Well, I'm here in Vietnam... have been here for about 20 days and no update. I've just been taking in so much.... it is hard to think of a coherent update about what life has been like in Vietnam.... for a person who has never been to asia before... and never been to a 'communist' country.

I have so much to update, but right now I will just bullet point a few thoughts..

- if staying in Bangkok, never follow the taxi driver from the airport that asks if you want to 'relax' - what he means is probably different from the kind of relax you want.

- poverty should not be measured by the material posessions you have or do not have... and after coming here I'm not sure how to define it, but certainly not be any superficial means that i might have easily reached for before.

- In Vietnam, when crossing the street with motorbikes and cars comming toward you, just remember to look both ways. Now, in America, if there are things coming at you when you're crossing the street, you're already too late...

- learning the word for 'no' in the country you are in and 'no, i dont want it' is more important than knowing the converse...

- never get on a train that looks more like a prison train from a movie about the soviet union... especially when you have to ride it for 22 hours in heat that never goes away.

- dysentery, even a very mild case of it, can still make you feel like tomorrow is to far away to have it worth living... and if you take one more bite of food you're going to burst open from any and all orphaces.

- hallucinations from the heat can only be cool if you dont realize you're hallucinating and cannot control it.

- sometimes I get really frustrated because I cannot understand the language around me... i feel helpless... the first few days I was here I was just trying to take it all in... but after a while I just want to be able to talk. I got so frustrated at one point in Hue city that I just hated hearing and seeing Vietnamese... i just wanted to understand what was going on around me... I felt a lot of guilt then talked to Lan Anh.. she told me a similar experience she had... I didnt feel so bad. But also, I've learned that you can communicate well even if you do not know the other persons language... you just have to have patience and be creative.

- Hurricanes are less fun than earthquakes... especially when you have a video camera with you and you're used to being able to see in front of you....

- Filming a documentary as the producer is much more difficult than I expected, even thought its a small documentary, you can still have the same stuff happen to you as if you're working on a larger documentary... the difference is, you have to make the decisions on how to fix them, and frankly, I've felt a bit embarassed at faultering at this or that. oy, practice is important.

- When the beer is cheap and good, the temptation to keep drinking is all the more there...

- white sand beaches with great waves and warm water... oy... how do I miss Da Nang and Hoi An... such pleasant cities.

ITS WAY TO F*CKING HOT and HUMID HERE.. I JUST WANNA GET ON TO A F*CKING PLEASANT COMMUNIST TRAIN RIGHT NOW!!

...a picture gallery to come...

In his Regignation speech, CIA Director George Tenant had this to say:

“Our record is not without flaws,” he said. “The world of intelligence is uniquely a human endeavor, and as in all human endeavors, we all understand the need to always do better. We are not perfect, but one of our best kept secrets is that we are very, very, very good. Whatever our shortcomings, the American people know we constantly evaluate our performance, always strive to do better, and always tell the truth.”

And my only response is: what a load of crap.

Sometimes I am truly astounded by the ability of people to say these things and not get called on any of it.