School's Out!

On Wednesday I woke up at 8:00, hung out and got ready and went to Vietnamese class at 9:00. We took our last final test and mine went very well. There was writing, listening, and speaking portions and thankfully it all went so well. I left at 11:00 and came back to the dorm for a bit before Jackie and I caught a xe om to Finnegan’s. After a while Mike, Dale, Oliver, Tony, Leah, Meggie, and Will all showed up. I got this amazing penne pasta with chicken, mushroom, and alfredo sauce with the usual Coke. I ate it while teaming up with Mike to beat Tony and Dale at pool. After a couple more games with Leah, Meggie, and Jackie, we moved towards the front door and found that we were not the only ones eating at Finnegan’s. There was this cute little Vietnamese baby name Cami and her adoptive mother. The baby wanted me to hold her so I did and she was heavy and warm. We chatted for a bit and then I left with Jackie, Leah, and Meggie. We walked down the street and Meggie said she wanted to buy some flags, wich was a good excuse for me to go into my favorite flag store and again see my friends there. They were so excited to see me and my friends and immediately hooked us up with some little blue stools and really good glasses of Vietnamese tea. We sat with them for a while before walking down the street so that I could show them where I got my robe. It was 3:15 by them so I left them in the silk shop and caught a xe om back to the dorm. Jill was sleeping and when I arrived she got up and we took a xe om with all of her books from her independent study and two of mine. We traded them in at this English bookstore (the only one in Ha Noi), got money for them, and then I bought another one for all of the traveling I will be doing in the next few weeks. We left and then took the 31 bus back to the dorm.

I was back at the dorm by 5:00, hung out in my room for half an hour, and then went downstairs to grab Meggie, Jackie, and Leah to go get our dresses. We walked down the street to the tailor’s and she was ironing all of the dresses. It then took almost an hour and a half for all four of us to try ours on, get them shortened or taken in, etc. One of mine will be done tomorrow morning and the other was perfect. I just sat there and gave meaningless feedback since I probably know more about the digestive system of starfish than I do about freakin’ dresses. By 7:00 we were back at our rice buffet and I got extra peanuts, which was glorious.

At 7:30 pm I came back to them dorm, showered, put on my new dress, and hung out in Becca and Tica’s room while they got tanked. I drank the orange soda and hung out with them until they were ready to go to Finnegan’s at about 10:00. I took a taxi with Sarah, Brittany, DiDi, and Jackie and then sat around the pool table until it was Mike and me’s turn to play. We hardly got to take any shots at all because we played these really drunk (and somehow talented) Vietnamese men. They were creepy. After my game I heard that Meggie was almost having an asthma attack and ushered her out of the smoke-filled bar. We worked on counting and breathing in the “fresh” air outside. She was more stable when I was approached by this young woman who needed to get a xe om ride back to the Ha Noi Backpacker’s hostel. She had just gotten on one and he was drunk and lightly crashed into a car. I found a driver I usually go with, made sue he wasn’t drunk, and got her all set up with him (payment, address, etc). I then walked across the street and got on a xe om myself, which put me back at the dorm at 1:00. I climbed over the fence and then talked to Jackie for a bit before going up to my room, getting my laptop, and checking my email in the hallway. I got into my Morality of War class and now I finally have four classes! I’ll sign into the Feminism and Philosophy class (God help us) when I get back to school.