Forget Mayweather vs Paquiao, today was the match-up of the century. Pitt vs UEF, America vs Vietnam, in basketball and soccer. Led by Coach B-Schultz, the American team was heavily favored for basketball with a strong height advantage. Soccer was the sport to fear as it is far more popular in Vietnam than America. The matches were held early, to avoid heat but the crowded gym was still a furnace. The result? Basketball: a Vietnamese victory. Soccer: an American thrashing. That can't be right... How is that possible!?
Here's what happened. Despite being tall Americans, we forgot to consider the fact that we are all terrible at basketball. Aster was the only one who could score. That's right, Aster, one of the smallest girls on the trip, was our MVP. Meanwhile, their team was actually fairly good and much taller than the average Vietnamese student. During soccer, our co-ed teams were fairly evenly matched as both teams took advantage of the other team's inexperienced players. Then, during the girls game, the American team absolutely dominated as most of the girls on the trip were experienced soccer players. Although, yet again, Aster managed to score most of the goals.
Overall, I had a lot of fun playing the students but I wish there was more time for me to play soccer as the co-ed game seemed rather short and the was no men's game.
Post sports was lunch, which unfortunately I think most Pitt students were not happy with. While the food was delicious as always, I was drenched in sweat and all I could think about was a shower. To make things worse, we got lost on our way to the restaurant and were stuck in the sun for about half an hour. Regardless, we ate and made it back to the hotel to swim, shower, and sleep, which felt amazing.
That night was our farewell dinner, which we all got dressed up for. I put on my new, tailored suit and took pictures in the lobby with the whole group. Then we headed out to our dinner which was on a boat. The boat traveled up and down the Saigon river as we ate, giving us a spectacular view of the city. They also had live music which was great and a "flamenco" dance number that was really just two women dancing around in flamenco dresses. While it wasn't really authentic, it was still entertaining.
And that concludes my trip to Vietnam! I'm really sad to go, although I am very exhausted. Vietnam has certainly made an amazing impression on me and I will definitely look for opportunities to return. Hen gap lai!
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