all in the family

So, after much delay and hoohaw, i am finally moving my as-yet-untanned booty (damn!) to share some words and pix about my recent trip to vietnam. Having left her homeland 33 years ago during the war (Vietnam War, people) (or American War, as known by locals), my mother was finally ready to return and see what had become of her country and i, having been once before, was more than happy to accompany her and 'show her the way'. (guffaw) javi joined us as official photographer/videographer and asia virgin, as did hoa, a good friend of my mother whom, as much as i love her, could be defined as a female michael jackson. the surgery thing. more on that later.

trips to asia conjure up all sorts of visions and ideas...temples, tea, noodle soup, kung fu, babies with fuckedup haircuts...buddhism, taoism, confucianism, maoism, gettin' jiggy with ho chi minism...everyone is on a different search, mission, holiday ideal, culinary adventure, photographic spectacle, sexual exploration, spiritual enlightenment, corrupt business trip, massage therapy. but not me. oh no. i did all of that the LAST time i came through here. no, this time it was about family. and how i was lucky enough to be brought into this world via two distinctly different cultural avenues, one of which i only partially was aware of.

the family which features on this trip includes my fantastically agile 80-year old auntie binh, her 10 children and their children. about 20 people in total, plus spouses and other people connected by crazily drawn bloodlines. this number accounts for only one-fifth of the number of people on my mom's side of the family, the rest more or less living in the US. i havent even met one-third of them yet! the vietnamese, like many asian populations, are breeding people. we all know the traditional explanation that large families are valued, children sustain the family name/honor, everyone cares for each other through the years and the line continues. while all that is true, i just like to think that my family likes sex. i do. and in such a warm, tropical climate...why not do it and have loads of kids?? make love, not war, right?

unfortunately for the vietnamese, they've had an unending history of only making love AND war, with very few breaks in-between.