Member Reflections

Vietnam-Cambodia 2006

En route to Hoi An -- Watching the flow of life – on the road, in the water, in the fields --is endlessly fascinating. I am very aware of slow and fast time, almost dizzy with each succeeding moment in time.

This country is so beautiful, and the people seem so industrious and hand-working, that it seems impossible that we were dropping bombs on it and burning these fields such a short time ago. They are mending all of the damage and seem to have forgiven us. It’s a remarkable, moving thing to experience.

The Concert in Ho Chi Minh City last night was a highlight. We had fun meeting and rehearsing with the conservatory students in the morning. Then we sang well together with them in the evening, despite our different versions of Truong Com! The students showered us with lovely flowers in celebration, men and women alike! Afterwards many of us kept the good energy flowing through song and dance at the Hotel Equatorial bar. All in all, another memorable evening, our second to last night in HCM City.

Yes I was surprised and pleased with the friendliness of both Vietnamese and Cambodians, and noticing Socheat hold himself apart and sit quietly on the edge of Pre Rups “mezzanine” as the sun sank, I knew there were depths there we would never reach. He had told us of his past in such a dramatic out-pouring, seemingly holding nothing back, that his captive audience in the bus responded mightily, some with tears. Did he feel he had made us understand? Did he resent our living out our lives in safety? Nothing gives a sense of finality more than a ray of sun sinking below the horizon. I pray that the craters in his heart were filled with quiet finally and that our singing filled a tiny bite of that space.