Our Passage to Vietnam ~ Day 20

Our Passage to Vietnam... Family continues - Part 7

As we continued our passage through Vietnam as wealthy and spoiled American tourists, not only did we feel the changes in the tropical weather as we headed South, but we also saw with our own eyes the changes in the way the Vietnamese people lived from region to region, and village to village along the trail.  Real life on the other side of the world greeted us with mixed emotions.

Children at work!

Vietnamese children selling merchandise to the Americans

Restroom stop, anyone?

The saddest memory was witnessing a street accident in our path with no paramedics or police to assist, only the people standing by and the neighbors pulling the lifeless body to an open side of the street.  We had a vantage point from the tall bus to see the blood and gore from the body as we passed through the crowded street. 

It made me think that it was perhaps a glimpse for the kids of what “war” must have been like, but with ten times more devastation, as these young American eyes stared in disbelief.  How many young Americans & Vietnamese 30 years before them had seen so much more.

I can only assume that the Swanson family took it all in as a part of the Vietnam landscape which until now, they only were able to read about in school history classes. 

It was quite heartfelt and moving for all of us as we witnessed the accident scene. 

James’s oldest, Jim, suggested that we pray for the accident victim as we drove on.  It was as if we needed to accept the rawness of the scene, but soften it with our prayers for the nameless man.  How could we enjoy our vacation on a clear conscious level without accepting that death, understanding it was just as much a part of life as living itself.

Vietnamese man proud to receive American dollars from Jim & Mary

Jim, being the oldest and already been married to Bonnie, his high school sweetheart, now for more than a year. Bonnie came from a very large family of seven siblings, so this big family trip with us was no surprise to her or Jim, I am sure.  We could only hope that this trip would be a memorable one for them as newlyweds,… like father, like son. 

With my new husband next me at the front of the bus, I felt more butterflies in my stomach as we got closer and closer to bringing him to my home, to meet my village family, re-stating our wedding vows, and eventually to share my actual orphanage and the poor country I grew up in.  I knew James was someone very special to the heart of that village girl inside me. She dreamt of this day to be that bride to her true love. I just never knew we were going to travel half the world to find each other at this late stage in our lives.

She wanted to share the real part of me as the “ barefoot village girl “ to add to that All- America city girl he met & married in Atlanta, only 7 months before. We were so in love and so ready to embark on any journey together with wide open hearts.  We haven't change a bit! We've been like that still today, ready & willing to live on the edge, engage our lives to the fullest and always welcoming new & different adventures, together! 

There were many long hours on that bus to reach the southern part of Vietnam.  It was as if we were in a time machine, seeing the progression from the sterile, gray, and somewhat lifeless atmosphere of northern Vietnam, to the more progressive, colorful and “westernized” south Vietnam.  But also, within our bus during those long hours, I was able to observe the dynamics of my newfound family, and the differences in each person.

Most of my life, I relied on my intuition, my heart “knowing” and sensing the energy from others, to know my surroundings. I observed my new American family as they kept their distance, and for most of the trip, huddled distantly in the back on the bus.

To be continued tomorrow...Part 8 

With Love & Light,

Hai