Ho Chi Minh City

I am still quite shell-shocked. It could be the jet leg or possibly even the painkillers, but my mind has definitely moved into awe mode. I really can't believe that I'm actually here in Saigon, the place of my birth. My mom is probably in more shock, being that this is her first time back to her home in 33 years.

Day one in Vietnam was spent meeting up with relatives whom I have no recollection of, being that I was only three years old when our family escaped. I was definitely nervous at first, but all my cousins made me feel at home. It helps that I understand and speak the language, so there is definitely no communication barriers. I'm so glad that my mom made all of us kids speak Vietnamese at home when we grew up. Not knowing your native tongue is like not knowing a huge piece of your heritage. After the initial meet and greet, my cousin took us back to Di Minh's (my mom's older sister) house in Saigon. During the van ride, no one could take his or her eyes off of my mom. Di Minh and her children were amazed that my mom was sitting right there next to them. They all fought for her attention. It is unfortunate that I do not have a wide-angle lens for my video camera, because that scene was something else. I did manage to tape streets of Saigon, which actually humbled me. There was a definite sense of culture shock. They poverty level made me realize how good I have it.

We made it to Di Minh's house at about noon and pretty much spent the rest of the day making up for lost time. Di Minh whipped out the old photo album and I can see my mom freeze up a little. For the first time in 33 years, she saw never before seen photos of her days in Vietnam. I could tell that my mom was getting emotional because she started to crack jokes. It was really funny. All my cousins and their kids gathered around my mom and her sister as they both told stories of yesteryear. After perusing the photo album, my mom made me whip out my Macbook Pro to show pics of our family. My cousins looked in awe at pictures of my siblings and their kids. They had so many questions, and my mom tried her best to address every single one. We all sat around the table for hours.

At about 5 o’clock, we all went to mass--at the church where I was baptized. When we drove up to the church, my mom stood still for about 2 minutes staring at the steeple. If it hadn’t been for my cousin Trang urging her to keep moving or else we wouldn’t be able to get seat, my mom would have just stood there flipping through the pages of the photo album in her head. My mom then entered the church and quickly noted that, though the décor looked different, this was definitely her church. She then sat at her pew and prayed.

It got even more intense when, after mass, my cousins took us to the home where my mom raised us. Like at the church, my mom stood in front of that house completely speechless. She touched the side of the house and quickly launched into the story of how my dad was so annoyed that the neighbors had just built another floor to their house, that he made my mom call the contractors to put up another floor so that she and my dad would have the tallest house on the street! She looked down the sidewalk and noted the bougainvilleas were all gone. She walked up the entrance and recounted the story of how a communist officer pulled her out of her that house one night and took her in for interrogation, right before the planned escape. My parents owned a large German Shepard, and when this officer saw the dog, he interrogated my mother about her involvement with the US. He grilled her, insinuating that these types of dogs were used by the Americans to hunt down the Viet Cong in the jungles. My mom stood her ground and insisted that this dog was the family pet, and after about two hours, the officer sent her home. She sent that German Shepard to live with my grandfather, and five days later, she and her family made our first attempt at escape. After telling that story, my mom walked hand and hand with Di Minh across the street. I left them alone.

By about 9pm Saigon time, we were both so jetlagged that my mom begged Di Minh to let us check into our hotel. My aunt was offended that we wouldn’t stay at her home, but my mom convinced her that I needed my air-conditioned room and internet access! I guess I shouldn’t complain, because it is true. My mom and I left Di Minh’s and when we got to our hotel, we both crashed.