Friday was a great day. It started with a trip to the police station to try and get the papers I need sorted, but the woman at the desk sounded quite angry from what I could tell without being able to understand a word, and again it wasn't resolved. The police needed the landlord of Vi's building to go and verify that she's happy to have me staying in the room. It had been arranged that one of the AIESECers, a girl called Ka Ly (said Cali, as in California) would give me a city tour at 2pm. With some time to kill before then, Vi took me to District 1 to see a few sights. Ho Chi Minh City is divided into districts - the district that I am living in is called the Binh Thanh District. District 1 is the city centre, which is more developed and where most tourists go when they visit the city. It was actually good to see other tourists for a change! Vi showed me the Notre Dame Cathedral, which was very impressive, and the Central Post Office, which was designed by French architect Gustave Eiffel (recognise the name?!). We were then joined by my buddy within the AIESEC team, Vu. The three of us sat in the park enjoying cold drinks before heading for lunch at a place that serves traditional food from Hue. Safir and his buddy, Uyen, joined us here for lunch. I had a dish that is described as a pancake, but which was like a - for want of a better word - slimy spring roll that hadn't been deep-fried, with various fillings. I'm afraid I can't say that it was the nicest dish I've ever tasted. After lunch we met Ka Ly, and all of us went to visit the Independence Palace. I like looking around old buildings so found it enjoyable- it was definitely impressive! And I think I may have just about got my head around the wars in Vietnam, and the events that led up to tanks crashing through the gates of the palace on 30th April 1975, when Vietnam regained its independence. We then saw the grand theatre before heading back to Vi's. The evening was taken up by a party at a coffee shop (there are hundreds all around the city and they stay open late, so are a popular place to hang out in), hosted by the university's Business English Club. The party was themed around the fact that it was April fool's day, so everything had a bit of a twist to it. There were 'stickers' that you won for various things throughout the party, and I completely lost in terms of stickers, but they twisted it so that the loser won the prize, which was nice! It was good to meet some more of Vi's friends.

Saturday was altogether a much quieter day. Vi takes extra lessons all day on a Saturday, so I was left on my own for much of the day. Vu picked me up and took me for lunch, which I was very grateful for as I wasn't brave enough to venture out alone! I spent my free time reading and doing some work towards the Living With HIV Project, as we were meeting for the first time that afternoon. Long came and picked me up from home, taking me to the venue - a coffee shop called Lavender. We met in a small room that had been hired out, and were fortunate enough to have an expert, who has been working with HIV awareness and counselling for 13 years, attend the meeting and go through our content with us, providing advice. It was incredibly educational, but was fun at the same time. A large part of the education that we will be providing students aged 11-25 will be regarding sex and how to protect yourself. It was great as the expert helped to ease any embarrassment and there were a lot of funny moments! Sex education in Vietnam is very basic, limited to biology classes, and I was surprised to discover that there was quite a lot that some of the Living with HIV team themselves didn't know. Safir and I were both able to cover subjects quite openly, and it made me appreciate how lucky we are in the UK to receive such a good education. It has also re-emphasised how important these workshops are, if well-educated university students don't know all the facts, then the messages we'll be delivering are vital in the fight against HIV. The workshops will be delivered in English with a Vietnamese translation, so hopefully having foreigners in the presentation who are happy to talk openly about sensitive sujects will make the students pay more attention, while the translation will ensure that everything is understood. Hopefully we'll break down a few barriers. The day ended with a nice group meal.