An excerpt from my other blog, Dave@Xanga:

I feel like my trip there taught me innumerable lessons about life, love, compassion, and suffering. In some ways, my trip to Vietnam helped return me to my Buddhist roots, grounding me firmly in some of the tenets of Buddhism through developing an understanding of the relationship between suffering, life and death. I learned about love in all forms by learning more about the lives of others, the sacrifices they make, and the choices they are forced into out of necessity and survival. I learned about the compassion of a leader for their community and the struggle for redemption. I learned about romantic love, the unexpected connection developed between two strangers that pushes every boundary, the confluence of physical, emotional, and spiritual. I couldn't have possibly been more mesmerized by Viet Nam and what it holds in store for me for the future.

I'm back in Berkeley but I feel like I left my mind in Viet Nam and my heart on a plane heading westward, somewhere in between this country and the next. We'll see what the future holds.