It was an amazing trip.
And when I say something is “amazing”, I mean it. Everything was beyond perfect (no overstatement intended), from the local residents to the food, from the sceneries to the activities, from sunrise to sunset. The trip lasted only for 3 days but the feelings linger until now to the point they make me feel the experience was just yesterday. However, when my consultant told me to fill in this form, I didn’t know where to start. There was so much bottled up inside my mind and it seemed impossible for me to organize them the way I wanted. That’s why in the next few lines you would see me as a 10-year-old struggling (in vain) to sort out her messy emotions and memories.
But well, here goes nothing.
One of the best things about the trip was the local geography teacher. He had a passion sky high which was contagious. Just by looking at him while he talked, you can definitely tell that he fell in love with what he was doing. His knowledge about mangrove forests, their adorable “residents” and also the traits that you would never obtain the chance to learn if you were to study at school, was massive and beyond belief. He made me feel like it was anything but an exaggeration to liken him to a mobile encyclopedia, at least in the sphere of geography. Initially, the notion of removing the boots and actually dipping my toes into the mud kinda grossed me out (who could be so sure that there weren’t any evil creatures awaiting beneath the sludge anyway?), but after several times having not just the toes but the entire lower part of my body covered in mud, I decided to throw the boots away and proceeded the excursion on bare feet. Best decision ever. My movements were much much much easier and thus, I got to observe more interesting things without the hindrance the cumbersome boots brought about.
Can you now fully see how amazing this trip was? Probably no, which is why I’d tell you another awesome thing about it. So I almost begged on bended knee to have my seat on a motorbike cart (whatever it is called) reserved. Why? Because it’s a whole different story when you travel on a cart at 5 in the morning. You will have the privilege to gaze upon the sun and fully adore its beauty, its glory and everything in-between. One would jeer at this idea for “why would anyone be so excited over such a thing? Has she never seen the sun in her entire f***ing life?”. True, we might have seen the sun hundreds and thousands times in our lives, but did we, for once, spend time scrutinizing its charm and splendor? Emerging from the horizon, the sun filled the space with its mesmerizing, radiant gold sun rays – a scenario you would never capture in Hanoi since the city sky is perpetually blocked by high-rises and skyscrapers. That’s when I realized my determination to go on this trip instead of staying home, being a good-for-nothing while pleading figuring out the broadcast time of Game of Thrones on HBO as an excuse for lying on the couch 4 hours a day (pardon my messy sentence comprised of messy structure) was definitely worthwhile.
The way me and my peers stayed up past midnight to play boardgame, the way I triumphantly won against them all afterwards (haha shame on who lost to me), how I taught the provincial kids to avoid being abducted by abstaining their crave for sweets and snacks offered by strangers, and yes, also that time when I had blue acrylic paints stuck on my hands after numerous failed attempts to rejuvenate the local primary school… Every part of it is so worth remembering and writing about. However, as this has escalated to over 600 words, I’d stop by now.
Finally, on a scale of 10, I rate this experience a 100000. Kudos to everyone who partook in the trip and made this such one hell of a trip for me. Thank you so much y’all *insert 10000 yellow hearts*
