Pieces of Me

Vietnam is a magical place, with hauntings and whispering of past tragedy, of future hope, of present compassion and joy. I spent 8 days with 15 high school students, 1 other teacher (hi Will!), and three, sometimes four guides. Those days were exhilarating and challenging.

We helped build some outhouse toilets for a remote village school on an island. The children were absolutely the cutest children ever seen by humans. Smiles galore playing tag, 'cops and robbers' (go figure! in Vietnam!) and more. But most of our time was pretending to be serious construction workers. Our guides were from Phat Tire (hi guys! you're awesome!), a fantastic adventure outfit based out of Hoi An and Dalat. The toilets it took us a day to build would take two men three days, so the school saved  a bit of money by having 15 freshmen do the work.

Our time spent in Hue was eye-opening, talking about the Tet Offensive, the use of the Citadel as a battleground, the monk who set himself on fire to protest the war (he supported the North). It was an interesting look into a past that sits hazy in my mind, with my weak knowledge really based on what I've heard of the protests in the U.S. and the heroics and dangers faced by the U.S. soldiers.

This picture was taken by a student. Vietnam was beautiful, haunting, and the people kind and warm, so open to meeting strangers. I've been there before but somehow it meant more this time.

I hope to go back sometime soon, to taste the magic for another moment. A piece of me seems to still be there now, maybe waiting for me to come back and get it.