Last Days in the South

10.4.13-10.6.13
We spent the weekend in An Giang. Initially, we were excited to get a break from the constant responsibilities of living in a homestay. However, the weekend wasn't my favorite. We started off driving in the opposite direction of our final destination. 3 hours later, we arrived at a shrimp farm in Soc Trang. It was a beautiful landscape but we couldn't even see the fish. Also, we were 15 km from the beach and the mangroves but didn't go. After 45 minutes, we turned around and drove another 6 or 7 hours to An Giang. The next day, we drove pretty far into a rural area to visit a snakehead farm and then even further to visit a catfish farm. Again, it was a lot of driving for not much information. I'm not doing anything with food for my research project so I didn't get too much out of it. The next day was fun though. We went to the Melaleuca Forest which is a preserved area close to the Cambodia border and the mountains. Melaleuca is the tree that's used to construct homes on the water. The roots of the tree are underground so the forest is like a lake full of floating trees. The tiny lime green leaves line the water creating a magical effect. There are birds everywhere of all different species. We took a boat to the middle of the preserve for lunch. There was a space with caged pythons, deer, tortoises and more. They had all been rescued and are being prepped to be released into the forest to restore the biodiversity. We walked up to a view point and could see the whole forest and the mountains. It was beautiful. It was raining the whole time so we were all in silly multi-colored ponchos. We planned to climb a mountain afterwards but we had government officials with us, making sure we didn't sneak in Cambodia and they did not let us go. We went straight back to Can Tho instead and Laura and I were so happy to be back with our family. They welcomed us back with another delicious dinner. We spent the night playing with our cousins again. 

10.7.13
Laura and I had two lunches today. We rode our bikes to market to finally get some Western food. I had tacos and she had pizza. The tacos were nothing like home but it was nice to not have rice or noodles or soy sauce. We did some shopping for loose pants and for the secret admirer game everyone is playing. Then we went back home for sweet potato chicken curry. In the evening, our host parents had a farewell BBQ for us and it was incredible. They made the pork fresh roll station that Laura and I are so fond of. The Thai student was there again and we had a lively conversation while the men drank a bunch of rice liquor. Their rule is one bowl of rice for every three shots. Our mom's extended family from the wedding was there too. I almost didn't recognize the bride without the excessive amount of white foundation missing from her face. After dinner, Ai asked me to pull up videos from my past performances. I should him my first Mande Dansa performance from freshman year. We all laughed at how exhausted I looked. They enjoyed seeing my hair in a different style. I also showed them my choir's performance of Oh Happy Day.

10.8.13
This afternoon was dedicated to self care. We had a morning class and then the rest of the day free. Laura and I took Leah and Meron to our favorite fresh roll restaurant. Leah and Meron don't have bikes so we tried to fit them on the back of ours. It did not go well. We struggled to get moving for about 10 minutes, falling down with every attempt. The University students watching got a kick out of it. Lunch was the best, as expected. Afterwards, Laura and I headed back to the spa. We ran into our teachers and our traveling fellow and had a great time together. I had a reflexology package including a foot, full body and scalp massage. It lasted almost 3 hours. Somehow, I felt even better afterwards than I did the first time. Laura and I went to the nail salon afterwards and ran into some of our classmates. That evening, we had a farewell dinner at the Asia Hotel with all of the students, teachers and homestay parents. There was an awkward bit of karaoke afterwards in which the boys did a lame version of "Bye Bye Bye" and the girls did a much better rendition of "Creep." Laura and I presented our family with their gifts once we got back home. Our mother absolutely loved the gold bangle I gave her. She ran upstairs and grabbed bracelets for us and well as a souvenir magnet. Our host dad placed the San Francisco Giants pin in a case on the wall with our knick knacks from former students. We also FaceTimed my family. The highlight of the conversation was when my host dad misunderstood my father's phrase "fish to fry." After the gift giving and conversation, we played with the kids one last time and packed our bags for Hanoi.