A haphazard chronicle of my inevitable misadventures during a year in Vietnam and points east.

p.s. I'll be pitifully grateful if you send me email during my exile: TravelerKaty@hotmail.com

October 2002 November 2002 December 2002 January 2003 February 2003 March 2003 April 2003 May 2003 June 2003 July 2003 August 2003 September 2003 October 2003 November 2003 February 2006 March 2006 May 2006

 
How is it that I inherited the "sobbing while saying goodbye" gene from my mother? Today, T minus one day and counting, was a personal sobfest of Italian funeral proportions, and let me just say that I do NOT look good while crying. Something about the puffy eyes, red face and strangely contorted mouth are truly frightening to innocent onlookers.

Anyway, I cried after getting off the phone with my parents, after getting off the phone with family friend Don, and while hugging each and every friend and family member at my fabulous goodbye pseudo-Thanksgiving going-away party (thanks, Helen and Phil!) plus the subsequent 10 minutes of the ride back home. I'm a complete wreck right now, but at least I'm packed. For the next two hours, I'm going to listen to Vietnamese language tapes so I can pretend I'm actually prepared to be dropped into a foreign city at 1:00 in the morning. I'll pay special attention to the section on transportation and the numbers from one to ten.

Next time I write I'll be in Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon. Hopefully by then I'll know what the locals really call it, and I can really feel like an expert compared to all of you.


posted by Katy at 8:26 PM