Vietnam visa on its way; Dubai?
Well, I almost blew my chance to go to Vietnam by
putting off getting a visa until the last minute. Luckily, the folks at the
United States Educational Foundation in India (USEFI) really came through for
me. I got a call tonight that my passport, with visa, is being sent by courier
from Delhi back here to Kerala. So I am all set to leave for Vietnam on January
7.
The complications with getting my visa began when
I realized I needed a visa after we were already in Kerala. This was dumb of me
since I could have easily gone to the Embassy of Vietnam in Delhi while we were
there. After a couple days of calling the embassy from here, I finally decided
that my strategy would be to send my visa application and passport to USEFI, and
have them carry it to the Embassy to submit it, then airmail it back to me. The
plan seemed simple enough, but there were a number of complications, all
heightening the uncertainty given the tightness of time.
But it's taken care of, at least USEFI
tells me my passport is in the mail. On top of all that, I have made a number of
contacts in Vietnam. I have a few people who are looking forward to meeting with
me to talk about the movement in Vietnam to get the American companies that
manufactured Agent Orange held responsible for war crimes. My interest in this
movement stems from its connection to the movement in Bhopal. Both have Dow
Chemical as a main target. The book I will write from all of this research will
most likely be organized around the idea of a single company spreading its
toxins around the world, and in the process unknowingly creating linkages among
movements that would later unite to challenge the almighty chemical
giant.
There's an outside chance I
might go to Dubai in February as part of this research. There is a UN
Environment Programme "Global Ministerial Environment Forum" there in February.
One of the themes is chemical management. In addition, the meeting is preceded
by a meeting of civil society organizations working on the issue. It would be
quite interesting to attend the meeting, not to mention traveling to Dubai. If I
do that trip, Marion and the kids will most likely come with me. Connections
between Kerala and the Gulf are quite good. Many Keralites go to the Gulf where
cheap labor is needed, and many wealthy residents of the Gulf come to Kerala to
vacation and buy cheap land. So we can actually get a direct flight from TVM to
Dubai for around $400.
Posted: Fri - December
30, 2005 at 08:52 AM