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.