Number 35

Well, I never was all that good in math. For reasons previously discussed I had planned on leaving 2 days early, Sunday the 22nd. The problem, which I realized today, is that the 22nd is Monday. My ticket is on Air Asia and they have a policy that you can’t make any changes to your flight within 48 hours of scheduled takeoff. I was prepared to try to plead ignorance (with affidavits to back me up) but the Hanoi office decided to close today and the main reservation number for Vietnam gets you a message that says the number has been changed and the new number is the office that is closed. So, since I don’t believe in coincidence, I guess I’m supposed to be here another day. I can’t say I’m sorry and in fact I’m pleased to be here one more day.

Once again we worked all day and made a lot of progress. Most groups are pretty much done so tomorrow we’re going to role play a client coming into the clinic, have a brainstorming session on general rules and quit at noon so we can have the afternoon and evening to entertain the teacher and take him to the Water Puppet show, some museums, dinner and no doubt a few other surprises. Giao has given his blessing and the students seem very pleased. And I am too. There are over 30 students that have been involved in this project and I like them all. It’ll be nice to “hang out” together for an afternoon and evening before I leave.

This morning, on the way to the LERES center something rather extraordinary happened. Giao drove me to the University and Dot, Chum and Ha were to meet me there. I was to ride with Dot but his bike is smaller so we waited for Ha to show up so they could switch. Just as she got there, Giao came out and said his seminar was starting later so he would drive me. We’re getting along much better and actually had a nice talk at breakfast while we ate steaming bowls of his wife’s Pho. After coffee we headed out with his horn blaring until we got about 6 blocks from the center. The road is all torn up because of construction and the traffic had come to a dead halt. After 5 minutes of sitting without moving Giao agreed to let me get out and walk. He confirmed the directions and off I went, sort of. There are no sidewalks and there was very little room to walk around all the cars, bikes, scooters etc. Ha, who was riding with Chum, saw me walking, got off the scooter and walked with me. She is my guardian, the leader of the students and a real mother hen. There was no way she was going to let me walk through that mess alone. We walked for about a minute and then it happened. We simply couldn’t move. Not only was all the traffic stopped but people couldn’t walk. It was unreal. Standing in a traffic jam on foot. I held my camera above my head and took some photos and they do a pretty fair job of showing how amazing it was. Ha was worried that I would be uncomfortable but I was so amazed by what was happening that I just smiled and told her not to worry. After about 5 minutes we finally could walk a little bit at a time and when we came to the street where we turn off the main road it was completely blocked again. Five more minutes of standing still and we were able to turn the corner. We walked the rest of the way and once again enjoyed walking up 5 flights of stairs.

It was pretty quiet in the office because half the students were still stuck out in traffic. I had given Hoin some money to buy pastries and treats for the students since they had to work on Saturday and she outdid herself. I’m sure some of the students gave her more money. There were delicious little pastries, fruit, bags of crunchy snacks that looked like chips and tasted like shrimp or fire or green beans. They had made coffee and tea. We ate and talked and laughed until everyone showed up and then had our morning briefing and I started my round of meetings. Part way through the morning I realized my above mentioned departure mistake. About ½ hour later I realized it was unresolvable and I announced I would be staying another day. I said I would be at the LERES center all day and anyone who wanted to stop by to work or ask questions about their topics should feel free to do so but that no one should feel obligated to come. Of course, they all said they would be there. I inadvertently found out that Giao had asked each group to give him a report on what I had them do and what their finished product was. I called everyone together and told them I understood why he wanted the information and I encouraged them to be as honest as they could be. I explained that he needs to guide this boat through the rapids and that knowing what I had done and not done was information he needed to protect the Clinic. They seemed to be relieved and my sense is that some of them were reluctant to do anything behind my back but even more reluctant to mess with Giao. Again we have had no faculty involvement in our work and I dealt with the issue as a learning tool and not a criticism or complaint. They asked if I was sad that I couldn’t leave and I told them I don’t believe in coincidences and that I am supposed to be here another day and that was just fine with me. Morale was sky high and a lot of the finishing touches got done before we quit for the day.

I must pause to mention what happened at lunch time. Lunch time had it’s own little bizarreness. Phong and Ha went out to pick up lunch to bring back to the center. While they were gone a card game broke out. Thau. Dot, Chum and Miem played. It’s a game the Thai’s taught me with one subtle difference. When you lose, you get something written on your face in pen. And people lost more then once. Each time someone lost the others went wild laughing gleefully while the one to be written on protested without any sympathy from the winners. I didn’t play but took pictures…

When we left for the night, Phong, Ahn, Tau, Ha and Miem and I headed for an outdoor market to buy Sam a present. I saw it on the street and Giao told Phong to take me to where they sell them. We made a really crazy/fun drive through Hanoi’s rush hour to a place that was about 30 minutes away. It seems that no matter where we go it’s at least 20 or 30 minutes through the video game traffic. I asked Phong why they don’t go to closer places but he just shrugged and said we always need to go to a special place. We got there, made the purchase and headed to Sword Lake. They pronounce it with a hard W so it took me awhile to figure out what they were saying. It’s Lake Of The Isles and it’s near the Night Market. It’s a well lit area with hundreds of shops and restaurants. Ha took off for a few minutes and returned with a gift from them to me. It’s a hanging mobile of Chinese hats in descending sizes. It was really sweet of them. We walked the lake for awhile, crossed over to the Market and looked at some souvenirs. (like other “trades’ the souvenir trade had a series of streets which is the Night Market)

I must stop to tell you how the students take care of me. This area had extremely busy streets to cross from the lake to the Night Market and narrow, dangerous streets in the Night Market. With Ha calling out instructions in Vietnamese I was flanked at all times when crossing the street by no less then 3 students. They would position themselves around me and signal cars to stop as we crossed the busy streets. When I realized it, I laughed and told them to cut it out but Ha was having none of it. I couldn’t remember the last time someone physically protected me (except maybe when Amy stepped in front of that kid in West Yellowstone and told him I was going to kill him if he didn’t step back). It felt really odd at first but I understood they all realized it’s truly dangerous to the neophyte and they really wanted to protect me because they care. It gave me a warm fuzzy and I got into it. Walking like the president with 3-4 people flanking me and stopping cars so I could cross. I really love these kids. I teased them about it but they weren’t backing off. Even Phong. So we walked trough the Market which actually had some fun stuff and the mandatory myriads of people in transport devices. We ate at an outdoor place that had low tables and plastic stools that, in the US, come with backyard sets for grade school kids. Ahn asked me if I was going to be able to get down on the chair. I assured her I could get down but had no confidence that I could get back up. Dinner was good. A beefsteak covered with a tasty brown gravy and topped with a generous portion of French fries. Everyone was given a loaf of hard bread for dipping and a pair of chopsticks. There was a tomato and cucumber salad that was really fresh and tasty and cold green tea for everyone. I sat by a new student, Chuan who asked a lot of questions about Amy and the kids and the weather and my job. Real questions that she was curious about and not simply to fill the emptiness between us. The food was good and the dinner conversation was fun. These are college students after all but discussions of cynicism or drugs or getting drunk or sexual innuendos are just not part of their consciousness and I really am beginning to like that. After dinner we walked a couple hundred yards and had to try a Hanoi cold dessert. It’s hard to describe but it’s served in a tall glass, and has yellow stuff that isn’t lemon. It has white stuff that may be coconut milk, cubes of clear jello like things and crushed ice, Mother Ha insisted I try it. I told her the story of not eating the vegetable soup Noym made and sitting at the table all night but she persisted. I tried it and it was good. (unlike the soup) I ate almost the whole thing. At dinner and at the dessert I had to fight with them to pay my share let alone what I wanted to do which was to pay the whole bill. We talked of the logic of our relative wealth but they don’t care. They do it out of the goodness of their heart and it continues to humble me.

We headed back (in formation) to where we parked the scooters and I bolted away and crossed the street on my own with great drama and joy. Ha even had to laugh. Then it was back to the body guard system. Phong and the four women putting their bodies between me and the crazy drivers without thinking twice. I really don’t know what more to say about that. As we neared the parking area I walked ahead and showed them I could do it alone and they loosened up a bit.

From there Thau headed home, proceeded by many thank you's and have a good sleep and things like that and the rest of us headed to a tea house that played the music of a very famous Vietnamese folk composer and singer. This too was a trip. We drove awhile and then pulled onto a side street, then an alley, then an offshoot of an alley and then down a dark narrow corridor where we parked the scooters. It should have been a drug dealer’s safe haven but it was a tea house dedicated to this guy Trinh. Again we sat at the plastic baby chairs. The walls were covered with really cool prints and posters and wall hangings. It reminded me of the old coffeehouses of the’60s. Like a beat generation coffee house, the people were interesting to look at and I garnered some attention by being the only non Vietnamese in the place. As always, it was friendly stares of curiosity and not mean looks. When I made eye contact, almost always, the response was a smile from the person, which I happily returned. The place was filled and we found the last table. We ordered different coffees and teas and listened to the music played n a sound system, since the composer is dead. We talked and laughed and simply enjoyed being together. It was time to leave and even though they lived in different directions, Ha and Ahn rode with us all the way to Giao’s house. I’ve been told that when I take a taxi to the airport from Giao’s on Monday, several student want to ride with me in the cab to say thank you and goodbye. Their amazing generosity continues to blow me away.

So it’s off to sleep and I’ll post this tomorrow. Giao still hasn’t paid the Internet bill which I find curious….

Today was a great day in Hanoi. A city I could enjoy living in under certain circumstances, but ones that will probably never come to fruition. And as for Chiang Mai, Aom wrote and said be sure to tell your friends and family that it was a good day in Chiang Mai. And hurry back so you can see for yourself. I am a blessed man. The universe has provided me a second chance to see through my own, unjaded eyes, what is out there. Now let’s see what I do with it.