quarantine

A Vietnamese Quarantine

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Vietnam takes this pandemic incredibly seriously and has had remarkable success dealing with COVID-19. One reason for this success is that quarantine in Vietnam is no joke. I stepped into this room in the dead of night 12 days ago and will not step out of it again until my two-week quarantine is complete. It’s rumored that there is a COVID-controlled oasis on the other side of these walls, so I am more than happy to sit contentedly in my room and aid the effort.

I cannot go outside, nor can I step into the hallway. I have a menu in my room and leave a daily order form on a table outside my door. A hotel employee rings my doorbell when my meals arrive and although I run to the door to catch a glimpse of another human, they’ve always disappeared into thin air. I have a balcony from which I can watch the quick construction of a house next door and somewhere, there lives a rooster intent on waking me at 6am.

My figurative window to the rest of the world.

Quite honestly, quarantine is great. I’ve made excellent progress on my stack of books and Netflix queue. My mother, a talented quilter (Pleasant Street Quilts), always encourages me and my sister to have some hand-piecing projects to keep our hands busy, and I’ll have quite a few quilt blocks to show for my two weeks in quarantine. I workout. I nap. I Skype. And while I will be happy to start my tour in Ho Chi Minh City, I will be sad to once again set an alarm in the morning and wear real shoes.

A few batiks from my current Moroccan-inspired hand-piecing project.

Living that strenuous quarantine lifestyle.

I’ve been in the Foreign Service for a few years now, and one defining characteristic of all diplomats is that we’re always on the move. Our belongings are often in transit or storage and we live out of suitcases for months at a time. I think it’s important to make every house – or quarantine room – a home, even if we’re only here for a few weeks. So despite having just two suitcases, both teetering dangerously on the brink of being overweight, I packed a few small things that remind me of home. They make all the difference!

Some of my favorite things! Pictures of friends and family, letters from Paul, my favorite tea, as well as lovely gifts from some of my favorite people.

Today is Day 12 of my 15-day quarantine. Later this week, I’ll fly to Ho Chi Minh City and see me and Paul’s new apartment for the first time. I will go to work and put my pens in a proper desk drawer. There will be people at restaurants and kids in school. I’m thrilled.

Welcome back!

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Although I can’t be sure I’m in Vietnam from my quarantine view, there’s a hat in my room as proof!

Hello, everyone! So much has happened since I last wrote: I finished my tour in Cabo Verde and received my second assignment – Ho Chi Minh City! I returned to the States, where I spent ten months learning Vietnamese. I had movie nights with my little sister and took drizzly walks along the Mall. Then during a fall weekend in Shenandoah National Park, my boyfriend, Paul, asked me to marry him. I now have a brilliant fiancé, who is in the process of taking a sabbatical from the U.S. Navy to follow me to Vietnam. Both our departure plans and wedding plans were delayed by several months because of COVID. At times, it seemed as though the entire world was descending into chaos. However, the delay in my departure allowed me and my sister to return to our hometown and spend time with our parents, a rare and much-appreciated silver lining. Now after more than a year of transitions and suitcases, I’m on the brink of my next adventure.

I’ve returned to this site because of you. Even while I wasn’t writing, I received dozens of emails and questions from fellow diplomats, prospective applicants, and friends I’ve known in past lives. A few days ago, I logged onto this site for the first time in months and was shocked to see hundreds of visits to the site that I had all but abandoned. Very happily, it seems that I’m the only one who disappeared. Why did I stop writing? It’s partly because these posts take quite a bit of time to pull together. But I think it’s also partly because my tour in Cabo Verde was hard. The country itself was wonderful, but the work was hard, as was the isolation. That said, I’ve always intended to come back and continue sharing my adventures. So here I am.

Welcome bag, complete with chocolates.

And where exactly am I, do you ask? I’m currently sitting in a small hotel room in Hanoi on Day 8 of my 15-day quarantine. Next week, I’ll fly to Ho Chi Minh City, where I’ll start my two-year tour in the Consular Section of the U.S. Consulate General.

Thank you for drawing me back. Let’s get started.