Day Chin

Today we got back to our typical schedule with the morning hotel buffet and a bus ride to UEF.  The university events of the day included an abbreviated culture lecture followed by language class.  I love learning about Vietnamese culture because it is so SO different that what we're used to in the states and language class is always fun as we all continue to struggle with pronunciating these strange letter combinations and tones. 

Lunch at the norm! :)

After lunch we had a quick company vist to Navibank.  The presentation given by the company representative on this visit was much different than the others we've been on because the presenter didn't speak English!  There was a translator, but it was still crazy to hear the entire presentation in Vietnamese.

That was all we had planned for the day so we headed back to the hotel, changed out of our business casjh, and hit the town!  We weren't out for long, but today Brooke and I were in need of some Starbucks.  I don't really miss home yet, but I do miss Starbucks...that's pathetic.  We were hoping that since everything is so cheap here Starbucks would be as well!  Nope.  Same price :( but same taste too :)!  We sipped on these real slowly and enjoyed every drop of the coffee and every second of being in by far the coolest Starbucks I've ever been in.

We've all been itching for some Western food so tonight we planned on going to an Italian restaurant called Ciao Bella but when we got there it was closed for renovations.  Instead of taking a cab back to the hotel to find a new dining spot then another cab out to wherever we chose, we decided to just walk around the area to see what we could find.  The group ended up splitting in two and we took different directions.  I feel bad for the kids in the other grop because we stumbled upon another Italian restaurant that was so good.  I had spinach and ricotta ravioli that tasted just like the homemade ravioli my great aunt makes back home.  Best dinner yet (maybe, all the food here is pretty incredible)!