Giving the lost a voice

Morning Greetings

Laundry Time

View from the road down the river we commute every day

Kids seeing a white person for the first time

Taj MaTarp nearing completion

First of all, I recovered pretty well from the night of drinking with our Vietnamese hosts. I thought the Koreans could drink... those guys have nothing on the Vietnamese. In my drunken state I did accidentally bash the crap out of my eye so now it's all swollen and cut up. Our team chief told our workers today that he punched me in the face. That got quite a good giggle from all the girls.

Today was actually quite fabulous. I've spent most of my time clearing massive areas of explosives. I'm pretty sure that our workers believe that I'm a witch doctor. As far as they can figure I have a magical green stick that can see into the ground. I'm also fairly certain that they believe the detector has the ability to shoot out laser beams. I run it over their feet and they all scream and run off. One of the kids sat there watching me very intensely. I didn't pay too much attention to him because there's is always someone staring at me here. I was sweeping an area behind our building when my metal detector went crazy. I started digging to find out what was causing the alert and found a huge pile of nails hidden under a dirt clod. Suddenly I heard the silliest laughter ever. Turns out the boy who had been watching me was awfully clever and had figured it out. It was hilarious.

When we first arrived on the site I took the metal detector out to the crash site to see if we could find a basic footprint of where to start looking. I was really disappointed because the crash site seemed to be completely sterile. I think it was a little demoralizing for everyone. Our knowledge of the site is basically based on a dying Viet Cong's 40 year old memory. But today I had a lot of downtime so I decided to take out the detector that JPAC issued me and try to figure out it's complexities. I took it out to the crash site to see if it would pick up something that my EOD detector missed. Disappointingly I had no luck. So I figured I'd just keep experimenting and kill some more time. I was meandering through the field when I started getting beeps and buzzes from my headphones. At first I wanted to dig for them but I was still in the same field as the crash coordinates so I figured that would be a very bad idea. Instead, I just kept walking around and sure enough, it was beep after beep after beep. It was the most unbelievable feeling when I realized that I had found it. Right below me is the wreckage from 40 years ago. It had laid in this cruddy field for all this time in silence. And now it felt like it was speaking to me. I know it sounds cheesy but I felt so privledged to be the only one that could hear it. Everyone else was back at the camp so I couldn't even let anyone else hear it. I stayed out in the field for the entire afternoon criss crossing my tracks and listening to all the rings and beeps. When I got back to the camp I grabbed the team leader and told him, "Sure enough, I think there's a plane out there". I explained the new location and I could tell he felt relieved too. It was such a wonderful triumphant moment. I can't wait until the rest of the team arrives so we can start excavating.

Oh and one more thing…

I find it laughable that the first night we met, he ran his mouth about how important it is to have a loyal relationship because "as an army guy" he’s goes on a lot on deployments and such. The second I leave the country, he stops talking to me without anything grown-up like an explanation. Hey, have the decency to let someone know that you’re not interested… Don’t give every signal that you want a relationship and then fall off the face of the earth – especially, if you know how dang cruel that is.

Drunk dial = 15,700 dong/1 minute vs. Drunk blog = 2000 dong/20 minutes

Drunk..l.vietnam.,.hehehehehe if anyone ever offers you :"cookloi" or "kookla" however the fart you say it, say no!!! n It hurts my brain and I want to pass out, but now I will write instead. First, drinking = bad… Second, men = stupid. Now I want to rant for a second. Explain this, I meet a guy who whines about all the crazy chicks (and I mean REALLY crazy) he;s met and how terrible they are. We have a few fabulous weeks together, then he blows me off. I’m not crazy, I would never be unfaithful and I just want someone to fall for. Here’s the deal, I have baggage that I refuse to deny, yup, it makes me a little insecure… but that is what made me who I am. My baggage has also made me desperate to enjoy every chance that life gives me and to never let a second pass where I don’t tell people how I f eel. If this makes you feel like I don’t pleay hard to get or some other stupid game, I really don’t care. EVERYTHING is fleeting and I refuse to be on the short end of that stick ever again. Yeah, this may cut the threill of the chase short, but who gives a damn. I have faith that the thrill of the chase is worthless compared to the comfort of everything that follows. @$

Is that a "Dum Ho" on your wrist?

If this actually posts, it will be an absolute act of divine intervention. Stable internet connections are simply impossible to find here!

Vietnam has been incredible so far. It took almost a week to get out here, but finally I'm starting to get settled in. Right now I'm in a town called Ha Tien on the southern tip of the Mekong Delta. Of course, we're only staying in Ha Tien until the base camp is built, then I'll move out to the delta.

The view from my hotel

Holy crap, what an amazing place... here's what I understand of the history. This whole area was completely unusable because of the unstable ground and constant flooding. So some Cuban guy was hired by the government and he developed an amazing channel system. Roads aren't an option out here so all of the traveling is done by boat. Once the channel system was created, the government rounded up all of the homeless people in all the cities and dropped them off in the delta where land was abundant. Now there's this huge, thriving culture that lives so simplistically off of the delta.

Getting onto the boat in the morning

Passing a boat grocer on the river

We've hired 100 of the locals to help us build "Taj MaTarp" and setup our excavation site. It has been an absolute hoot. This is truly the epitome of immersion language training. Today I was in charge of wrangling up a few workers and building a pit to keep UXOs in. Cross-culture charades is hilarious. It's amazing how quickly people can overcome language barriers if it's a necessity. I can now name most clothing objects, lots of food, gardening tools, and the essential body parts. Of course, I was teaching the girls english too. It was hilarious - Vietnamese CANNOT pronounce "grass" or anything with a W to save their life.

The women clearing a path to the burial/crash site from our camp

The first sign of our house going up

I'm very intrigued by the interaction between Americans and the Vietnamese. Of course, they giggle ridiculously anytime that you speak to them and stare at me when I ride by on the river. But being here is very different than other countries. I've noticed that the Vietnamese really don't idolize our culture the way other cultures seem to. I think they see us differently because of the Vietnam war and their success. I was reading a little history outline of Vietnam that was in a Vietnamese guidebook. It described the war as a great victory over the United States by Ho Chi Minh. Of course, American's never see it this way.

Then I started thinking about the concept of our work here. I wonder if we would allow a defeated enemy into the United States to search for their fallen. The first night we were here, the Vietnamese government officials hosted a big dinner for us. The colonel made a little speach during which he wished us "success in finding our friend". It's amazing how much the simplification of language really sheds the greatest light on life. In a few days we will begin excavating... I can't tell you how hopeful I am that we'll be able to find our MIA.

I have millions of Dong

I finally arrived in Vietnam today. Traveling makes me very tired so this blog may be a bit ramblie. See, I'm already making up words to describe my state of mind.

Last night we spent in Pattaya Beach Thailand. I spent a lot of time in Thailand before I joined the military and frankly Pattaya just depressed me. I had remembered Thailand as a beautiful and serene place with a colorful culture. Pattaya represents all things that make my skin crawl. It's incredibly Americanized and built around the tourism industry. It was bearable until the sun went down. Then the whole city was transformed into this bizarre sex market. Ick, so depressing. Of course it made me ever so grateful to have been born in the U.S. where popping balloons with darts shot out of your genitalia isn't a common profession. I'm pretty certain that I saw more acts of sexual "shock and awe" last night than most people will see in a lifetime.

But now we're in Vietnam and slowly getting closer to the final destination. So far I have spent 14 hours on a KC135 which makes a cramped United Airlines Express flight feel like the Concord. I'm so anxious to get to the site and start working. I haven't had much of a chance to take pictures yet but hopefully tomorrow I'll do a better job of snapping some. This blog definately needs some darn color.

A long awaited chance

Such a relief... work is going to let me have leave to go to the EOD memorial this year. I think about it and simply feel overwhelmed.
I called Curt's sister Brenda today to tell her that I can definately go now. She's been so amazing through all of this. In fact, his entire family is probably the only reason that I'm as close to stable as I can be now. Despite the uncertainty, Brenda had already reserved a place for me at the family table and ensured there would be a place for me to sit with the family during the actual memorial. I wish I could express better how moving this all is. When Curt was killed all I wanted was to reach out to his family so they would know how adored he was in life. What's happened now is that I feel like I've become a part of his family. In my heart I feel like I would have been a part of his family if all of this tragedy had never happened, so it's such a great comfort to have them despite of all this loss. I often feel like Curt would be so pleased to know that his mother, father, sister, brothers and I have laughed at stories about him and cried at his grave together. The last night that I was with him, he was showing me pictures of home and talked on and on about his nephew Addison. He adored Addison. The pictures of them together were so adorable. When I went to visit his family for the first time, I was able to meet Addison. The grown ups were busy so there wasn't anyone to search for bugs in the yard with Addison. Of course, I also would rather be searching for bugs in the mud, so Addison and I spent hours looking under rocks and daring each other to touch spiders. It was one of the most sacred moments of my life. I know Curt would have been out there digging in the dirt with Addison if all of this had never happened, and that he'd be so glad that Addison had a new partner in crime.

Yeah, I've got a lot of junk in my trunk

What?? It's snowing and freezing damn cold where ever you are? That's too bad. I'm sitting on my balcony at my hotel in Waikiki. Yeah it's really freaking rough being me. :)

So far this trip is turning out to be very different than I expected. I'm going out with the advance party to clear the site of explosives and then build a little "house" out of bamboo to live in. There's only four of us going in on this team. Eventually there will be about 15 Americans out there working. Oh and it turns out that we're going to fly from here to Pattaya Beach. Ahh sweet Thailand. From there we're going to DaNang and then we'll head south. Our sites are in the very southern tip of Vietnam, down in the delta area.

How does a girl prepare to go spend 55 days in the remote delta of "nam"?? Mmmm, lots and lots of tuna and tortillas. Oh and a lot of velveeta. :)

School's Out for Summer

wooohooo! Today was the last day of "work" until May. I feel like I've been given another chance in life to have a summer vacation. Sunday I'll be flying out of this snow laden state and heading for beautiful Hawaii. Ahhh, I can't even express how excited I am. The beaches will be so warm and seeing old friends will be so relaxing. The army unit we were attached to in Iraq was from Hawaii so I'll finally get a chance to buy some of those guys that kept me safe a much deserved beer or two. It's amazing how you can spend so much time with a group of people and then suddenly poof, you're separated. OK, I'll admit it, I miss them!

My little sabatical to that sandy place has surprisingly been on my mind a lot lately. Actually I don't even know where to start on that subject so I think I'll just avoid it until another post. I am truly one of the greatest practicioners of denial!

Tonight I am just going to finish packing and triple checking to make sure I have everything I could possibly need. Right now I'm down to two suitcases which I think is quite phenomenal for a girl who's going to go live in the jungle under a tarp. Believe it or not, I went to Victoria's Secret today to buy underthings for this trip because I strongly believe in still being ridiculously girlie when it's entirely inappropriate. I'm sure that my Hood girls would confirm that!

I'm glad that this little blog is starting when life is going well. Maybe the optimism will continue for a while. I'm pretty sure the next couple of months will be amazing.

Blogging Migration

So I'm finally ready to admit it... I like typing for the sake of typing. Yup, I am egotistical enough to think that what I have to say is interesting enough for someone to sit and read. I've posted blogs on the good old MySpace but with waning enthusiasm. It seems that I have to sensor those because I know people who really are just aquaintences are going to judge me for what I have to say. So now I'm just going to let my little brain run and we'll see what spews forth. Honestly, I'm anticipating a lot of drunken blogging which will hopefully take the place of my drunken dialing/texting because that has had only disasterous outcomes so far.

And that is my blogging justification. Now comes all the junk that I need to empty from my brain...