Making Friends, Making Plans...

As most of you know, I found out about Vietnam right before I began studying for finals. This means I put pretty much zero thought into the fact that I was going to be in a foreign country for 6 weeks where I really had absolutely no point of reference in the language and knew no one. Everyone would ask me if I was nervous and I thought, "no way, just excited!" I might have been wrong to not be at least a little nervous. Because, as you've already read about, I went to DaNang and Hoi An right after I arrived in HCMC, I didn't really feel alone....quite yet. As the next week went by, I realized I had no friends, no one to travel with, eat with, shop with, get my cheap mani/pedis with. I'm not saying that I am Ms. Popular, however I've been known to have a friend or two under normal circumstances. HCMC was different. I didn't even know how to go about making friends because even if I learned to say "hello" in Vietnamese, that would be the extent of my conversational skills, and back I'd be at square one. As with all things, it got better. I began to meet some people at work. My vegetarian friend Joey from West Virginia became a good lunch buddy, Mimi from the VinaCapital Foundation showed me a great yoga studio (which I am now a proud member of), but finally Thao introduced me to my new travel buddy, another American law intern, Sara.



Sara and I have both lived in Spain, both go to law school in CA, and both chose Vietnam for our summer plans. Those commonalities in themselves made us fast friends and I couldn't be more grateful for her company! No more eating alone...I know you all are so relieved :). Sara and I have become serious companions. I mean, we already booked a trip together. Things move fast around these parts. The first night we met we got a little bit tipsy at an ex-pat bar called, Vasco's. A Spanish band was playing and the rest was....history.

Sara is the one on the left, in case you have all forgotten what I look like since I have been gone for over two weeks now! 

We booked a trip to Nha Trang, Vietnam for this Friday morning - Monday morning! This gives you an idea of what Nha Trang looks like, though of course I will be taking a million of my own pictures once I get there!

There's lots to do in Nha Trang, but it is best known for its underwater activities. I'll confess, I am not a huge fan of deep water. It freaks me out. I think I'll stick to some snorkeling and taking pictures on land. I'll let you know how that goes! 

What I am really excited for is that you can rent motorbikes for 9USD. I have wanted to ride a motorbike since I landed in HCMC, but  have been strongly advised against it for some pretty obvious reasons.

To give you an idea of what an HCMC street is like. This is tame, very, very tame.  They don't stop for pedestrians, in fact pedestrians are the lowest on the totem pole.

I'll have to take a better picture of motorbikes because the real traffic is insane, and I am not exaggerating. I know I tend to, but this time I am being dead serious. I have considered taking a cab home over crossing a street before. You all know I have bad luck with crossing streets (remember me circa 2005?) so for me it has been especially difficult to take the plunge and place my foot in front of oncoming traffic just to get to a store. Now, there are few things that will get me to walk in front of oncoming traffic: shopping and food. So I have adapted relatively quickly and now am getting much better at walking in front of a moving, accelerating group of motorbikes, who are without a doubt aiming for me. 

Ok back to Nha Trang. It is a smaller beach town and so I think that it will be much safer to rent and ride motorbikes there. I guess you'll find out when/if I get back - kidding! Of course I'll be just fine :) . There are also hot springs, bars, beaches and wonderful restaurants in Nha Trang. I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Jessie xo