First week of class

Here I am with Tiffany and Emily smiling because we just finished our first week of class! We are walking back to our apartment and then headed downtown for dinner. We got on the Sky Train not knowing where to spend our Friday night and happened upon Central World, the third largest shopping mall in the world. We explored for a while and had dinner in the food court. Walking through the grocery store at the mall proved to be a more interesting experience than at home because the current theme was "A Taste of the USA", in anticipation for the 4th of July! Their spread was quite lacking though and included Mac and Cheese, Cheese Itz, Goldfish, Peanut Butter, Marshmallows (but not chocolate or graham crackers), Pringles, and tons of cake mix. Needless to say, it was quite exciting to see those foods and to know that if I really do need peanut butter...I can find it. We were also quite impressed with the massive movie theater and hope to return soon to catch a flick.

Settling down in Bangkok

Wow, I never thought I would utter the words "settling down in Bangkok" but here I am checking in with my friends and family back home letting them know all is well with my new apartment! I arrived in Bangkok 6 days ago from Saigon and have loved the new place. My new roommates are awesome (Tiffany and Mary Katherine) and we have already made our small apartment like home. We got really lucky and were given a very nice apartment...the only hitch is that there are 2 beds and 3 people. We all decided that it was more important to each have our own bed for 6 months than a couch, so Tiffany has claimed the couch for now. Not your typical apartment set up, but it has worked for us so far! The first few days were filled with trips to Thailand's version of Wal-mart, the Tesco Lotus, getting supplies for our apartment. Everything from towels, to pillows, to trash cans. Those days were long but definitely necessary so we could nest in our new home.

We had a few days to rest before class started and I'm delighted to say that it was mostly filled with trying different foods! And every single meal is better than the last. We all exclaim loudly while eating with stuffed mouths, "Oh man, best food I've had here! I am definitely coming back for this tomorrow!" But so far, we have eaten different foods every time because the allure of trying another amazing dish is stronger than that of eating what you already know will be delicious. I'm sure eventually we'll have a dish twice from the same restaurant, but for now we are happy trying new ones. My technique has proved to be quite successful so far: I walk up to the stall, look at the vender and say "one" while holding up my finger. Sometimes if there are different options I point to the foods, but mostly I let them fix up a dish of steaming delicious food and surprise me. It has literally worked every single time. At first, the other students would ask me "What did you get? What is in your dish? Should I get that dish?" I would just laugh and say...I honestly have no idea what I am getting, but I am sure it will be delicious.

We started class yesterday and it has been going very well. I am not quite in school mode, but I'm sure it'll kick into gear before the first exam. I'm taking Environmental Chemistry now and it is being taught by a UNC Professor, Richard Kamens. The 15 of us all meet and get fried egg, minced pork, and rice outside our apartment  every morning and walk the short 7 minutes to class at 10am. Not a bad life, right? I could definitely get used to this.

I'm sad to say that I don't have a photo to upload because I haven't been taking ANY photos for the past 2 weeks. I don't know what has gotten into me but from the last 10 days in Vietnam I have 2 photos...ugh. I'm hoping that Ty and Jessica can fill in the gaps from our last week and a half in Vietnam and I'll start taking more shots in Bangkok!

Ho Chi Minh City

Here is a photo that Jessica took of me walking through a market in Ho Chi Minh City. We were there for one full day and we made the most of it! While the boys (Ty and 3 Chileans we have been traveling with for the past week) went to visit the war tunnels Jessica and I opted for a less confining experience and booked a city tour. We visited a cathedral, the reunification palace, the war museum, Chinatown, and a Chinese market. It was a packed day but we were glad we got to see all the main attractions in our short time in Ho Chi Minh.

The war museum was very sad because it was basically just three floors of grotesque photos of the war. I learned a lot about the "America War", as  the Vietnamese have named it, and it made me really think about my country's role in this conflict. The reunification palace was less exciting. It is a huge building where the Prime Minister used to live when Saigon was the capital of Vietnam. Now it is just open for the public to visit and admire.

Hue

We only spent 24 hours in Hue but it was all we needed to see the most famous attraction: the Citadel. The one main thing I will remember about our day in Hue was the heat. The Citadel which is the Imperial City was beautiful and filled with gorgeous structures but we were mostly driven from building to building by our desire to be out of the sun. Ty and I both wore tank tops and our shoulders were hating us by the end of the day. I'm still very glad we visited because the buildings and gardens were gorgeous and we saw where the Emperor lived.

caves, caves, caves

So if there's one thing that I don't like...it's caves. But when presented with the choice of staying back at the farmstay all day while my friends visited 2 caves and a swimming hole...I couldn't resist. I was really quite nervous about my day of caving and even emailed my mom advice on what to do! In the end I made the right decision though because the caving adventure day was one of the coolest parts of my whole trip. The first cave we went to was Paradise Cave and it is the longest cave in the world. I really liked it for two reasons: 1. it was very cold (which greatly contrasted the outside weather that day) and 2. it was HUGE. There is not much cause for claustrophobia in a cave as big as this one. We walked into it about 1km and our mouths were on the floor the whole time because we just couldn't believe how massive it was. I was warned against going in the second cave because for the Dark Cave there is no path, you take off your shoes, walk along a sharp rocky ridge, and swim...all in complete darkness. But once again I asked myself, "when will I get the opportunity to swim in a pitch black cave in Vietnam again?"...never. So I headed into the cave and ended up loving it!

Phong Nha Farmstay

After Hanoi we went to the Phong Nha Farmstay. It is a quaint cottage-style resort far off the beaten path that most travelers in Vietnam take. We heard about the farmstay from other people at the hostel in Hanoi and were lucky enough to stay there 3 nights. The view was amazing and it was really cool to see the rice farmers working all day in the fields 20 feet in front of us. And of course the sunsets were beautiful! I can hardly believe how amazing the second photo in this series turned out...and believe it or not it was even more breathtaking in person. One of the coolest things I've done so far on this trip was at the farmstay when we rented bicycles for the day and biked through the country side. It was a leisurely bike of about 7km and we passed a bunch of local residential areas. I don't think the children were used to seeing foreigners because they ran from their houses every time we passed yelling "Hallooo!!" with huge smiles on their faces. I don't know if you can tell but in the last photo in this post I am waving to a rice farmer and she smiled and waved back. I don't know why but that was a pretty cool moment for me. Everyone was so happy to see us and it was fun to say hello to them all.

Ha Long Bay

So my blog title is not very appropriate anymore because my travels have brought me to Vietnam! After hearing so much about Vietnam from other travelers in Thailand Ty, Jessica, and I decided we must check it out with our remaining 2 weeks before classes start. We booked our ticket to Hanoi and fell in love with the city upon arrival. We stayed at Hanoi Backpackers Hostels and met some really great people. Our second day in Hanoi we book a one night trip to Ha Long Bay. This photo doesn't do it justice though...it was breathtakingly beautiful. We had a great time getting to know everyone aboard the cruise. We all loved jumping off the top deck, kayaking, and watching the sunset.