Today’s classes were on the culture of the Mekong delta.  We learned how it was a fishing culture.  It has a mix of 5 different ethnicities, three different types of Vietnamese, one that came from Cambodia, and a Chinese.   They have similar cultural values as the rest of the Vietnamese, honesty, family loyalty, and trustworthiness.  After that, language lessons continued from where they left off.  I have got the basics of meeting people down.  It has been a useful thing knowing some language.  Most of the people that I meet love that I can say hello, thank you, and negotiate the price a bit.

After the class, we again tried to visit the market, but because of the timing, we were unable to go.  We went to ACDI/VOCA, a non-governmental organization focused on growing cacao.  They teach farmers how to grow their own cacao plants and turn those cacao plants into cocoa.  They also provide the farmers with startup plants.

Finally we and the UEF kids went to the karaoke bar.  That was an experience that just doesn’t exist in America.  We paid a flat rate and that got us some singing time and any amount of food up to that price.  We sang all American songs and although there was only supposed to be one or two people singing, everyone at least sang the chorus for every song.  The UEF kids protested that they didn’t know the words but they managed to join in on most songs so I doubt they had never heard these songs before.