Monday, May 20

It was not surprising when I woke up today with an 101.5 fever; after many long nights exploring Vietnam, and with extreme sleep deprivation, my habits finally had caught up to me. I had stomach pains, and felt like my body was freezing, yet my head was still overheated, covered in sweat. I relaxed at the hotel for the day, and ended up sleeping 8 hours during the day. I was very disappointed I wasn’t able to visit the palace with the group; I was so amazed when I saw the pictures Ben showed me when he came back. The various rooms were so elegant; Ben compared the palace to a huge fraternity house. The house of our fraternity at Pitt, Aepi, is a very small and beat up house. Some frat houses in the South are really comparable to the palace. Some houses house up to 80 people, and have full kitchens with hired chefs. I was too tired to go out to dinner with the group, so I had dinner at the hotel with Dr. Berman. It was great having a chance to talk with him about his work in education, and telling him about my parents who are both teachers. Hopefully, I will have more strength tomorrow and will re-join my group for classes and a company visit in the afternoon tomorrow.