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!