Today was the last day of orientation before classes begin tomorrow at 8 am. My first impressions of Saigon are that it is in the midst of a rapid transformation. It is very typical to see extremely modern buildings next to the typical buildings that are dilapidated huts by comparison.
For our last day of orientation, the local Vietnamese students showing us around devised an "amazing race" competition between our group. We had to go to the opera house, the statue of Ho Chi Minh (affectionately referred to as "Uncle Ho"), a Catholic cathedral built by the French in the 19th century, the post office, and their city's park.
Picture of my team in front of the opera house:
"Uncle Ho":
After the amazing race game, we went to the zoo. Unlike the U.S., their zoo has hardly adequate boundaries between animals and humans. It was sort of a depressing place because the animals were not treated that well and they don't have a lot of space.
Vietnamese person at fence feeding elephant. This is the Vietnamese version of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel scene where god and man touch fingers:
Looks like lots of fun and love the bag !
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