Parasites in Vietnammm

Vietnammm: Food-delivery at its best!

           So the last week and a half has been the most dull and I have nothing exciting or challenging in terms of work/culture to report about my experience here. Getting sick is one of the worst parts in a cross-cultural experience. Let’s just say, I have been pushed well pass the ‘honey-moon phase’ of cultural shock. I’m currently in the ‘I don’t want to be here’ phase, thanks to the less than wanted presence of a parasite.  Yes, a parasite, which has resulted in me working from home this whole time, having to avoid the sun thanks to a medication to help prevent one potential side effect of it.
           Avoiding the sun, in Vietnam? In the start of the hot season? Oh Yes, this will turn out well…and by that I mean I’ve literally only left my apartment when the sun goes down, as it is so unbelievably hot right now. I get no natural sun-light where I’m saying, so I’ve taken to calling this time as my ‘bat cave’ days. I usually am more optimistic in terms of personality, but not this week at all. I’ve realized that I also get more homesick and want familiar things around me when I get really sick when travelling/ living abroad. It'll be a few weeks before the parasite actually goes away but I finished the first round of medication already! Despite being miserable and whiny, and basically a hot mess this entire time, there are a few things that managed to make me forget--at least temporarily, how awful I was feeling:

• Technology: Face-time= best 99 cents ever spent on an app! Its been so good to actually see faces of family and friends and the connection allows for!! Skype—I still appreciate you, even though you usually fail miserably at making video-calls and even voice calls here, but you worked great a few times this week. Also! G-chat and google phone. Thank the Lord for technology hear?!
• Vietnammm: a lovely food-delivery website my supervisor introduced me to a while ago. I hadn’t used it until this week, as I’d usually walk around after work to go find dinner. However, I started using it to order lunch! I’ve tried about 3 new restaurants thanks to the website, and the delivery is flawless! My new favorite is ‘The Black Cat’, ‘In the top 10 of CNN’ the slogan reads. I’ve also been able to specify what things I’m allergic to so its not in my food, which has been hard to really control in most of my time being here.
• Seeing Cover-Drive on TV: ‘Cover-Drive’ is a great band from home, Barbados, that’s I’ve been following since their cover-days on YouTube. They were signed to a label, and have been doing big things—Bajan Style!, on the music scene especially in the UK and that side of the world. Well I randomly turned on the TV and it was still on a music-video channel, and a video was ending. Then literally, I heard: ‘TWILIGGHHTTTT!!!! I’M LOVIN DIS TWILLIGHTTTTT!!!’ and see Cover Drive’s music video!!! I couldn’t believe it!!! I was soooo excited for them!!! Also, it was good to hear a tinge of a Bajan accent blasting from the TV!! From Bimrock— 166 square miles, to UK, and beyond even up in Vietnam!!!! Represent!!!
• Data-Entry: For work, I've been entering data for some research that was conducted earlier. I also have to do charts for each of the questions, and as tedious as data entry can be, my 'Work Jams' play-list has helped me pass this time well.

           If you haven't lost interest in this post yet, just in-case I'll end here as this is a poor attempt at making this blog-entry entertaining.  I was supposed to go to Singapore just for fun this weekend, but was too sick to handle it, which was disappointing. However, thinking of the cup 1/2 full- right A.E.E Venkatesh ;). Hoping to make it there before I leave!! Also, I have less than three months left here, so its been fun trying to think of where I can manage to go visit next. Potentially, I'll be do some travelling at the end of April with Lauren, who's also based in Vietnam-- but 6 hrs away ! I also have to extend my visa, so will need to go to Cambodia again to do that, but this time it’ll be Phnom Penh! Two of my other friends from BC Shauna and Jennie are based there, so I cannot wait to hopefully see both of them soon— possibly next week once I get my approval letter! Thanks for putting up with my bit of a rant and my attempt to think of highlights from this week! :P