First Impressions

We’ve been here for roughly three days so far. My first reaction is that I am really, really REALLY not in America anymore. The city is chaotic, stressful, loud and hot. The worst is the feeling of helplessness that accompanies this type of situation. You don’t know the language, the customs, the structure of daily life. Plus, everyone stares at you because you’re ‘big and white’ (as we like to say). At the same time, the city provides with its amazing food (I had the most amazing veggie spring rolls today) kind people and thriving day and night markets. It doesn’t hurt that everything is incredibly inexpensive compared to America. I love dem $1 meals!

We’ve been taking the city in stride. All of the Vietnamese roommates have been incredibly helpful. It’s safe to say we’d be very, very lost without them. Either way, I think we are all struck by how different everything is. It’s going to take a little while to get used to this city. I just really can’t wait until we get to see the country side. I’m especially excited for Hanoi and Cambodia.

In short, I can’t wait until I start feeling more comfortable with the city, right now it’s incredibly intimidating but I’m hoping that feeling won’t last too long. However, there is a sort of organized chaos to it all, a sort of puzzle. I think once I put all the pieces together, I’ll get the bigger picture.

Emma