Vietnam- Our first performance

As I sit here writing this, I can hear the horns honking and the dogs barking 25 stories below in the bustling streets of Hanoi. It is 10:47 PM here, but that isn't stopping anyone from going out and enjoying the insane nightlife that this amazing city has to offer.

We all had a very early morning today. Our first performance of the tour was at a local High school. We performed our full repertoire for the group, and in return, they performed a traditional Vietnamese dance, a beautiful rendition of "Love Yourself" by Justin Bieber, and their own rendition of the Nutcracker. I think its safe to say that as much effort as we put into our performance, theirs outshone ours by a mile. Their energy was amazing, they were so enthusiastic and eager to perform for us. Throughout the whole performance, both ours and theirs, two students announced all the acts in both English and Vietnamese. I get the feeling that many students can understand some Engish, but one group from the High school, the English Club, had very impressive English. They were all practically fluent, and so after the concert, we were able to go to a Vietnamese buffet with them all and get to know them all even better! At the buffet, I ate Pho and snails and crabs and skewered shrimp and I was able to try balut, which is essentially a bird embryo inside of an egg. I tried a quail embryo, and as much as I was expecting it to taste like chicken, it actually tasted like an egg. Go figure.

We then went to visit the Temple of Literature, Vietnam's first national University. The tour was very interesting, as it highlighted the influence of Confucious on the teachings that were once taught there, and the mindsets of many Vietnamese still to this day. The tour guide talked a lot about the symbolism behind the architectural styles of the buildings, and highlighted his belief that a lot of the architecture has negative and positive tones, (ie. the moon and sun, the sky and earth). After this, we headed over to the water puppet theatre for a show. It is exactly what it sounds like, there is a big stage of about two feet of water and the puppets are flung and slid through the water by puppeteers behind a screen, while others play live music and tell a story. It was interesting, but not exactly my cup of tea.

For dinner I had Pho again, it's such a simple and delicious meal, and one big bowl is usually only about $2. I mean, what's not to love? I then tried some of Hanoi's famous egg coffee, a frothy, and eggy coffee that was quite good, and then tried bubble tea for the first time! It was an excellent night and the streets of Hanoi's Old Quarters were packed because of a concert going on nearby, so it feels good now to be home in my host families apartment. Tomorrow Sam and I will spend time with them and hopefully have another adventure filled day!

-ECM