It's been a LOOOOONG time since the last blog. I've been incredibly busy with the first annual UVSA Norcal Leadership Summit. What an amazing experience that was! I mean, I know that we can do a lot better logistically, but the fact that there was so much energy from the people who attended made the entire weekend seem awesome! and with the newly formed Intercollegiate Council, I think that we're going to have a great start!

On another note, it really seems like the fight against communism is landing collateral damage again. Youth who have different viewpoints on whether they should get involved in it, or who disagree about the best way to bring Democracy to Vietnam, should not be punished for doing exactly what our parents expected when they came to the US, which is to utilize our freedom. Here we have freedom of speech, of thought, of choice. When we exercise those rights, we should not be penalized for thinking differently. If we get punished for thinking as individuals, as is expected in the US, then what makes the democracy advocates, any different from the communists? Our weapon of choice must be education, not isolation and punishment.

On yet another note, Burma represents the oppressiveness of government when it is completely run by the military. They shot down monks in the streets for protesting. What would the US be like if we shot down Martin Luther King on his march from Alabama to Washington DC? What would the US be like if we shot down the anti-war protesters who didn't agree with the war in Iraq? The US has already suffered through it's own facist history, when workers were brutally beat and killed during the Industrial Revolution (remember Pinkertons?) and the beginnings of the Labor Movement. The US has already murdered people, when they seized the very land that we live on from the indigenous people who lived here before us and killed them for fighting back (trail of tears?). Some will argue that the US hasn't moved beyond it's oppressive history. I think there is some validity to that argument, but when we look at countries like Burma, Iran, and North Korea, I gotta say, we're doing a helluva lot better.

Does that mean we don't fight for change in the us? of course not! We don't stop fighting because we think we're doing better than yesterday. We keep fighting so that we continue to grow and be better.

Anyway, I should continue with the blogs from Vietnam.

After a long day of work and a late night of hanging out, I got up the next morning at 5am to get ready. I had to do wake-up calls for the entire team by 5:30am. I used my usual routine of knocking until they open the door, barge in, and pull off their blankets. However, I soon realized that the hallways echoed, so since we took up most of the hotel, I took the opportunity to sing really loudly to wake everyone up. I think I also woke up the hotel staff and some other guests, but eh...it was effective.

I also used the chance to take some really nice shots of the Rach Gia in the morning.


After we got everyone up and we headed out for breakfast, an incredible sunrise came over the horizon that I had to catch.


After breakfast, we headed over to the worksite and started work on the library. This is the second day that we've dedicated to doing actual construction work, which is like a lot of manual labor. Well actually, it is manual labor. It was a lot of work, and I ended up looking like somebody dumped water all over me. I couldn't get any pictures because we were quite focused on the project, but luckily enough, some of the staff's kids got their hands on my camera and did take pictures.


On the left is Natalie's face. The kids were trying to figure out how to work my camera. In the middle is Natalie again, but a better picture. On the right is Antoine. His little brother, Du, is the one taking the picture. You'll see him in a bit.

I eventually get my camera back because Anna is worried that they kids will break it, so I take a few shots while we're working.


Phuc and Khanh are enjoying a break. In the middle, there's a shot of me hitting on Michelle (happy early birthday Michelle!). On the right is Natalie again. When I saw that the kids were using my camera to take pictures, I started trying to actually get GOOD pictures. If you noticed, I failed miserably. The picture below Phuc and Khanh is of the simultaneously hot and cool Sarah Le, who obviously needs no nickname. I actually met Sarah years ago at the San Diego international Vietnamese youth conference, and didn't expect to see her with us at all! It was totally cool that we did though, because now I'm gonna stop hitting on Michelle to hit on Sarah Le.

During the break, the Catalyst Foundation Staff and Vietnam volunteers also decided to have some fun, as is documented below.


Pretty cool right? Chi Loan is the one in orange, and she actually lived in the states for awhile before deciding to move back to Vietnam to play a hands-on role in the humanitarian efforts of the Catalyst Foundation. Chi Minh is a local who volunteers a lot with the Catalyst Foundation. Don is...well...Don. Some other volunteers hopped into the picture too! That was a fun 10-minute break.

Mike Tran had my camera on our way back to bus, so he started taking pictures.

If you notice, it looks like I can barely fit on the bike. That's true. If you also notice in the last picture, I'm riding with no hands, and yes...that is Natalie in front. I'm an absolutely responsible person.

When we got back to the rendezvous point, Du started acting up, so I took a picture. After that, we all got back on the bus to get back to the hotel. We took some down time to relax after a long day's work, and then got ready for dinner. We got a really good group picture in front of our pink bus though.