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. :)