Last day!!!

Today we started our day with a light breakfast (just in case!), and continued on to HSU for some workshops. I had missed the day before but was pretty much caught up to date by the time that we got there. Our first assignment was in relation to the PowerPoint slides that we had made about a mock business proposal that had failed, and a second business proposal with a chance for success. We had to play out a scenario with our group that depicted An discussing a loan with a lender. This scenario included questions that the lender would ask, how the borrower would convince the lender that their idea was a successful one, etc. This was a hard concept to grab at first for the students, as most were confused and thought that we had to make up an entire new business plan, but eventually they got it and we were able to put together a scenario.
Our next assignment was to put ourselves in the place of a lender, and we were each given different examples of borrowers. The borrowers information that was provided to us included how much money they were requesting, what they planned to do as their business, and why they needed the money. As a group, we had to map out the potential expenses for the borrower, and decide if the amount of money that they were asking for was too much or too little, and if we should approve their loan overall. We then had to present it in front of everyone. This went by smoothly, and we followed our activities with lunch. Ruby had heard about us all getting sick so she bought us pizza for lunch. They each had different toppings, and we all rushed in order to grab the pizza that wasn’t seafood. Thankfully, a lot of the Vietnamese students preferred that one! I scored at my table with the veggie one!
Once our visit to HSU was over, we went back to the hotel for a quick break before dinner. Travis and I decided to make a quick stop at the market and the post office so that we could ship some things home before going to Thailand. We both spent about $100 shipping things home, which was more than I expected! It probably would have been the same price to pay for an extra bag on our flight to and from Thailand, but at least this way we didn’t have to carry as much stuff!
Later on, we get ready and leave for our last dinner with the students. We are told by our tour guide and teachers that since there is a little extra money than we had anticipated, we can order meals off of the menu tonight instead of eating the pre-set course, which was traditional Vietnamese food which we didn’t want to risk eating on our last day! Being sick on the plane ride the next day would not have been fun! Especially for those taking the long 22 hour journey back home! I ordered a vegetarian dish and ate some white rice as a side. After dinner we say our goodbyes to most of the students, and some of them offer to come with us for one last trip to the night market. We get amazing deals that night thanks to them; I’m talking 20% of quoted prices!!! We finally say our final goodbyes and go back to the hotel to pack and get ready for our long day tomorrow of flying to Thailand for Travis and I, and flying home for the rest of the group. Tạm biệt Vietnam!!!