Go Butler!!

> #8 Butler upset the #1 seed Pittsburgh in the Southeast Regional and advances to the Sweet 16 !!!

I couldn't be more proud to be strutting around Vietnam in my Butler shirt this week!!!

Sent from my iPod

French Jets over Libya

I find myself fascinated by the fact that French jets are soaring over Libya right now and I'm sitting in one of their most prized lost colonies... I can see some of the huge impacts, both good and bad, the french had on Vietnam. My thoughts however center around how much these people were resolved to resolve their internal conflicts on their own... Priority number one was self governance. Key word "self."

I'm torn as to what is the right or wrong move in Libya but can't help but lean away from any type of bombing. Where I stood today they found unexploded American bombs from 40 years ago just a few short months ago. Casualties from that war still pop up!! The damage to this country from such a dominant air campaign is massive.

I can't help but be frustrated with the amount I hear, "here is XXXX that the American bombs destroyed..." over and over and over I hear this. It's not that I'm seeking these places out. We actually stick to old ruin & cultural sights. The plain truth is that most of these were at least partially destroyed from the war. We're talking temples that are three times as old as my whole countries history!!

Maybe my guilt is misplaced. Maybe its not mine to carry My impressions of how to be a force of good in the world are shifting. It seems Greg Mortenson is ahead of his time...

13 hr overnight train ride to Hue

Fun with Te Ana & Shari

Local water buffalo

These kids ride the family water buffalo along the Highway while standing on their backs. When a tour bus comes up they literally jump down and sprint the buffalo alongside. They expect .20 cents as a payment for letting tourists take pictures of them. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. In the end you can see below.

Brilliant Day in Hue, Vietnam

"Yesterday was absolutely brilliant." Thanks Carla! That about sums it up for me as well!
We arrived into Hue three days ago. I really had no idea what to expect since I haven't done enough of my own research on Vietnam and am sort of flying by the seat of my pants here. Being on a guided trip can make your research skills go a bit lazy. I guess thats not that bad of a thing though.
So Hue was the capitol of Vietnam for just under two hundred years. The capitol was moved from Hanoi to Hue because the war lords had taken over much more land in south vietnam and it made more sense to govern from the center of the country than from the north. Since communication was still by horseback I can see their point.
Anyway the old royal city is in the center and is absolutely HUGE! We took a walk over there two days ago and spent the afternoon wandering the old walls and imagining what it would have been like way back when... And then we happen upon bullet holes from american gun ships. What a strange mix of emotions as we're in the beautiful place that evokes thoughts of elephants & tigers dueling in the colosseum, royal gatherings for formal banquets, and everything else that represents the monarchical past of Vietnam and then WHAMOOO American bullet holes. I guess the hand to hand...
HOLD THE PHONE... I'm just sitting here trying to crank out a blog post and cannot help but mention that the cook here at the Victory Hotel is rocking, no wait completely ROCKING out to the band Chicago! He has their greatest hits on and it is completely awesome! Man this music brings me back to really long trips in the michaud-mobile on interstate 80 to the Jersey Shore as a kid.
So yeah back to reality... The bullet holes were a wake up call. They spark an emotion in me that I don't often feel. Its something I can't get my hands on - what is it that makes me feel so torn between pride and shame. Since I came to Vietnam I can't help but continue to dig into these emotions by trying to learn as much as I can about the war from their perspective.
We rounded that Royal City day out with a group dinner. We ate at a restaurant that was owned and operated by a deaf & mute man. He was so absolutely sweet and the food was great! He does this bottle opener trick where he opens six bottles at on time with a hand chop. That was sweet and is definitely a bar trip I'll bring back to the US.

hole in the wall from american rockets at royal palace

Vietnam Flag over Royal Palace

royal family

artsy fartsy

every little boys dream, a moat!! 

paul w/ downed & reconstructed navy plane

 jeep!!

John McCains Jump suit

 French Guillotine

Paul giving Uncle Ho a big ol' American high five!

Americans in Nam

Ho Chi Mins Mausoleum

Traditional water puppet show

agri-transit

INTREPID!!

Quick update from the road

I wish I could blog more since I've been in Vietnam. We really had a great end in Indonesia. I'll have to try to write a blog post specifically on the end of that trip.

Since then we've started an intrepid trip with about fourteen other people. We are comprised of Aussies, kiwis, Yankees, pommies (Brits = prisoner of mother England)... The schedule has been very full and our days start by 7am and end around 11ish. The social aspect of the trip has been really refreshing.

My first impression of Vietnam seems to center around guilt. I can't help but look around everywhere and see poor people and feel like it's my countries fault. This clearly isn't true. I didn't feel that way in Indonesia, even though we hadn't invaded them, it seems so present here. Seeing bullet holes in the royal palace that were all facing "down" from the helicopters was really moving.

Learning the alternate past of this country has been so great. Not just outside of the US war but going back thousands of years. I've been told the Vietnamese love LOVE visitors who come as friends but bitterly HATE visitors that come to invade. Another example of us not understanding thousands of years of ingrained sentiment. They had been expelling invaders and claiming independence from local Asians and westerners long before we arrived.