I landed in Ho Chi Minh City sometime last night. After spending an hour or so at the visa office and figuring out currency and exchange rates and all that, I caught a cab to the hostel where I’m staying. Lucky for me (and it was luck) this hostel is right where I need it to be. It’s right downtown, and within walking distance of some of the interviews I have set up for tomorrow. Overall, the journey here was pretty flawless. There was a lot that could have gone wrong, and it all went just right.
This hostel is super cute. Without me even asking, they gave me a little map of the city, and highlighted all the places I should go “because they’re very interesting,” and gave me a list of all the things that come along with this room (wifi, air con, hot water, and laundry . . . am I in heaven?) The laundry is actually reason #1 I decided to stay at this place. First things first. I also figured out this morning that they have free delicious breakfast. Christmas comes twice a year.
I’ve lived in new places before, but not quite like this. I’ve always had some kind of group that I either came with or met upon arrival. Most times I’ve had some kind of language skills to help me along. This kind of thing. So I decided to set my expectations pretty low for today in terms of what I would get done. Below is the list I made, in all its glory:
- Phone home and let them know you’re alive
- Stay alive (stay hydrated, keep food in the belly, don’t wander off the map in your hand, and don’t get hit by a motorbike)
- Take a shower – this needs to be done at least every 36 hours, and it’s been 60 . . . I think.
- Do laundry
- Get the wrinkles out of your one pair of nice pants for your interviews tomorrow
- Buy an adapter
- Figure out where the heck you’re going tomorrow
I’ll have you know that it’s mid-day now and I’ve accomplished everything on the list. Well, except #7. I’m about halfway there on that.
So there’s no Wal-Mart in Ho Chi Minh City. There’s not even a 7-11 that I’ve seen (this one actually did surprise me), so getting the iron and the adapter was no easy task.
I walked down to Ben Thanh Market, which seems to be the biggest market in town, having heard that “if they don’t have it, you don’t need it.” This sounded perfect to me, since I do, in fact, need these things. However, this is mostly only true if what you need is clothing, or jewelry, or hats, or coffee, or food. Not so much adapters and irons.
Most of you know I hate shopping, especially when it’s in something that feels like a maze. I get claustrophobic. Note to all vendors everywhere: when trying to sell something to me, grabbing my arm and not letting go ain’t the way to do it. Swarming me is also not a good strategy. And if what you’re selling is jewelry or hats or shirts or fans or anything beaded, forget about it. Just tell me where the adapters and irons are.
But, having checked these things off my list, I must say I’m quite intrigued by this little city. They have tons of cute little bustling alleys, more bicycles and motorbikes than cars, good good food and apparently never any shortage of places to go and things to do. I think I’m gonna like it here.
And there is so much to be learned.
