On Saturday, we visited Vung Tau City where we climbed up over 800 steps and saw the Jesus statue on the top of a mountain. We then swam at the beach and in the pool to cool off. Even though this city was beautiful, my favorite day of the weekend was Sunday. We visited the Cu Chi tunnels where Vietnam soldiers lived and fought in during the Vietnam War. I found it so interesting how they lived in that tunnel system, especially since I felt claustrophobic after two minutes and the tunnels were made two times bigger for tourists. Visiting the tunnels gave me even more respect for the soldiers.

My favorite part of the weekend, however, was when we visited a painting factory outside Ho Chi Minh. This factory was special because it employed handicapped workers to make hand-made art, which the factory then sells and donates 15% of the profits to disabled people. During the visit, we saw the process of how their art is made. I also got to learn how to paint with eggshells with one of their experts. She taught me how to paint the black glue onto the canvas, press the eggshell down onto the paint, use a knife to break the eggshell up even more, and cut the extra eggshells away. I was struggling during my first few tries because the eggshells were so fragile that I kept using too much pressure, but after a while I learned how to control my pressure so the eggshells were broken in the way I needed them to be and didn’t fly all over the place. Watching the beautiful art being made was such an interesting process for me, and I loved seeing all of the artists work. I really like the factory’s mission of not only donating to disable people, but also employing them. It also made me even more happy to learn that their paintings are also higher quality than other art companies in Vietnam. I think this visit made the weekend even more meaningful for me, and I am excited for the rest of the week.