Since we've been at a hotel that charges to be on the computer I haven't written the last couple of days- my apologies!!! But I shall take the time now to catch everyone up!!!!

Wednesday (the rest of it): we met up with a couple of Vietnamese people we met from the other orchestra- at the Vietnam Academy of Music. Velvet, Trang, Qua, and "Santa" took us to some of the important things in Hanoi- including an Opera House, ice cream, and a park. We stood outside the operahouse taking pictures, until a guard asked us to step away. Trang later told me there was an important person inside. They bought us icecream...twice actually. Both times we walked by. First time it was white- they said it is flavored with rice, but the stage before rice becomes rice, which we apparently don't have in the US. Second time we got chocolate. I love chocolate. As I was crossing the street with Trang, a motorcyclist came flying out of no where and almost hit me- I was trying to get out of the way but Trang kept pulling me until she saw him. But I survived, so no need to panic! The boys split off (they were sleepy) while the girls took us to a park that they said was popular late at night due to the breeze blowing through as well as all the vendors. They walked us back to our hotel after that, and we said goodnight.

Thursday I ate chocolate pancakes (again) and left for the VNAM (Academy of Music) for a 2 hour practice. Trang met us there and invited Gretta, Evelyn, Lissette, and me to lunch at her house. After checking with Shuichi (our director) we walked to her house- about 2 minutes from the school. We met her mom, were offered some tap water (which we didn't drink), and went to the market to buy food. We left our bags up at the front, and went shopping. Velvet then walked into the store, screaming at Trang. Of course it was all in Vietnamese, so we just stared in confusion. She walked up to Gretta and demanded the cell phone she had lent her (while we were in Hanoi), saying "we're thru!" Gretta couldn't get it back to her, since she had kept it in the bag that was at the front of the store. So Velvet walked off. After we were back at Trang's house, Velvet was texting Gretta, trying to convince her to come get drinks with her. We are not supposed to split up, so we said no, since Velvet only wanted Gretta to go. Velvet ended up coming over and talking to Gretta outside, with Lissette there to keep Velvet from bullying Gretta into anything. They ended up walking a close distance to get drinks, while we called a taxi. We picked Gretta up, drank the sugar cane drinks, and headed back to the hotel, getting there 5 minutes before the bus was leaving. We went to dinner, got back to the hotel, picked up our dresses, and went to our concert. Some people went out with new-found friends, but I was sleepy so I went straight to bed.

Friday we went to Halong Bay. It took about 3 hours by bus, while we stopped halfway. We were separated into 4 groups, which ended up being about 20 people per boat, and one guide per group. Our guide was so CUTE! He was really shy, but friendly. We first went to the caves- walked around a bit while they talked to us about what rock looks like what animal. Then some of us went on to another cave, while others went back to the beach. On the way to the second cave we saw a huuuge spider, hanging from a web above the trail. Within this second cave we discovered....prepare yourselves...the door to Middle Earth!!!! And from the other side it was the door to Narnia! To the naked eye it looks like a square hole in a rock, but some of us can see it's true purpose. Anywho, we went back to the beach, took some group pictures, and got back on our boats. We were fed while traveling to a Floating Village, and stopped at one of the fish houses? I don't really know what to call it. It's basically a floating house that has holes cut into the floor with nets on the inside, where they've put the various kinds of fish they caught. One kind looked like small sharks, but after asking our guide we found out they're only fish. We got back on the boat, and went on. Gretta and I went and sat on the front of the boat, took our shoes off, and reinacted some parts of Titanic. And we have some epic pictures from it! This was my favorite part of the trip up to this point. We got back on the bus, drove back to Hanoi, and went to eat (at about 9 PM). Gretta, Lewis, Peter, Jared, and I got a VIP room- its a small room that the table is set deep into the floor, with cushions set around it for people to sit on, and surrounded by cloudy glass. It was amazing! So amazing we actually didn't notice when everyone else had gone. We knew our way back though, so we walked back to find out no one had even noticed we hadn't been there; not even our chaperone. Trang and Velvet met us back at the hotel, with those two back on normal terms. Trang gave us each sweet little cards she had written, and said goodbye. Velvet had us sign a book, and also said goodbye. I gave Trang a hug, said goodbye yet again, and went to bed.

Saturday I woke up at 6 AM, ate more chocolate pancakes, and rode to the airport. On the plane I was able to finish Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card...it was crazy! And apparently Stephanie has the sequel so I shall have to borrow it! We landed safely in Bangkok, and went to our 5 star hotel. I loved it! We got to stay there for 2 1/2 days, then came back to Assumption University. While we were in the hotel, a few of us went to the Emporium for lunch, gelato, and a movie! Well, we got the tickets to a movie. Sarah, Stephanie (the camera lady) and I went to get a massage- full body Thai massage. I enjoyed it- until she got to my shoulders and neck. I almost cried it hurts so bad. Next time I get a massage (hopefully in Phuket) I'm either going to have them skip my shoulders or just have a foot massage. We went to the movie at 7:40- it was Angels and Demons. We bought special tickets for VIPs or something- they turned out to basically be recliners but without the foot part, but it didn't turn out to be that awesome. The movie also sucked, although I was the only one out of our group of about 8 to think so.

Sunday we went to the Chatuchak Open Air Market- "the world's largest flea market". I think Shuichi told us it covers about 60 acres. It was hot, humid, sweaty, and smelled like an open sewer. It was fun to see all the stuff people sold, but I can only handle so many sensory things at once. I bought more present, watched my money, and walked around absorbing as much as I could. We went back to the hotel, Gretta and I ate Subway, and we drove for 1 and 1/2 hours to go play a concert that we SUCKED. On the way back though, spirits were suprisingly high, at least in the front part of our bus, while we had a mosquito killing fest, then went on to telling jokes. We went swimming in our SWEET outdoor pool, and went to sleep. I am coming close to curfew, so I will tell you about today tomorrow!!! (Today was Monday by the way)