I have been in Vietnam for just over an hour and I am overwhelmed already. I have called home already. I have busted out pictures of home, I have put on Canadian music. I feel like I should be bursting to get out the door and explore the country that will be my home for the next 8 months, but instead I am camped out in my somewhat dingy hotel room. Part of the reason for this is the heat and my new but oh-so strong love for my fan. They say that it is 23 degrees, but it certainly feels like 35 in a sauna---- people use that expression in Canada “it’s like a sauna” but on the west coast it never ever truly resembles the steam room like Hanoi in July does.
Dave, the other WUSC volunteer, just called and he and his partner have invited me for dinner. This is good, as I might otherwise have hid in my hotel room all night living on whatever I can find in the mini-bar until I was picked up tomorrow morning.

I should mention that I will wear two hats in this Vietnam experience; WUSC volunteer and CAPI intern. Both agencies refer to me in their own lingo and both expect that I do the same. Over all I think there are more benefits than drawbacks to the dual arrangement.