34 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2016
S
ometimes when the light
is just right and I squint
just so, the Missouri River
reminds me of Vietnam. The
Cái River is wide, and the
trees grow thick on both sides like the
cottonwoods of the Missouri. I was 18,
and I remember my uncles laughing on
the boat, drinking their Tiger beer and
smoking their cigarettes, teasing my
mother as if 16 years had not passed
by. South Vietnam in the summer is the
most humid place in the world, and on
some days, I think Nebraska is its equal
in this regard.
I was born in Nha Trang in the
Khánh Hòa Province, in the general
hospital on Yersin Street – just a
5-minute walk from the ocean to the
east and a 5-minute taxi ride to the Cái
River to the north. From old pictures
Where the River
Bends
Story and photos by Jenny Nguyen
In 2014, a group of women prepare to kayak the Missouri River from Sunshine Bottom to Verdel, a 16-mile trip.
