I can’t believe it’s only a week away now until I will be in Vietnam. Passports, check , Visas , check , suitcases been packed and unpacked several times. Kids are still at school which is a blessing as with them being at home to would be too much excitement to handle !
I am very envious of my best friend and vad ‘brother’ Le Thanh who is already out there. Lucky him gets to spend 3 weeks out in Nam. I really hope he will leave me some spring rolls to eat !
I can’t wait to spend time with him and his family back in the motherland.
The great thing about this trip is that it is also a reunion for the Vietnamese Adoptees (Vads) who left roughly around the same time 35 yrs ago. I will get to meet many more from America and Europe , some who were at the same orphanage as me or who were on the Galaxy C5A that crashed. I also get to meet Sr Susan again, the nun who took care of me at New Haven and with whom I have kept in touch with over the years. The last time I saw her I was 18.
I must admit I am starting to feel a few emotions now , excitement mostly but also nervous as this is only my second trip back. The first was quite traumatic and certainly an eye opener. It has been almost 14 years so I am also expecting many changes especially towards the tourism aspect but I know it is still a third world country and poverty is very privalent.
Another reason for me to go this time is not only to commemorate the fall of Saigon but it has been 35 years since I was on that ill fated plane crash back in 1975. Being there on the exact day for the memorial service and to pay my repects again is very poignant to me and I will also be with many others who survived. I intend to read a poem in memory of those who died , I feel it is something that I need to do and hope that it will bring some kind of closure. I know it will be very emotional for me but I have my family and friends there for support.
Gieo - Safi Dub 