautiful cook and friend, and Long the one my age, will always be special to me. She was so sweet and kind and funny and cute. She, her sister, and her parents all truly have wonderful souls and kind hearts. I will really miss them.
The family friends drove us to the hotel to meet the others, and the mother, who speaks some English, informed us that if we ever make it back to Dalat, we were welcome to stay at their house. Everyone is so kind and welcoming—really special. We said our goodbyes to the cute little girls who gave us hugs and sang us a song in French, then loaded onto the bus for the drive home. Dalat has been a really magical place-the weather has been great, and the natural beauty has left me speechless and touched. The Nguyen family and their friends were wonderful and I can never be more grateful for my time there.
We drove back to HCMC three nights ago. Since then we’ve been going to class with our official Vietnamese teacher Co Thuy. We’ve also been trying to explore HCMC on our own a lot, which basically means trying out new restaurants, bars, and clubs at night. Yesterday, I got seriously sick. I had to go to the hospital last night to get IV fluid replacement and antibiotics because I couldn’t stop vomiting, or having diarrhea, and I developed a rash on my face. Not sure what I ate, but whatever it was, it gave me a nasty bacterial infection. Luckily my Cipro should take care of it! I’ve been resting today and will hopefully be going to class tomorrow! As of now I’m able to drink water and eat bread, so by tomorrow I should be a happy camper again! I do have to say that this is the most homesick I’ve been. It’s not fun to take care of yourself when you’re this sick, so I’m reminded of how much I miss all my friends and family at home. I’m sure that tomorrow when I’m feeling better my excitement will return, and reading over this entry has reminded me of all the fabulous things I’ve gotten to experience already!! Love to all! Sorry this is so long, there’s just so much to tell!