Day 35: Continuing Updates!

I think I finished off with Day 17....okay, so continuing on....

Day 18: Okay, so this day I spent most of the day helping Anh Thinh with his English homework. He had a big test coming up which determines which high school he'll be going to...the good one, or the not so great one. It was hard, and frustrating at times. It's really hard explaining things when I'm not even sure why things are the way they are. And what else made it more difficult was that I couldn't explain it in Vietnamese either. But it was still fun, because even though we often don't understand each other, we always end up laughing about it. And during out studying, Diep came over with ice cream!! A nice treat in tropical weather! And later in the day I spent some time reading The Kite Runner, the one my buddy Nive gave me!! (It's a great book!)

Day 19: Woke up, ate pho (Vietnamese beef noodle soup) for breakfast. Then I continued reading The Kite Runner. Then I helped Anh Thinh with some more homework, but this time it was math homework. It was interesting to see the different techniques that are taught in the schools over here. We started out with FOIL-ing, and there were some problems that I solved quicker with what I learned in America, but then there were some I had no idea how to solve that he did. Then at lunchtime we ate rice, Vietnamese soup (canh), shrimp, and tofu. Then a little bit after, Ma Tam went and bought some sweet tofu from a woman that walks around the neighborhood selling it. It was really yummy, but Anh Thinh warned me that if we bought it she would keep coming around even if you didn't want to buy any of her tofu. After that, I continued reading The Kite Runner. Later this day, Mom, Dat, Thinh, Diep, and I went to Dam Sen. We went out to the street and waited at a bus stop for a bus to bring us to the amusement park. After 3 buses that weren't headed in that direction stopped in front of us, and after a few passed us by...we decided to just take a taxi instead of wait there for who knows how long. This was a fun day! When we got into the park, we walked around for a little bit, and then we went on those boat thingys where you pedal with your feet. I went in one with Thinh and Diep, with Anh Thinh and me in the front. And then Mom and Dat went in another one. This was my first time in one of these, it was so fun! And I think I got overly excited, because I kept pedaling so hard because I wanted to go fast, haha. And I ended up making my face all red and had to keep gasping for air! But it was still fun! We also went through the zoo part of the park. We saw monkeys and birds, and crocodiles being fed by people who bought a bamboo stick with a dead fish hanging at the end. I recored it, haha. Later we had some ice cream...I think it was chocolate flavored...but I'm not exactly sure...it tasted kind of different. Oh, and the ice cream cone was soft and stale, and the ice cream a bit softer than American soft-served ice cream. But anything that would offer a little relief from the heat was appreciated. I think it was after we grabbed some ice cream that we headed over to the haunted castle. Originally Dat, Thinh, Diep, and I entered the haunted castle. But a few steps in and Diep decided to exit and sit it out with my Mom outside. Inside the haunted castle Dat, Thinh, and I took a few minutes looking ahead at the darkness before moving in further. I kept my hand running against the wall to make sure nothing unexpected would pop out from the side. The experience was actually funnier than it was scary. Anh Thinh was freaking out...and I'm still not sure if he was really scared or if he was just trying to be funny. In the castle there were rooms with barred windows that allowed people passing through to see zombie looking people shaking as though they were having a seizure, or others being spun on a round platform. What made it so funny was how Anh Thinh would yell at the "people" behind the barred windows and how he was crouching behind another group of people that were just ahead of us. I wondered if he realized they were strangers. Haha! It was hilarious! And later that day I went on a zip-line! I think that's what it's called. That was fun, except for the part where my body slammed into the cushion mat at the end. That hurt...my shoulders and back ached for days! Some time after we headed back home, but not before grabbing another ice cream. It was fun! :)

*I know that some of the details may seem tedious...but those are the bullet points I jotted down in my sketchbook to keep track of what happened each day...sorry!