There are some days I simply don’t know what to write for a blog post.
How am I supposed to summarize the events of the past few days in any meaningful way for someone that didn’t experience it themselves? How do I explain how I was taken unawares by the drinking culture here, forced to drain glass after glass of beer at a wedding, until I could barely keep my eyes open? I have a sneaking suspicion I became a target for toasts. The guests seemed to find it equally impressive and hilarious that I was able to keep pace with the — I won’t tell them that I wouldn’t have been able to handle even one more.
How do I explain the quiet pleasure of a night spent on a coffee shop roof, chatting with friends and trying to capture the atmosphere in a split-second photograph? I could go into detail about moving around the roof, trying different angles, different lighting, and different exposures, but nothing I say could replicate the music of laughter drifting across the rooftop or the way I shivered in the cool night air.
Then there’s a birthday party among close friends, some of whom I had only just met, but who drew me into their group without a moment’s hesitation. There is the backside-numbing ride to Saigon, passing numerous trucks and busses, barely able to think over the constant sound of horns. There’s the momentary horror at seeing so many tourists walking with their heads glued to their camera, never taking the time to actually see the place they were so busying looking at, then wondering if they thought the same of me. There’s the night-time battle with a mosquito I couldn’t see, when I was too tired to get up and turn on the light.
I could say how I’ve been greeted by people I’ve never met who wanted nothing more to be my friend and speak to me, or the way schoolchildren excitedly shout, “Hello! Hello!” whenever they see me. I could tell you about the hilarity of a busload of middle-aged women squealing when I answered their tentative English greeting, or the way I’m quietly humming along to “Let it Go” in amazement that it’s playing in this coffee shop, but none of the things I can say would truly capture the magic of those moments.
There are no words, at times. There are a hundred different memories made over the past few days that I can’t properly put into words, perhaps because I haven’t had the time to properly process them — or maybe because I don’t know the incantations to perform this kind of magic. I’m blown away time and time again by the things I experience here, and the journey has only just begun.
No Comments