Good morning, April 22. I can’t believe I’m on my way to Vietnam.
The Vietnam trip has been in the works for several months, but I haven’t had the courage — till now — to write about it.
Please don’t get me wrong: I’m excited about this trip — upbeat, optimistic, incredibly happy. What I’m saying is that the whole thing has had a surreal sense of unreality. (But there’s something about looking down at the sky from above it that restores one’s sense of “this is really happening!”)
Another reason is that I honestly wasn’t sure, till a few days ago, that the trip would be possible. Had to get a visa, contingent on a renewed passport, contingent on getting a long form birth certificate. (Can’t believe I’ve never had one of those!) From all appearances, there wasn’t time for these steps even with expedited service. It took congressional intervention, plus two all-day driving trips and an overnighter, to clear those hurdles in the nick.
But enough already! Why Vietnam?
For the record, this trip has nothing to do with me. I’m going primarily as porter, reporter, and assistant to Zabine Van Ness. Here’s the scoop:
In 1992, Zabine and her late husband, my dear friend J.T. Linkins, introduced the Baha’i Faith to Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. The present-day Vietnamese Baha’i community grew out of that seminal event. Now, twenty years later, that burgeoning community is celebrating that anniversary at its annual national convention. Naturally, they invited Zabine as their guest of honor.
The invite also extended to a companion. In the beginning, the dear Vietnamese friends didn’t realize that J.T. is deceased. The obvious next choice was Zabine’s current husband, the wonderful Peter Van Ness. Yet another obvious candidate would have been Miles Lane, Zabine’s associate and co-designer of her Heart to Heart Baha’i multimedia project.
Neither of these dear friends, however, were available, so the invitation passed on to me. I’m still reeling in shock, but won’t pass up the bounty.
Boarded American Eagle in Knoxville this morning at 7 a.m. I’m writing this at Chicago O’Hare Airport, waiting to board an American Airlines flight to Seattle, where I’ll be a guest of Zabine and Peter for a couple of days before leaving on Tuesday, April 24, for Vietnam via Seoul, Korea.
Okay, now it’s April 23, and I’m in Seattle. Tomorrow, at 2:20 p.m., we leave on Asiana Airlines for Seoul, then Hanoi. What sort of web access will we have for posting updates? Check back in a few days, and I’ll let you know.
Or not. Either way, please let me know what you think. Or ask, if you aren’t sure what to think. Let’s let this be the start of a great conversation.
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