St. John's University Athletics
Volleyball Postcard: Greetings From Vietnam Part X
5/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- St. John's Volleyball Travels To Vietnam
Hey Everyone,
Today is May 20, 2007, and we left Ho Chi Minh City this morning for Hanoit. This had to have been one of my worst mornings this whole entire trip so far. The day that we had to be ready by 6 a.m., would be the day that I sleep past 5 a.m. It was quite frustrating, but we were heading to breakfast first so that kind of cheered me up.
After I ate a lovely plate of bacon and scrambled eggs, it was time for us to load the bus with our bags that seemed to weigh 30 pounds more than what we initially brought in the beginning. Nguyen, our hostess, passed around a little book and had us all write out our email addresses so that we could keep in contact with her after the trip. As we reached the airport, we unloaded our baggage from the bus and said our goodbyes to Nguyen. It was sad to leave her behind because she has been with us the whole trip and it felt like she was one of us. I???ll miss you Nguyen!
Since Hanoi was only about a two hour flight, I thought it would be a piece of cake since, obviously, it was nothing compared to our trip to Ho Chi Minh City from New York. Well, I was wrong. I walked on the plane to see that the seats were extremely close to one another. I am all legs and tight seats were not going to make for a comfortable flight. So, I sit down in my aisle seat and my knees are kissing the seat in front of me. This had to have been the worst position possible. I extend my legs into the aisle to feel more comfortable and the flight attendants are constantly tapping me asking me to put my feet back in my row. The problem is they won???t fit! When I looked over I saw our travel mate Duan at a 90 degree angle with his head nearly touching the seat in front of him. But I eventually got over my lack of leg room. Coach Mario wanted to recline his seat, which should have been forbidden on that plane.
We landed in Hanoi and were not greeted by a whole university of students like when we landed in Ho Chi Minh. We were just greeted by our tour guide. Lena [Yee] claims that his name is Bic (pronounced bike), so that is what we have been calling him all day. We got on the bus and drove an hour to our hotel. On the way there I admired at the homes along the side of the road. They are just fascinating. They are very narrow and tall, and varied in color. As we passed the homes, I saw cows!! I suddenly began to daydream and the cows turned into golden arches and the thought of a McDonald???s near by made me quite excited.
We arrived for lunch at this restaurant that came out of nowhere. I believe this was Coach Li???s highlight of the day. He tried everything!! From spaghetti to cow feet, it was in his plate; and his plate was practically licked clean. Everything that he tried he threw in the phrase ???If you throw in a cold beverage, you???ll be in heaven.??? I do not think a Coke and pig???s tail is the heaven I look forward to.
After lunch we arrived at the beautiful Hanoi Horison Hotel. We only had time to put our things in our rooms and come back downstairs because we had a tour of Hanoi scheduled.
First, we went to the Temple of Literature. My teammates and I wanted to explore the streets with Coach Mario, so we went to different shops. The traffic is nothing like in Ho Chi Minh City. We were able to cross the street with ease without being nearly run over by a moped. We then went to the Hanoi Hilton. This is not a Hotel. It was a French prison for Vietnamese political prisoners. We were able to go inside the cells and see where the prisoners were kept. Casie [Brooks] was caught taking pictures as if she was an actual prisoner. A new hotel took over most of the land, and it is said that when they look out the window into the prison late at night, you can see the dead prisoners lying in this one courtyard.
After we toured the prison, we took an hour bicycle tour to the dinner cruise. This was exciting and scary at the same time. I felt that I was going to get ran off the road by a moped or run over by a bus that drove extremely close to my carriage. We finally get to the boat and realize that four of our teammates are missing. Liz [Austin], Lena [Yee], Alanna [Rutan], and Val [Kovaleva] are all missing. As the boat is leaving the dock, I see my baby Lena walking. She has this walk that you can not miss. She tends to walk like she is tough, but she???s barely 5???2???. They get on a speed boat and were able to make a celebrity appearance on the boat.
Well, it is late and I have to get this posted before I fall asleep. Mom, Dad, Johnie and Soroya, I miss you guys so much. Mom, sorry if you couldn???t see me on AIM today.
Thank you all for your support
Latoya Blunt #10
