After talking about it for months, we finally experienced the Mekong Delta River. It was more than I thought it would be. The river and surrounding it was full of culture. Today was the day I felt the most like I was in a different country.

The buses left at 8:00 am for the Mekong Delta River, which was 2 hours away. When we arrived, we took a motorboat to one of the islands. At this island we tried food and drinks that local people typically eat. The drink was honey-lime tea, and the food consisted of tropical fruit and cooked plantains. We also were able to try some candies made of rice paper and coconut. My favorite thing we did was afterwards, where we rode in a canoe through a canal. It was so pretty, peaceful, and priceless to see the architecture of the houses along the water. The houses were very different from the western world. They were more integrated with nature, compared to the U.S., because they were open and sometimes didn’t have doors or windows, or always had them open. They were also significantly smaller and tended to not have air conditioning. At some of the company visits, they mentioned that all the windows and doors are usually open to reduce carbon emissions. However, I think another factor could be the ability to afford air conditioning. The cost of living in Vietnam is significantly lower than the United States, but some items are still expensive if they’re being exported from countries where the parts cost more and additionally the monthly power bill becomes higher.