This month my team and I volunteered in a coffee shop practicing and teaching conversational English in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Many people in Vietnam want to learn English
and they are looking for foreigners to practice with.
Sprained Ankle
The big news this month was
that I sprained my ankle and had to go to the hospital. The international hospitals are very nice and
you can even get a cheeseburger and fries.
As of right now my ankle is not completely healed, but it is getting
better every day.
Transportation
Ho Chi Minh City is very big
and there are lots of people. They
mostly get around on motorbikes. The
traffic here is very different than what I am use to in Baton Rouge.
Food
The best thing I ate was
Vietnamese pizza. It is nothing like
American pizza. It is made with rice paper. They fry the rice paper and then add egg,
cheese, your choice of meat, and other spices.
My best comparison to something I would eat at home is a quesadilla, but
thinner and not folded in half.
Fun fact…they have Popeye’s
in Vietnam. I did go and can say that it
tastes pretty close to home.
Also, you all know how much I love Dr. Pepper. Vietnam is the first country I have found it in…I was so happy!
Money
Here the currency is called dong. As of right now the exchange rate is 21,000 =
$1.00. So let’s see if you can figure
out how much each of these items are in American currency.
A Whopper Jr.
Meal at Burger King – 88,000 Dong
A can of Coke –
10,000 Dong
A 12 pack of
Oreos – 13,000 Dong
A T-shirt –
150,000 Dong
Let’s try a
hard one à
My
hospital bill was 3,297,000 Dong
Tchoukball
This month I was able to learn a new game
called tchoukball. It is very popular in many of the Asian and European
countries. Check out the link below to learn more about this game in the USA. I was only able to play once because of my
ankle. However, I truly enjoyed getting
to know the team and watching them play.
It is a great game to help you learn about respect.
