October 6 – 29, 1994
There was so much I did not, and do not understand. In Vietnam, and in Hanoi in particular, I felt comforted and unnerved. I was seduced by the foreign beauty and mysterious rituals of the place. Hanoi was a city shut off from the world for the last thirty years, and no doubt this time warp contributed to its singular charm. But I could never sit pretty with this “charm.” For even as I felt enchanted, repugnant images assailed me; politics permeated the air; and a convoluted protocol turned friendships into intricate maneuvers, where understanding and trust could never be taken for granted.