Two Weeks In….
Posted by Laura C on June 10th, 2009
It has certainly been a sharp learning curve over the past 2 weeks! I am finally feeling fairly self sufficient. It’s like learning how to be independent all over again – I can shop from groceries, find an ATM, get a taxi, find my way on a map, get a hotel room, get a bus, get a cell phone, internet ect. The language barrier is unbelievably difficult to adjust to though, I am having a lot of trouble remembering any new words because they are so different and they dont seem to want to stay in my brain.
Work is going really well. There are definitely moments of up and down; sometimes I feel confident and like I know what I am doing in my office, and other times I feel lonely and without direction. Some things that help me to have direction are talking to the people around me, reviewing my learning objectives that I wrote out before coming (this project is a part of my masters…) and making a timeline of the things that I am supposed to be doing on a day to day and week to week basis.
I have been travelling every weekend, once to Ha long bay, and again to Haiphong. Both were very much needed breaks from Hanoi – the busiest place I have ever been! Also, a collegue informed me today that this is the hottest week in Vietnam traditionally, so I was really glad to hear that there may be cooler weather in the next while. Today the temperature, without humidity, is 38 degrees! It is almost impossible to drink enough water, or to find enough fans….
We have a full day workshop coming up with WUSC on June 19 where we invite all the partners to come up and share experiences and expectations. Also, I think I am going to go on a trip to Chi Linh District in the next little while to see where the research that I am working on is conducted, so that will be very exciting.
