The typical American sidewalk is a lovely sight to behold. On a crisp fall day it is a great place to stroll the dog around the neighborhood and take in some fall color. In the summer it is a path for bikes and blades and the perfect canvas for toddlers wielding chalk. Unfortunately in winter it is one other thing to be shovelled. But, when it is covered in snow, it can also be a smooth trail for a plastic sled. In a variety of ways, a sidewalk is lovely. It's a comfortable, convenient, cozy piece of home.
It has taken some time, and some grumbling, but I think I have finally come to terms with Vietnam's version of a sidewalk. Today Mom, Jonah and I went for a walk in the area around our hotel. I strapped Jonah in the backpack and down the sidewalk we went. And as I was walking, I decided to throw out my preconceived notions about sidewalks and just except the Hanoi version for what it was. In Hanoi, a sidewalk is really not for pedestrians. With space at a premium, the sidewalk has become a little bit of everything, from public restroom to barbershop.
First and foremost the Hanoi sidewalk is a parking lot. Scooters fill sidewalks at every turn. It is often impossible to take more than three forward steps on the sidewalk pavement before running into a parked scooter. Much of our walk today was spent in the street avoiding parked motorbikes. At lunchtime the sidewalk is transformed into a restaurant. Small stools that serve as chairs are pulled onto the sidewalk and noddle patrons crowd around bowls of pho to discuss the morning's events. In the late afternoon I've seen shoes being polished, nails being done and hair being cut all on the public sidewalk. And don't get me wrong, these events are not taking place on sidewalks in front of established businesses. They are taking place on sidewalks in random parks, on street corners and in front of historical buildings.
So, to avoid complaining about a decent place to walk, I've decided to except the Hanoi sidewalk for what it is.....a great place to people watch. And, if I happen to be stuck in the middle of the city with no bathroom in sight...............
Tomorrow our small group of adopting families is headed to the Perfume Pagoda. I've been told that the trip involves a four hour bus ride, a two hour canoe ride and a two to three hour hike up a steep path to the pagodas. It should be an excellent adventure. When we get back I'll let you all know if it actually smells like perfume in the Pagodas.
Until then-
Betsy
Saturday, December 29, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Misty Skies and Misty Eyes
Like any girl born in the seventies, I used to be an avid Little House on the Prairie viewer. For those of you not familiar with the show, it was about a pioneer family that settled in Walnut Grove, Minnesota in the 1800's. The family comprised of Pa, the heroic and loving father, Ma the constant and tender mother, and the kids, who varied in number from year to year. I remember one episode in particular where Pa was forced to leave Ma and the kids behind and venture out into the world to earn a little extra money for the family. Ma stood in the doorway of the wooden house and waved to Pa promising that everything would be fine. Both had tears in their eyes.
Well everyone, my life has become a seventies television series.
Today on the front steps of the Hanoi Sunny Hotel I waved goodbye to Pa and promised that everything would be okay. After a morning of tutorials on everything from where to exchange money, to how to publish a blog post, Ryan and Olivia left by taxi for Hanoi airport. Everyone had tears in their eyes.
It will certainly be a more difficult wait now that half the family is on the other side of the world. The desire to get back home has been magnified by the desire to have our family back together again. So, on your end, keep praying. We would love to be together again as soon as possible.
Thankfully, my mom has been able to stay with me. It makes a huge difference having her here and I'm so grateful for her help and company. However, she will have to take a break from her camcorder to hold a bottle or two. I'm sure if I give her enough time she will think of a way of holding the camcorder in one hand and the bottle in the other :)
I'm going to keep this one short. I have a bit of a cold and need my sleep. But as I sign off, let me assure you of one thing. Everything here is going to be fine. I may even find the time to churn my own butter.
Well everyone, my life has become a seventies television series.
Today on the front steps of the Hanoi Sunny Hotel I waved goodbye to Pa and promised that everything would be okay. After a morning of tutorials on everything from where to exchange money, to how to publish a blog post, Ryan and Olivia left by taxi for Hanoi airport. Everyone had tears in their eyes.
It will certainly be a more difficult wait now that half the family is on the other side of the world. The desire to get back home has been magnified by the desire to have our family back together again. So, on your end, keep praying. We would love to be together again as soon as possible.
Thankfully, my mom has been able to stay with me. It makes a huge difference having her here and I'm so grateful for her help and company. However, she will have to take a break from her camcorder to hold a bottle or two. I'm sure if I give her enough time she will think of a way of holding the camcorder in one hand and the bottle in the other :)
I'm going to keep this one short. I have a bit of a cold and need my sleep. But as I sign off, let me assure you of one thing. Everything here is going to be fine. I may even find the time to churn my own butter.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Hanoi Smooches
Hello friends, Ryan here. This will be my last blog entry before I have to leave to come back to the US and hand over the blogging privileges to my bride. As always, I am sure that she will outshine me with her keen wit, sassy style and impeccable diction. It has taken me eight years, but I am finally getting used to being the sidekick rather than the show stopper.
I am struggling with the reality of leaving Betsy, Jonah and Bea over here for a yet undertermined amount of time. It would be far easier if I knew how long Livi and I would have to wait before we get to show Jonah his sweet crib (MTV Crib, not baby crib). I know that he and I will reconnect once he finally gets back, but he was really warming up to me the past couple of days. Tonight, we were wrestling on the bed after his bath and he just started crawling over and kissing me, without prodding or bribing. So of course, we reenacted it and caught it on film (or memory stick, but that does not sound as cool). I am also worried that Betsy is going to spend Jonah and Olivia's inheritance on all the great shopping over here. I know, I should be careful, Betsy is taking over the reigns on this blog next. Actually, she won't even know what I wrote because we are having the issue at this hotel where we can post, but not actually go to our blog to read it.
Today we walked around Hoan Kiem Lake which is in the Old Quarter in Hanoi. It is very picturesque and has a lot of restaurants that are all famous for their Ice Cream. We had ice cream for lunch.....that is my kind of meal. We were not able to stay down there too long because I had to get back to pay the travel agent. Thank goodness that little episode is behind us. That was almost as painful as losing our luggage for 5 days.
Speaking of luggage. It was a good 3 hour process today repacking to get everything in the right suitcases so Livi and I bring back the majority of our luggage. We seem to have accumulated a lot of goodies while we were over here.
Speaking of goodies (great segues, I know). We had an amazing dinner tonight with a Vietnamese gentleman that studied in the Twin Cities a couple of years ago. Tung and his wife Van treated us to a veritable feast. What a great way to end my time in Vietnam.
Speaking of Jonah, OK, we weren't but now I can't stop. He just continues to blossom. We decided to put shoes on him today that actually fit him. That seems to have brightened his day immeasurably. We will try to do that more often.
On the visa front.....no news. The wait continues.
Thanks for taking part in the Amazing Beach Race. It has been a pleasure sharing the experience with all of you. As I have said before, I can't wait for all of you to meet the little guy in person.
Smooches from Hanoi.
Ryan
PS. I have no idea what Betsy is doing in that picture.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Four Dragons Dancing on the surface of Water Audiences
We went to see the Water Puppet Show today at the Thang Long Water Puppet Theatre. Act four is the title of today's blog since that was my favorite of the 17 acts that made up the total show. It is a puppet show where the puppets all appear to the dancing on the water and it really is quite entertaining. During the dragon sequence, the dragons actually had fireworks in their mouths that made them look like they were breathing fire. It was a little hard to follow at times since the dialogue was all in Vietnamese, but Jonah and Olivia both enjoyed it immensely. Jonah was able to translate a couple of scenes for us. OK, not really, but I bet he understood more than we did. Some other great scenes were; Unicorns play with Ball and Dance of four Holy animals.
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I spent 8 hours (I am not exaggerating) negotiating with the travel agent and the Hotel Sales Manager to try and figure out our hotel situation. It is a really long story, but we were being over charged by the travel agent and I wanted to leave, but the hotel has a 48 hour cancellation policy that I was not informed of. If I left, the travel agent would be stuck with the bill that he had negotiated. I was trying to do well by the travel agent and not saddle him with the total bill, but also limit the amount that I was being charged for the next two nights. This involved about 10 calls with the travel agent and multiple meetings with the Hotel Sales Manager (who had nothing to loose and no reason to budge since she had a contract with the travel agent and was going to get paid not matter what). This was all transpiring in English which resulted in about 16 misunderstandings. To make a long story even longer, I was able to negotiate a reduced rate for the next two nights and then the contract between the Hotel and the travel agent is over, at which time I can negotiate a new rate directly with the Hotel, which will be even lower. It was by far the most exhausting and non-Christmassy feeling Christmas that I have ever experienced. Sigh.
Our day ended on a high note however. One of the families from our agency that has been in Hanoi for a few weeks had arranged a buffet dinner for all of us to get together and celebrate Christmas. It was nice to get away from the Hotel and visit with others that are undergoing the same plight as us. We were able to compare stories and get ideas about how we can try to expedite this visa process and where to find the best pottery in Hanoi.
Tonight, after the Water Puppet show, Jonah became started to get crabby and became increasingly agitated and started crying. We had stopped in a restaurant to get dinner and he was crying so loud that Betsy and I had to take turns going outside with him so as not to disturb the other restaurants patrons. We ran through the check list; not tired (two hour nap), clean diaper, not hungry. We just could not figure out what what wrong with him. He has never been inconsolable besides the first day that we met him and he just wanted to go to the nanny. He kept fussing the whole way home while we were in the taxi and Betsy noticed that he was trying to tug on his foot. When we got him up to the hotel room we took off his shoes and discovered that his sock had bunched up in his shoe which is also apparently too small for him and had cut off circulation to his foot. As soon as his shoes were off he was back to normal....we can't wait for him to be able to talk!
Since our visa approval has not come through, Olivia and I will for sure be leaving without Betsy, Jonah and Bea. We are currently working to change their tickets to leave one week later, hoping that his visa will come through in the next week. Please keep praying that we will hear something soon.
Can you believe that 2007 is almost over? I am so thankful for all the blessings that this year has brought, for the continued health of my beautiful bride, for my adorable and spunky Olivia and for a new son that I already love fiercely. I am also humbled to have so many loving friends and family that have supported us in so many ways, I truly can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you.
I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. I spent 8 hours (I am not exaggerating) negotiating with the travel agent and the Hotel Sales Manager to try and figure out our hotel situation. It is a really long story, but we were being over charged by the travel agent and I wanted to leave, but the hotel has a 48 hour cancellation policy that I was not informed of. If I left, the travel agent would be stuck with the bill that he had negotiated. I was trying to do well by the travel agent and not saddle him with the total bill, but also limit the amount that I was being charged for the next two nights. This involved about 10 calls with the travel agent and multiple meetings with the Hotel Sales Manager (who had nothing to loose and no reason to budge since she had a contract with the travel agent and was going to get paid not matter what). This was all transpiring in English which resulted in about 16 misunderstandings. To make a long story even longer, I was able to negotiate a reduced rate for the next two nights and then the contract between the Hotel and the travel agent is over, at which time I can negotiate a new rate directly with the Hotel, which will be even lower. It was by far the most exhausting and non-Christmassy feeling Christmas that I have ever experienced. Sigh.
Our day ended on a high note however. One of the families from our agency that has been in Hanoi for a few weeks had arranged a buffet dinner for all of us to get together and celebrate Christmas. It was nice to get away from the Hotel and visit with others that are undergoing the same plight as us. We were able to compare stories and get ideas about how we can try to expedite this visa process and where to find the best pottery in Hanoi.
Tonight, after the Water Puppet show, Jonah became started to get crabby and became increasingly agitated and started crying. We had stopped in a restaurant to get dinner and he was crying so loud that Betsy and I had to take turns going outside with him so as not to disturb the other restaurants patrons. We ran through the check list; not tired (two hour nap), clean diaper, not hungry. We just could not figure out what what wrong with him. He has never been inconsolable besides the first day that we met him and he just wanted to go to the nanny. He kept fussing the whole way home while we were in the taxi and Betsy noticed that he was trying to tug on his foot. When we got him up to the hotel room we took off his shoes and discovered that his sock had bunched up in his shoe which is also apparently too small for him and had cut off circulation to his foot. As soon as his shoes were off he was back to normal....we can't wait for him to be able to talk!
Since our visa approval has not come through, Olivia and I will for sure be leaving without Betsy, Jonah and Bea. We are currently working to change their tickets to leave one week later, hoping that his visa will come through in the next week. Please keep praying that we will hear something soon.
Can you believe that 2007 is almost over? I am so thankful for all the blessings that this year has brought, for the continued health of my beautiful bride, for my adorable and spunky Olivia and for a new son that I already love fiercely. I am also humbled to have so many loving friends and family that have supported us in so many ways, I truly can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you.
Monday, December 24, 2007
Away in a Manger
This has been the strangest Christmas Eve that I have ever spent. We woke up this morning, packed up our bags (thankful that we have them), argued with the front desk about our $100 laundry bill, grabbed a quick bowl of noodles across the street and headed for the airport.
Our adoption agency booked the tickets for us from Saigon to Hanoi and since there was only a $10 difference between economy and first class, we were booked in first class. When you are flying domestically in Vietnam, that also means that you get to use the first class lounge which has free food and beverages, yes! It did not matter that we had just eaten lunch, we gorged ourselves on a Christmas Eve feast of peanuts, oreo cookies and soda. The other benefit of First Class in Vietnam is that it is the equivalent of Business Class on an International flight, so there is a ton of space in between seats. It make the 2 hour flight go much more smoothly. We also go another free meal, so dinner was taken care of as well.
We finally arrived at the Sunny Hotel at about 7:30 tonight....and found that it is not so Sunny. We have to have 2 rooms because they only have twin beds, they do not have a baby cot so Jonah is on the floor, the rooms are not very well furnished and are very cramped. To top it off, they are each costing me about $90 a night. So we are paying about twice as much as we were paying in HCMC which was a much nicer venue. I think that it was made all the more disappointing because we are tired from traveling, in a strange city and it is Christmas Eve. Sound familiar? That must be much of what Joseph and Mary were feeling when they arrived in Bethlehem, only to find that there was no where left to stay but a stable. Betsy put it beautifully while we were digesting our accomodations; tonight is our stable night. What a great experience to have on Christmas Eve to remind us that the son of God humbled himself to the point of being born in stable.
While this may have been the strangest Christmas Eve we have ever experienced, it will not be one that I will ever forget. And I will always be reminded of our stable night, and give thanks for the one that occurred some 2000 years ago.
God Bless and have a most infinitely Merry Christmas.
Our adoption agency booked the tickets for us from Saigon to Hanoi and since there was only a $10 difference between economy and first class, we were booked in first class. When you are flying domestically in Vietnam, that also means that you get to use the first class lounge which has free food and beverages, yes! It did not matter that we had just eaten lunch, we gorged ourselves on a Christmas Eve feast of peanuts, oreo cookies and soda. The other benefit of First Class in Vietnam is that it is the equivalent of Business Class on an International flight, so there is a ton of space in between seats. It make the 2 hour flight go much more smoothly. We also go another free meal, so dinner was taken care of as well.
We finally arrived at the Sunny Hotel at about 7:30 tonight....and found that it is not so Sunny. We have to have 2 rooms because they only have twin beds, they do not have a baby cot so Jonah is on the floor, the rooms are not very well furnished and are very cramped. To top it off, they are each costing me about $90 a night. So we are paying about twice as much as we were paying in HCMC which was a much nicer venue. I think that it was made all the more disappointing because we are tired from traveling, in a strange city and it is Christmas Eve. Sound familiar? That must be much of what Joseph and Mary were feeling when they arrived in Bethlehem, only to find that there was no where left to stay but a stable. Betsy put it beautifully while we were digesting our accomodations; tonight is our stable night. What a great experience to have on Christmas Eve to remind us that the son of God humbled himself to the point of being born in stable.
While this may have been the strangest Christmas Eve we have ever experienced, it will not be one that I will ever forget. And I will always be reminded of our stable night, and give thanks for the one that occurred some 2000 years ago.
God Bless and have a most infinitely Merry Christmas.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Oh Yeah!
Yes, Jonah's first official English words were spoken yesterday and they were "Oh Yeah!" Olivia was dancing around the room excitedly chanting, "Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah, Oh Yeah". I am not really sure why, you know Livi, it does not take a lot to get her excited. Anyway, Jonah decided to join the fun and proceeded to repeatedly (with some prodding) shout "Oh Yeah". It was pretty cute. We think that he is already starting to understand a lot more of what we are saying to him. He has certainly not wasted any time familiarizing himself with the word "no". It is amazing how many things a 19 month old can find to get into in a hotel room.
Yesterday we went shopping at the Ben Thanh market, a very famous market in Saigon, selling anything from embroidered table cloths to designer luggage on the cheap. After a while, Olivia announced that she needed to pee. I was in the middle of an INTENSE negotiation for some merchandise (un-named for Christmas surprise purposes) so Betsy took Jonah and Olivia in search of a bathroom. There were nice blue signs that said WC that Betsy followed around a couple of corners. Some nice old ladies pointed her through a door. Upon entering the bathroom, she discovered she was basically in a shower stall. There was a drain on the floor and a little faucet with a handshower. Hmmmmm. She put Jonah down (he started crying) she told Livi to pee on the floor (she cried and peed) and then washed it down the drain with the shower head. Pee break Ho Chi Minh style.
It is 94 degrees today here in Saigon...that might sound nice to those of you experiencing the ice and snow storm this weekend, but it is HOT. We went to the Zoo and Botanical gardens today. They were started in the late 1800's by a French Botanist. During WWII the Japanese used the grounds as an Field Barracks, so the grounds fell into disrepair. Over the past 20 years or so they have been trying to restore it to its original glory. They had quite a few animals and it is much more interactive than American Zoos in that you can still feed the big animals. Olivia was able to feed a stick of sugar cane to an elephant which was fun. Some of the cages do not look as clean as you would see in the states but it was still fun to see all the animals. Jonah was pretty enthralled with all the sights.
Speaking of Jonah, he had his best night yet...we did not have to get up to comfort him at all during the night which was great. He slept from 8:30 straight through to 6:45. We'll take that. He is eating a little better now that he is getting over his cold. He is very partial to fruit..especially Watermelon and Oranges. Getting him to eat anything starchy has been more of a challenge. He also really likes Yogurt.
While at the Zoo today, we met some Canadians that had just adopted from another province in Vietnam. They said they will be able to get in and out of the country within 2 weeks. :( I think we are starting to come to terms with the fact that we are going to have to travel seperately, but it is going to be really hard to leave Betsy, Jonah and Bea here and return with Livi.
There will be 6 families from our agency up in Hanoi for Christmas, so we are talking about renting a hotel conference room and having a little Christmas party together. Something to make it feel like Christmas. While there are Christmas lights and trees all over Saigon and even some Vietnamese Santas wandering around, it just has not felt like Christas with all that we have had to accomplish over here. As a side note, they also use a lot of styrofoam cut-outs to try and make it look like there is snow. It is pretty funny.
I am not sure what the computer situation will be up in Hanoi, but I am sure that I will be able to at least find an internet cafe to sign in. Since we are flying tomorrow I do not know if I will get the opportunity to post. So, Merry Christmas to all of you. May the blessings of the season shower you with joy.
Yesterday we went shopping at the Ben Thanh market, a very famous market in Saigon, selling anything from embroidered table cloths to designer luggage on the cheap. After a while, Olivia announced that she needed to pee. I was in the middle of an INTENSE negotiation for some merchandise (un-named for Christmas surprise purposes) so Betsy took Jonah and Olivia in search of a bathroom. There were nice blue signs that said WC that Betsy followed around a couple of corners. Some nice old ladies pointed her through a door. Upon entering the bathroom, she discovered she was basically in a shower stall. There was a drain on the floor and a little faucet with a handshower. Hmmmmm. She put Jonah down (he started crying) she told Livi to pee on the floor (she cried and peed) and then washed it down the drain with the shower head. Pee break Ho Chi Minh style.
It is 94 degrees today here in Saigon...that might sound nice to those of you experiencing the ice and snow storm this weekend, but it is HOT. We went to the Zoo and Botanical gardens today. They were started in the late 1800's by a French Botanist. During WWII the Japanese used the grounds as an Field Barracks, so the grounds fell into disrepair. Over the past 20 years or so they have been trying to restore it to its original glory. They had quite a few animals and it is much more interactive than American Zoos in that you can still feed the big animals. Olivia was able to feed a stick of sugar cane to an elephant which was fun. Some of the cages do not look as clean as you would see in the states but it was still fun to see all the animals. Jonah was pretty enthralled with all the sights.
Speaking of Jonah, he had his best night yet...we did not have to get up to comfort him at all during the night which was great. He slept from 8:30 straight through to 6:45. We'll take that. He is eating a little better now that he is getting over his cold. He is very partial to fruit..especially Watermelon and Oranges. Getting him to eat anything starchy has been more of a challenge. He also really likes Yogurt.
While at the Zoo today, we met some Canadians that had just adopted from another province in Vietnam. They said they will be able to get in and out of the country within 2 weeks. :( I think we are starting to come to terms with the fact that we are going to have to travel seperately, but it is going to be really hard to leave Betsy, Jonah and Bea here and return with Livi.
There will be 6 families from our agency up in Hanoi for Christmas, so we are talking about renting a hotel conference room and having a little Christmas party together. Something to make it feel like Christmas. While there are Christmas lights and trees all over Saigon and even some Vietnamese Santas wandering around, it just has not felt like Christas with all that we have had to accomplish over here. As a side note, they also use a lot of styrofoam cut-outs to try and make it look like there is snow. It is pretty funny.
I am not sure what the computer situation will be up in Hanoi, but I am sure that I will be able to at least find an internet cafe to sign in. Since we are flying tomorrow I do not know if I will get the opportunity to post. So, Merry Christmas to all of you. May the blessings of the season shower you with joy.
Friday, December 21, 2007
I love Mayo (the Clinic, not the dressing)
This morning I went and picked up Jonah's Vietnamese Passport. He will only have to use this once to come into the US. Upon arrival in the US, he will become a US citizen, and his Vietnamese passport can retire to the adoption scrapbook.
Once we had his passport in hand, we were able to go and get his medical exam. There is only one Hospital in HCMC that can do Visa examinations. The Hospital itself was an experience. Apparently, there is an shortage of medical professionals in the city, so getting into a Doctor is a challenging endeavor. As a result, the waiting room at the hotel is like a July 4th picnic. Everyone brings bamboo mats that they spread out on the floor so they can lounge comfortably as they wait many hours for their appointment. The hospital itself would not win any awards for cleanliness. It really put into context how fortunate we are to have the kind of healthcare that we have in the US (except for the Apple Valley Medical Center, don't go there). We are used to heading down to the Mayo clinic where they have Chihuly Sculptures in the lobby and a pianist entertaining the clientele. The hospital we visited today was....much less than that. Ask us about it in person if you are interested.
Anyway, Jonah passed his medical exam, which consisted of looking in his eyes, feeling his neck, listening to his chest and taking a look under his diaper. Apparently that is all it takes to ensure that he is not bringing any communicable diseases into the US.
Jonah now knows how to give high fives AND fist bumps (a very important communication vehicle). I was also trying to teach him STOP today. It is amazing how many times in a day he can march towards an untimely death in scooter land. He did a little better sleeping last night, not as many night terrors. We have a make-shift bed for him made from a couch since they do not have cribs in our hotel.
I can't believe that it is December 21st. For those of you that have not done your Christmas shopping yet, there are some great last minute deals at Target...especially in the Bedding Department.
Once we had his passport in hand, we were able to go and get his medical exam. There is only one Hospital in HCMC that can do Visa examinations. The Hospital itself was an experience. Apparently, there is an shortage of medical professionals in the city, so getting into a Doctor is a challenging endeavor. As a result, the waiting room at the hotel is like a July 4th picnic. Everyone brings bamboo mats that they spread out on the floor so they can lounge comfortably as they wait many hours for their appointment. The hospital itself would not win any awards for cleanliness. It really put into context how fortunate we are to have the kind of healthcare that we have in the US (except for the Apple Valley Medical Center, don't go there). We are used to heading down to the Mayo clinic where they have Chihuly Sculptures in the lobby and a pianist entertaining the clientele. The hospital we visited today was....much less than that. Ask us about it in person if you are interested.
Anyway, Jonah passed his medical exam, which consisted of looking in his eyes, feeling his neck, listening to his chest and taking a look under his diaper. Apparently that is all it takes to ensure that he is not bringing any communicable diseases into the US.
Jonah now knows how to give high fives AND fist bumps (a very important communication vehicle). I was also trying to teach him STOP today. It is amazing how many times in a day he can march towards an untimely death in scooter land. He did a little better sleeping last night, not as many night terrors. We have a make-shift bed for him made from a couch since they do not have cribs in our hotel.
I can't believe that it is December 21st. For those of you that have not done your Christmas shopping yet, there are some great last minute deals at Target...especially in the Bedding Department.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Nightswimming
I am writing this blog entry back at the Tan My Dihn 2 Hotel in Saigon. By the way, there is a Tan My Dihn 1 Hotel, I saw it last week. While we are back in the city, I can't yet let go of the amazing time that we had convalescing at the Bamboo Village. Olivia had her first experience swimming at night, something she enjoyed immensely. She asked me if we needed to put on moon screen since the moon was so bright.
We survived the five hour bus ride back to HCMC, with only a few close calls. Actually, it was some scooter riders that had close calls with the bus, I was not too concerned for our safety. Speaking of safety, I mentioned in an earlier blog that on December 15th, the millions of scooter riders in Vietnam would have to start wearing helmets (there are more than 2 million scooters in the city of Saigon alone). On our way home, the evening of the 14th, we passed one of the many helmet shops that have sprung up around Saigon and there was literally a mob of people in the store, all purchasing helmets to abide by the law the next day. The next morning, sure enough, 98% of the scooter riders were wearing helmets, compared with about 1% the day before. I would say that is a pretty successful PR campaign.
No word on the visa. If we do not hear anything by tomorrow, chances are virtually nil that we will all be returning to the US together.
Tomorrow I will go pick up Jonah's Vietnamese passport and then at 1pm he has his medical check up to ensure that he is not bringing any communicable diseases into the US. Assuming that goes well, the only obstacle remaining is his Visa.
Jonah did not cry in the elevator tonight...we did not even have to sing to distract him. That is a pretty good gauge of how far he has come in one week. It is crazy to consider that we have only had him in our family for eight days. He has made so many gains and experienced so many different things. Going from the care center to the vastness of the ocean is a pretty big change.
We are still scheduled to be here in Saigon until Christmas Eve, and then we will fly up to Hanoi. If any of you have not yet made plans for Christmas, I think there are still flights available to Hanoi and we would love to have you. :)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
All Quiet on the South East Asian Front
No news on the Visa...one of the other families that just adopted from the same orphanage emailed Senator Norm Coleman's office yesterday to see if they could make any difference. It is so hard not to hear any news of any sort and not know at all whether or not things are moving forward.
Jonah continues to have night terrors. He thrashes around and screams for about 5 minutes a couple times a night. We have been able to comfort him, but there does not seem to be any way to prevent it.
He is using sign language to say "please" now and is obsessed with fans. I am pretty sure that is going to be his first English word...maybe even before Mom.
The big development here is that Olivia swam almost the length of the pool by herself. With all the time that we have had to swim in the pool, she has made some great improvements swimming.
I am not sure if I mentioned that I have not been able to view my my blog from here. I can post, but I cannot go in and look at the actual blog or read comments. Actually, I cannot access any blog sites here in Mui Ne.
I hope everyone is staying warm back home, we miss you all.
Mission Accomplished
We got Jonah to ride in the backpack yesterday! We went down and walked on the beach so the wind would drown out his wails. He cried for about 15 minutes and then appreared to realized that it is actually pretty sweet to be carted around on someone's back with your hands free to play with sea shells. We are going to give it a shot again today and see if he can do it without crying. We really want the flexibility to use it for the remainder of the time in the city.
Nothing to report on the visa. If it does not come through by the end of this week, Jonah, Betsy and Bea will be staying longer than we had planned and Livi and I will be coming home.
Kite Surfing is AWESOME. I am not speaking from personal experience, just from a spectator standpoint. This is a mecca for kite surfers and they are all up and down the coast.
Not much else to report around here....just still playing the waiting game.
Betsy said to say, "GO VIKES!"
Nothing to report on the visa. If it does not come through by the end of this week, Jonah, Betsy and Bea will be staying longer than we had planned and Livi and I will be coming home.
Kite Surfing is AWESOME. I am not speaking from personal experience, just from a spectator standpoint. This is a mecca for kite surfers and they are all up and down the coast.
Not much else to report around here....just still playing the waiting game.
Betsy said to say, "GO VIKES!"
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Pooh Corner (Not Winnie the Pooh)
Warning: The following paragraph may not be suitable for individuals without children, or an aversion to descriptions of bodily functions. Viewer discretion advised.
Little Jonah Horner, pooped in a corner, after eating his rice and yogurt. We have discovered that anytime he is going to poop, he heads into a corner of the room for a little privacy. He then points to the bathroom, wanting to have his diaper changed. Hopefully this lends itself to efficient potty training when we get back to the US.
We have had some small victories.
He sat in a high chair.
He did not cry when we put him to sleep last night.
He did not cry when he woke us this morning.
He used sign language to say please this morning.
He wore a bib at breakfast this morning.
There are so many transitions that are harder to make at 18 months as opposed to starting them as an infant and having them be the norm. We are very pleased with how adaptable he has been. Certainly the language barrier is difficult for both of us. We were reminded last night of the Far Side cartoon with a dog owner speaking to his dog and all the dog hears is blah, blah, blah, FIDO, blah, blah, blah, FIDO. All Jonah hears is blah, blah, blah, JONAH….and the Jonah piece is probably only about 15% of the time.
Our major goal today is to get him to sit in our backpack carrier (thanks for the present Nate and Lisa). He has showed a strong aversion to it so far, but carrying him in our arms around the city is really exhausting.
Little Jonah Horner, pooped in a corner, after eating his rice and yogurt. We have discovered that anytime he is going to poop, he heads into a corner of the room for a little privacy. He then points to the bathroom, wanting to have his diaper changed. Hopefully this lends itself to efficient potty training when we get back to the US.
We have had some small victories.
He sat in a high chair.
He did not cry when we put him to sleep last night.
He did not cry when he woke us this morning.
He used sign language to say please this morning.
He wore a bib at breakfast this morning.
There are so many transitions that are harder to make at 18 months as opposed to starting them as an infant and having them be the norm. We are very pleased with how adaptable he has been. Certainly the language barrier is difficult for both of us. We were reminded last night of the Far Side cartoon with a dog owner speaking to his dog and all the dog hears is blah, blah, blah, FIDO, blah, blah, blah, FIDO. All Jonah hears is blah, blah, blah, JONAH….and the Jonah piece is probably only about 15% of the time.
Our major goal today is to get him to sit in our backpack carrier (thanks for the present Nate and Lisa). He has showed a strong aversion to it so far, but carrying him in our arms around the city is really exhausting.
Bamboo Village (The Tour)
The view of the Beach from the resort
The restaurant (notice the festive Chrismas wrapping on the palm trees)
The grounds (Olivia really likes the bridge)
One of the pools
We wish you were all here with us.......Saturday, December 15, 2007
Bamboo Village (all my wildest dreams have come true)
As I sit here typing, "White Christmas" is streaming through my browser, but outside the window there are palm trees and an already balmy tropical morning. I am not saying this to rub it in, it is just a juxtaposition that I have not experienced in quite a while.
Yesterday morning I met a man that adopted from the same orphanage as us two weeks ago. They have been waiting up in Hanoi for their son's visa since then. They have not heard anything from the consulate yet either. Because we all came over during the switch in the visa approval process, it seems like we have fallen into visa no-man's land. According to the new regulations from the consulate, we are technically not supposed to travel until we have our pre-approval. However, in our cases, the local Vietnames government would not give us any other options for our Giving and Receiving ceremony. The local governments are a litte ticked at the US consulate that they have changed the process. This is because the change was due to not trusting that the local government were doing a thorough background check on the adoptions. As a result they are being a little inflexible with their G&R dates and it is the adopting families that end up suffering.
Our agency has inolved the head of US embassies world wide, letting him know that there are 5 American families that are over in Vietnam that had forced Giving and Receiving ceremonies and do not yet have their visa approvals. He responded and said that he would be getting in touch with the head of the US consulate in Hanoi to try to get things pushed through. Please pray that this intervention will move things forward. Otherwise, there could still be a long road ahead of us trying to get Jonah back into the US.
I am writing this from The Bamboo Village in Mui Ne, Vietnam. It is a neighboring village to Phan Thiet City, another famous resort town in Vietnam. Some people call it the Asian Hawaii and it is absolutely gorgeous. It tooks us about five hours on a bus to get here, but it was absolutely worth the trip. The GREAT thing about it is the cost. You can get Beach Front bungalows for about $130 a night (breakfast included). We needed a little more space, so we are up in the main building but it is still a short jaunt to the beach. The food around here is incredible and also very cheap.
Jonah is enjoying the wide open spaces. We had a little time after we arrived last night to go in the pool and he loved swimming....and of course, Olivia loves the water, so we are in good shape. Jonah continues to sleep well at night which is a huge blessing. He does have a few night terrors but he is able to be comforted pretty quickly. He refused to sit in the high chair last night (his first experience with one). It is going to be really interesting to see how he responds to being confined to a car seat back home. There is no such thing in Vietnam, so he is quickly becoming used to riding on Mommy's lap in a vehicle. As Britney Spears found out, that is not going to fly in the US.
Olivia had a little breakdown last night...she wants all her friends to know that she misses them. We asked if there was anyone that she missed in particular and she said "All of my friends in Apple Valley!" and broke down crying. She has been a GEM through this whole experience. She has been very understanding of the time that we are having to devote to Jonah and is being very patient with him as well.
Well, my "free" breakfast beckons...see you soon.
PS. Wi-fi in my room again!
Yesterday morning I met a man that adopted from the same orphanage as us two weeks ago. They have been waiting up in Hanoi for their son's visa since then. They have not heard anything from the consulate yet either. Because we all came over during the switch in the visa approval process, it seems like we have fallen into visa no-man's land. According to the new regulations from the consulate, we are technically not supposed to travel until we have our pre-approval. However, in our cases, the local Vietnames government would not give us any other options for our Giving and Receiving ceremony. The local governments are a litte ticked at the US consulate that they have changed the process. This is because the change was due to not trusting that the local government were doing a thorough background check on the adoptions. As a result they are being a little inflexible with their G&R dates and it is the adopting families that end up suffering.
Our agency has inolved the head of US embassies world wide, letting him know that there are 5 American families that are over in Vietnam that had forced Giving and Receiving ceremonies and do not yet have their visa approvals. He responded and said that he would be getting in touch with the head of the US consulate in Hanoi to try to get things pushed through. Please pray that this intervention will move things forward. Otherwise, there could still be a long road ahead of us trying to get Jonah back into the US.
I am writing this from The Bamboo Village in Mui Ne, Vietnam. It is a neighboring village to Phan Thiet City, another famous resort town in Vietnam. Some people call it the Asian Hawaii and it is absolutely gorgeous. It tooks us about five hours on a bus to get here, but it was absolutely worth the trip. The GREAT thing about it is the cost. You can get Beach Front bungalows for about $130 a night (breakfast included). We needed a little more space, so we are up in the main building but it is still a short jaunt to the beach. The food around here is incredible and also very cheap.
Jonah is enjoying the wide open spaces. We had a little time after we arrived last night to go in the pool and he loved swimming....and of course, Olivia loves the water, so we are in good shape. Jonah continues to sleep well at night which is a huge blessing. He does have a few night terrors but he is able to be comforted pretty quickly. He refused to sit in the high chair last night (his first experience with one). It is going to be really interesting to see how he responds to being confined to a car seat back home. There is no such thing in Vietnam, so he is quickly becoming used to riding on Mommy's lap in a vehicle. As Britney Spears found out, that is not going to fly in the US.
Olivia had a little breakdown last night...she wants all her friends to know that she misses them. We asked if there was anyone that she missed in particular and she said "All of my friends in Apple Valley!" and broke down crying. She has been a GEM through this whole experience. She has been very understanding of the time that we are having to devote to Jonah and is being very patient with him as well.
Well, my "free" breakfast beckons...see you soon.
PS. Wi-fi in my room again!
Friday, December 14, 2007
SURPRISE!
Life is Vietnam is NEVER dull, especially when it comes to navigating the swirling waters of International adoption. This morning at about 9 am, we received a call from our program director informing us that she had been called by the Passport office where we dropped our applications off and they told her that they do not process Orphan Passport Petitions and that we would have to take the applications to a different office.
First of all, I am impressed that they somehow tracked her down. We had listed our Hotel Name on the documents that we submitted and they somehow contacted the hotel and got her cell number. Secondly, I am equally amazed that they actually took the time to do so.
Mr Chat (one of the local office staff for our agency) went over and picked up our applications at 1:15 (remember, the office is closed for lunch until then) and then we headed over to a different Immigration office via taxi. We submitted the paperwork at this office (no additional art projects needed) to a friendly uniformed immigration officer. I say friendly, because he asked to see all of our visa's and I of course had left mine back at the hotel, not having needed it the previous day. He chose not to make a big deal about it thankfully. We were then directed over to the cashier to pay our 600,000 dong. After we pay, we get a print out telling us when they we be available for pick up....(please picture a slow motion dot matrix printer at this point) and the answer is DECEMBER 21st. 4 days earlier than the date we were given at the prior office. Sweet!
So, we will be cutting our trip to the beach short (oh, yes, we're still going) and returning to HCMC on the 20th. We will pick up Jonah's passport the morning of the 21st and then we have his medical exam scheduled for that afternoon. Assuming everything checks out, we will be given his medical clearance immediately. This is absolutely phenomenal news as far as us still having the possibility of returning to the US together on the 28th of December. We are currently planning to fly up to Hanoi on the afternoon of December 24th, Christmas Eve.
We still have not received our pre-approval for our I600 visa for Jonah, so that is still the big question mark hanging out there. If we do not receive that in the next week, it is unlikely that we will receive it in time to return as scheduled since the US consulate will be closed on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Please pray that our pre-approval is granted soon!
Otherwise, today was a very enjoyable day. Bea and I went with Olivia over to a park while Betsy was trying to get Jonah to nap (he didn't) and they were having the Vietnam Coffee Festival. There were a bunch of stalls and live music....kind of like Taste of Minnesota for those of your that have experienced that (sorry for the the geographically limiting comparison for anyone in my global audience). Livi also got to play on the playground which was fun for her. They have some CRAZY death trap equipment over here....just my style. It took all that was in me to refrain from attempting this spinning platform that is kind of a wilder version of a log roll. I figured that the last thing we need at this stage in the journey is a visit to the International SOS clinic, so, no stunts. Yes, I am finally learning.
Jonah continues to show more of his personality. He just learned how to sign "more" (Goldfish crackers are great motivation) so it is fun starting to communicate with him a little better. He probably smiled more today than any of the previous three (has it really been that long?) and he is also warming up to me quite a bit more. He sat on my lap for a while today and let me hold him without crying, so we are definitely making progress. He is also getting a little better about confined spaces....he only cried in about 30% of our elevators rides today. Not THAT is progress. We are still trying to figure out how to get more liquids in him. He is not real interested in drinking from a bottle during the day, and he spits water back on himself from straw and sippy cup. The nannys used to spoon feed him tea during the day, but that is a very time consuming enterprise. We are hoping that time with his shirt off at the beach will give us lots of room for experimentation.
Thank you to all of you that have posted comments. It is such an encouragement... a nice eye in the center of this storm that we are in right now.
I am not sure what internet availability there will be at the resort, but I will try and post some updates on Jonah's progress, as well as my tan, the temperature differential between our resort and various midwestern cities and the top 5 fruit smoothie flavors. If we are unable to connect, I will be plugged back in by next Thursday.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love you all.
First of all, I am impressed that they somehow tracked her down. We had listed our Hotel Name on the documents that we submitted and they somehow contacted the hotel and got her cell number. Secondly, I am equally amazed that they actually took the time to do so.
Mr Chat (one of the local office staff for our agency) went over and picked up our applications at 1:15 (remember, the office is closed for lunch until then) and then we headed over to a different Immigration office via taxi. We submitted the paperwork at this office (no additional art projects needed) to a friendly uniformed immigration officer. I say friendly, because he asked to see all of our visa's and I of course had left mine back at the hotel, not having needed it the previous day. He chose not to make a big deal about it thankfully. We were then directed over to the cashier to pay our 600,000 dong. After we pay, we get a print out telling us when they we be available for pick up....(please picture a slow motion dot matrix printer at this point) and the answer is DECEMBER 21st. 4 days earlier than the date we were given at the prior office. Sweet!
So, we will be cutting our trip to the beach short (oh, yes, we're still going) and returning to HCMC on the 20th. We will pick up Jonah's passport the morning of the 21st and then we have his medical exam scheduled for that afternoon. Assuming everything checks out, we will be given his medical clearance immediately. This is absolutely phenomenal news as far as us still having the possibility of returning to the US together on the 28th of December. We are currently planning to fly up to Hanoi on the afternoon of December 24th, Christmas Eve.
We still have not received our pre-approval for our I600 visa for Jonah, so that is still the big question mark hanging out there. If we do not receive that in the next week, it is unlikely that we will receive it in time to return as scheduled since the US consulate will be closed on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Please pray that our pre-approval is granted soon!
Otherwise, today was a very enjoyable day. Bea and I went with Olivia over to a park while Betsy was trying to get Jonah to nap (he didn't) and they were having the Vietnam Coffee Festival. There were a bunch of stalls and live music....kind of like Taste of Minnesota for those of your that have experienced that (sorry for the the geographically limiting comparison for anyone in my global audience). Livi also got to play on the playground which was fun for her. They have some CRAZY death trap equipment over here....just my style. It took all that was in me to refrain from attempting this spinning platform that is kind of a wilder version of a log roll. I figured that the last thing we need at this stage in the journey is a visit to the International SOS clinic, so, no stunts. Yes, I am finally learning.
Jonah continues to show more of his personality. He just learned how to sign "more" (Goldfish crackers are great motivation) so it is fun starting to communicate with him a little better. He probably smiled more today than any of the previous three (has it really been that long?) and he is also warming up to me quite a bit more. He sat on my lap for a while today and let me hold him without crying, so we are definitely making progress. He is also getting a little better about confined spaces....he only cried in about 30% of our elevators rides today. Not THAT is progress. We are still trying to figure out how to get more liquids in him. He is not real interested in drinking from a bottle during the day, and he spits water back on himself from straw and sippy cup. The nannys used to spoon feed him tea during the day, but that is a very time consuming enterprise. We are hoping that time with his shirt off at the beach will give us lots of room for experimentation.
Thank you to all of you that have posted comments. It is such an encouragement... a nice eye in the center of this storm that we are in right now.
I am not sure what internet availability there will be at the resort, but I will try and post some updates on Jonah's progress, as well as my tan, the temperature differential between our resort and various midwestern cities and the top 5 fruit smoothie flavors. If we are unable to connect, I will be plugged back in by next Thursday.
Thanks for stopping by.
Love you all.
Slideshow update (I love technology)
I think I figured out how to make the slideshow scroll through all my pictures. So for those of you craving more pictures (Mom), please refer to the left of your screen.
Thursday, December 13, 2007
All I want for Christmas.....
...is a Vietnamese passport for Jonah. It looks like my wish will be granted.
Today I went to apply for Jonah's Vietnamese passport. He needs the passport before we can get his medical exam. He needs the medical exam and his passport before we can fly up to Hanoi to complete the Visa application process with the US consulate.
The government office is only a few blocks from the hotel that we are staying at, so we walked over to the office. Please note, that when I say walked, I mean that I took my life into my own hands crossing the street. I know I have not posted any good traffic shots yet, but I will do that soon so you can all get an idea of what I am talking about. In fact, I think we need to video it.
Our adoption agency is all over what we need to do to complete various parts of the process, however, they have been doing the passport applications up in Hanoi with the past few families. Now that the visa application process has changed slightly, there is not as much need for us to rush up to Hanoi, so we are staying in the south longer. When we handed in our applications for the passports, the official did not like how the agency had filled out all the paper work....even though it was the way they requested it up in Hanoi. So we had to return to the Hotel and do a little art project, cutting and pasting passport photos onto different forms and making additional copies. We returned at 11:15am and they were already closed for lunch. Government offices in Vietname typically close for lunch for two hours. We returned at 1:15 and were able to submit the applications. When you submit the application, they give you a date that you can come and pick up the passport. Ours is Christmas Day.
This was a little disappointing. Normally, the passport application is supposed to take 5 business days...this is more like 9. Also, we cannot progress any further with any of the steps of our adoption until this has been completed and the passport is in hand. So we will be returning at 6:30am on Christmas day to pick up Jonah's passport. The disappointing part is that this makes it practically impossible for us to finish the entire process in time for our planned departure date. As a result, Betsy and Bea will probably have to stay in Vietnam longer and Olivia and I will come home on the scheduled date of December 29th.
The silver lining to this is that we have nothing to do for 12 days but wait....and we have decided to do our waiting at a beach resort called Bamboo village in a beautiful part of of Southern Vietnam. We are going to leave on Saturday and stay down there for a week. This should be a great way to just spend time together bonding as a new family It is a little stressful being in the city because you cannot really get outside much since it is so crowded and it gets really old hanging out in a hotel room. We will still have time to enjoy more of the sights in HCMC after we return on Saturday and before we head up to Hanoi.
Jonah is getting more and more comfortable with his surroundings...me included. Although, there are certain things that freak him out. One of them being elevators. He has never had occasion to be in a cramped space like that and I think it is a little scary. He LOVES watermelon and ate a lot of that at breakfast this morning. We got more smiles out of him tonight than we have since we met him which was an encouraging step forward, although he remains extremely hard to impress. He still has his freak out moments, but we are definitely making process.
I would like to close this post with some excerpts from an article in the Saigon Times entitled Advices for traveling with Children.
"You need to tell them things would excite their curiosity, such as fairy tales that are connected to the attractions; this will keep them entertain and cheerful when touring".
And my personal favorite:
"To be aware of the formulation of bad habits such as eating too much junk foods and peeing at solemn places is also important".
I have to run and follow up with Olivia on these ideas.
Today I went to apply for Jonah's Vietnamese passport. He needs the passport before we can get his medical exam. He needs the medical exam and his passport before we can fly up to Hanoi to complete the Visa application process with the US consulate.
The government office is only a few blocks from the hotel that we are staying at, so we walked over to the office. Please note, that when I say walked, I mean that I took my life into my own hands crossing the street. I know I have not posted any good traffic shots yet, but I will do that soon so you can all get an idea of what I am talking about. In fact, I think we need to video it.
Our adoption agency is all over what we need to do to complete various parts of the process, however, they have been doing the passport applications up in Hanoi with the past few families. Now that the visa application process has changed slightly, there is not as much need for us to rush up to Hanoi, so we are staying in the south longer. When we handed in our applications for the passports, the official did not like how the agency had filled out all the paper work....even though it was the way they requested it up in Hanoi. So we had to return to the Hotel and do a little art project, cutting and pasting passport photos onto different forms and making additional copies. We returned at 11:15am and they were already closed for lunch. Government offices in Vietname typically close for lunch for two hours. We returned at 1:15 and were able to submit the applications. When you submit the application, they give you a date that you can come and pick up the passport. Ours is Christmas Day.
This was a little disappointing. Normally, the passport application is supposed to take 5 business days...this is more like 9. Also, we cannot progress any further with any of the steps of our adoption until this has been completed and the passport is in hand. So we will be returning at 6:30am on Christmas day to pick up Jonah's passport. The disappointing part is that this makes it practically impossible for us to finish the entire process in time for our planned departure date. As a result, Betsy and Bea will probably have to stay in Vietnam longer and Olivia and I will come home on the scheduled date of December 29th.
The silver lining to this is that we have nothing to do for 12 days but wait....and we have decided to do our waiting at a beach resort called Bamboo village in a beautiful part of of Southern Vietnam. We are going to leave on Saturday and stay down there for a week. This should be a great way to just spend time together bonding as a new family It is a little stressful being in the city because you cannot really get outside much since it is so crowded and it gets really old hanging out in a hotel room. We will still have time to enjoy more of the sights in HCMC after we return on Saturday and before we head up to Hanoi.
Jonah is getting more and more comfortable with his surroundings...me included. Although, there are certain things that freak him out. One of them being elevators. He has never had occasion to be in a cramped space like that and I think it is a little scary. He LOVES watermelon and ate a lot of that at breakfast this morning. We got more smiles out of him tonight than we have since we met him which was an encouraging step forward, although he remains extremely hard to impress. He still has his freak out moments, but we are definitely making process.
I would like to close this post with some excerpts from an article in the Saigon Times entitled Advices for traveling with Children.
"You need to tell them things would excite their curiosity, such as fairy tales that are connected to the attractions; this will keep them entertain and cheerful when touring".
And my personal favorite:
"To be aware of the formulation of bad habits such as eating too much junk foods and peeing at solemn places is also important".
I have to run and follow up with Olivia on these ideas.
G&R Day Pictures
Got luggage?
Yup. 3 bags arrived last night and the last one arrived this afternoon. It is a HUGE relief to have the remainder of Betsy's meds, that was a little concerning. Thanks to everyone that prayed about that. Olivia was very excited about the skirt that she got to put on today that swishes around when she spins.
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It's Official!
This blog entry is subtitled: Connectivity issues. The hotel that we are staying at in HCMC has been having internet issues since we arrived back here. I wrote a long bog entry last night, only to lose it to cyberspace. My apologies to those that were awaiting word on how yesterday went.
We are officially the parents of Le Phuoc Thanh!
Yesterday morning, we went back to the care center to spend some more time with the kids before the Giving and Receiving ceremony. I am not sure that I mentioned that we are here with two other families that are adopting from the same care center. Our first discovery of the day was that Jonah has great endurance. He cried for a full 45 minutes when we tried to take him for a walk around the grounds. It was a little scary as we started visualizing the same result occuring for the next 24 hours. He REALLY likes the nannies at the care center and is not real keen on anyone coming between him and them.
We left after a couple of hours, to give him some room to breathe, and to ensure that he had a chance to get his second wind in time for the bus ride back to HCMC. After packing up at the hotel, eating another unbelievable lunch with the best mango ever for dessert, we headed back to the care center. The nannies were waiting with the kids all ready to go and they ran them out to the bus, handed them over and then we quickly drove away. It kind of felt like we were robbing a bank.
It was hard watching the nannies as we drove away, knowing that they had cared for Jonah for a year and half and had become quite attached. We will be sending pictures of his development back to the care center so they can see how he is growing up.
We drove to the headquarters of the provincial Ben Tre government for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. One by one, each of the families was marched up to the second floor for the official handover. There were many similarities to a wedding. The told us that this was our last chance to back out (speak now or forever hold your peace). They asked us if we would take good care of him (to have and to hold, in sickness and in health). There was even an official handover (who gives this woman to be wed?). We were also given an opportunity to make a few comments about how we would raise him. We then signed some papers and Jonah was officially ours in the eyes of the Vietnamese government. Woohoo. It is really hard to give the full flavor, but it was a really amazing experience.
Following the ceremony we made the trip back up to HCMC. As I mentioned earlier, we were a little nervous that he was going to cry for the whole 4 hour trip, but he took quite a liking to his Mother. Being away from the nannies, it is natural for him to cling to someone else, and it turns out to be Betsy. I can't say I blame him, I would pick her too...although it is a little hard emotionally that he does not want anything to do with me. As of this afternoon, he still cries if I try to hold him. I am trying to be pragmatic about it, knowing that he will come around in time, but it is still hard because I just want to smother him in kisses. I think there might be an element of having been cared for by only women his whole life, because he is doing fine with Betsy's mom as well.
We are already trying to fatten him up...he is a skinny little fellow. He was basically still just being fed bottles and broth. The nannies said that he was still waking up twice at night for a bottle. After stuffing him full of fried rice last night before bed, he slept until 6 this morning, took a bottle and then went back to sleep until 8. We were pretty pleased with that.
While we were eating dinner last night, Olivia turned to us and said; "It's great having two kids, isn't it?" I could not agree more.
We are officially the parents of Le Phuoc Thanh!
Yesterday morning, we went back to the care center to spend some more time with the kids before the Giving and Receiving ceremony. I am not sure that I mentioned that we are here with two other families that are adopting from the same care center. Our first discovery of the day was that Jonah has great endurance. He cried for a full 45 minutes when we tried to take him for a walk around the grounds. It was a little scary as we started visualizing the same result occuring for the next 24 hours. He REALLY likes the nannies at the care center and is not real keen on anyone coming between him and them.
We left after a couple of hours, to give him some room to breathe, and to ensure that he had a chance to get his second wind in time for the bus ride back to HCMC. After packing up at the hotel, eating another unbelievable lunch with the best mango ever for dessert, we headed back to the care center. The nannies were waiting with the kids all ready to go and they ran them out to the bus, handed them over and then we quickly drove away. It kind of felt like we were robbing a bank.
It was hard watching the nannies as we drove away, knowing that they had cared for Jonah for a year and half and had become quite attached. We will be sending pictures of his development back to the care center so they can see how he is growing up.
We drove to the headquarters of the provincial Ben Tre government for the Giving and Receiving ceremony. One by one, each of the families was marched up to the second floor for the official handover. There were many similarities to a wedding. The told us that this was our last chance to back out (speak now or forever hold your peace). They asked us if we would take good care of him (to have and to hold, in sickness and in health). There was even an official handover (who gives this woman to be wed?). We were also given an opportunity to make a few comments about how we would raise him. We then signed some papers and Jonah was officially ours in the eyes of the Vietnamese government. Woohoo. It is really hard to give the full flavor, but it was a really amazing experience.
Following the ceremony we made the trip back up to HCMC. As I mentioned earlier, we were a little nervous that he was going to cry for the whole 4 hour trip, but he took quite a liking to his Mother. Being away from the nannies, it is natural for him to cling to someone else, and it turns out to be Betsy. I can't say I blame him, I would pick her too...although it is a little hard emotionally that he does not want anything to do with me. As of this afternoon, he still cries if I try to hold him. I am trying to be pragmatic about it, knowing that he will come around in time, but it is still hard because I just want to smother him in kisses. I think there might be an element of having been cared for by only women his whole life, because he is doing fine with Betsy's mom as well.
We are already trying to fatten him up...he is a skinny little fellow. He was basically still just being fed bottles and broth. The nannies said that he was still waking up twice at night for a bottle. After stuffing him full of fried rice last night before bed, he slept until 6 this morning, took a bottle and then went back to sleep until 8. We were pretty pleased with that.
While we were eating dinner last night, Olivia turned to us and said; "It's great having two kids, isn't it?" I could not agree more.
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Ngom Lam (Very Good)
To quote myself, "There are not a lot of mornings like this in a lifetime". It is really hard to put into words the emotions a day like this brings. Having experienced the thrill of having a baby of our own, there is a completely different dynamic at work when you are walking into a room full of abandoned babies, knowing that one of them has been set aside to join your family.
I did not sleep well last night at all - a lethal mixture of jet lag, an overwhelming sense of anticipation and a nagging concern that I might never see my pink Mossimo polo shirt ever again. When morning finally rolled around (actually, it was when Olivia woke up singing...morning was still a ways off) we all basically bounded from our beds. By 8am we were on our way to Ben Tre Care Center. The orphanage is only about a mile from our hotel so it did not take long to get there.
It was almost surreal walking into the room where our son has spent the first 18 months of his life, scanning the cribs for the beautiful face that we have memorized from a scattered collection of email photos.
Our eyes met from across the room...OK, not really. We went over to him, and as expected, he totally freaked out and was only interested in being held by his nanny. I can understand why he would be attached. She has been his primary care giver for his whole life and it is very rare for him to have contact with other adults, so having a phalanx of big nosed Americans march in certainly is a shock to the system.
We spent about 2 hours at the care center, just hanging out with the kids. We try to hold as many of them as possible, just so they get some extra loving. There are about 10 infants in the care center right now, with Jonah being the 2nd oldest.
We were able to go back in the afternoon for the same amount of time. By the end of the day, Jonah was starting to warm up to us a little. He is still not too keen on being held by anyone except his nanny, but he is going to have to get used to it fairly quickly since we get to take him with us tomorrow after the official Giving and Receiving ceremony.
Here is what we have gleaned about the little guy so far. He does not show a lot of emotion (we affectionately dubbed him Stone Cold Steve Austin today), he needs to work on his sharing (being one of the oldest and biggest kids means you get your way), he is potty trained (in Vietnamese...well see if WE have any clue that he needs to pee), he is a big fan of Kriss Kross (he was wearing his overalls backwards today), he is a huge Minnesota Vikings fan and he is probably the most adorable young man in Vietnam.
We tried to give him a lot of breathing room today because we did not want to overwhelm him, but tomorrow he is going to be smothered whether he likes it or not. Olivia cried when we had to leave today because she was going to miss her baby brother. I hope that this is the start of a beautiful relationship.
Culinary Update: We have eaten so much good food I can barely stand it. Multi-Course meals that have completely shattered my expectations that we might lose a little weight while we are over here.
Rock Star Update: Today we visited a market and everyone wanted to come up and touch Olivia. She is being a really good sport. Much more patient than you would expect from someone not used to the Paris Hilton treatment.
Luggage update: Still no luggage, BUT they think they might have found some of it. We will not know for sure until we get back up to HCMC tomorrow evening.
Scooter update: We saw many more of them.
Closing remarks: Sorry that this was such a long entry, but I wanted to try and capture small taste of what transpired today. It really was the experience of a lifetime.
Monday, December 10, 2007
The Emperors New Clothes
Yes, we continue through life without our luggage, having brought into the rotation one new outfit per person. As you can see from the picture, Olivia is actually quite pleased with the missing bags situation, having found this bee-a-uuutiful dress (emphasis Olivia's) when we went shopping. The sad fact is that no one as of yet has been able to locate our bags, so we are uncertain when (I am still ruling out "if") we will actually be wearing clean clothes again.
While I am talking about Olivia, I must say that she is enjoying her celebrity status over here. There is a never ending supply of admirers wanting to pinch her cheeks, grab her arm or touch her hair. She is handling this rock star treatment with aplomb, gladly waving and smiling through about 60% of her day. The remaining 40% has been spent admiring her dress, repeating Vietnamese words and ruminating about how great it will be to finally see her brother.
I am writing this from Ben Tre province, the region where Jonah was born. It is about 75km south of HCMC, but the journey took us well over 3 hours. It took about an hour to get out of the city itself, worming our way through the logjams of scooter traffic. The window watching was amazing, almost sensory overload as we tried to comprehend how an indivual can ride a bike while carrying a full wardrobe AND dresser on the handle bars. I just found out that there is a law going into affect on December 15th that will require everyone in Vietnam riding a scooter to don a helmet since there are so many deaths and head injuries. Apparently, they have made this law in the past and everyone just ignored it....but it sounds like this time they are serious. Olivia was most intrigued by the daughter that was STANDING on the seat in between her Father and Mother and they sped along at about 30mph. She also said to me today; "Dad, can WE get a scooter? Everyone else is." Clearly.
Once we were outside the city, we had to cross a river to get into Ben Tre Province. This meant riding on a car ferry along the river...a very cool experience. Ben Tre is part of the Mekong Delta, so there are actually nine rivers that flow through the province.
We arrived at the Ham Luong Hotel (Ben Tre's first 3 star hotel that just opened this month) at about 6pm. It was too late at that point to go to the orphanage, so we will head there bright and early tomorrow morning. It is hard to believe that we finally get to meet Jonah tomorrow. We are bringing a bunch of fruit snacks to bribe him into liking us. We plan to continue that strategy for the forseeable future...at least until he decides he likes us for who we are, not just some strangers with sugar and toys.
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Hey Ho Chi Minh!
First, the good news. After 28 action packed hours in transit (that included an unscheduled fuel stop in Inchon, Korea) we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City (A.K.A. Saigon or HCMC). 200 mph headwinds made the slog over the Pacific more challenging than normal for our 747, but we finally arrived to the sweet 90 degree heat of Southern Vietnam. Some highlights from the trip; watching The Bourne Ultimatum (Ryan), buying Black Currant Pastilles in Hong Kong (Betsy), watching more cartoons in a 24 hour period than ever before (Olivia) and seeing Mike Farrell of M.A.S.H fame on the airplane from MSP to LAX (Bea -Betsy's Mom).
The bad news you ask? Watching forlornly for 45 minutes while everyone else walks away from the baggage carousel leaving you with only one of your 5 checked bags is a tad bit frustrating. Yup, the only bag that made the trip successfully was the bag full of presents for the orphanage. All of our clothes are still hanging out someplace other than HCMC (every time I write that it reminds me of Hennepin County Medical Center). So, this afternoon, we made a trip to the mall - picture a flea market, Macy's and Target all rolled into one. Actually, the only part that made it remotely like Target was the fact that we bought a skirt for Olivia that was branded Cherokee and still had the original tag on it. We all managed to find one new set of clothes to change into and some miscellaneous toiletries. Total cost: $1.2 Million Vietnamese dollars...this exchange rate is going to take a while to get used to. One US dollar is equal to about 16,000 Vietnamese Dong.
We are hoping to get our bags sometime in the next day....it might be a little challenging for the airline since tomorrow we will be heading down to Ben Tre, the province that Jonah's orphanage is in.
On the short drive to the Mall, we hit sightseeing paydirt....a scooter with 4 people on it. Dad was driving with a son in front. Mom was riding behind with an infact perched on her knee. Crazy. I am a little concerned about Bea's blood pressure when we are riding in Taxis. The traffic patterns here are, well, patternless. Pretty much anything goes. For any of you that have been to Bangkok or Shanghai, you can probably picture it. However, replace about 80 percent of the cars with scooters, and that will give you a general idea.
I think we get to meet Jonah tomorrow!!! It is going to be hard to sleep tonight...OK that is probably not true since all of us have drooping eyelids right now. In fact, Olivia is currently sleeping sitting up on the bed. Betsy is finding it so funny that she is mercilessly letter her rock back and forth. Hopefully I will be able to write more tomorrow when I am not in a state of jet lag imposed delirium.
As the flight attendant said at the end of our flight today; "Have a good very afternoon".
The bad news you ask? Watching forlornly for 45 minutes while everyone else walks away from the baggage carousel leaving you with only one of your 5 checked bags is a tad bit frustrating. Yup, the only bag that made the trip successfully was the bag full of presents for the orphanage. All of our clothes are still hanging out someplace other than HCMC (every time I write that it reminds me of Hennepin County Medical Center). So, this afternoon, we made a trip to the mall - picture a flea market, Macy's and Target all rolled into one. Actually, the only part that made it remotely like Target was the fact that we bought a skirt for Olivia that was branded Cherokee and still had the original tag on it. We all managed to find one new set of clothes to change into and some miscellaneous toiletries. Total cost: $1.2 Million Vietnamese dollars...this exchange rate is going to take a while to get used to. One US dollar is equal to about 16,000 Vietnamese Dong.
We are hoping to get our bags sometime in the next day....it might be a little challenging for the airline since tomorrow we will be heading down to Ben Tre, the province that Jonah's orphanage is in.
On the short drive to the Mall, we hit sightseeing paydirt....a scooter with 4 people on it. Dad was driving with a son in front. Mom was riding behind with an infact perched on her knee. Crazy. I am a little concerned about Bea's blood pressure when we are riding in Taxis. The traffic patterns here are, well, patternless. Pretty much anything goes. For any of you that have been to Bangkok or Shanghai, you can probably picture it. However, replace about 80 percent of the cars with scooters, and that will give you a general idea.
I think we get to meet Jonah tomorrow!!! It is going to be hard to sleep tonight...OK that is probably not true since all of us have drooping eyelids right now. In fact, Olivia is currently sleeping sitting up on the bed. Betsy is finding it so funny that she is mercilessly letter her rock back and forth. Hopefully I will be able to write more tomorrow when I am not in a state of jet lag imposed delirium.
As the flight attendant said at the end of our flight today; "Have a good very afternoon".
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