morning party

There are few things in this life that I like less than getting woken up and being kept from sleep. I always wake us disoriented and uncoordinated. You can ask anyone, I just shouldn't be messed with until I have been awake for at least ten minutes, and it's preferable that I've eaten something. So, here's the story of my morning:

The way the school is set up, there is one courtyard around which all the buildings sit. My dorm room has a window and a door facing that courtyard, neither of which are sealed in any way, shape or form (I've watched a rat run right under the balcony door), and our walls are paper thin and echo-y anyway.

There was some kind of ceremony yesterday that we were told was graduation. Graduation only lasts one day right? That's what I thought, but apparently, that is not the case. This pounding bass began shaking my room at 7:10 am (I didn't have class until 9am). The bass was followed by some impossibly loud announcer, what I can only imagine was a form of karaoke (much wailing involved), and then a song on repeat as the names were read. I had so many fantasies of getting up, becoming Godzilla and just going on a rampage in the courtyard. I had some serious, early-morning rage, which only compounded with my disoriented, uncoordinated wake-up state.

The rest of the day went much better. We spent the afternoon at the offices of FHI 360- Vietnam. I'll be spending more time in this office later in the semester as my interviewee for the oral project is the Country Director for FHI 360 here in Vietnam. We got the chance to see a different side of the HIV epidemic: the NGO response. We heard about their funding, projects, and strategies for the future. It was a fascinating day!

If you want to learn more about FHI 360 and what they do, check out their website:

http://www.fhi.org/en/CountryProfiles/Vietnam/index.htm