Cu Chi Tunnels

Today we visited the Cu Chi tunnel network about an hour north of Saigon.  First we learned a little bit about the history about the tunnels (which some of were already made before the "American" War) and what life was like living in them.  Next we got a chance to shoot at a firing range using the weapons from the war (M16, AK47, M60 etc.), I chose an AK47.  That was one of the coolest things I have done on this trip so far and especially funny to watch our smallest girls aiming down the sights.  Next we got to try out the tunnels.  About 20 of us tried and 8 of us actually made it the whole 300 feet without taking one of the escape routes, I cannot imagine having to move in there with gun chatter and bombs exploding above you.  Finally, we just got back from a boat cruise dinner and the final official class event.  Most of us are going out together tonight for one last hoorah but we are all ready to be back in the States.  It's been an outstanding trip and I would fully recommend visiting Asia to anyone who is interested.

Me Kong Delta

Today we visited the Me Kong delta.  The heart of Vietnam's rice industry (#2 in the world behind Thailand), the Me Kong delta provides sustenance for almost 30% of Vietnam.  We took a ferry to see the fishing boats and visit two islands.  On the first island we had tea and listened to some Vietnamese music and attempted to play their instruments.  On the second island we had more tea, but got to pick up the honeycombs we drank in our tea.  We passed the tray that the honeycombs were on around with all of the bees on it and you could press your finger into the bees slowly to get fresh honey.  They also had a python that a few people put on their shoulders.  We also got to see the process of making coconut candy and try fresh coconut.  Finally, we took a sampan  ride through a canal back out to our ferry.  Tomorrow we are visiting the Cu Chi tunnels outside Saigon, should be an amazing day.

Day 1 in Ho Chi Minh

Ho Chi Minh City has been great so far.  Pretty much everyone on the trip is enjoying it more than Jakarta already and it has been interesting to visit a communist country.  It is a lot less different than I had thought originally.  Yesterday we went to the War Crime museum that turned out to be a little disturbing with a lot of pictures showing deformed children from chemical spray.  We also visited a coffee company that has a very ambitious goal for their company: to create a coffee sanctuary for coffee beans around the world.  We visited the Intel factory but unfortunately were unable to see any of the process for sanitation reasons.  Finally this morning we met with the CEO of a job website called VietnamWorks who is a double Hoo.  This afternoon we are going to a private holding firm and the botanical garden.  No pictures from all of that, but I'll be sure to post some from the botanical garden.

Last bits of Jakarta

The other day we spent quite a long day in the bus (7 hours of driving to be precise), though we did get to visit 2 cool places.  We drove through a safari-like zoo with all sorts of animals, with a small theme towards the Asian version like this Bengal tiger.  We also got to visit a tea plantation and see the whole process from picking to packaging.

In our last day we had the most immersive experience by visiting the slums of the Sunda Kelapa port.  We saw workers loading the boogey schooners (origin of the boogeyman) with cement by carrying the bags from dock to boat over thin planks.  Later we took canoe-like ferries across the sound inlet to the slums which was unreal.  They live in such poverty, with usually only one room, water in the alleys and trash in the courtyards.  Despite the living conditions, they always greeted us with a smile and laughter, it was uplifting.  For our last night in Jakarta we went to a superclub called X2 in their biggest mall and a delightfully stainful night followed.  We had a great time and it was a great way to go out with lots of great stories in the morning.  We left yesterday and are currently in Vietnam (where facebook is blocked) and I will update you with what we do today later.

More Jakarta

 It's been a while but I'll try to quickly summarize the last two days.  Yesterday was a busy day, we were out from 8 am to 11 pm.  We started visiting a "wet market" at Bogor which was an interesting experience. It was connected to a BTPN bank branch which we learned about the day before.  They put a lot of focus on micro financing similar to the Grameen Bank so we got to visit one of their clients in the market.

Later we visited a big chicken and beef packager and the Jakarta International School (which was unreal).  Afterward we went to one of the teachers house which he shares with 4 other guys, essentially a frat house, for a dinner and a pool party.

Today we talked to the director of marketing for Sony-Ericsson's mobile division in Indonesia and India and visited @america.  @america is a place for Indonesians to learn more about America in order to improve their opinion and understanding of America.

We're having a blast so far and it's getting more fun as we get closer.  I'm looking forward to the days to come.

Introduction to Indonesia

We spent the morning with several foreign service workers from the US embassy who helped give us a background of the many facets of Indonesia.  After that we met with two banking leaders in Jakarta who helped explain the banking system in Indonesia and different banking strategies they employ.

After that began the real fun for the day (seen below).  In preparation for the days to come a few of us decided to stock up on some drinks so we walked to the nearest grocery store about 1/4 mile away and brought some cases back to the hotel.  As if we didn't look out of place without the cases.  Had to put them through the x-ray machine to get back into our hotel.

For dinner we went to an Indonesian/Chinese blend restaurant and enjoyed a meal with two families of UVA students/grads which was nice.  It's 10:30 and I'm sadly exhausted.  Busy day tomorrow but should be very interesting.

Day 2 in Jakarta

Well my first full in Jakarta has just begun.  Had a wonderful noodle soup for breakfast with my roommate who got in last night around 12:30.  I was convinced his knock was room service which I was certain I hadn't ordered.  Turns out it was my roommate, who knew?

Today is when everyone else is supposed to get here and we ran into 4 people from our group checking in today on our way back from breakfast.  Until our dinner reception we don't really have any plans for the day.  Probably just hang out around the pool and do nothing productive all day.  Life is rough.

While I'm doing this blog individually, the whole class has a blog that we are doing as part of our grade.  It should be a more in depth analysis of what we do than this if you are interested.  We will each be making at least 3 posts in each city.  Here is the link:
http://pages.shanti.virginia.edu/mcintireabroad/