Greetings from Saigon.
In Thailand if you are in someone's way they smile at you without saying a word for about 25 seconds, then maybe they will giggle softly into their hands, then they will bow deeply and finally you will notice their presence and move to the side so that they can pass. You will both giggle in embarrassment and nod in respect to one another.
I knew I wasn't in Thailand anymore when after only 10 minutes in the airport a security official physically pushed me over for standing in the wrong customs line. Culture schumlture.
So far my time in Saigon has been completely dominated by my realization of what was actually happening during the Vietnam War. In school we learn about the war very scientifically. We study leaders, and planning failures and treaties signed and ignored. After only a few hours here I saw it from a very different angle. Babies are still born here disabled and disfigured from the effects of Agent Orange spread by our army. Fields are still ruined for farming. And obviously there are the cemeteries filled with headstones from that fateful decade. Sadly our country has those too. Being here with this history hanging in the background has actually filled me with a tremendous amount of shame. I feel sorry.
The day before I left Chiang Mai I went to the American consulate for passport upkeep. After going through security I saw the new trio hanging on the wall for the first time. Obama, Biden, Clinton. What a relief. No vacant Bush, no creepy Cheney, no psyched up Rice. I felt proud to see my president's face hanging on the wall. I feel proud in Thailand everytime someone asks me where I'm from and then they respond with a shout of joy, "Obamaaaaaa!"
But now I'm in Vietnam and when I say I'm American they say, "ok."
So hats off to the three new faces on the wall. Here's to a future that always remembers mistakes of the past.
"1, 2, 3 what are we fighting for?"
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I didn't tell anyone I was American in Vietnam, I was too ashamed. Pretended I was Swedish.
ReplyDeleteDid you go to the Cu Chi tunnels? Mind blowing. You can go down into one of the tunnels underground and see where these villagers hid from American soldiers. I could only fit down one they were so tiny (and got stuck for a bit, despite my small bosom), but you could imagine families living in them for days.
a piece of you is still there. your great uncle Johnny lies in a watery grave about 50 miles SE of Hai Phong, in the gulf of tonkin. the seaplane he co-piloted vanished after rescuing a downed pilot, no sign of the crew or wreckage was ever found. He was 26 years old.
ReplyDeletethere were no winners in Nam.