Alone Together, Pipo

During the last few weeks, we were confined to our building , Block H1 at the National University campus in Thu Duc. There were not much of a natural landscape to speak of and what I saw were different rooms where strangers were sharing during their quarantine. In the afternoons, doors were wide open to allow some cross breeze to cool off the afternoon heat. Each room is a temporary, unintentional home. My research during the last few decades centers upon the definition  of home and where is home for someone who straddles between cultures. I arrived in Saigon from Hue as a refugee, I left Vietnam as a refugee and this time I am in quarantine in Vietnam upon my arrival from the US. These last few weeks, I was forced to be more critical about my ideas and how to be flexible and resourceful.