As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, our schedule for today began at the Ben Tanh Market, a popular destination for tourists in Saigon. We had previously visited some other smaller markets over the course of the trip so I didn’t have too much shopping to do, but there was one item on my list; watches….

Today’s schedule was the reverse of the typical day so far, with classes in the afternoon and a company visit in the morning. This allowed us some extra time to sleep in and I used the morning to FaceTime home to wish my mom a happy Mother’s Day! We left the hotel at 9:45, but…

Since today was another weekend day and there was no classes, we took another day trip, this time to the Cu Chi Tunnel System. During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong dug a vast and intricate network of tunnels so that they could move about and conduct business below ground; allowing them to neutralize the US’s…

Today was easily the most fun day of the trip so far! We started bright and early again with a 7 AM departure for the Mekong Delta. Before the trip, we had read a good deal on the problems of upriver damming and salinization from the ocean are negatively impacting this critical economic region, but this…

Today was back to the usual schedule with morning classes (Vietnamese and culture/history) and lunch before the main activity. Vietnamese class has continued to get more difficult, but I feel that I’ve learned a decent amount for the number of lessons we’ve had. Interestingly, for lunch we headed to a rival university to UEF and dined…

Unlike out typical schedule so far, today we travelled to the beach resort town Vung Tau for an awesome day of relaxation. We began bright and early with a 6:00 AM departure time, due to the 2 hour bus ride we would need to get there. The journey in started with a 1 hour nap,…

Day 3 began very similarly to the last couple days, with breakfast at the hotel and several morning classes at UEF. Today’s classes were comprised of our usual language lesson and a lecture on the Mekong River Delta’s role in Vietnam’s culture. After the “school day” was over, we ate a quick lunch and headed two…

Day two in Vietnam began with an early 7:00 AM wake up to leave plenty of time to eat breakfast and get to UEF for our classes. The first class of the day was an interesting lecture on Vietnam’s formation and development over the centuries and how it has come to its current ‘S’-shaped form….

Today marked our first full day of travel in Vietnam. We started off the morning with an incredible welcoming from the Vietnamese students at The University of Economics and Finance (UEF) which included an array of dancing, singing, and slightly embarrassing games. From here we had the opportunity to get fitted for custom suits or other dress…

Hello fellow travelers! My name is Lucas Yonda and I am a student at the University of Pittsburgh studying industrial engineering in the Swanson School of Engineering. In a few short weeks, I will be hopping aboard a plane and flying around the globe to the incredible country of Vietnam. Over the course a fifteen day experience, I will…