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.