Who's Who in Qui Nhon (that I've met)

Co Hao - she is the eldest sister, born after my Dad. Her rank is "sister #3." She carries herself like the eldest sister. She is respected most above all the other siblings. She is soft-spoken and kind. I had a nice long chat with her our last evening in Qui Nhon. We spoke of family and her deep love for my father and my mother.

Co Ha - her rank is, "sister #4." We stayed with her during the entire Qui Nhon trip. She has an easy laugh and keeps busy. She is constantly moving (cooking, cleaning, going to market, going to church, going over to visit family/friends, caring for her husband, teasing H laughing). She gets a good ribbing from H but she gives as good as she gets. I believe her words to H on our last morning were, "tonight, you die!! *chuckle*"

Co Hiep - her rank is "sister #5" and they actually call her "Co Nam," which means, sister number 5 or just "Nam" which means five. She is the mother hen amongst the sisters. She moved into Ba Noi's house six months ago to help care for her after her heart attack. She has a sweet disposition and doesn't like to see anyone harmed, even slightly. It was she that returned underpants to one of the cousins that H "de-pants-ed" during a swim at Ham Ho. She also joined in half-way through Co Hao and my tete-e-tete.

Chu Thanh - he is the eldest brother still living. After Co Nam, they don't use the numbering system to refer to siblings much. He is soft-spoken and kind. Everyone says I'm his favorite. He lived with my parents while he attended school. Four years younger than my Father, he remembers H and I. For the longest time, he held on to a picture of me, only eight months old, sitting in the crook of his arm, holding on to his thumb. What endeared me to him? Apparently, when I was a little older than one year, he came for a visit. My Father had hidden his cigarettes so that his friends would not smoke all of them. I had seen where he hid them. When Chu Thanh came over, I walked over to the hiding spot, pulled out the precious cigarettes and then trotted over and handed them to him. He is the one that drove me around on his moped and showed me the nostalgic places in town - where my parents lived, met, married, etc.

Chu Binh - he took us to our various swimming spots. He is jovial and kind. He liked to plan our outings and shuttle us all over town on his moped. Hi drives his moped everywhere as his hips bother him. He needs hip-replacement surgery but is waiting until he absolutely cannot stand the pain any longer. His discomfort and pain don't stop him from playing with us all day. He is the most light-hearted of the uncles in Qhi Nhon.

Co Ninh - she is the elder of the first set of twins. She is quiet and goes about her business with a humble spirit. She is always cooking or cleaning it seems. I only heard her speak a few times and tried hard to understand as her words were few and far between. She spoke of matters close to her heart.

Chu Dong - he and Chu Thanh are the photographers of the family. He has been living with Ba Noi for a few years now to care for her. He has no qualms about jumping in to lend a hand with the cooking and cleaning. Mosquitoes are always biting his feet - no where else. He has an easy laugh and a bit of a prankster in him. He and H "de-pantsed" one of the cousins at Ham Ho. He held him while H stripped him of his swimming trunks (undies).

Co Dung - she is the youngest of all the siblings. She actually lives in Saigon but I met her in Qui Nhon. She seems like the one who likes to look for adventures and have lots of fun. She is only a couple of years older than me. She is much like the older sister who comes home from college to take you partying. She is very clever and convinced three of the youngest boys (cousins) to show off their manhood so she could take a picture. She did it by pitting them against each other and telling them that the youngest had the biggest pee pee of them all. They begged to differ and whipped them out to prove her wrong. Who was the bigger fool?