Here I am!

I've finally arrived here in Vietnam! It has been an exhausting day, but I am now waiting in my hotel restaurant for my first bowl of beef pho, and luckily there is wireless Internet while I wait for my meal.

The day was long and stressful, but everything that went according to plan felt like such a tremendous victory. When I arrived in Beijing Airport and had to take a bus to the terminal that was 25 minutes away via highway, I was absolutely terrified. But then I arrived at the elusive Terminal 2 that everyone kept referring me towards, and I saw the sign for Vietnam Airlines, I wanted to burst into happy tears. I have never been so excited to check in for a flight.

Then when I got to Vietnam, made it through immigration, and saw my bright yellow LLBean rolling duffel making its way on the conveyor belt, I wanted to start jumping up and down and laughing. Then my purple suitcase showed up, and I felt like I had just won the lottery. Ever since arriving in Beijing and being unsure if my bags were supposed to show up or if they were supposed to transfer through, I was absolutely terrified that I had simply left them waiting on a conveyor belt in Beijing. But when they showed up in Hanoi, I couldn't stop smiling. These are the same suitcases that accompanied me through four years of travelling to and from California, Senegal, and Morocco. Then these trusty bags showed up right where they were supposed to in the middle of Vietnam.

Then when I went out to find my driver, he was waiting there just as I had been told, with a sign that said "Welcome to the Rising Dragon!" I wanted to hug him- I felt so relieved. I thought I would be stuck at the airport with no cell phone, barely any money, and no way to contact the hotel. But he was there waiting for me, and 35 minutes of terrifying Vietnam traffic later, here I am at the beautiful Rising Dragon II.

And my soup just arrived- here is a picture just to brag a little:

I will write more later! Goodnight to all!