While waiting for the others to arrive on Monday, I participated in the one-day orientation. This was an awesome opportunity to meet the other volunteers—mainly university students like us from Europe, Australia, and other parts of the U.S. The day was filled with a fun, long classroom lesson on social/cultural aspects of typical Vietnamese day-to-day life: how to greet someone, proper dining etiquette, and even how to cross the street (without getting hit by a moped), followed by a language lesson!!
The others finally arrived around dinner time, and we all had the chance to introduce ourselves to all the volunteers at “Family Dinner”. We enjoyed our first Vietnamese meal together 🙂 At dinner, we decided to participate in the following two days of “culture week”, which was an organized opportunity to see multiple important spots in the city with a coordinator and some other volunteers. It was a difficult decision to give up 2 days at our volunteer placement, however we felt that getting to be taken to these places so conveniently by a local tour guide would positively impact the start of our experience here, as well as better prepare us to immerse in the culture of our placement. It also cheered up the group after 4 long flights 🙂
Day 1 of Culture week we visited the Emperor’s Jade Pagoda, the Reunification Palace, The Post office, Cathedral, a Lacquer painting workshop, and the Vietnam war museum. At the workshop, we were able to see how these beautiful works of art took months to make as the artists meticulously placed tiny pieces of seashell and eggshell onto the painting. At the war museum, we learned a lot through old journalist images and accounts of life during the war. On day 1 We also enjoyed our first Banh Mi and Vietnamese iced coffees!
Day One of Culture Week!
The Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica of Ho Chi Minh.
An example of the art we saw at the Lacquer Painting workshop.
Day 2 included a cooking lesson, where we learned to make spring and summer rolls using traditional rice papers and wraps! After we got to enjoy our creations!! This was followed by bracelet making to give as gifts to an orphanage. We then went to a “wet market”— pegged as wet due to the wet ground resulting from the seafood tanks and meat washing.
Our delicious creations from the cooking class.
The next day we began volunteer work at our placement, a food kitchen in the center of Ho Chi Minh City.
Overall, the week consisted of making new friendships with other volunteers that would last the remainder of the two weeks, as well as important learnings and experiences!
EGL Family Abroad 