Hey Everyone,
In the tradition of the famous Jack Boice Vietnam Essays, let me tell you about how great of a time we are having in South East Asia. It's really cool navigating Vietnam. For those of you who have played Frogger, it's like an interactive version of the game in real life. Every street is a market here, and all of them sell fruit. Fruit in America can't compare to fruit here. The mangos are incredible, not to mention all the other tropical delights. And, if you're not big on fruit, you can do what we did and have: a bat, a gecko, or a drunken shrimp. The drunken shrimp was particularly strange when, before it was set on fire, it jumped out of the bowl. No, that's not an exaggeration, shrimp CAN jump. The streets here are really different from those of America. There are far more bicycles and mopeds than there are cars. In fact, today we took a pedicab, where we sit on the front of a bicycle and the driver bicycles us to wherever we need to go.
Today, we visited the old South Vietnamese Presidential Palace where Ngo Dinh Diem and Thieu both ruled South Vietnam. We saw the site where it was bombed by an F-5 flown by a defector from the South Vietnamese Air Force, as you can see on the pictures. In Dr. Ochs' class, we had learned about the Vietnam War, but nothing compares to being in the building in which decisions were made which cost Americans and allies their lives. We then visited the War Exhibition, which was really an odd experience. They emphasized the cruelty practiced by our troops, but nothing about the practices of the North. As Mr. Napolitano taught us, a country can emphasize what they want if they win. Having grown up in the D.C. area, though, the contrast between the "Wall" and this was almost overwhelming.
We're staying in the Hotel Sofitel, which is amazing. There's a pool on the eighteenth floor, a fitness center on the third floor, and a lounge on the first floor where I am right now, listening to Careless Whisper as done by a Vietnamese jazz band. The best part of the trip is that we are treated like kings here. For about twenty cents you can drink fresh milk out of a coconut. A big shopping spree here would be about 15 dollars, and that's if you shopped all day. Well, I'm going to get another Vietnamese coffee and then I'm going up to my room. See you all when we get back!
Mike Brenner
PS: It's 6:35 in the morning. The group is about to have a great breakfast before going to the Mekong (My Tho City).
