First Impressions

           I arrived to the airport after 24 hours of travelling, exhausted but ready to finally meet Vietnam, the country that has preoccupied my thoughts since October. I always store in my memory the first moment I encounter a new country. The moment of walking out of arrivals, the rush of heat, the clash of smells; the blur of unfamiliar faces. The explosion of chatter which forms into a single hum of people excitedly anticipating friends and love ones. In that instant, I am simultaneously overwhelmed and excited—a bit too much of both, as I try to scan the crowd for what I remember my supervisor looks like. Not long after, I hear my supervisor’s voice above the crowd shouting ‘Joy!’, waving a sign with my name on it to greet me.

            The drive from the airport to the hotel took about 20 minutes with traffic, and in between chatting with Elizabeth, I steal glimpse of what will become ‘home’ for the next few months—a city full of contradictions; as old meets new.  Remnants of French colonial influence grace old buildings. Motorcyclists outnumber cars—which I learn that when the rush hour begins, the sidewalks become another traffic lane. Street vendors sell their trades on every corner and meters away, top to bottom glass sky-rise business complexes and malls with stores like Gucci, sparkle in the sun.

             6 months from now, this place—its sounds, its people, the rhythm of the tonal language, the heat, will not seem so foreign. I will settle into a routine, I will begin my time working with Habitat, and I’ll find people who I connect with. At the end, I will feel as though I am being torn away from life as I know it. For now, I exist as a stranger to this captivating city of 10 million, trying to take every moment, sight and sound that swamps me.