Life is good.

Life is great, in fact. I am so relaxed and just so happy on this vacation.

I am absolutely in love with Da Nang, and we just arrived in Hoi An, and I think I will like it almost as much as Da Nang. Da Nang is so peaceful and laid-back and beautiful, and I could just walk around there for hours, looking at the water and the pretty buildings and eating western food and going to the beach. Of course, the perfect weather this weekend helps a bit too, and I have been spending as much time as possible at the beach (yesterday I accidentally took an infamous Allie-beach-nap, and my present sunburn is the undesired but inevitable consequences).

Anyway, I just feel so wonderful being here, especially after my stressful and overwhelming week. (Still haven't updated about my frustration from the other day- basically, the short version of the story is that the lack of punctuality or scheduling firmness just got to me all of a sudden, and I just cracked. I think this is typical month-2 culture shock, so in retrospect, I'm not surprised that I freaked out. It seems like a lot of the other Fulbrighters are going through similar frustrations surrounding the month-2 anniversary, as we really begin to settle in and accept our fate here.) Anyway. It is lovely here, and I cannot say enough fabulous things about this section of Vietnam.

Any time that I need a vacation, I am going back to Da Nang, only because it is the perfect place for serious R&R. China Beach is so lovely, the mountains are lovely, the palm trees are lovely, the city is lovely, the traffic is minimal, it is so much cleaner and quieter, and I just feel so content. I have had more western food in the past 2 days (separate blog post with pictures, to come later) than I know what to do with, and I just feel so good about life.

Sadly, my vacation will have to end eventually, but for now, I am truly living it up and taking advantage of some quality "me"- time.

Early bed-time now so I can wake up, swim laps in our hotel pool, go shopping, and hit up the beach tomorrow. Rough life, right?