The first night in Vietnam

by Aleksandra Syrova (Russia)

A leap into the unknown Vietnam

In summer 2017 I decided to go teach English in Vietnam. I went to volunteer at the Leaf Pagoda in Ho Chi Minh city. I was excited: I will get to stay with the monks, I can learn about meditation and find my zen! I had never been to Asia before and it seemed like an amazing opportunity to have an authentic experience. I packed my brand-new backpack for the first time, I said goodbye to my mom and 10 hours later I came out of the HCMC airport into what felt like a sauna with a bunch of homeless people. I didn’t let this tiny inconvenience ruin my first minutes in Vietnam though. Because I am stronger than that and ‘it is going to be life-changing’! It was already night-time when I finally made it to, apparently, the poorest district of the city. Not to worry! A Vietnamese girl was supposed to meet me outside the pagoda. Thankfully, she did. Sweaty and ready for some shower and sleep, I followed the girl to a space with an illuminated statue surrounded by baskets of flowers. We passed by the Buddha to the wall with the sliding door. The girl pushed it and we entered the room where the volunteers stayed. Except, can you really call that a room, when one of the walls is the grill with some plastic sheets attached to it? After visiting the bathroom and figuring out there was no hot water, I changed my mind about the urgency of showering. Honestly, there was no rush. It hadn’t been the whole day yet, since I showered last. On the agenda was the choice of a sleeping place. The only bed, that was in fact a bed, was taken by two girls, a sofa was taken by a boy from Korea, the Vietnamese girl disappeared and I was left with an option to sleep on the bed carcass about 30 cm high shared with a girl from Malaysia. It was no problem. No problem, at all. Everyone went to sleep. I couldn’t fall asleep though. The blankets smelled bad. I doubt they were ever washed. I wondered, how the Malaysian girl could stand the smell, she covered herself up completely. The carcass was so hard, that I felt my bones piercing my skin. The fan was whistling while turning from side to side. Eventually, I fell asleep only to be awaken a few hours later by a strange noise. ‘What is this noise?’ I thought staring at the darkness. The noise happened again. I froze with my hands squeezing the blanket as tight as possible. ‘Could that be a thief!? Wait, but what will the thief steal from the pagoda?’ The noise continued longer this time. No movement, I was looking at the floor tiles that reflected some light coming from the Buddha room. ‘It sounds like an animal… A ra-’ I was trying to remember about the raccoon’s natural habitat and contemplating whether they could be found in Asia. The giant shadow ran across the floor. ‘A rat! Of course, it’s a rat!’ I nudged the girl next to me to warn her there was a rat inside. She mumbled something, that could mean ‘I know, whatever’ and turned away pulling the blanket. Now I knew how she could tolerate the smell. I spent the rest of the night on my phone searching the flights back home. The flights prices were disappointing. ‘I am stronger than that!’ I must have passed out after reading about the disease rats can carry, because when I opened my swollen eyes all the guys were up. The Korean boy seemed free, so I chose to talk to him. I did not want to freak him out. ‘I need to tell you something. Hmm, last night I heard a noise and I saw… Well…’ He was looking at me attentively, his face remained emotionless. ‘There is a rat here!’ ‘Oh, yes! Hmm-mm.’ He smiled and nodded. In that moment I realized two things. First, nobody would be surprised with my big news. Second, I was in Asia. What did I get myself into? The life-changing experience had begun.