Today is our last day in Vietnam. I’m really sad to leave! I am excited and anxious to move on to Cambodia but I have loved Vietnam and know I will really miss it.
We started off our last day with breakfast at the hotel and then an exam at the downtown Ho Chi Minh City International University campus. The exam was tough but I realized that I have learned a lot even in the short time I have been here.
After the exam we debriefed our experience in Vietnam as a group. It was a good activity because it gave us a chance to really reflect and it also helped the professors running the program to make changes this year and next year.
Then we spent some time at the school with Nhu. We exchanged gifts. I got her a Miami tumbler stuffed with Miami stickers, a magnet, a pair of Miami sunglasses, and a Blues Stanley Cup Champions 2019 lanyard. She seemed to really like it! She gave me a special Vietnamese decoration that’s two dragonflies that balance on a stick. She also wrote me a really special card. Afterwards, we all received a gift from the school that was a printed photo of us with our buddies. We also received a gift from Lee, the buddy leader, which was a bamboo bookmark. 
After all the gifts were exchanged we went to lunch. We were able to order (non-alcoholic) drinks at lunch so I had an avocado smoothie and it was delicious! This was a fun lunch because all of our buddies were there but not the yummiest we’ve had.
After lunch program time was over for the day. We went back to the hotel and did homework for a little bit, then headed back out to Ben Thanh Market where I bought a Tiger (the local beer) shirt for me and some gifts for my family.
On the way back from the market I stopped for a mani pedi. I paid ~$20 for it so I think I probably paid too much but I don’t really care because I am just happy to have them done. Shannon got a foot massage and at one point the lady massaging her climbed onto her chair with her to do her neck (pictured below). It was kind of bizarre to both of us as we hadn’t ever seen that before. The lady actually redid Shannon’s hair from a ponytail to a bun as well. It was a strange experience but we were both glad to have gone.
Finally, we went to dinner at Asiana Food Town. It is an underground food market that was similar to a food court. I went with Lauren and Nhu. It was really delicious! I had pho and mango sticky rice and they were both out of this world. Nhu had never been there but said she couldn’t wait to go back. 
When we got back to the hotel we had to say goodbye to Nhu because today was our last day in Vietnam. I was super sad and we all almost cried, but hopefully someday soon I can come back and see Nhu again.
Allison Around the World 