"Good Morning Viet Nam!"

Viet Nam... :)

This is my favorite country so far. I felt very comfortable here. It was at peace despite its history, the traffic and the contradictory politics. I saw no signs of distress and I definitely did not see poverty the way I had experienced it in other countries. No one starves in Viet Nam.

Viet Nam is a Communist country, many argue that it isn't because it opened up to the free market in 1995, and completely in 2006. So what's so communist about it when economically it is capitalist, I asked Thien--my tour guide (the one I mentioned in my previous blog), and he said, yes it's engaged in the capitalist market, and it's brought us a lot of good, people have more now. I guess he didn't exactly answer my question. Then I said, "but this will increase the inequalities between the rich and the poor." And he said, "sure it will." I, looking for the answer to how does a government reconcile both? How does one engage in the free market without negatively affecting its people, particularly in the rural areas? And I suppose there is no answer yet. But I was told that there is no starvation in Viet Nam, and I believe it. Although you have a little, you have enough to live with dignity; you have access to grow your own food even if public land is government owned. And I thought, well I just hope that the new generation does not forget about Ho Chi Minh's ideology and society. I just hope that no one ever dies of starvation and/or is stripped from a dignified life. And so, I thought, although it is economically capitalist, at the core they believe in the social welfare of its people. I am interested to see how as Viet Nam continues to develop, how it will reconcile both its communist politics with its capitalist economy. It will require creativity for sure.

Viet Nam was an amazing place. The city was chillin'. Oh! The food…DELICIOUS :)! The traffic was intense, I was very proud of myself for crossing the street so many times and having not one injury, my pace was appropriate. You see, Viet Nam has a large population, and it continues to grow; 75% of the people are below the age of 30 actually. The majority drive motorbikes in cities. Cars are many and there are some bikes. Their motorbikes are so cool and their helmets even cooler. I rode a motorbike the second night in Ho Chi Minh City to the airport, we were headed to Ha Long Bay in Hanoi. It was so awesome being on that ride, I was not afraid of my life, I was just praying I would get to the airport just fine. It was such a surreal feeling-- riding across the different districts of the city to arrive to the airport. I even passed a Herbalife building and a Brazilian Cafe. How it reminded me of home, but at the same time made me realize I was so far and in the midst of such a great experience at that moment. It was great.

Hanoi was a beautiful place. It is north from Ho Chi Minh city and it was a lot fresher up there. There was one evening that we walked around the central park, it was the chillest walk I've had on this trip thus far. It was a simple walk. It was a Thursday night and people were walking their dogs, running, eating and just hanging out. It was very nice, I enjoyed that walk a lot. Ha Long Bay was simply gorgeous. There's almost 2000 islands of which 90% are limestone islands that make up the bay. We were on a boat cruise along the bay and we had the opportunity to Kayak, which was so nice. It reminded me of Brazil. After, we went to one of the Limestone caves, which was astonishing. The different colors, the natural organization of it all, I was amazed and taken by it because it also took me back to Brazil. I also went to a cave in Brazil, in Lencois. Walking through the cave made me reflect on my experience in Brazil. What I was living then and what I am living now.  I also thought about the time I went kayaking in Ila Grande and who I was then compared to who I am today. I thought at that moment walking throughout the cave in Ha Long Bay, "how much I've changed, how much has stayed the same." This walk through the cave made me recall certain people, feelings and situations and occurrences that have happened these past three years.

As I saw the sunset, a beautiful red-orange sunset, I grieved my loss. That loss of purity and innocence that is often attributed to childhood and adolescence. I'm grown. I've grown a lot since Brazil, because I have learned so much not just about all the trouble in the world but also, about me. The decisions I've made thus far and what they have reaped, the character that I've developed and how at the root of my being I still am the same just more knowledgable about many more things. I was not grieving because I wanted to go back to those times, but it was more a recognition that I've grown and experience will age me physically, mentally, intellectually and spiritually. It was a bitter-sweet moment for me, more sweeter though because I was in Ha Long Bay in Viet Nam and feeling grateful.

The following day I returned to Ho Chi Minh City. I went to the Cao Dai Temple, north-west of Vietnam and it was a beautiful ride. The architecture of the houses, the beautiful green trees, fields and people. No poverty. In Viet Nam there is no national religion. Many follow a belief system which is a syncretism of buddhism, taoism and christianity and they all worship their ancestors.

Later that day we went to the Cu Chi Temples, a war memorial park, clandestine like the underground railroad. These were the underground tunnels built by the National Liberation Front, better known as the Vietcong. They were supply routes for food, water, etc. for people between the north and south. It was also very important ground during the great resistance against the American army and South Vietnamese. Casualties were abundant. I crawled about 100 ft of those tunnels and boy oh boy was it a workout. It was intense! And to think that while they traveled through the tunnels they too had to be careful of booby traps and death. What conviction I thought. The atrocities of war, how permanent they are. How monstrous war is, how inhumane it is. Both sides committed ills, that is war. However, how great the conviction of the North Vietnamese was, they won and beat the empire, the intruder U.S.

War has not been forgotten and I am sure Viet Nam feels the consequences of war today when they see the affects of Agent Orange three generation later. We were asked yesterday in our discussion sessions to think about why the Vietnamese are not hostile towards Americans today. And I thought although I am sure they wish they would had never lived through war or experienced it, they enjoy the freedom of not being under the subjugation of another. This tames the anger, guilt and aggression towards the U.S. I think of Gandhi and India, how despite the atrocities of civil war during the British influenced partition of India and Pakistan, the Indian people will forever be grateful to have been freed from imperial control. Gandhi will forever be Bapu, the father of the nation, he brought them to freedom. As I walked through the War of Remnants  Museum in Ho Chi Minh city, I thought, when will the U.S. Stop repeating its history? How cynical they were to enter El Salvador in 1980, 7 years after they left Viet Nam in 73? How they used communism as the justification to also "advise" and train the national army and provide them with weapons to also commit war crimes. How those U.S. soldiers also helped massacre villages like El Mozote. The similarities, how disturbing they are.

I am still trying to figure out the present situation in Viet Nam. There is a lack of freedom of speech there, they are not allowed to speak ill of their government or else they run the risk of being imprisoned. But are we completely free in N. America? Does not the heart of intrusion, the CIA rest at our side.  Is our media not censored when we do not see nor hear about the atrocities of war happening in Afghanistan, Iraq and now Libya? I am curious to see how Viet Nam will develop further. I am curious to see if there will be a youth movement demanding that the government embody Ho Chi Minh's ideologies reflected in that yellow star on their flag. How united will they become in the face of rising capitalism? Will they fight for equality in the midst of rising disparity that is a result of development? Like I told Dr. Phil today, I don't have the answer to defeating the present system we're in, but I know that the system doesn't work and it's time for the emergence of the organic intellectual--it is time to begin discussing the possibilities and become creative in constructing a better society that lives within a humane system. We have hope for the future, and our generation will play a key role in this change. That is why we need to dream big and be ambitious about it in order to see a better humanity come to pass.

I liked a quote I saw in one of the books I picked up at the Ho Chi Minh City Museum, "Let us become old, but not withered." Hasta La Victoria Siempre right :).

Vietnam was a peaceful intense experience. I hope to come back. :)