Free Day at Sea!

The students have the day off from classes today, so it feels like a day off for us, too.
Last night we stopped in Singapore to refuel, but no one was allowed to get off the ship. We’ve heard a lot of stories that the straights around Singapore are the most dangerous in terms of potential pirate attacks, but we haven’t seen any yet!
I had SO MUCH FUN last night with my sea! We had our “Sea Social” in the Faculty/Staff Lounge. This is the only night when students are allowed in the faculty/staff lounge. It’s a special treat for them with drinks, snacks, and the chance to schmooze with the staff and faculty in the lounge. Everyone got all dressed up and looked beautiful!! It was awesome because a lot of the staff and faculty showed up to hang out with my students, which is relatively rare. We did karaoke, too, and one of my fave professors (and good friend), Alden, started off the evening singing “Baby, One More Time.” Ha! The students LOVED seeing their profs up there on the mic. I even got up and “sang” twice, too. Eventually, the students lost their embarrassment and started belting out the tunes. It was SO FUN. We ended the evening with an impromptu dance party until about midnight. Good times. I love my sea.

Viet Nam
I’m going to attempt to write about our experience in Viet Nam, but it is so jam-packed that I may not get to everything. You’ll have to ask us more about it the next time you see us. So… when we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), it was immediately evident that this was going to be a very different port experience than Japan or Hong Kong, particularly because of the history surrounding the war and the impact on the Vietnamese and Americans, alike. Joe and I had the pleasure of traveling with one of my fellow RDs, Nam, who is Vietnamese and visits Viet Nam on a regular basis. She has 4 siblings, all of whom were born in Viet Nam. She was the only one born in the States – in Minnesota, but her connection to Viet Nam is very strong and she speaks Vietnamese fluently.
I had been imagining the traffic in Saigon because I had heard so much about it, but you can’t really picture it until you’re walking through it. It truly is chaotic, but I LOVED IT. It totally gives you an adrenaline rush to cross the streets at rush hour. Luckily for you, Joe took a few videos of us crossing the streets, so you’ll get to experience it for yourself. Saigon is a city of 8 million people and 3 million motorbikes!! Motorbikes are the primary means of transportation, and they are EVERYWHERE. Helmets don’t seem to be a high priority, but it appears that helmet use is increasing. Some of the ship’s crew said that Saigon is nothing like it used to be. They said if I think it seems chaotic now, it was 10 times more chaotic 10 years ago. Wow.
The people of Viet Nam are wonderful. I watched as Nam was taken in by almost everyone we interacted with as immediate family. The people are so giving of themselves and their culture. We stayed in Saigon the first night and adventured around the city, eating delicious food – at a place translated as “Tasty Restaurant” – shopping at the markets, and drinking Vietnamese beer.
The following day we headed to the coastal town of Mui Ne, which turned out to be an unexpected 5-hour bus ride. The tour guide had told us it was a 2-hour bus ride, but – oh well. It was totally worth it. We found ourselves in a place that represented the exact opposite of the energy of Saigon. Mui Ne is a beachside resort area with white sand beaches, thatched-roof bungalows, and a slow, relaxed pace. We stayed in a bungalow literally right at the edge of the ocean. So beautiful! It was nice to get in the ocean and play in the waves in the South China Sea! We lucked out because it was a gorgeous partly-cloudy day, and it had been dumping rain for the past few days.
The food is SO YUMMY and SO CHEAP. We ate like royalty the entire time we were in Viet Nam, and the most we paid – in total – for the 5 of us to eat dinner was MAYBE the equivalent of 20 dollars. TOTAL.
I made the decision before coming on this adventure that I would bend a little on my vegetarianism, so that it wouldn’t be as difficult for me to eat in the countries we’d be visiting. I think this was a good choice because I’ve been able to eat seafood and enjoy the local cuisines.
The next day we went on an off-road adventure in the back of a rusty, old Jeep to the giant sand dunes of Mui Ne. I wasn’t sure we were going to make it after the 20th time the transmission grinded an awful sand-crunching noise through its gears. But! We made it and had a blast. Who knew we would be sand sledding down dunes of sand in Viet Nam?! You’ll understand when you see the pictures. We also got to see some red sand canyons, which reminded me of a miniature Bryce Canyon. All in all, we had a great time at Mui Ne… a little get-away for all of us!

Next it was back to the hustle-bustle of Saigon to go on our next adventure to the Cao Dai temple in Tay Ninh. Caodaism is a religion that originated in Viet Nam and attempted to create the ideal religion through the fusion of secular & religious philosophies from the East & West. Primarily, it combines the philosophies of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism. There is an estimated three million followers of Caodaism, mainly in Viet Nam. (Thanks to Lonely Planet for helping me with the description.)
The Great Cao Dai Temple was a very interesting place, with beautiful multicolored murals, columns of dragons, and a ceiling full of sparkling stars. There are some other random aspects of Cao Daism that I need to read more about in order to understand, such as why Victor Hugo is one of the important figures. It was a little confusing, but very interesting. We got to witness one of the ceremonies while we were there. Check out the pictures.
After the temple we made our way to the Cu Chi Tunnels that the Viet Cong built and utilized during the Vietnam/American war. The network of tunnels is incredibly impressive, but very stifling and constrictive. I definitely had an emotional response to the whole scene. It was very intense to be in the actual area where the Viet Nam war occurred. There were examples of booby traps and a shooting range where people were able to fire real guns. Walking through the jungle in the rain, hearing the sounds of ammunition, and crawling through the tunnels myself gave me a icky, heavy feeling. It made the Viet Nam war more real for me from both sides.

On our last day we took a trip to the Mekong Delta, a more rural area of Viet Nam where enough rice is produced to feed the entire country. It was a trip of multiple modes of transportation as we took a bus to the Mekong River, hopped on a small ferry to the small canals of the Mekong, and then hopped into smaller boat to get to a particular canal, and then we got into a 4-person row boat and scurried through the intricate twists and turns of the delta. It was awesome! I think Joe has a video of it. Check it out.

I know this is getting too long again, so I’ll stop. Viet Nam is an amazing country – I’d definitely love to return someday. It was especially rewarding to hear how Viet Nam impacted so many of the students on the ship. I heard so many of them say that Viet Nam was their favorite port because it challenged them to see life differently through the eyes of others… and, ultimately, to look at themselves differently, too.
We have so many fascinating students on this ship. I love sharing the voyage with them!

BIG SHOUT OUT!!
A gigantic shout-out to my Dad who turns the big SEVEN-ZERO on Oct. 6th!! Dad, you are the youngest looking 70-year old out there! And everyone knows you can hike them under the table! Ha!!
Mom & Dad – Have an awesome time on your cruise! Can’t wait to see you in Ft. Lauderdale!
Sarah Hoffman – THANK YOU THANK YOU for our very first piece of real mail! It was so exciting to get a card from you in Viet Nam!
Zoe & Jake – I’m so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I’m thinking of you guys!!
Brian & Nicole – All of your gifts and books have come in SO HANDY!! We absolutely love all of them and think of you guys all the time!!
Heidi Ho! Thanks for the notes and the pictures! Sounds like things are going smooth! MISS YOU!!