Hello everyone! Thanks for rolling by. It’s been about two weeks since I’ve last posted. I titled this post H because a lot of events/places/person I’ve been around begin with the letter H. Hue, Halong Bay, halfway (done with the project), HIIIEEEEEENNNNNN (to be explained), and of course, Harry!
Hue
Hue is the main city in the Central Region of Vietnam, and all our Vietnamese roommates are from Hue University. The weekend of the 9th-10th of July was when we visited Hue as a big group. We saw the Imperial City, walked along some of it’s gorgeous bridges and also visited the Tịnh Trúc Gia Center. The Center is home to the Eurasia Foundation and Association for Special Education in Vietnam; a place where children and youths living with mental and physical disabilities take part in “curative education”. These children learn to function in society by learning in simple works such as lacquer painting, jam/jelly making, incense production, etc. It truly is a wonderful place with a wonderful mission. If you would like to read more about it, their website is http://www.eurasia.org.vn/index.html. Our fearless leader, Vu, said he would like to take a gap year and volunteer there after he is done with CET/DukeEngage Vietnam. After that, we were given the rest of the weekend off and I decided to chill the Bao and some of the other roommates. We visited Hue University, drank some Nu’oc Mia (sugarcane juice, I’m pretty much hooked rn), and went to an elevated area where you can see the whole city. After that, we rode into the mountains on his motorbike and spent the night at another roommate’s house, An, along with Grant, Eva, and Eva’s roommate Money. Her Vietnamese name is Ngan, but she prefers to be called Money which is dope. In the morning, me, Grant, An, and Money woke up at 5 am and attended Vietnamese Church. *Insert 22 Jump Street quote about Vietnamese Jesus*. We didn’t understand anything, but it was still a cool experience. After that, we went to Elephant Springs, a nearby hangout area and our crew met up with Jason, Thinh, Katrina, and Trinh. The place was gorgeous and so much fun. Basically, little huts were set up all along the springs for at least a mile, and they catered food right to your hut! (America, take notes). So we were just chillin’, swimmin’, and also sat in on a college reunion in the hut across from ours. We left in the late afternoon and Bao took me to some other places. Coffee and dinner with one of his good friends and a boat tour of the Huong River wrapped up our time there before heading back. Great weekend.
Halong Bay
This past weekend, we were given the whole weekend free. It was our only free weekend besides the one before the soccer tournament/culture show, but a lot of planning needs to be done then so this was our only opportunity to do some big independent travel trip. A small group of us wanted to go to Halong Bay and so we made it happen! It all started Friday evening when we hopped on an overnight sleeper bus from Quang Tri to Hanoi. I would describe it as “quite an experience”. It was very cramped with both backpackers and locals alike and the “super reclining seat beds” were definitely made to fit the smaller Vietnamese frame. Luckily, I didn’t have too much trouble as I popped some sleeping pills and just passed out until the morning. We arrived in Hanoi at 6am and got some coffee and breakfast to kick start our day. Of course, we must take another 4-hour bus ride to the Bay so we do that. On first sight off the mainland, we see the hundreds of islands lined up all around and we are mesmerized. It gets better. We hop aboard our cruise ship and are served lunch as we sail around the area. After that, we stop by a little water village and kayak between some islands. Then the cruise takes us to Paradise Cave, one of the hundreds of caves (but one of few that are open to tourism) and see the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that line the walls of the cave. Our cruise ended with a bit more weaving around the bay. That night, we went to the bay and enjoyed a view of Halong at night and did some group bonding before passing out at the hostel. The next day we hit the beach again and traveled back to our guesthouse in Quang Tri.
Halfway
This past weekend also officially marked our halfway point during our program! Halfway done with the work at
the construction site, halfway done with our ESL classes, and halfway done spending time with our group. It’s amazing to see the progress we’ve made everyday, but it’s a little sad to know that we’re over the hump and our time here is starting to countdown.
HIIIIIEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN
I haven’t mentioned her at all I believe, but there is another person from CET here which is our program assistant, Hien Chap. She was a roommate 2 years ago and has been working with the program ever since. Basically, she’s second-in-command and is actually the first-in-command at our worksite since Vu manages the other one. To be honest, Hien is one the coolest people I’ve ever met. She keeps our worksite motivated and chugging along by constantly cracking jokes but also keeping us at work the whole time. In our big group, we are always arguing about which worksite is better. It’s usually pretty even, but the scales definitely tip our way since we have Hien. I’m super happy that I chose the right site and that I get to work with Hien everyday. Also, if you’re wondering why the title is what it is, there’s a running joke within our group where we say her name in this funny manner of “HIIIIIEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!” in a very high pitch with some tremelo effects to kick it too. She loves/hates it.
Harry
My name! Thanks for reading!
Hue
Hue is the main city in the Central Region of Vietnam, and all our Vietnamese roommates are from Hue University. The weekend of the 9th-10th of July was when we visited Hue as a big group. We saw the Imperial City, walked along some of it’s gorgeous bridges and also visited the Tịnh Trúc Gia Center. The Center is home to the Eurasia Foundation and Association for Special Education in Vietnam; a place where children and youths living with mental and physical disabilities take part in “curative education”. These children learn to function in society by learning in simple works such as lacquer painting, jam/jelly making, incense production, etc. It truly is a wonderful place with a wonderful mission. If you would like to read more about it, their website is http://www.eurasia.org.vn/index.html. Our fearless leader, Vu, said he would like to take a gap year and volunteer there after he is done with CET/DukeEngage Vietnam. After that, we were given the rest of the weekend off and I decided to chill the Bao and some of the other roommates. We visited Hue University, drank some Nu’oc Mia (sugarcane juice, I’m pretty much hooked rn), and went to an elevated area where you can see the whole city. After that, we rode into the mountains on his motorbike and spent the night at another roommate’s house, An, along with Grant, Eva, and Eva’s roommate Money. Her Vietnamese name is Ngan, but she prefers to be called Money which is dope. In the morning, me, Grant, An, and Money woke up at 5 am and attended Vietnamese Church. *Insert 22 Jump Street quote about Vietnamese Jesus*. We didn’t understand anything, but it was still a cool experience. After that, we went to Elephant Springs, a nearby hangout area and our crew met up with Jason, Thinh, Katrina, and Trinh. The place was gorgeous and so much fun. Basically, little huts were set up all along the springs for at least a mile, and they catered food right to your hut! (America, take notes). So we were just chillin’, swimmin’, and also sat in on a college reunion in the hut across from ours. We left in the late afternoon and Bao took me to some other places. Coffee and dinner with one of his good friends and a boat tour of the Huong River wrapped up our time there before heading back. Great weekend.
Halong Bay
This past weekend, we were given the whole weekend free. It was our only free weekend besides the one before the soccer tournament/culture show, but a lot of planning needs to be done then so this was our only opportunity to do some big independent travel trip. A small group of us wanted to go to Halong Bay and so we made it happen! It all started Friday evening when we hopped on an overnight sleeper bus from Quang Tri to Hanoi. I would describe it as “quite an experience”. It was very cramped with both backpackers and locals alike and the “super reclining seat beds” were definitely made to fit the smaller Vietnamese frame. Luckily, I didn’t have too much trouble as I popped some sleeping pills and just passed out until the morning. We arrived in Hanoi at 6am and got some coffee and breakfast to kick start our day. Of course, we must take another 4-hour bus ride to the Bay so we do that. On first sight off the mainland, we see the hundreds of islands lined up all around and we are mesmerized. It gets better. We hop aboard our cruise ship and are served lunch as we sail around the area. After that, we stop by a little water village and kayak between some islands. Then the cruise takes us to Paradise Cave, one of the hundreds of caves (but one of few that are open to tourism) and see the beautiful stalactites and stalagmites that line the walls of the cave. Our cruise ended with a bit more weaving around the bay. That night, we went to the bay and enjoyed a view of Halong at night and did some group bonding before passing out at the hostel. The next day we hit the beach again and traveled back to our guesthouse in Quang Tri.
Halfway
This past weekend also officially marked our halfway point during our program! Halfway done with the work at
the construction site, halfway done with our ESL classes, and halfway done spending time with our group. It’s amazing to see the progress we’ve made everyday, but it’s a little sad to know that we’re over the hump and our time here is starting to countdown.
HIIIIIEEEEEEEENNNNNNNN
I haven’t mentioned her at all I believe, but there is another person from CET here which is our program assistant, Hien Chap. She was a roommate 2 years ago and has been working with the program ever since. Basically, she’s second-in-command and is actually the first-in-command at our worksite since Vu manages the other one. To be honest, Hien is one the coolest people I’ve ever met. She keeps our worksite motivated and chugging along by constantly cracking jokes but also keeping us at work the whole time. In our big group, we are always arguing about which worksite is better. It’s usually pretty even, but the scales definitely tip our way since we have Hien. I’m super happy that I chose the right site and that I get to work with Hien everyday. Also, if you’re wondering why the title is what it is, there’s a running joke within our group where we say her name in this funny manner of “HIIIIIEEEEEEEEENNNNN!!!!!” in a very high pitch with some tremelo effects to kick it too. She loves/hates it.
Harry
My name! Thanks for reading!