The IB CAS trip to Da Nang, Hue and Hoi An was a bizarre mix of our extreme hyperactivities and emotions. Every moment was filled with laughter, newly-developed inside jokes and hilarious questions. Hue captivated us with its beautiful and unbelievably sophisticated Imperial Citadel, elegant and intriguing folk songs, as well as its heavenly cuisine. Hoi An led us into a magical ancient town filled with colorful lanterns and cute houses that now belong to the eighth generation of families, where you can walk as slowly as you please and enjoy a street vendor’s homemade tofu. We cooked our own Hue royal food, saw fascinating architecture, observed the beauty of religious sanctuaries, appreciated how to work as a team and especially learned the true meaning of giving and taking.
We arrived at the Agent Orange Center in Da Nang wishing to add brighter colors to the lives of the residents there, but we left receiving much more happiness beyond our imagination. The people at the center happily welcomed us with flowers and a performance of dance and song, as if their life conditions were not any harsh.
In every place and with every person encountered, we all smiled, learned, and soared. We wished for a fun trip and it turned out remarkably amazing. We also owe our most sincere thanks to Mr. Hai and Mr. Khoa, our amazing and wildly comic tour guides for enlivening each visit with their ‘seemingly-endless’ knowledge and jokes about people and places. Most importantly, we show our appreciation to the three selfless, full-time energetic supervisors: Mama Goulet, Mama Michel and Papa Pasquale (even though they told us they would not be our parents but ended up acting like ones anyway).
Helen Nguyen and Alice Nguyen (G11)
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