Beach Day

Another long and full day in Vietnam. We got an early start today; I had a quick breakfast and we hopped on the bus for a three hour ride to Vung Tau, "a beach resort destination for vacationing Saigoners" (quote from Bryan). We drove to the base of a small mountain with a statue of Jesus on the peek. We climbed our way up 811stairs (there was a plaque) and were able to inside the statue to stand on his arms. It was a ridiculously hot hike, but the view 360-view from the top was absolutely worth it. We could see far out into the ocean to the front and over a beautiful village to the back. Breathtaking sight. After some quick and refreshing ice cream, we made our way back down and drove over to a resort. We changed, dropped off our bags, and ran right into the water. Amazing! The water felt perfect for the hot day, and it was actually warm, much unlike the Atlantic. I should probably mention that we were in the South China Sea, but the Vietnamese have disputed for its ownership and thus call it the East Sea. Anyway, we played in the water for a long time and slowly made our way back in for lunch. Clams, prawn, squid, cuttlefish (maybe?), and so much other delicious seafood. We went back down to the beach to relax under some umbrellas for a bit, and we also realized that many of us (including myself) forgot to put sunscreen on our shoulders, oh well. We got back in the water for a bit and then the UEF students decide to play a game similar to steal the bacon. Two teams stood a distance from a center object, in this case a plastic bottle, and when a person's number (later multiple people) is called they have to bring the object back to their side. The evolved as we continued to play, started as just tagging the person to stop them, to having to steal the object from them or fight them for it. I got the bottle a few times and ended up scratches and bruises on my arms from the girls' nails; apparently they know how to play rough. After showering off, we got back on the bus to make the trip home. We stopped part way at what the considered a truck stop... it was a small market. I got a peanut snack, and someone from UEF bought a bunch of snacks for everyone to try on the way back. We got back to the hotel, showered up, and headed out for dinner. A group of us, on the recommendation from Bryan, went to "Soul Food," and American burger joint. This was quite possibly the best burger of my life. After so much rice and other Vietnamese food, which is extremely delicious, a burger really hit the spot tonight. We got back to the hotel and I had a quick FaceTime chat with my mom and Heidi. Happy Mother's Day! It's nice knowing that things are good back home. I wrote my blog from yesterday and this one for today and called it a night. It's been an amazing first week and here's to week two!