From Da Nang

I don’t know why this is showing up in my photos as taken today, but it is much nicer than any pictures I took today so I’ll cheat. This is from the street market in Da Nang. I saw her trying on a dress at a stall with her friends. For my final picture she danced a little jig. Then I brought the camera over to show her and she and her friends liked it. 

We had fascinating meetings today. The first one was with someone who has lived in Vietnam for 28 years. He first came on two tours of duty. He met women he had napalmed. They hugged him. 

So many people did so many bad things to each other during that war. The Vietnamese look forward, not back. I think there were too many guilty parties for the Vietnamese to be angry at Americans, and they understand it was war, and they understand that most of the soldiers had no choice. 

We have people in the United States who haven’t gotten over the Civil War. No, I’m not exaggerating.

There are now officially no free rooms in Ho Chi Minh City tomorrow night. I had to extend my stay so I can take meetings Thursday. I could not find a hotel room in any hotel my team recommended, Travelocity, or TripAdvisor. I don’t think it is appropriate to tell a local consultant she has to share a room with me, so unless someone at the home office gives me a better idea I’m going to send her home tomorrow after our meetings and take Thursday’s meetings myself. They should both be in English.