The past 24 hours in Vietnam have been nothing short of unique. Starting the trip off strong by getting into the country at 1am, then waking up in the old CIA headquarters, now a hotel. Shortly after we had a visit by two different tailors for custom made suits and traditional Vietnamese clothing (when my suit comes in I will be sure to let you know how awesome it is). Finally after that, we got to travel to UEF, the University of Economics and Finance who is partnered with Pitt for this Plus 3. On the way there, I saw some of the craziest traffic and driving I have ever witnessed. Motorbikes and scooters dominate the travel in Ho Chi Minh City and swerve around every vehicle on the road, even driving in the wrong direction! It was really incredible observing the way traffic flows here compared to the US, as we’re used to strict road laws and are pretty nice to pedestrians. However, here it’s a little different. Everyone drives wherever they want, whenever they want. And the pedestrians have to fight their way across the street; trying to cross a group of 40+ people on the busiest street in Ho Chi Minh City was an experience.
Besides the traffic, another shock I had was the welcoming. When we arrived at UEF, we were greeted with many students outside giving us a ring of flowers to wear. Followed by two different performances and gifts by UEF faculty and students. Then we took a tour of Ho Chi Minh City with our new friends to learn about Vietnams culture and some of their famous landmarks like the statue of Ho Chi Minh and the Ho Chi Minh Opera House. But something I found very interesting on this tour was how nationalistic Vietnam is. Coming from a capitalist society, I couldn’t stop looking at posters everywhere of Vietnamese people and the flag of Vietnam everywhere you could see. Seeing things like this is not something I’m used to, and found it fascinating. This and talking to locals really showed how much the Vietnamese love their country.
The last thing that stood out to me were the buildings. The architecture in Ho Chi Minh City is very different from most cities. There are areas of just small and old residential buildings with small shops nearby, or areas where an entire skyscraper is being built for apartments and growth in the future. Even though Vietnam is a very young country, their economy is booming, and they are putting all their money back into themselves. They are really trying to grow from an old failing country, into a new and advanced society comparable to other major cities.
