As with the past couple of months, I’ve been trying to put my thumb on one word to sum up Vietnam. For a wordy person like myself, it’s proven a challenge every single month (one that I’m hoping to get better at). This month came pretty naturally.
But before we get there, I need to tell you that Vietnam was a big surprise to me. At Training Camp when we learned that we’d be getting to visit Vietnam, I was really excited. As we got ready to arrive in the country, the excitement faded a little bit. Maybe it was being trapped in Malaysia (We refer to that time period as K-Hell).
Less than 24 hours after stepping foot in Ho Chi Minh, I was in love. My heart was taken by the city and by the people I interacted with…and I was only taken more and more as I built friendships galore with the people we met through English clubs.
Being away from home for Thanksgiving was weird, but it was weird in a way that felt comfortable at the same time. I guess that’s how everything about Vietnam was for me. For a while, I couldn’t quite put my finger on how I was feeling about Vietnam…because it all just felt right. There was nothing that jumped out different to me because it all felt so normal.
And I know that I’m getting to that point in the Race, where this life of moving every few weeks and carrying 12 different kinds of currency becomes a little bit more normal. But still, Vietnam was a different normal.
Vietnam felt like home.
Home.
It’s a strange concept when you’re moving every few weeks…when your closet is a couple of packing cubes and your family is a bunch of people you just met a few months ago who are sleeping on sleeping pads next to you.
And yet as strange as it is, I’m finding myself feeling at home. I woke up every morning in a strange country and found new ways to call it home.
Our hotel staff became our parents: fixing us food, making us tea and giving us medicine when we got sick.
My team became my sisters, even more than they already had been (complete with sleepovers, karaoke, and lots of giggles).
Our Vietnamese friends became our best friends: the people we spent our days and nights with, taking drives through the city, having coffee and desserts together and making our own fun.
And it was home.
Month 3- Vietnam! from chelsey murphree on Vimeo.
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In 3 months, I have to be fully funded! I am still lacking about $4500. If you’d like to donate, you can do so online or you can send a check made out to Adventures in Missions with “MurphreeChelsey” in the memo line to:
Adventures in Missions
PO Box 534470
Atlanta, GA 30353-4470
Also, be sure to subscribe to my blog to get email updates! We’re unsure of our internet access in Cambodia this month, so it will be the only way to ensure that you stay up to date with us. We will finish our debrief tomorrow and head to Phnom Penh.
Thanks for all of your support! Much love.
