When I did venture out into the real world, I saw some interesting stuff. Maeve and I went to the Women's Museum to check out the women of Vietnam. We didn't get to see too much because we were a little late, but the coolest thing I saw was an exhibit on the women's roles during the war. The exhibit was really well organized and told the stories of individual women and what they did for the war effort. One was the story of Doctor Dang Thuy Tram, whose published war diary, Last Night I Dreamed of Peace, I read this summer before coming to Vietnam. She graduated from the Hanoi Medical School and then went to the South during the war to serve on the field. Her story as well as countless others were represented as you walk around the exhibit room. Women guerrilla soldiers, protesters, doctors and political activists were all present.
After the museum, we wandered around, found smoothies and ate noodles for dinner before hitting the Cinematheque for a movie. I know I've been doing a lot of movies recently, but how can you argue with living, breathing history when it's available to you? We went to see the movie The Times of Harvey Milk. This is the documentary of Harvey Milk's political life released in 1985, the story which was recently made into a drama with Sean Penn and Josh Brolin. This documentary focused much more on Milk's politics rather than his personal life. It was a great film, and it was such an amazing evening because one of the people who worked on the movie, Robert Hawke, was there to talk with us about his experiences and the making of the film. I could have asked him about his life and listened to him tell stories all day, He was so engaging. Joey, Maeve and I stuck around and talked to him for a bit after the Q&A. He was so wonderful to talk with! He is a preacher's kid, and I am a military kid, so we bonded over having moved around a lot as kids. He said he wanted to make a documentary about kids like us. A second point for military kids.
Today's venture outside was to a craft bazaar at the Ethnology Museum in Hanoi. This museum details the lives and history of the ethnic groups in Vietnam, of which there are 54. The main group are the Kinh people who are what most people think of as the Vietnamese people and then there are 53 other ethnic minorities who account for about 12% of the total population of Vietnam. Today was a special day where the outside courtyard was converted into a handicraft market, where a number of ethnic groups were represented with their traditional crafts as well as typical Vietnamese crafts such as silk work and lacquer paintings. I did some serious damage, people. That craft market didn't know what hit it. I have bought so many gifts, but the problem is going to be how could I ever part with all my gifts? Mom is definitely going to have to help me on that one.
One of the classes we are currently in is an Oral History class. Oral History, as a field, started as a way to represent those who didn't have a voice in the grand arena. For this class, each of us is paired with someone working in Vietnam in the field of public health. Everyone is paired with a Vietnamese person except for me. The person I'm working with is an American working at an international NGO here in Vietnam. I don't know how much I can tell you because it's confidential. (I've always wanted to say that.) But really, it is. I can tell you that it has been an unbelievable experience so far. I finally understand how much my high school history teacher loves talking to World War II vets and hearing their stories. I also realized that I've been doing this since I was a kid. I didn't have a recorder, but I hung out with my dad and a veteran who landed Higgins boats at Normandy, soaking up history. History has a way of being ever-present if you listen enough. This is especially true of military veterans, a group which I am forever blessed and honored to get the chance to spend time with. I love stories of every shape and form (probably a large part of why I love movies so much) and continue to fall silent at a table of my parents' friends, lost in the stories they tell on one another. The class is helping me learn the right questions and how to ask them. So, just know that I'm listening when you talk to me.
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