Day 3 in the Mekong Delta

Day 3 started in a daze of heat, nothing new from any other morning. However, this morning, we started a special project that would last about two weeks. Each of us were to learn about a different facet of Vietnamese culture. Whether it be social media, education, modern medicine, religion, and many other areas that we are passionate about, we were to conduct interviews and explore the areas as we traveled through the Mekong Delta and for our future travels to Dalat.

I am doing my research project on education Dalat and Mekong. For this project, a local student took me and another girl in my group who is also studying the same thing to the home of a retired teacher. There, we learned of this man’s life as a teacher and his life after teaching. What I found fascinating was the fact that he began teaching as an escape from fighting for the US army in the Vietnam War. I had never realized that there were people on the other side of the war who took measures to escape fighting, just like the American people did too. It was fascinating learning about that aspect. We also learned about how different the education system is in Vietnam than in America. It made me realize why exactly Vietnam is as behind as it is, and how it could improve.

We talked for most of the morning, and it was definitely a challenge having it be a conversation through a translator. Our translator, the local student, spoke very good english, yet there was still room for improvement, as it was difficult getting my questions across in a manner that we both understood. It helped me learn for the future interviews and my ISP (independent study project) or internship project I will be doing for the final month of my abroad. Learning how to simplify questions and make them comprehendible to a Vietnamese person is something I for sure need to learn in order to get the most out of my studies.

The second half of the day was filled with lectures and Vietnamese language class. To be honest, it does not feel like we are necessarily doing a lot of learning here. But in the same sense, we are learning so much. The lectures and lessons aren't exactly the place where we learn the most. While we do learn a lot from them, it is talking to the students, exploring the land, and learning from the local people of Vietnam that I truly learn about the country and how valuable it is. This country has more to offer than most people in the world think, and being here reinforces my learning of that.

After dinner, we had what was called a “cultural exchange.” There, we met at the Can Tin, where the local students were waiting. The night was then filled with singing and dancing, along with us singing a Vietnamese song, and brutally embarrassing ourselves as we butchered the song, but the students were really appreciative of our efforts. They also sang us english songs, though much better than us. It was a great night filled with a lot of laughs, and the friendships we made was something that I really valued about being in the Mekong Delta.