Number 33

Written Thursday night and posted Friday morning.

Today we worked hard. Giao had a 7 am class so I had to get up around 5:45 to ride with him to the University. Another ride through Hanoi with the amazing Giao. I watched more carefully and I realized that half the time he is honking he doesn’t seem to be honking at anyone in particular. It seems he just likes honking the horn. When we arrived at the University, three students were waiting to take me to the LERES center. The student’s level of dedication and hospitality is second to none. I rode with a student I hadn’t met yet whose name is Dot. Like Phong he negotiated the streets of Hanoi with skill and indifference to the mayhem all around him. We rode over with two of the women students (Ha and Hien) and it’s clear that gender plays no role in the level of courage and skill these people possess. I found myself contemplating selling my bike and buying a scooter as we careened through the streets of Hanoi. We arrived at the LERES center but it was early and there was no one there with a key to the office or the front door. Ha rang the bell and a woman let us in. We headed up the 5 flights of stairs, but everyone stopped on the fourth floor and went into this woman’s apartment. It turns out that the building houses a few offices but mostly it’s apartments. It also turns out that this woman didn’t know any of the students but she invited us in and gave us tea. I was a bit taken aback but it was explained that she was simply being hospitable to the American gentleman. A little while later someone with a key showed up and we went upstairs. I asked Dot to thank the woman and he shrugged and did as I asked. It seemed completely common place to the students that she would let the American in and give him tea.

The students started showing up about 30 minutes early and were all there at least 15 minutes before they were told we would start. Introductions were made with the new students I hadn’t met yet and we got right to it. We worked all morning. The students asked a lot of good questions and made a lot of progress. Giao showed up around 11 and disrupted things but left after only a few minutes and we continued on.

Around noon, Professor Vann showed up. I had met her in the Philippines. She teaches Criminal Law and Procedure and we had spoken several times at the conference about Criminal Law in the US and Vietnam. It was nice to see her. She brought new photos of her two young sons and we all made a fuss over them. The students went off to lunch and Vann and I sat down to lunch with the LERES office manager and a student from another University in Hanoi who is in the VNU CLE program. We had a delicious lunch that the office manager had been cooking in her office all morning. After lunch, Vann left, the students came back early and everyone went back to work.

Wednesday, when we first started, I divided the students into 5 groups and gave each group a couple of topics to work on. I would sit down with each group for 5 minutes or so every hour to see how they were doing. In between I sat in the main office and they would come in one at a time to ask me questions. I really felt like I was finally doing something productive in Hanoi and it felt good. We took an afternoon tea break and discussed the philosophy behind what we were doing and tried to put the whole thing into context. I could see the light going on for most of them and that also felt good. Before we went back to work they decided to sing a few songs and play a game. As I sat there listening to them sing together I tried to imagine 15-20 American law students singing together but couldn’t. The game they played was fun and included a lot of loud, genuine laughter. You take 2 pieces of paper. On one you write If……(a complete sentence like, If I had a million dollars) and on the other you write Then…(a complete sentence like, My hair would catch on fire) Without looking at the writing, the game leader would pick one from each pile and read them together. My favorite one was also there’s. “If Evan was really Santa Claus…He would stand on the table and do a funny dance”. You had to be there to appreciate it. I was, and I did. Around 4, several of the students approached me and invited me to go to the West Lake and then to dinner and see some sights after we were done for the day. I accepted and they seemed quite pleased. These “kids” can’t seem to do enough for me and both Giao and Vann say it’s because they appreciate my coming to help them. It’s quite humbling and is the true antidote to cynicism. When we stopped for the day each and every student came up to say good bye and wish me a pleasant evening.

We walked down to the street level and took the scooters outside. It was then that I realized I would be riding with Vuong. My initial reaction was concern. It was rush hour. Vuong’s scooter is old and slow and Vuong is much smaller then Phong or Dot. He’s a really nice guy and assured me it would be no problem so I mounted up and off we went into the video game which is Hanoi at rush hour. He did really well. He drives slower then Phong and more cautiously and within a few minutes of riding with him, and seeing him negotiate a couple of really difficult turns, I felt completely at ease. The five of us drove to the lake and found a quiet spot to sit and watch the sunset. I took some pictures but they don’t do it justice. We went to a small restaurant on the lake and of course went up to the second floor. We sat at a table by a huge window (no glass just an open set of shutters and enjoyed dinner while looking at the city lights over the lake. The place had one menu. I know this because the woman who ran it had to come get it when another group of people walked in. They ordered spring rolls and a beef and vegetable dish with deep fried things that looked like onion rings but had nothing inside. We ate with chop sticks and everything was delicious. During dinner, we had a nice talk about the history of Vietnam and they had a lot of questions about things they had heard about America. They’re bright and inquisitive and very open-minded. Just like the students at the GAJE conference I felt completely at ease with them and very happy to be sharing their company. They worried that I wasn’t eating enough and tried to keep me from paying.

After dinner, Vuong and Ling and I went to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum and saw some other “sites”. In front of the mausoleum is a large paved plaza. People were walking around and I realized, after a while that it was the Vietnamese version of walking around the lakes. Couples, families and single people came there to walk for exercise. It’s a beautiful building and it was a beautiful night.

After awhile we headed back to Giao’s house. Ling lives near Giao and Vuong didn’t know how to get there so she led the way. I asked him why she didn’t simply give him directions but she didn’t know exactly where the house is and it’s in a newly developed area where they haven’t gotten around to naming the streets yet. She got us close and I started to recognize things so we eventually found it.

So despite my original misgivings about how Bruce and Giao screwed up my part of the Clinic project it was clearly a really good day in Hanoi. So good that I don’t know how it was in Chiang Mai. Except that pretty much every day is a good day there.