Today we visited the American Embassy in Hanoi. Interesting experience. It reminded me a lot of visiting with the Border Patrol during my Mexico trip...so if you know me at all, I think you can understand how this visit felt. It's very interesting to talk to all kinds of people about the culture though, and the perspective I got today from the man at the embassy will contribute to my learning...or something I hope.
His job seems like the coolest thing in the world though. He's with the Foreign Service which is part of the State Department, so he gets to work in Embassies all over the world for a few years at a time. So he's lived in India, Bangladesh, Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, all over the place! Sounds like my kind of gig. (except for the whole ethnocentrism thing; I think he had a little too much self-rightousness with his wheaties this morning) But yeah, I want his job.
Some friends from my program are traveling after our stint is over in Viet Nam. They're going to Cambodia, Thailand and Malaysia, and I'm so jealous. I really couldn't afford to do it, but now that I'm here I wish I would've sold my plasma or something to pay for it because it sounds pretttttty amazing. They're going to ride elephants, explore jungles, and go bamboo rafting, just to name a few of the awesome things they've got planned out. I hope they send me a post card from the back of the elephant.
Tomorrow we're venturing off to Ha Long Bay, which I've been told is one of the most beautiful scenic areas in Viet Nam. You should look up pictures of it to get a feel, it seems pretty breath-taking. We get to go swimming there too! That'll be a great way to deal with the ridiculous heat over here. Seriously you step out of the bathroom after getting all cleaned off in the shower, and you're immediately drenched in sweat again. Cleanliness is impossible; bathing is obsolete.
That's all for now friends, Ciao as they say :)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment