Foreign Fruits and Intentions of Rock Climbing

I left off on Sunday night; we flew back to Hanoi Monday morning and though I had thought I might go to school Monday, we got back too late for me to go. Tuesday was a normal day of school with P.E, physics, biology, literature, soft skills, geography, and "QP" or "National Defense." From what I've experienced in the first class, it sounds like a history class on Vietnamese wars. We went over some of the wars from the 1st to the 10th century and discussed a few important generals as well. I think because there are so many years of Vietnamese history, each class has its own way of integrating a part of the history into its lessons which could be why we only have one period of history a week.

On Tuesday night after dinner I got to try the mangosteen and rambutan! Both have new unique flavors to me and I definitely preferred the mangosteen to the rambutan. Once you cut open the thick rind on the

mangosteen, there are 5 wedges with soft, juicy, and sour flesh. The rambutan is covered in a spiky, red-yellow exterior and tastes a little like a lychee. It has the same semi-opaque flesh as a lychee and has a pit in the middle.

Wednesday was another normal school day with soft skills, English, geography, chemistry, and computer science. We got to use computers this week and I think the reason we weren't on them last week is because they were only just installed. When we got up to the computer room they still had all the computer boxes stowed on one side of the room and the screen covers hadn't been peeled off yet. We did a few activities with creating folders and files and we got to design our background on the computer screen. I had set mine as the shot of the EMP and Space Needle (a background option on Windows) when I first sat down at my computer but of course had to change it to my "Paint" creation. We also did some work with MicrosoftWord formatting before the bell rang for the end of the day.

On Wednesday night I went out for a walk with Anna around the Ecopark since it was so warm out. Right before we left for Quy Nhon it had started to get a little cooler - the temperature was hovering around the upper 70's, but it got hot again when we returned and has been in the 90's each day! I think the temperature correlates to the air quality since Tuesday was the hottest day and it was unbelievably

smoggy. Hopefully it'll cool down when we get into September though I've heard that with the insane humidity, it hardly ever feels cool in Vietnam. I'll just have to wait and see.

On Thursday I left school early since we had math class in the afternoon and I don't study math at the Ecopark school. I got to talk my dad a little; I wished him a happy birthday at midnight (Pacific Time) and he responded with news of the Perseids Meteor Shower! I was hoping to see some meteors tonight but there are too many lights in the Ecopark and the air is too smoggy. After I said goodnight to my dad I got my stuff ready for rock climbing! I had planned on going rock climbing after school at a climbing gym in Hanoi. I put on athletic clothes, put my rock shoes in my bag, brought my camera to take pictures, then caught the Ecopark bus that takes residents downtown for free. I even got off at the right stop in front of this fancy hotel but when I went to find the gym, I got hopelessly confused. The directions I found online did not match what I saw on the street and the traffic was insane. After aimlessly wandering around for about half an hour I found the hotel again and took the bus back to the Ecopark.

In hindsight, I probably could've made it to the gym if I hadn't been so scared of getting hit by countless motorcycles and/or cars. The prospect of crossing a street where hundreds of cars and motorcycles zoom by each minute while not following any traffic laws - as a foreigner who is used to crosswalk signals or at least safe drivers - was positively terrifying. I managed to cross the road to the middle but then realized that there was no sidewalk to walk on and promptly went back. I decided that the next time I go I will be taking a friend or an adult.

Now it is Thursday evening. I told my family about our birthday traditions because today is my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Papa!). Since his favorite birthday dessert is blueberry pie, Dung asked if I could make one. When we went out to get the ingredients for the pie we found everything but the most important part: a pie tin. I think we may have more luck finding one in the city so I may be making pie another time but hopefully I get the chance to make one for my host family since pie is definitely an American treat.

I'll probably update again on Sunday after my language class. Thanks for reading and have a great day!