Greetings from Hanoi, Vietnam (xin chào)
ACAB includes the Vietnam People's Public Security.
The last time I was in Hanoi, I was 21. Sometimes I can’t believe my guts, to sling on a backpack and slosh around the Indochine for three months, two grand in my pocket, alone. I’ve since lost my stomach for dangerous fun. One night, out partying on Khao San Road, my drink was spiked and I woke up, head throbbing and confused, in a hotel room full of Israeli men. I dusted myself off and partied again the next night, totally undeterred.1
I hoped I’d return to Vietnam, a country I found prickly and gorgeous, but I never imagined I’d come back with a husband and two-year-old daughter, a future I’d ruled out for myself with a tubes-tied level of certainty. Sixteen years later, here we are.