8-8-09: Rain, Rain, Go Away...

I sit here in my hotel room quietly finding myself lost in thought. A badly Vietnamese dubbed form of “The Untouchables” plays on the television. A can of half-eaten Pringles lay next to me as I watch this American classic and sit here typing. It’s raining here in Vietnam for the first time I’ve been here. It doesn’t bring my mood down necessarily, but it definitely puts me in a different mindset. Lost in thought, I think of my friends back home. I think of my family, how they’re doing, and my newly born nephew. Has he grown since I’ve been gone for this long 2 weeks? I miss those things the most, and honestly, I don’t really miss much more. Travelling is something that most people know I love doing. I love documenting things going on in the world, to try and bring a different view to people that care to watch. Sometimes these documentations are about human rights, sometimes about new places, but they are all about changing preconceived views.

The rain here is only comparable to Hawaii in my personal experience. It rains for about 30 minutes, then stops. This cycle continues until the winds decide to blow the clouds away. When it rains here, the temperature doesn’t change. It’s still as hot and humid as the first day I got here; the Laker jersey stuck to my body whenever I walk outside like the cheese to bread in a grilled sandwich. I find this weird since the rain should keep me somewhat cooler. I guess not. I switch the channel; to my surprise the Loony Tunes are on. I hearken back to my youth, when all it took me was some ice cream and cartoons to make me genuinely happy. What happened to those days? What happened to the days when I could carry a fairly intelligible conversation with adults, while snot-boogers dripped from my nose? I miss those days. I want ice cream.

I want to do some more exploring, but the rains hold me prisoner. A prisoner to my room, a prisoner to my writing. I guess exploring will have to wait for another day. Productivity is the key to days like this. You have to keep yourself busy when time, the weather, or ailments hold you prisoner to a room. It is part of the human psyche; the need to feel important and needed.

I find myself sleeping, then waking up, every couple of hours. The rain working like a hypnotic trance machine; slowly drifting me away to sleep.

There was a gecko in here not too long ago; I’m scared to death of little creatures like that. I don’t know why, but they always did. The day goes by while I sit here wondering. Things go on around the whole world, while we sit and wonder. We are in a proverbial bubble, and these bubbles are located all over the world. You are your own bubble, and your surroundings befit it. Just remember that when you think you know what the world is about. Your left is someone else’s right. Your full stomach is someone else’s hunger. Your sadness is someone else’s happiness. And your hatred is someone else’s love.

There is a huge moat that surrounds the city we are located in. Or better yet, the city we are in is a mini-city within a larger city. Hue, Vietnam used to be the old capital of Vietnam, so the royal family built a huge castle (moat and defensive walls) to live in. The castle city was for royalty, the rest of the city was for the citizens. Now, the castle city is where many hotels and citizens reside. This is where I reside. As the rain drops into the moat, I wonder how old that water could be. Is it the same water from hundreds of years ago that the royal family dually used to drown their enemies and enjoy recreational swims?

These are my thoughts on this rainy day…

I apologize for these long, non-linear, ramblings; or perhaps this was a compromise between my thoughts and the Vietnamese weather? The weather locking me up in my room, permitting me to write…

If that is the case, I don’t apologize, but I thank you for reading…

-Live from Vietnam, Sonny