Today was mostly academic. In the morning, we had breakfast in the hotel and then headed for Mae Jo University.

When we arrived, we were greeted with a lecture by the University President. He told us about the school as well as the agriculture in the region. We are partnered with an ecotourism exchange program here and it’s an agricultural school. It was actually really interesting to hear about the industry.

After this lecture we went to the market on campus. It was small and very different from other experiences we’ve had at markets. Everything was very cheap and there was no bargaining. There were no tourists other than us and no one begged us to buy from them. Items were mostly unique to each stand and many stands allowed us to try things to see if we liked them with no expectation that we’d buy. It was a very pleasant experience. I got a Thai Iced Tea and a little package of Thai desserts. I didn’t know what was in either but both were pretty good.

After the visit to the market, we went back to the classroom to listen to a lecture on ecotourism. Our lecturer was very sweet but super nervous. She did a great job and we learned a lot about ecotourism both in Thailand and in Taiwan because they send students there on ecotourism trips. I love the environment so I really liked the lecture.

Next we had lunch. They brought it right outside the classroom so we could eat there. It was a very delicious cabbage soup as well as a red curry with chicken. They said it was not too spicy and I believed them but that turned out to be a mistake. It was still delicious and I powered through the spice.

After lunch we went to see the Royal Project. This was essentially a huge biodiverse forest. It was started 37 years ago and there was no wildlife in the area. It exists to research good farming practices and share that information with Thai farmers. It was started by the late Thai King Rama IX, a beloved man here. I thought it was beautiful and really loved to see all of the different plants.

Next we got to stop by a sporting event. This was unexpected for us but we heard the loud music and asked to go. Turns out, it was sport day for all of the staff of the facility. The game they were playoff was called Chair Ball. It’s played by both teams having someone stand on a chair with a basket and the objective is to shoot the ball into the basket (chair person can move the basket to catch it but cannot leave their chair). Other than that it seemed to be played mostly like handball. Everyone was really excited to be there and having a lot of fun so I really liked the energy. It was fun to go off script a little just because we saw something that interested us.

Next we got back on the bus to head back to the university. We debriefed the day and had dinner. At dinner there was a dish with really delicious pork belly, but the other dish was once again a bit too spicy for me. I managed to eat all of my meat but was still a little hungry.

After dinner we went back to the hotel. We did a little schoolwork and then headed out to the night bazaar. We actually stopped by McDonald’s and I got a Happy Meal which was much needed after kind of a rough day. I really loved everything at the night market. It was very different from the one in Vietnam in that the vendors weren’t as aggressive, the stuff looked somewhat unique, and it wasn’t just a bunch of knockoffs of American brands. Everything was beautiful and really fit my taste, but I only brought an already-full carryon to Chiang Mai so I didn’t buy much. I hope the market is this good in Bangkok.

When we returned home there was a teeny tiny lizard on my bed. Lauren caught him and we both took pictures with him and took him outside. I started calling him Sylvester because it seemed fitting. I love reptiles so it was fun. I know it should’ve freaked me out because he was on my bed but I loved him so much I didn’t care.

Today was our first (of two) full days in Chiang Mai. So far it’s been tougher than other places we’ve been. Today was really exhausting so I hope tomorrow will be better. I am looking forward to seeing more farming tomorrow!

Today is the halfway point of the program. We had a free morning this morning. I used it to sleep in a bit, have breakfast, and study for our exam. I also walked down the beach a bit and got a mango. It was delicious and the woman gave me a free bag of bananas as a gift. The tropical bananas are about 1/3 of the size of the bananas we have at home and much sweeter. I love them so it was great to be given a bag.

Afterwards we had a lunch that was catered by the (5-star) hotel we stayed at. However I was still too full from my mango to eat anything.

Next we took an exam. The exam went well. I know my blog posts don’t make it totally obvious that I’m doing any school here but it is an academic program and we are learning a lot.

Afterwards we headed for the airport. We flew out of Pattaya to Chiang Mai on a budget airline. I did not enjoy the experience as the flight attendants were actually rather rude. But, air travel is almost never a good time so I guess all that matters is that we arrived safely at our destination.

Our Thai buddies were waiting for us at the airport. They gave us a necklace made of flowers and took lots of pictures. We all rode the bus back to the hotel together.

When we arrived at the hotel, we chatted with our buddy, Benz, for a short while and headed up to our room. However we ended up switching hotels rather late at night so we arrived to the new hotel around 11:40. We settled in and went to sleep.

It was a relatively uneventful day in terms of fun, but administrative and travel days are necessary. I am looking forward to my first day in Chiang Mai tomorrow!

Today we did very little. It was a program free day and we have all been exhausted from our super busy days.

In the morning we went to an elephant sanctuary. There we were able to ride elephants, hold a baby alligator, and feed adult alligators. I loved the elephants. They are gorgeous animals and although I’ve seen them in the zoo I have never been so close to one. Their feet are huge. However, I felt very guilty riding the elephant as I’ve seen and read so much about how terrible these facilities are to the animals. I thought I’d feel better about it but I feel pretty guilty. I didn’t hold the baby alligator because I’ve actually done that before and personally don’t think it’s that exciting. I did feed an alligator and that was really cool. They snap their jaws so hard and fast it’s honestly a bit scary. Afterwards they all had their heads out of the water and were so still it was eerie. I love reptiles though so I loved that experience.

After we left the elephant sanctuary we headed back to the hotel and essentially hung out in the pool for the rest of the day. I fell asleep on a chair and got burnt. The pool was so fun and it was so nice to relax after a really exciting week.

Around 8 pm we got out of the pool and went to dinner on the beach. I had Pad Thai Kai (pad thai with chicken) and it was delicious.

I’ve been having a lot of fun on the program but it’s totally exhausting. It was nice to have a day to relax a little and unwind.

Today was rather unexceptional as it was just lectures and travel. We started out with a company visit that was at the hotel where we learned about the management of the hotel. I didn’t know much about the hospitality industry previously but it was super interesting to learn about. The most interesting thing we learned was that the hotel has to be at at least 50% occupancy to turn a profit. I actually really liked the hotel visit and feel like I learned about both Tara Angkor Hotel and Cambodia through their discussion of the labor force.

After that we debriefed what we’d learned while in Cambodia in preparation for our second exam. It was a helpful exercise.

Following that, we headed to the airport. We had time for a quick lunch at the airport and then flew to Bangkok in a plane that was bigger than I expected. I appreciated the down time but the plane ride was too short to get a good nap in and they kept waking me up to give me food and then take the food back. Overall, it was alright. Air travel is never great.

When we landed we went through customs. It took me forever because the guy was texting instead of processing me. Next we got on the bus for two hours to head to Pattaya. Once there, we had dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was really good! My favorite thing was a coconut ginger chicken dish. Afterwards we stopped by the 7/11. The most interesting thing I saw there was a chicken curry pizza flavored pack of Lays potato chips.

After that we went to the hotel to drop off our stuff. We stayed at a 5-star hotel in Pattaya and it was gorgeous! Checking in was a breeze but we had a quick turnaround to get downstairs because the tour bus offered to drive us to the walking street. The hotel was called the Mövenpick.

Finally, we went out to the walking street. There were a lot of bizarre things that I’ve never seen at home but it was super fun.

I was really sad to leave Cambodia but I’m really looking forward to our time in Pattaya!

Today was our only full day in Cambodia. Initially, I was quite unsure if I would like Cambodia but I wound up really loving it! Today was all temples so it was a lot of walking outside in the heat but I still loved it.

To start, we woke up at 4:30 am to see the sunrise at Angkor Wat. We were all very tired but 26 out of 27 students made it. We watched it over a reflecting pond and it was so beautiful, pictures below. Afterwards we got the chance to walk around for a little bit before going back to the hotel for breakfast. Everything was beautiful and there were SO many people there for it being 6 am.

After breakfast we got to go back to Angkor Wat to have a tour. We learned that Angkor means city and Wat means temple. The temple was beautiful and there were lots of carvings on the wall that were very intricate and detailed. My favorite part was either climbing to the top (scary stairs pictured below) and looking down or walking through the galleries and looking through all the carvings in the wall.

After that we had a quick picnic lunch near Angkor Wat. It wasn’t anything super special but it was alright. The mango ice cream was phenomenal.

From there we headed to Bayon Temple (pronounced bye-on). On the way there we passed by the Baksei Chamkrong temple. It was very tall so we were able to climb steep stairs to the top and look out. There was also a tomb up there. It was kind of scary but still a good time and we all made it down. From there we walked to the Bayon Temple. We passed by lots of statues of warriors that I thought were really cool. Bayon Temple was beautiful as well and had really pretty carvings in the wall. They’re currently cleaning it so part of it was obscured by scaffolding but it was gorgeous nonetheless. Our guide, Mr. Sam, showed us how to tell the difference between the Khmer (Cambodian) and Chinese soldiers. The Khmer soldiers all had long ears and the Chinese soldiers looked like the Terra Cotta warriors. The first two pictures below are from Baksei Chamkrong and the third is from Bayon.

Finally, the last thing we did with the program today was the Ta Prohm temple. By this time we were all pretty gassed so we followed along the tour without much participation and left a little early. At this temple I spent 5 minutes reading something written in Russian and trying to figure out what it said and then realized when we walked away that they had it in English. This temple was also beautiful and had lots of trees with roots that were growing around structures. I love stuff like that so I enjoyed this temple a lot. On the way back we saw monkeys in their natural habitats which was crazy!

After we returned to the hotel, we rested for an hour before heading to the night market. Before we went in, Arnav and I paid $3 to have these strange Turkish fish eat all of the dead skin off our feet. It felt super strange and I was really glad I did it. I had a lot of fun at the night market as well and Lauren and Ruku are really strong bargainers so we got everything really cheap. It was fun to look at everything and I even talked to some little kids who were playing in the street.

Finally, we went to dinner at a place on Pub Street called Yellow Mango. We had traditional Khmer food and mine actually tasted like the dish I order when I have Ethiopian food, which is Yebeg Alecha Wat. It was delicious and a really fun time overall.

Tomorrow we will leave Cambodia. I have totally fallen in love with Cambodia in the couple of days we’ve been here and am sad to leave but excited to see Thailand. Cambodia is a beautiful country with wonderful people and I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

This morning we had a flight to Cambodia scheduled to depart at 8:40 am. We woke up at 5 and were at the airport at 6, only to discover that our flight had been delayed until 12:30. We just hung out in the airport during that to time. To be honest, the only thing we missed was part of the orphanage visit which I don’t think is ethical to do anyway so I appreciated the relaxed morning even though we woke up so early.

When we arrived in Cambodia we went through immigration no problem and headed straight for the orphanage. At the orphanage, some of the orphans performed a traditional Cambodian dance for us. It was really pretty to see. Afterwards, we split up to interact with the orphans. Most of the girls were taught the Cambodian dance and most of the boys played soccer. It was hard for me to enjoy this visit because I really think that tourists visiting orphanages is a problem and not something we should be taking part in.

Afterwards we went on a boat ride on Tonal Sap. This was beautiful and maybe one of my favorite things we’ve done so far. We watched the sun set from the boat and had a really wonderful time.

When we arrived back at the dock, we got back on the buses to go to the hotel. We checked into the hotel and then had dinner there because Miami paid for it since they were supposed to provide lunch but didn’t due to the delayed flight. I had Pad See Ew and it actually wasn’t as good as the ones I’ve had in the United States. It seemed almost bland. However I was so hungry that I was just happy to be eating something and it was still pretty yummy.

Overall the day was somewhat uneventful but I really enjoyed driving around Cambodia. It is starkly different from Ho Chi Minh City because there is so much green space and way less development. I am still somewhat nervous to be here but I’m really starting to like it!

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.

Today was also focused on school rather than tourist activities. We visited Heineken and Intel and then went out to the city on our own.

First we visited Heineken. It was a really nice brewery. The most interesting thing I learned at Heineken is that Tiger beer is also brewed there. Tiger is a local beer that I’ve been drinking because it’s cheap and yummy, and I didn’t realize it was brewed by Heineken. They gave us a tour of the brewery that actually wasn’t very comprehensive, but afterwards we did Q&A and drank free beer. They also taught us to pour the perfect Heineken beer. It was really fun but I wish we could’ve seen more of the brewery.

Once we were drunk from the Heineken, we went to lunch with everyone. This was the best lunch we’ve had in Vietnam. My favorite thing at lunch was the noodle dish. Nhu actually told me that the noodles were made from beans rather than rice (although I couldn’t tell the difference).

After lunch we headed for Intel. At Intel they gave a presentation and then had a Q&A session, and then we toured the factory. I would’ve liked to have seen and heard more about the factory, but I don’t think they could let us inside. I really liked the people at Intel because they seemed passionate about their work and really excited to share it with us.

When we finished up at Intel, we headed back to the hotel. I immediately went to the pool and stayed there for awhile. After the pool, I met up with some friends to have dinner. We went to a place that Koi, Arnav’s buddy, really likes and it was delicious. She ordered for us and it was all vegetarian.

Finally, we went out for the evening. On the way to the club we stopped for beer at the Family Mart across the street because open containers are legal here. We also stopped at a market that Koi really likes with all local brands so that was cool too. Unfortunately, the club was pretty dead when we got there so I went home after not too long.

On the way home, we stopped at a new Circle K and I got snacks I hadn’t seen before including bacon & mayo onigiri, bo luc lac rice chips, milk tea Kit Kat, and crunchy hazelnut Kit Kat. Everything was really good except for the onigiri but I’m still glad I tried it all!

Overall it was a fun day like always but I wish the company visits had been more in depth. It was super fun to be taken around this evening by someone who lives here!

Today we went to the university and mostly had lectures all day, so this might not be the most intriguing blog post.

We had breakfast in the hotel to start, like we always do. Before we left, I tried to exchange some dollars for dong at the hotel but they said they were totally out! I left for the day with only 87,000 dong (about $3.75) although Nhu, my buddy, had said yesterday to bring $5-10.

When we got to the university we got to see a Vietnamese Traditional Music Performance put on by the the Conservatory of Ho Chi Minh City. It was many instruments I had never seen before and I really enjoyed it! Afterwards we even got to try to play the instruments. I did okay on the one I tried and I had fun trying to figure out how to play it and make it sound okay even though I’m not very musical.

After the performance we went on a tour of the campus. It was pretty small so there wasn’t a ton to see, but it was nice. There was gym equipment outside. It seemed like they were focused on the health of their students. The staircase is pictured below.

Before we went back for lectures, we learned to do a traditional bamboo dance. The dance is called Mua Sap and is performed to celebrate special events. I would liken it to jump rope. https://youtu.be/KPQyLnDSGUI Here is a video of some skilled people performing this dance. None of us looked this good, although some of us did figure it out and do a good job. Not me though because I have no rhythm.

Afterwards we went back to the room and had a tea break before the first lecture. There were beef pies, quiche, banana cake and some fruits alongside the tea. The banana cake was very gelatinous but I liked it.

The first lecture we had was on poverty and inequality in Vietnam. I thought the most interesting thing from this lecture was that Vietnam has had great success with trade recently, and really since 1990. I also found it interesting that they had >7% GDP growth last year. That’s really significant. I really liked the first lecturer because he smiled the whole time and seemed to really care about what he was teaching.

When the first lecture was over, we went to lunch at the cafeteria on campus. They call it the canteen. At lunch we had Nhu help us order. I got soup, vegetables, rice, noodles, and a spiral hot dog. I didn’t totally love any of it but it was interesting to see what a student typically eats for lunch on a school day.

After lunch we went back for our second lecture. This was on differences in advertising between Western and Asian cultures. The professor was very charismatic and I enjoyed the lecture a lot. I really liked that he showed us ads that were part of the same campaign but targeted towards different audiences. The most interesting thing from his lecture was that in American advertising, a motorcycle symbolizes freedom and independence, while in most Asian cultures, a motorcycle is seen as dirty and poor. A car is a big status symbol so a motorcycle doesn’t represent a lifestyle they aspire to.

When the second lecture finished, we had another tea break then did a quick review session with the Miami professors. After that, we all got on the bus to go back to the hotel.

When I arrived at the hotel I took a break for a short while to try to do some homework. Then I met up with some people from the group and our buddies to have dinner together. We had Banh Xeo which is a Vietnamese pancake (pictured below). It was really delicious and I had a great time at dinner! We also walked there and back (close to 30 minutes) so it was nice to see the city and walk around after sitting all day.

Finally, on the way back to the hotel we stopped at the Circle K again. I got the fish ice cream again (this time green tea flavored) and a milk tea with jelly that was bottled. The giant spider wasn’t there so I took my time more and looked more closely at all of the stuff. It was super fun!

Overall, it wasn’t the most fun day we’ve had but I learned a lot and really enjoyed getting to spend time with Nhu outside of program time.

Today was Mekong Delta Day and also when we met our buddies. We had breakfast at the hotel and then got on the bus to head out to Mekong Delta.

On the way there, we stopped at a pagoda called Buu Lam Temple. Arnav’s buddy Koi told him that it was a tourist trap but we still liked it. It was a gorgeous place and our buddy, Nhu, who is Buddhist told us a little bit about the Buddhist religion.

After that we got back on the bus to head to the boat station at Mekong Delta. We got on the boat and went to the first island we visited, Unicorn Island.

We spent a lot of time at Unicorn Island. The first thing we did was try honey tea made by local bees. The locals also gave us dried bananas and ginger to try as well as some peanut candy that was very good. After that, I got to hold a huge anaconda. The woman told us that the snake was a boy but didn’t have a name. I loved holding the giant snake!

Next we took a horse carriage to a different part of the island. I am scared of horses but this horse was very tiny so it was okay. At the next part of the island we got to drink coconut water. It was made with milk from water coconut (a different type of coconut than many of us are used to) and had meat in it as well.

We drank this as we walked to the next item on our agenda, which was eating local fruit while listening to locals sing traditional songs. There were lots of delicious fruits, including dragon fruit which is my favorite! We also had longan fruit (pictured below) which was similar to a lychee. I had never seen it before so it was fun to try something new!

After this we took a ride in a little gondola-type boat to the next location on the island. It was gorgeous and serene and we even saw walking fish!

Finally, the last thing we did at Unicorn Island was see how coconut candy is made. As we arrived, multiple women and their sons wanted to take pictures with us. I got some pictures too so they’re below. Then we saw the coconut candy being made and got to try some. It was very chewy!

Next we got back on the boat and headed to the next island, Dragon Island. At Dragon Island we caught fish in a dam. We had to put on strange scrubs that none of us looked great in and get into very dirty water to catch fish in baskets. It was super tough but we caught 6 fish which was a record for the trip! It was fun but very tiring and afterwards we were all ready for lunch.

When we were done catching fish, we got on the boat to go home. They had coconuts on the boat for us to drink, however I found mine to be quite sour so I didn’t drink much.

Then we headed for lunch. At lunch, we got to eat 8 fish although we’d only caught 6. As it turns out, they had put 8 fish into the dam for us to catch and apparently we were always entitled to all 8 no matter how many we caught. Lunch was the same style as all the other meals had been, and my favorite dish was the fish we’d caught with fish sauce. We didn’t have lunch until 4 pm, so after this we got on the bus for the 2 hour ride back to the hotel. On the bus ride, our tour guide for the past two days, Long, told us that he would not see us again on this trip. He gave a whole heartfelt speech and genuinely looked like he was about to cry. I thought this was so sweet because we had all only met two days ago. He was wonderful and the professors must have thought so too because Monticha asked him if they’d be their tour guide again next year.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we went across the street to the Family Mart to check out what snacks they had at their grocery store. I got some fun snacks although it was tough to make a selection.

After I acquired some snacks, we went back to the hotel and up to the pool and rooftop bar. We had some drinks and just hung out, it was nice to relax after a long day.

After the pool, a few of us decided to go bop around the city for a bit. We went to an outdoor market, a bubble tea shop, but most importantly the Circle K. The Circle K had even more fun snacks and a HUGE spider that I could not believe was real.

Finally, we went back to the hotel and went to bed. It was a really fun day and I loved getting to hang out with my buddy all day!