Friday was one of the best days ever. My friends and I went on a (free!) tour of the Freia chocolate factory with the International Student Union from Uni. On the train ride there, we were all joking about how we hoped it would be like WIlly Wonka and have a river of chocolate and edible walls etc. Obviously, we were joking around, but seriously this place was magical. As we approached the building, the smell of chocolate was impossible to miss and it put a smile on all of our faces. First stop inside the factory? The super awesome candy store, where everything was at least 50% less than in stores. We all came out with bags full to the brim. One girl bought an entire display of Oreos!

Next stop was the chocolate making room. By far, the coolest thing. We sat around picnic benches as our tour guide, Inge-Johanne, placed bowls full of different Freia chocolates in front of us. There were at least 6 different candy bowls on each table. Then came the fun part: we each got to make our own Freia chocolate bar! after spreading the melted milk chocolate into our mold, we used the different candies to “decorate” our precious creations. It was so neat to make chocolate!

After this, we headed to Freia Land, Norway’s take on the concept of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. Seriously, coolest thing ever. We gathered into the room that looked like a giant Kvik Lunsj (Norway’s favorite candy car; basically a KitKat) and Inge pulled out a silver platter stacked with mini Kvik Lunsj bars. Then, a secret door opened up and we were in the middle of the rainforest, on the hunt for cocoa pods. We walked into a cave and found ourselves in an ancient meso-American temple, complete with wall paintings and a giant stone alter in the middle. We learned the story of how chocolate was discovered and revered and eventually used as a form of currency. A second secret door opened, and we stepped into a time machine! Inge asked for a volunteer to crank back the clock, so I (of course) quickly volunteered and took us to 1527. From there, we visited a 16th century ship bound for the Americas, a dutch windmill that created hot chocolate powder, Norway’s first chocolate shop/parlor, and finally crossed giant glaciers and traversed the Norwegian mountainside to get back to the factory, receiving a different Freia chocolate at each stop.

When we came out of Freia Land, our chocolate bars were lined up and waiting for us in the little boxes we had decorated previously. When we moved to take them, Inge told us to wait and proceeded to add a bag of Non-Stop candies and three rolls of chocolate to each of our bars! Best. Tour. Ever. The only downside to this day was the fact that I have given up sugar for Lent, so I couldn’t actually eat any of the delicious chocolates that surrounded me all day. But, it’s worth the wait, and I’m happy to have shared this fantastic experience with my friends :]

can you tell I like candy? :p

Life here has picked up quite a bit here these last two weeks. I have been interning at the M.A.R.Q. museum two days a week, doing various tasks. I put ancient pottery back together, properly document and store artifacts, assist in constructing the exhibit decorations, and overall understanding the ins-and-outs of the museum. It’s been a lot of fun and easy work, something I can definitely see myself doing in the future!

School has also quickened its pace- more homework every day and more advanced Spanish grammar and vocabulary. My Spanish has definitely improved since when I first arrived, and is constantly getting better. I talk to my host family a lot, during meals or when watching movies together, and go out with them a lot as well.  I love going to the gym with my host sister Olga. She is so sweet and funny, and tries practicing her English with me. Last weekend, we went shopping together and designed our outfits for Carnival, which is one of Spain’s biggest festivals. It’s a weeklong celebration, filled with beautiful and fun costumes, lights and decorations, and fun activities and concerts. People prepare for this celebration weeks in advanced. My host sisters already had their outfits planned out back in January. Olga and her friends were to be butterflies, and Idoia and her friends were all going to be Pippy Longstocking. Basically, it was Spain’s massive Halloween celebration, and the buildup to the weekend got me pumped. I decided to go as a Can-Can girl since my host family already had the costume. The big Carnival celebration took place on that Saturday, and it was the biggest group of people I had ever seen outside in which everyone, and I mean EVERYONE was dressed up. Every costume you could imagine was there, from giant Leggo Men, to Smurfs, pirates, movie stars, animals, and more… you name it, and it was there. Most of the people in the streets were young adults, and there were thousands of them, all drinking, listening to music, and enjoying each other’s company and costumes. I went with my host sisters first, to see how the Spaniards celebrated, and eventually met up with my American friends later. We went to the concerts, which mainly played American oldies from the 80s, and of course, to the food stands. It was an absolute blast, and I stayed out until 8 am the next morning! I couldn’t believe I didn’t collapse from exhaustion, but there were so many people and excitement that I couldn’t leave until the city decided to sleep. On Sunday, I slept well into the day, and spent the end of it relaxing on the beach with friends, reminiscing about how crazy the night before was.

I got to work with ancient bones in the museum this week, which was incredibly cool. I also met some South Saharan immigrants living in Alicante, who live here to avoid the political turmoil in Africa, as well as learn Spanish and English. It was really interesting hearing their stories, and having them feed me and some other students their typical food from their country.

This weekend was a little more relaxed, as compared to Carnival. My friends and I spent a lot of time at the beach, playing volleyball and socializing. On Saturday, we went to a small city near Alicante, called Murcia. When I originally told my host family I was going there for a day trip, they cringed at first and asked why. I told them because I wanted to see it and it was close enough for a day trip. Ten of my friends and I went that Saturday morning around 11 am, arrived at noon, and started exploring right away. I realized right away why my family all cringed- there wasn’t much in Murcia. There was a cool Cathedral and old Moroccan themed casino, but not much else than that hahaha. We all had lunch near the river that runs through Murcia, and later we all got ice cream and hung out around the city. We stayed until about 6 pm, walking around and exploring, and returned around 8 pm. Surprisingly, for not having done too much, we were all tired and spent the rest of that night at home with our families.The next day I watched Avatar with my host sister and her boyfriend, Tony, all in Spanish. It was easy enough to understand everything, and I learned a few new words as well.

On Monday, after school and my internship, I met my intercambio Alberto. He is a Spaniard I am assigned with to converse in English and Spanish, allowing us both to improve in our speaking abilities. He is 24 years old, and is studying law and finances at the university in Elche. We went to a little coffee shop with cupcakes, and talked for about two hours. He is a very sweet guy, and interesting too. He loves surfing and playing water sports, and wants to learn English so he can eventually move to the states. It was fun talking with him, and I plan to meet with him next week to talk more.

I am really excited for this weekend- the USAC program put together a trip to Granada for all the students. My host family says it’s one of their favorite cities, and one of my good friends is studying abroad there, so I am excited to see what it has to offer! Updates to come!

Hasta luego amigos!

Ryann

A few days ago, my friends and I decided to have an “international dinner party” to try foods from all of our home countries. It was such a great night! There was an absolute smorgasbord of food and many dishes I had never had the opportunity to try before:]

From Japan, we had a thin bread stuffed with different vegetables and meat with a spicy sauce on top. So good

A friend from CHina made spicy tofu soup, which I didn’t try because I don’t eat tofu, but it looked delicious!

From Germany one girl made sauerkraut and another made mashed potatoes :]

Two friends from Italy made homemade vegan tiramisu and salami cioccolato, both of which looked fantastic but I couldn’t eat because of Lent!

A boy from Poland made a mixed berry compote and two Polish girls made a traditional Polish soup. I really liked the soup:]

From the Czech Republic, there were potato pancakes with vegetables inside which were delicious

A boy from Norway made mini chocolate cakes that literally made the entire room smell like delicious chocolate as soon as they came out of the oven

A friend from Mexico made potato and cheese quesadillas

My absolute favorite food of the night? Two friends from South Korea made AMAZING barbecue chicken. Seriously, one of the best things I have ever eaten! Bonus: they’re going to teach me how to make it! Yessss

America was well-represented with one friend who made a ton of bacon, a girl made hotdogs stuffed with cheese and potatoes; I helped my friend make an apple crisp and I made buckeyes!

Altogether, it was a great night filled with friends food and awesome conversation. I couldn’t have asked for a better group of friends than these :]

 

The longer I live in Vietnam, the more I realize just how wonderful (in a good/bad sort of way) it is to be in a developing country. For our Environmental Science class, we toured the different canals around HCMC and were able to engage in a first hand learning experience how the garbage system works. At garbage stations around the city (there are around 17 but they need about 6 more to really be efficient) people pick through garbage by hand. Literally, outside of these smelly, unsafe, unsanitary areas. .. people do this to earn a little extra income. Most of them do this with their bare hands and have no masks/sanitary equipment. It’s the norm for HCMC but if that were the case in the states, well, it wouldn’t be. There is a much different sense of necessity here as well as means of what to do in order to merely survive. Seeing people do this is a very grounding experience. I wish everyone had the opportunity to see the lives of these people, maybe it would encourage them to be less wasteful and realize how they should take full advantage of the wonderful system America implements. America has its problems, sure. However, at least we have recycling and garbage treatment plants. We also found   out that certain countries, such as the Netherlands and even the U.S., have paid for construction of more garbage stations around HCMC.

One of the most interesting things about these donations are that many people refuse the help. The treatment plants are built, of course, but the Netherlands have offered to do more than that. They have offered toilets to those without them. We might think it’s insane to not have a toilet but for those in more slum-like areas, they just dump everything in the water. It’s easier, more convenient. Trash/etc. is thrown out the window. Pretty much every kind of waste goes in the canals. WHY do people not realize how bad this is for their health and the health of the environment? For me, these were the most pressing questions that arose as we drove around the city. Why?

Slums in HCMC

First of all, it’s a matter of cost. Vietnam is a developing country and has little money to invest in advanced technology for waste management, recycling programs, etc. Also, in a city of 10 million people, everything is squished together. Therefore, the streets are very thin, more like alley ways. It’s impossible to get any sort of large garbage truck down such small streets. Instead, the alleys are cleaned by manual workers who have small carts and a broom. They go street by street and sweep up garbage.

Trash bins used to collect trash in narrow alleys

The largest problem, however, is awareness. Many Vietnamese have no idea how their actions affect their health and the environment. When they throw waste into the canals and on the banks, mosquitos and rats flourish. This leads to disease. Living in such unsanitary conditions is, in general, very harmful to their health. My environmental professor even told me people catch and eat fish out of the canals — as they don’t understand how eating the fish from such dirty conditions could be harmful.

In this way I have been intrigued by the waste management system of HCMC. It’s something I had never really considered before and without doubt, have taken advantage of. Development is such an important part of HCMC and becomes evident when you see slums and the conditions of living. It’s even stranger to see modern apartment buildings behind the slums.

Every day, I become more and more appreciative of this experience — it has been a month now and I think I’m finally starting to really settle in.