Visa, visa, where are you?

Some of you are thinking that this is my official trip. In actuality, this is only a preliminary trip that I was forced to take. You're thinking, "Yeah, right, sure she has the money to arbitrarily fly to VN and spend a month playing around." The truth is, my whole family has never been back to visit Viet Nam since we left in 1986. That's 19 years of separation for my parents--let's call it separation anxiety--in many senses of the phrase, too. They wanted to visit Viet Nam and also wanted to "escort" me on my first trip back. Everything was going smoothly, we purchased tickets for Mom, Dad, Sister, and Brother, to go on tourist visas. They were set to go on the 22nd of July, returning on the 17th and 28th of August. Both my parents and my brother flew from Texas to Berkeley a few days before the flight to VN, bringing with them 9 suitcases and carry-ons. As the day approached, they were packing and re-packing their bags while I waited and waited for my visa from the Fulbright. Four days before they were to leave, I received an email from the Fulbright Program Director in VN saying they would not be able to get my entry visa until mid-August, if even then. "Let's wait," they said. // This meant I would be sitting in Mai-Anh's apartment, peering out her bay windows waiting for my visa, while my family went to Viet Nam for a month.