Neophyte Notes

Hello! I haven't decided exactly how to format this blog, but I definitely don't want it to read like a diary, so I’ve summed up my observations from the first full day(ish). 

-       - Vietnamese street food is excellent. Very fresh and very mysterious. Here is a bad quality picture of

my dinner last night – a Banh Mi sandwich which I successfully ordered by gesturing helplessly at a cart. I couldn’t tell you what was in it, but it was delicious. I washed it down with coconut juice from another vendor - those are more coconuts on the kiddie table next to my meal. That’s the other thing, if you want to be seated by a street vendor, that usually means knealing on a plastic table about 1 foot of the ground. Not complaining, but I couldn’t help but feel a little childish as I stuffed my face and decided to look at ants on the ground instead of passersby.

-       - When crossing the street, look both ways, then look behind, forwards, up & down, take one step and repeat the process. As counterintuitive as it sounds, navigating the streets as a pedestrian seems to put you at the greatest vulnerability. In the street hierarchy of size and might, foot traffic is the lowliest niche.

-       - And yes, the streets are utter chaos. There is obviously a pattern to the ebb & flow of traffic at major intersections, but I have yet to work out how this system works. If there are indeed stoplights, the CVP has done a remarkable job of hiding them from stupid tourists. 

-     -  Just kidding, tourists are actually treated really well.  And most people are kind and honest. Walking around town as a lone female, I am frequently greeted by strangers, but I haven’t been catcalled even once. In my few business transactions, there have already been multiple opportunities for someone to cheat me out of a few bucks, but so far no one has.

-       - It is very smoggy. I don’t think the air quality is quite at Beijing levels of pollution, but it’s bad enough that most people wear cloth face masks while traveling on motorbikes and walking through dusty streets. Because of their popularity, these masks are somewhat of a fashion statement. I’ve seen designs ranging from Hello Kitty to Burberry. Here I am in my run-of-the-mill surgical mask, still sweaty from my job this morning.

Needless to say, I’m looking forward to getting a breath of fresh air on my first day trip next week (location tbd).

-      -  I’ve met a few Americans, but most of the other tourists and expats are European and Australian. Lots of French, Dutch, and German people. I went out with a few Aussies last night, who were a fun bunch. We went to two nightclubs that were nice and very Westernized – I think there’s a lot more to discover.

Which I will write about at a later date!