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Trip Start Jul 29, 2010 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 01, 2011

  Ðà Lạt, Lâm Ðồng, Vietnam
Monday, September 13, 2010

Most of my meals are either in this Vegetarian shop across from my guesthouse or this Nem Nuoung place on my street. I go in and order tofu fried rice and soup every day. I also buy some oreos, other snacks like these yummy chocolate twisty things, yogurt, and Da Lat wine. My diet is pretty simple, but luckily for me, I can eat the same thing day after day and not really get tired of it.

My seniors have been really sweet thought and they've been trying to take me out to try different things. I've added open hours to fill up my 20 hours of Fulbright ETA responsibilities every week. Open hours are basically times when I am in the coffee shop (usually Monday through Thursday from 5-6PM) and students can drop by and ask me questions about homework or drop by if they just want to talk to me and practice their English. My first group of girls were Lyly, Suri, and Vanessa. We went out today for some coffee, then they invited me to dinner, and they they took me for a drive around the city. We had coffee at Trung Nguyen coffee shop, which is this cute little coffee shop by my house. I hate the lighting in the cafe (or most cafes in Da Lat for that matter). Its always so dark and the music is always so loud. One of my students says that they make it dark so that couples can be romantic and they make the music loud so no one can hear the other table. Anyway, I love the mango shake in this cafe (which is only $1) and there's a top floor where you can see Da Lat University. After coffee we had dinner. I told them during the first day of class that I get homesick sometimes and that I loved Nem Nuong. So naturally, they brought me to supposedly "the best nem nuoung place in Da Lat." I do admit, the food was great but not as good as the nem nuong on my street. I found out that I am the first foreigner they've every talked to or interacted with. Although they see a lot of foriegners in the streets walking around Da Lat, they are too shy and embarassed to approach them because they are scared the foreigners will not understand their English in their Vietnamese accent. I also found out that Vietnamese love talking about love and all things romantic. Its usually the topic of conversations among girls. They talk about heartbreak, first loves, pop culture, and fashion. Vietnamese people, I guess especially in Da Lat, are quite romantic. I share with them some of my own "love experiences" in the US and they just think its odd. For example, most people here are in serious, long term relationships and the whole "hook up" culture and short-term relationships in the US seemed so strange to them. After we were done chatting during dinner, they took me on a drive around the city of Da Lat. I love just riding in the motorbike and looking out at all the lights. They took me to see some of the biggest, most beautiful hotels in Da Lat. We also went around the lake and they showed me this huge construction site. Supposedly they're making a huge park near the lake, but it won't be finish for another two years. It was about 9:30PM when I got home, and one of the students gave me a hairtie and said this was one of the most fun she's had practicing English. It made me smile.

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