Home Cooked Meal for a Buck Twenty-five

Since I've arrived in Ho Chi Minh, I have been eating out at least twice a day. I take care of breakfast in the room since we don't have too much time in the mornings.

It usually consists of cereal and milk. Sometimes I add in a fruit if I want to make it REAL fancy, haha.
On my 2nd day here, I  also bought a cereal bowl and silver spoon for about $2 to make my stay here feel a little bit more homier.

Nothing feels more official in terms of settling into a new place than getting dishes and furniture. In fact, when I arrived in my room, I noticed that there was no desk. I asked for a desk and they (SEAMEO- name of the school we are working for) brought up a desk right away.

In the words of my lovely suite mate Michelle, "Ask and you shall receive".

It's now our 3rd week here and I've tried a lot of different eats from snails to Vietnamese pancakes. But I have to admit, you can only eat out so many times before you start missing a nice home cooked meal.

It was probably towards the beginning of the 2nd week that I  started to crave mama Kimpop's home cooking!

And thats what led me to the Canteen located on the 3rd floor of our school building. Basically, it's a cafeteria that serves the students and the workers of SEAMEO. I've walked by it countless times and seen the kiddies inhaling a bowl of noodles or rice covered in some marinated meat.

Some days it smells like something magical is cooking in the kitchen, some days not. But it's a family owned place and most of what is cooked and served looks like something your Vietnamese mama would cook for lunch or dinner.

Last Wednesday, I had taken a nap before my afternoon intensive course and when I awoke, there was very little time before I had to be downstairs to teach for 3 hours.
I figured that now would be a great time to check out what the Canteen had to offer.
None of us had eaten there at this point and so I was excited to find out.

When I got downstairs, they were cleaning up but luckily they still had food and served me right away. I got a plate of rice, veggies, and meat with a bowl of soup. They even gave me a piece of fruit for dessert! I was pleasantly surprised by the meal and how good it was. When it came time to pay for the meal, I was expecting to pay at least $2-4 since that seems to be the going rate for a meal here in Ho Chi but to my surprise, the owner asked for $1.25 or 25,000 dong!

I couldn't believe how cheap it was to eat a nice home cooked meal right in my school building. S
ince then, I've returned 2 more times. Once for lunch and then for dinner.... in the same day. Haha.
I predict that there will be a couple of more canteen meals in the near future!

Last night's dinner @ the Canteen.

White rice with pan fried tofu in lemon grass, 

some cucumbers and tomatoes and a vegetable soup.

Piece of dragon fruit for dessert! 

Half Time in Ho Chi Minh City

Today marks the beginning of the 3rd work week, which means that there are only 9 work days left.
It is officially HALF TIME! Can't believe it.

In the first 2 weeks,
I was having some trouble managing the kiddies and having them quiet and calm enough to follow my art lessons.
I found it especially harder to control the younger ones whose English proficiency is the lowest in the building.
But today, I saw a lot of progress in terms of them being able to follow rules & routines of the classroom.

As I walked into class today, something felt different.

The students seemed a little bit more welcoming and used to me.

Today I walked in and said,
"Good morning boys and girls" and they in reply say,

"GOOD MORNING MS. HELEN!!!!!"
(kiddies like to scream on top of their little lungs. i find my students here a lot more energetic than any other group of students I've ever had. it could be the sticky rice they eat for breakfast or perhaps its the crazy amount of milk they drink. students here drink milk like water! and if not milk, tea)

Anyways, the lessons went really well today and it gets me excited for the lessons to come this week.
Some of the projects that my students have worked on since the last update are:

Paper Bees by Level 1

They came out pretty stingy cute! Haha. 

Ice Cream Word Art by Level 2

Looks yummy enough to eat!

Hand Print Flowers 

with adjectives to describe each student. 

Some of the adjectives they used were: smart, funny, pretty, handsome, tall, short, loving etc.

One of my students raised his hand and asked,

"Teacher, how do you spell handsome? 

I am very handsome." 

Cuties.

More to come! 

Have a great week, everyone. 

Very quick update

I just got back from a 1 night 2 day trip to the Mekong Delta. 

The Mekong Delta (Vietnamese: đồng bằng sông Cửu Long “Nine Dragon river delta”) is the region in southwestern Vietnam where theMekong River approaches and empties into the sea through a network of distributaries. The Mekong delta region encompasses a large portion of southwestern Vietnam of 39,000 square kilometres (15,000 sq mi).^[1] The size of the area covered by water depends on the season.

It was definitely a VERY different scene from Ho Chi Minh City!

We visited 

-a family who makes a living by making coconut candies, 

-a fruit garden where they grow all kinds of tropical candies aka fruits, 

-floating markets (people selling goods from their boats),

-a brick factory where they make and bake their own bricks,

My favorite part of this weekend was riding a small boat (only fit 4 passengers) down one of the rivers.

It was so serene and I couldn't believe that people actually LIVE on the river. Their houses, markets, and all other life's necessities were only a boat ride away. I will have to do a more in depth post later!

Cooking Vietnamese

After work this morning, the other teachers and I signed up for a Saigon cooking class. One of our first dinners here in HoChi was at Hoa Tuc (which is a block away from our school building) and they happen to offer cooking courses right above their restaurant.

As stated on their pamphlet:

"We offer to learn traditional and contemporary food which tastes and looks delicious but is simple to prepare and recreate at home. You will use Vietnamese kitchenware to realize and enjoy a tasty 3 courses Vietnamese meal. Of course, no MSG are used." 

I have never taken a cooking course before, abroad or at home so this was a very new & exciting experience for me. I have heard from lots of travelers, including a few teachers on this trip that cooking classes are a great way to experience the country's cuisine & culture. 

Our cooking class started off slowly at around 2 pm. We were greeted warmly by our chef pictured below. 

She gave us a brief introduction to some of the different roots, vegetables, and herbs that we would be using.

Then it was on to our 1st course: Mustard leaves roll with crunchy vegetables & shrimps

It was fairly simple to make and the best part was making the fish sauce with kumquat juice! After each course, we were given 10-15 minutes to enjoy our creations. I inhaled mine in a matter of minutes. Haha. 

2nd course: Fried sticky rice fritters stuffed with pork & carrot

Tasted a lot like rice cakes but it was deep fried in peanut oil. Was pretty delicious. They also recommended making this dish into a dessert by stuffing it with coconut flakes and dark chocolate. Must try back at home!

3rd course: Fresh rice noodle with BBQ pork & vegetables

We got to marinate our pork from scratch & fan it on the charcoal! Felt very authentic. I've actually had this dish numerous times here but this one was the best yet! Soooo fresh. 

Overall, I had a really awesome time at the Saigon cooking class and would do it again in a heartbeat. It was definitely a great way to learn more about the Vietnamese culture and bring something valuable back home AKA the yummy recipes and experience! Can't wait to experiment and try it at home. Dinner parties.... anyone? ;)

Oh and the whole course cost $35. A little bit on the pricer side according to Vietnamese standards but it was a unique experience and definitely worth every penny, I'd say. 

Flying Solo in HoChi

Every Wednesday, I teach an intensive course to my level 1 students. It runs from 3-5pm (or 15-18:00) and it's an extra class after the morning class where the focus is on reading, writing, listening, and speaking.

All of the teachers on this trip have to teach an intensive course once a week on different days. Wednesdays are my days. So, after teaching my intensive course this afternoon, I decided to trek out to the streets of Ho Chi Minh... SOLO.

Now, it probably doesn't seem like a big deal but it was a pretty big deal to me. You see, I haven't really gone anywhere or done anything ALONE since I've gotten here. I didn't have a reason to do anything alone... since I am on this internship with 4 other fabulous teachers ;). 

Anyways, long story short, I had postcards waiting to be mailed out to NYC. 

I grabbed a quick lunch at school and with a map ripped out of my Lonely Planet book in one hand and a bunch of postcards in the other, I started on my journey to the post office, which was only about 5 blocks away (5 longgggg blocks...) haha. 

The walk started off slow... I crossed one street (yes, i am still alive!!!),

Crossed another (i wonder if people are staring because they can tell that I am not from here),

Crossed a huge intersection (i wonder if tourists ever get their foot run over by a motorbike...),

Walked down a huge street with lots of cute little stores & a bakery
(should I treat myself to something? the answer is always a YES! got myself a cheesy baguette),

Walked PAST where the post office should have been (asked a gentleman in a cop like uniform for directions...got redirected to go back half a block). 

Finally made it to the post office (licked about 20 stamps... yuck!) Happily handed the post office lady my cards and started on my long journey back to the school. On the way home, I decided to treat myself to some corn being sold by a lady on her bicycle. 

It was my reward for a SOLO trek well done. 

Cost me 5,000 dongs! 

Which is .25 cents.... haha.