Xin chao, friends!

Well, after about 22 hours of travelling I landed in hot Ho Chi Minh City on Monday night. The jet lag was pretty brutal on Tuesday (11 hour time difference) but since then I have quickly adjusted. The city is full of life, friendly people, curious people, insane traffic, and beautiful foliage--yes, foliage in a city! All of the closely packed apartments have beautiful vines, ferns, and palm trees. 

On Tuesday we toured the city with Alyce, (our brilliant and bubbly guide), had our first bowl of "pho" (a hot, delicious soup), and met our Ho Chi Minh "buddies". Hoang Anh (right) greeted me with a huge smile and quickly linked arms with me as we headed to dinner with the rest of the group.  So far, Vietnamese women have been exceedingly friendly and kind to me. As I walk along the streets many of them smile, converse, or help me. However, I have noticed that many of the men here seem very wary of my abroad group. I am not sure where the discrepancy comes from between the two genders.

Last night my roommate Grace and I brought our buddies back to the room and showed them pictures of home, talked and laughed, and took warped pictures on my “Photo booth”. It amazed me how well we all clicked even though our home lives are truly worlds apart. Tonight we’re going to purchase Vietnamese phones with our buddies and see where the night takes us!