My memories took me back here...

     When we arrived in Vietnam and I was amazed. This country is like no where I have ever been before. The first picture below is a prime example of the extreme contrast that lay at the base of this country. In the window you see designer clothes in a high fashion boutique, on the sidewalk are nice scooters parked directly next to antique bicycles and walking along the road, a modern women in linen clothing caring a basket on her head and groceries in the bags to her side. Never would I have expected to see these things all in such close proximity. The world is nothing like what I envisioned from my desk, in my comfortable room, with my electricity and my electronics. It's much more complex and far from comfortable.

     We all just want to understand each other. We want to know everything about how the other lives. Instead, all we get is a picture and many exchanged giggles. Laughter was our mode of communication this day, and it worked pretty well.

     I love this picture. In the midst of the chaos, this couple leisurely rides their bikes down the road the girl holding the hand of her partner, without a care in the world.

These are only a few of the everyday sights I saw in Vietman, but it is a remarkable country full of deep longing and many things I will never be able to comprehend.