Day #11

This was a very laid back day.  The Hylands and us walked down to the lake and had KFC for lunch (didn't eat the ice today!).  We got a late start though, so it was HOT by the time we were done.  We walked around the entire lake and went to the Citimart again and bought some more essentials and had some iced Vietnamese coffee at Highland Coffee....YUM!!  As we were leaving, the taxi drivers were all jockeying for our business.  We saw the lady cab driver that ripped us off our first day and commented to her "No Way!, we remember you....you ripped us off!"  She just smiled.  We wanted to walk anyway.

People have asked us if we felt safe in Vietnam.  We did.  Of course, I wrote about the night that the 4 of us became lost on the way back to the hotel, but even then, I didn't feel in danger.  This day though was our 1 experience (the taxi incident was heartracing though too!).  As our family was doing a little shopping (Hylands had headed back already), an American walked by us and warned us that there were some purse snatchers around the corner.  We moved everything to the front of our bodies and kept going.  We didn't see anything shady though, luckily, but we were frightened a bit.

Day #10

Today was a busy day.  We went to the Temple of Literature in the morning and had a wonderful time.  It was a little breezy when we first arrived which made for a nice stroll through the grounds.  The sun did come out though and we headed back to the hotel to prepare for our Embassy appointment.

The appointment was very easy.  Basically, it was filling out some paperwork and paying the fee.  It was strange to realize that in the middle of Hanoi, we were on US soil.  We weren't able to take ANY pictures though, not even of the crest on the outside of the building.  The US government didn't take long to issue the visas though.  Our staff waited for them and dropped them off at the hotel.  We were SO thrilled to be holding the babies' passport with their visas to go home!  We were dancing a little and the staff at the hotel were so happy for us.  They really did care for and watch out for us.  They were WONDERFUL!  I would love to go back there again.  Unfortunately, I don't think they could accomodate our family.  Maybe 2 rooms next time.

We took our 2 in-country staff to dinner that night.  We had a great time at a local buffet.  It was so nice to know that all the worry was behind us!  We were free to go home, even though 2 of the 3 of us stayed the last 2 days, as planned.  It was nice to relax and enjoy everyone's company.  Pictures HERE.

May 11, 2009

This was another easy day.  It was an early wake up for the babies' medicals at the SOS International Clinic.  Like I wrote last year HERE, it was an easy endeavor.  We met the Barnetts there and we had a ball waiting for our turn.  They kids were all playing so well together and were enjoying all the Hylands' cereal!  More about this below.  Soon, it was each of our turns to be seen by the doctor.  Ours was very nice, but I will admit that we made her a little "nervous" by the amount of pictures we were taking.  She didn't say anything until we took a picture of her.  Only one, she said.  It was quick and easy and they we were out of there!

Allison

This was the day that we finally caught on film the happy little boy that emerged.

I am amazed how little he looks in this picture....

Something that I haven't written about was the shear amount of STUFF that the Hylands brought! They brought an ENTIRE BOX OF CHEERIOS!! LOL They came in handy though since Marie was always offering them to our kids, as well. She filled the Barnett's container a couple of times from their baggie. Brian was always telling us to eat theirs! I think they gave Agnes the rest of the box when we left.  It was an ongoing joke amongst us. Just thinking about it now makes me teary-eyed. I miss these 2 couples, now such dear friends of ours. We had just a great time with them. The Hylands were the ones that brought the exercise ball that Martha's Rachel loved so much. They brought packaged tuna fish...they were prepared! We might have teased them, but their stuff came in handy for those of us who forgot notecards or a bag big enough to hold all of the gifts that we had to bring to the orphanage. Thanks Marie!

Remembering Day 7

Our 2nd day with Jacob when we began to see to his little personality. It rained a little in the morning, so we decided to visit the Ethnology Museum. Brian wasn’t feeling well, but Marie and Zachary came with us. We left the hotel in a taxi that the hotel called for us. When we arrived at the museum, the driver said he would wait for us by the front gate. We told him we weren’t sure how long it would take us and he said not to worry, take our time; he would be waiting for us! We said OK and went in.

What a wonderful experience. Jacob was SO cute, walking around the exhibits. He drew a far amount of attention. I think it was the fact that he was so tiny and was walking all over the place! Of course, the 2 large Americans walking behind him made him fairly popular as well. There weren’t too many people in the museum, so people took note of us. Our biggest hope was to learn about the boys’ ethnic minorities. Jacob is Nung, Zachary is Tay. We saw a lot of different things.

An overloaded bicycle

Models of Traditional Homes

Even ones you can walk through

Throughout the 10 months we waited to travel for Jacob, we were VERY lucky to have received 5 sets of pictures of him. Every 2 months or so, we were sent another set of pictures of him. We were able to watch him grow and mature. Yes, it was hard in some ways to see the changes happen without us, but it was also SO good to see him and to know that he was doing OK. Once things we always said through was just how sad, or maybe just serious that he was. Also, was dressed in a pink sweater or other more “girlish” clothes. He also looked fairly warm, given the temperatures in SE Asia when they were taken. I looked forward to the day that I could give him a cool bath and dress him in some cooler, little boy clothes. This was the picture that I sent back to family and friends that showed these changes.

I even quickly made it my blog header!

The last set of pictures that we received around his 1st birthday showed him standing, holding onto his crib bars. We were expecting to find him walking when we got there and he was. I took video of it…

Once we were done walking around the outside of the museum with the home models and the other parts of the grounds, we went back to the main entrance to look for the taxi driver. He was there! He actually did wait for us. We heard that it was common for the better taxi company, Hanoi Taxi to wait, if you offer them some money to do so, but this driver offered on his own. We made sure he was rewarded for his kindness. It was nice to know there was a comfortable, AC'd, HONEST taxi driver waiting for us.

I will end this walk down Memory Lane with….

A cute family shot

A video of dear friends

The Day After

This was our first day with our new son.  We all stayed close to home this day, giving the kids a chance to get used to us.  Breakfast was the first big thing for Jacob.  As we had learned the day before, at 14 months, he had only had formula and some rice cereal.  As I posted earlier, our hotel served a great buffet.  Jacob thought it was pretty good as well!  He dove right into solid foods and did really well with them.  Eggs, yogurt, custard, fruit.  Fruit was a HUGE hit, especially watermelon.

After breakfast, Barry walked and found a local market in the alley a half a block from our hotel.  I wrote about it while we were there HERE.  In the afternoon, he and Jacob fell asleep together.

The "excitement" of the day had nothing to do with Vietnam though.  I had noticed that Jacob had some Mongolian spots on his back on the drive back from Lang Son, so I made sure that I pointed them out to our staff.  They assured me that was all they were.  I took pictures of his back and butt where they were prominent.  Without thinking, I uploaded them all to Photo*bucket and Snap*fish, as usual.  Later, when I went back to use the pictures for posts, I realized that the frst had removed 2 of my pictures, without explanation and without any way of getting the pictures back!  I was NOT happy.

I emailed them to explain that I took the pictures to send them back to our IA peditrican in the States to document them and to confirm it with her.  They wrote back that they understand that in private albums, people upload innocent pictures of theur children, but that their policy is NO pictures that contain any nudity.  This includes my adorable 1 year old's bum.  Luckily, I still had the pictures on my hard drive to attach to an email back to the States.

We ended the evening with a dinner out, as a group, to celebrate Zachary's 1st Birthday.  We ate at Little Hanoi and for the most part, the food was delicious.  I, on the other hand, had my worst meal of the trip.  It was a pork dish in a little crock.  The meat was good, but there wasn't much of it and there was a lot of fat on the many of the pieces.  Barry had agreed that we should get different dishes and share, but we mainly ate his sweet and sour chicken and picked through my pork.  It was amazing that we had the kids for only a day and even at this dinner, they seemed to fit with us so well.

This was also the night that Barry finally broke down and bought a lighter off a peddler.  He was a very nice and articulate guy.  It had been a joke for most of our stay that he show us his wares and ask if we wanted one.  He was never pushy, but he seemed to be EVERYWHERE we went!!  Barry would tell him that he buy something, eventually.  He saw us go into the restaurant and waited for us to come out!  Barry bought a really nice, engraved lighter.  It had a map of Vietnam on it and a saying about finding peace.  Maybe it was from the War, but regardless, it will be a great memory for Jacob someday.

Also...

I remember the feeling I had when we Skyped home that first morning.  The kids were getting ready for bed, as usual, but they were SO excited to see Jacob.  It felt so good to hold him on my lap and introduce him to his brother and sister!  They were so happy to see him.  It was a wonderful moment, only topped by our arrival at home.

THE Day

After staying up late the night before, I laid in bed for awhile, unable to fail asleep.  I did soon enough though and the 4AM alarm came quick!  We dressed and headed downstairs.  It was very dark downstairs in the hotel, but we made it to the lobby.  We soon realized that there was staff sleeping there!  They were on the floors and on the furniture.  We woke one of them up and soon they were all up and scurrying around cleaning up their "beds" and moving the moped out to the street.  Before we knew it, the lights were on and the hotel was alive!  The hotel packed us boxed breakfasts and water.  Soon the Hylands were down with us and we were waiting for the rest of our group.

Anxious and ready to go

Once the van arrived, we piled in and began the journey to Lang Son.  It was a 3.5 hour drive and none of us were eating much for fear of upset stomachs.  We did stop once along the way.  We talked and giggled a lot.  We took tons of pictures of the countryside.

When we arrived the gates of the orphanage, it was surreal!  We recognized the yellow buildings from pictures over the years.

Entering the orphanage office building

We were taken to a room with many chairs and a table.  We were soon shown the bathroom as we waited.  I went and Barry held the door and then I did the same for him.  As I was, Jerry came up the stairs and said he would hold it for me, they were bringing Jacob.  I forgot that I was holding it for Barry and left.  Halfway down the stairs, at the landing, I realized it and paused, but by then, Jill has come for me and I kept going.  WHY DID I DO THAT?!?!  I will never live it down with Barry.  I am not 100% sure he is really upset, as he did say it was nice to come down and see us together, but still.  Chalk it up to another "reaction" of mine, like our proposal!

It was amazing to walk into the room and to see him standing there.  He was so little.  Barry was there soon enough, telling me to get on the floor and "Be the Mommy".  Jacob REALLY liked his nanny.  When he first saw me, he wasn't so sure about me.  This woman had taken care of him since he was 3 months old.  We were very lucky though that we had the older, more experienced nanny.  She knew the drill and while you could tell how much she loved him, she also knew it was her job to help him warm up to us.  I would love to have known what she was saying to him.  She kept talking to him and pointing to us.  Touching my arm and encouraging me to try to hold him.  He would fuss and she would take him back.  She walked around with him and his squeaky shoes.

Allison and her shoes

Eventually, he would let me hold him without fussing too much and then she hid behind a column to be "out of sight".  Before long, it was time to head to the government office for the official G & R.

As I walked into the room, I noticed a young woman in the back corner of the room.  It was Jacob's birthmother.  My heart sank, yet it also soared.  It was such an amazing feeling to be in the same room as her.  As we waited for the officials and the babies, she came and went from the room.  Each family was taken out to be interviewed with the birth family.  We were last.  As we waited with Marie, their birthmother held Zachary.  I noticed that ours was crying in the corner and that was it....I started to cry myself.  Marie was my rock.  She told me it was OK and she was OK.  It was a difficult day and we would get through it.

MANY people have commented over the year how luck we are to have met Jacob's birthfamily.  We met his bithmom and her mother, as well.  In our province, it was the law that she had to be there, or at least sign a POA for her mom to be there in her place.  The grandmother told us that they were sure this was the right choice for them and her grandson.  With all the accusations in international adoption, it was WONDERFUL to hear from them that this was what they wanted for him.  His mom was emotional at first and her mom was encouraging her to "buck it up". but in the end, we did see some smiles from her and it warmed my heart.  Unfortunately, we don't have any good pictures of them with Jacob as he wasn't happy with them and when he was OK in the picture, they were upset.  We have some video of them as well though.

After all the paper signing and photo ops...

...we were standing around the room when Jacob began to fuss.  His nanny come over and laid him down in my arms and gave him his bottle.  There were no real goodbyes.  I did get the chance to say Thank You again but it was suddenly over and everyone had left.  We didn't realize until it was too late, but the person that had brought our birthfamily to the ceremony seemed to speak clear English!  We had our own translator and didn't know it.  When we had the "free time" before our interview, our birthmother was upset and Jacob was with his nanny.

Jacob had fallen asleep once he had his bottle and we began the drive back to Hanoi.  We had told the other couples that we feared the drive home since Jacob was so attached to his nanny.  When his eyelids began to flutter open halfway back, we warned them that this was THE moment.  We had Sliders ready (VN Pringles).  We gave him a couple and were showing him the passing landscape.  He did fine the rest of the way.  He was quiet, but he interacted with us.

Back at the hotel, I changed his diaper, made him a new bottle, and headed down to Marie's room to hang out while the Dads were applying for passports.  The formula prep instructions was in Vietnamese, of course.  Over the years, we had always heard that it was a scoop per ounce of water, so that was what I made him.  He drank most of it and soon proceeded to throw up all over me!  As I was making him another bottle from Marie's can of formula, I saw that hers had pictures for instructions.  I saw that it was 4 scoops for 6 ounces of water.  I wonder if that was why he threw up, or if it was nerves.  Regardless, he did very well the rest of the evening, including the fast bath that I was forced to give him to get rid of the puke.  I was trying to avoid it to not freak him out right away.

He looked a little like a deer caught in the headlights

He slept well that first night, only waking once for a bottle and going right back down.

The Day Before...

...the day that would change our lives!!


Twas the night before our G & R and the creatures were going CRAZY trying to get everything ready!  OK...I was crazy, Barry was his normal calm self.  He was in bed at a decent hour, I was running on adrenaline!

We knew that we were looking at a 4AM wake-up call, so we wanted to get to bed at a normal hour, but there was still so much to do! For airline security reasons, we weren’t allowed to wrap anything before traveling and of course, I hadn’t done any of it in the 4 days we were waiting! We gave each of the officials a pen and pencil set and a box of chocolates. That was 10 boxes to wrap.

Next were the small gifts for the nannies at the orphanage. We were to bring small gifts for 20 of the nannies. We bought each of them a little bottle of body wash, wrapped in a pair of slipper socks, tied with a ribbon. I also included some note cards and Hershey kisses. The funny thing that was I kept adding more chocolate, as I realized just how much I had! I had so many that I should have brought more little snack baggies for them!  The BIG problem of the night was finding something big enough to hold these 20 little bags.

I eventually figured it out though and moved onto the Jacob’s birthmother and nanny.  These were the hard ones.  What do you give the woman who took care of your son for his entire life of 14 months?  Worst yet, what do you give the woman who gave you her son?  First and foremost, we wanted them both to have a photo album of the pictures we had received of him, as well as picture of us, our home, and the life waiting for him in America.

Along with the photo album, we gave the nanny some bath stuff, a nicer pair of slipper socks, hair elastics, and some chocolate, as well.  We wrote her a note, thanking her for loving and taking such great care of our son for us.

 

Jacob's birthmom....whatever we put in that pink bag could NEVER be enough, or express to her enough just how important she is to us.  How much we are grateful for what she has done.  We tried to express it in a card to her.  We hope she knows and she remembers it every time she wears the heart pendant that we bought her, along wth things below.

Day 3

This was a HUGE day! We found out that our G&R was going to be Thursday. 1 more day until we were going to get Jacob. After nearly 2 years, were were only 100 or so miles, not 1,000s and we were 36 hours from holding him. Throughout the entire wait, I always knew that once the day arrived, I wouldn't care what it took to get to that point.

We walked around the lake. As I said in last year's post HERE, the peddlers were MUCH more aggressive down there. The worst was yet to come, but they still made it harder to enjoy the walk, at times. We saw valet parking for scooters at a lakefront restaurant! We had Kentucky Fried Chicken for lunch. Very good, but a little spicer than in the US. It was also our only incident with ice/water.

Without thinking, we ordered sodas and they came in glasses, with ice. We looked at them for a while, but we were hot and tired and they were cold. We agreed that we just wouldn't eat the ice. Easier said than done when you are busy eating and talking. I soon realized that I was crunching on the ice!! I stopped and we hoped for the best. I think I was OK. The traffic was every bit as crazy as I had heard over the years. Check it out HERE.

It was a calm day. We walked around the neighborhood and did some shopping. I know we were a little leary about going out until we heard from Kenny and Martin. I do remember that we ran out as soon as they called.

Our 2 weeks in Vietnam were amazing. Just typing these updates make me think of so many little moments. Like sitting on the couches by the large windows at Highland Coffee with the breeze blowing it and hearing all the horns honking below us. This is that intersection at night.

We had more time to get to know the area and the couples with us. I am fairly sure this was the night that we got lost on the way back to the hotel. The 6 of us went to Highland Coffee. GREAT smoothies there!! We put the Barnetts in a cab and the 4 of us began the walk back to the hotel. Marie and I were leading the way, with the men following behind us. We came to a side street and Marie made the turn. I wasn't 100% sure, but she seemed to be, so I went with it. So did the men.

We were walking and talking. In a little while, Marie mentioned to me that she thought we made the wrong turn. Soon after, Brian said the same. Marie and I were pretty calm about it. We knew we couldn't be too far off. We were sure we could figure it out. The guys, on the other hand, weren't so sure. Yes, it was late and kind of dark. We weren't on the beaten path either. The streets we were on were quiet, with few people on them. We eventually did find another hotel in our chain and Brian went in to ask for help. Marie and I found a travel agency and asked there. Turns out, we were a couple of blocks over. We made the turns and were back to the hotel, in no time. It was a REALLY funny time for us. We were all teasing and laughing with and AT each other.

Oh, the memories!!!

Day 2

This is the day that our travel group was complete...we met the Barnetts! They adopted a little girl from Lang Son. We had dealt with delays together. ID cards and amended home studies were our worries. In the end though, our day had arrived and we went to meet them.

We and the Hylands took at a taxi to their hotel and went up to the room...the wrong one. I was knocking on the door, when a maid came out of a room and told us that the room where we were was empty, but that there were Americans in the room next door! I guess I misunderstood the Front Desk worker's English.

We talked A LOT that afternoon. The biggest, and most pleasant surprise, was just how well the men got along! We knew us girls would. Jerry and Barry are fairly shy, and Brian is not so. (LOVE ya Brian!) They really hit it off. They were quickly plotting on how to get out of the Water Puppet Show. In the end, the ladies went...and at least 2 of us fell asleep! I think Marie stayed awake. It was very nice, but the traditional music was very soothing as a lullaby. We met the 2 families from our hotel there, with some of the other families that had adopted from their orphanage with them. We spoke a little in the gift shop area after the show and realized that I was infamous! One of the moms recognized my name from our agency's Yahoo group, as well as this blog. Seems like there were a lot of people praying for us to overcome our obstacles...THANKS.

One thing that I remember was how relieved Jerry was when Marie and I said we would bring Jill home in the taxi before heading back to our hotel. He was a little worried about her...very sweet! By then, Marie and I were beginning to get our bearings a bit. So after coffee at Highlands Coffee with Martha and Donna's crews, we returned her home, safe and sound.

Earlier that day, we had gone to the "Hanoi Hilton" where John McCain was held. The Barnetts' hotel was built on some of its former grounds. We had as good a time as possible, given what we were seeing. It gave us a chance to chat while we looked. We also ran into Lisa and Tom that day, at the hotel.

I think this was also the day that we ate at their hotel. We had a wonderful lunch. I was brave once again and walked up to a stranger and asked if she was Debbie, another PA adoptive mom, and blogger, that I had been in touch with. I knew she was staying there and we talked about trying to meet someday. It wasn't her, but another AP that I was able to talk to. A little while later, I saw a group that had some older children (2-3yrs old), so I gave it another try and it was them!! They had just received their children's visas and were on Cloud 9! No, I am not shy, usually LOL

Morgan is a sweetheart! Funny thing is that we took Jacob to an International Adoption Peditrian in Philaselphia the week we arrived home. As we were walking out of the exam room, they called for a Morgan to come in. I turned around and there they were!! They were able to meet Jacob and we talked a couple of minutes about the adjustments of being home, before they were taken back to see the doctor. SMALL WORLD

Last year's post
Check out the couple from this date
3 different slideshows of pictures

Don't Want to Forget

I want to write of one of the highlights of the trip (there were many and some were obvious!). Last night, when I posted yesterday's reflections, I wasn't 100% sure which day it was that this happened. The more I think though, I think it was on our 1st full day. So it gets its own post!

I have written before of the wonderful friendships that I forged through this process. The families in our travel group will always be close and dear friends. So will Lisa and her family. I don't know how I would have remained sane throughout the process if it wasn't for her. We were each other's sounding boards and pep quads! She and I talked a couple of times a week and emailed each other daily. Her son was the one that I asked for prayers when he was so sick.

She and I had joked that we were delayed so we could meet in Vietnam...and we did!! She and Tom traveled the week before us, but we communicated while they were there and she sent me a picture of her family on their G&R Day. She left a message for us at the hotel when we arrived as they had changed hotels. I FINALLY figured out how to call their hotel. She said she was going to stop by.

When she walked through the door, I cried! I am typing this now and I am getting teary-eyed. It meant SO much to see and hug her....and to hold Ben! We had weathered the storm and we made it! She had him in her arms....and mine! In a couple of days, we would have Jacob. It was surreal that we were in Vietnam....together! While our lives back home have kept us busy, I still think of them often and KNOW that I need to call her. While I posted about their Family Day, I didn't call. BAD FRIEND!! She and all of her children, and mother, visited us in the Fall. It was WONDERFUL!! I only wish they could have stayed longer.

We have been bonded and no matter how busy life keeps us, I hope she always knows just how much her friendship means to me!!!

Jacob & Ben ~ Together for the first time, in October

Our 1st Day

After getting in so late, we thought we would shower and get to bed. Pent up energy and excitement kept that from happening though. We decided to unpack and decide where to put everything. There wasn't a lot of drawer space, so we used all the available cabinets. My clothes were in the living room, under the TV and food set-up, in neat piles!

I posted pictures of our hotel room yesterday, but I never said why we chose the Hong Ngoc. We chose it over The Somerset because we wanted to experience Vietnam. We wanted to be a part of it. We were right in the Old Quarter and when he exited the hotel, you were right on a local street. We received fresh fruit and water daily. The staff knew us. They would have our keys ready when we walked in. They would ask about when we were going to get our babies. They had worked with our agency before and they knew the process and were very helpful and made it go even smoother. We appreciated the personal attention. I agree that our 4" mattress, solid wood furniture, and wood/marble floors weren't as "comfortable" or kid friendly as the Somerset's soft beds, couches and chairs, and wall-to-wall carpet, but it was still very nice. We had our concerns with the bed, but in the end, we really did sleep very well on it. The 2 room suite was good for us as I was still the night owl. Online a lot and watching TV while Barry crashed a little earlier or watched his shows.

That first morning, we woke at a normal hour and went online to check if our family was on in the States. We figured not since we were fairly certain they were at my in-laws' house for the weekend. We decided to head down to breakfast. This was when the fun really started! We met others from our agency. First was Martha and her daughter, Rachel. Martha was (and still is) my hero for making the trip SOLO. She did so well as a first time mom, in a strange country, by herself. What was really great though was that everyone helped each other. Rachel soon learned to LOVE to be bounced on an exercise ball of a travel mate and Martha hung out in their room a lot. It was fun! 3 other families that adopted from their orphanage with Martha (and Donna) had begun their trip at our hotel, but moved to the Somerset before we arrived.

It was so nice to meet Martha, and later Donna, her mom, and her daughter, Lauren, after communicating with them online for weeks. Their girls were so tiny. Martha was telling us about all the good food that was available. Eggs, little sausages, potatoes, lots of fruit and pastries/breads. There was congee (Vietnamese rice cereal...VERY runny) and homemade yogurt and custard. Breakfast was always a good start to the day with its many options. I will always remember the cold orange "drink" that we had in the morning. We compared it to Tang. Not that it was something that I drank normally, I drank it a lot there. It was cold.

While eating, I noticed another American walk in and realized that it was Marie! She was the woman I had spoken to many times while we waiting to travel for our boys. Their son was with Jacob. They, like us and the Barnetts were delayed in traveling. We would be spending the next 2 weeks with them! I walked up to her and asked "Marie?". She said "You must be Dawn" and we hugged! It was amazing to finally be in Vietnam with her. The day had arrived and it was surreal! All of us ladies talked a lot...of course.

All we basically did that first day was hang out in the room and walk around the neighborhood to try to gain our bearings. We found a local shop that gave us a decent exchange rate for some money since it was Sunday. We would go to an actual bank the next day. We walked down the road and crossed the main street and found the church and a local pizza shop for lunch. In the afternoon, we took our first real excursion in Hanoi. We went to the Citimart. Think of a small, multi-level mall.

We had heard stories about the cabs in Hanoi. Your best bet was to let your hotel call Hanoi Taxi for you. They were fair when it came to the price and you knew you could trust them. It was Donna and her family, Marie and Brian, and Barry and I. We arrived and looked around a little. Basically, we were looking for diapers and some snack/comfort foods. We found what we were looking for, it wasn't too easy! Our first obstacle was that they wouldn't let Marie into the little grocery store with her purse! They said it was too big. Therefore, we shopped in shifts! In the end though, we found what we were looking for. Donna and her mom gave us some recommendations for crackers and cookies. We bought our first sodas. They had a little of everything. I was able to buy a SIM card for my phone in a different store and was stupid enough to try to use it right away. I didn't think that it was 11 hrs earlier in PA. Good thing it didn't work, I would have woken them all up!

The real experience though was the drive back to the hotel. When we exited the store, there were many taxis waiting, but none were Hanoi Taxi. The drivers were pushy. We decided to split up. Donna's family and I in 1 cab, Barry and the Hylands in the other. We chose the taxi driven by the only woman that Donna and her Mom had seen in Hanoi. It was a nice drive....until we got to the hotel. Donna's mom was up front and Donna was in the back. When we arrived, they asked the fare. The driver pointed to the meter. It said 18.5, but I didn't understand what it meant. Donna's mom took out some American $ and the driver took a bunch of bills from her hand! She quickly took them back and Donna tried to give her some Vietnamese $ (dung) and she said "No, not enough", and took some more $ from her Mom's hands in the front, and then....reached into the back seat and began to physically push Donna and I out the door! We already had the door open and just wanted out, but she wanted us out more!

As our stay went on, I realized that Donna was paying her more than enough for the taxi. The 18.5 meant 18,500 dung...just over $1 at the time and she was offering a generous tip also. I think we paid about $7 for the ride. High even for NYC standards! The rest of our group was overcharged as well. I think they ended up settling for 50,000 dung for the same ride. Us 4 newbies were a bit like deer caught in the headlights.

We would learn soon enough though.

Last year's post

Landing in Hanoi

As we disembarked from the plane in Hanoi, the first thing that hit us was the heat and humidity. It was like a thick blanket. The ramps and hallways were dark and very basic. As we entered the terminal, we were struck with just how different this airport was. It was not well lit and it seemed like you were in a basement. There were many military men standing around and they were definitely watching us. Customs was a little tense as we watched the woman before us fumbling to find her boarding pass stubs for the officer. I immediately dug ours out, but he didn’t ask us for them. We answered his few questions and headed to the baggage claim. We each retrieved a cart and went to wait for the bags to start to arrive. Then we waited and waited! When we had left our local airport nearly 30 hours beforehand, Barry had said that he was guessing we would lose at least 1 bag. As we watched the many bags come through and NONE were ours for a very long time, we were making bets that it might even be 2!

There is NOTHING in that area of the terminal. I even went to the other claim area, just in case we were waiting at the wrong one. No luck with that, but I did get a nice smile and nod from a military man as I was walking around. There was nowhere to get a drink or anything. We each used the restroom and continued to wait. FINALLY, all 3 of our suitcases and the box we were bringing arrived. The box was broken, but still fairly intact and the one suitcase was ripped, but we were ready to head out.

The rule in the airport is that no one is allowed past the double doors, so we had to walk out of the terminal to look for our ride. There were lots of people waiting for those on the flights and it took us a few seconds for it to register that there was a young man holding a piece of paper with our names, agency, and hotel on it. Once I told him that it was us, he quickly called another gentleman to go get the car and he took my baggage cart from me and we headed to the curb. We loaded the car and we were off to the hotel. The drive took about 45 minutes and it was amazing! We kept saying to each other that we couldn’t believe we were actually in Vietnam. The lights as we drove out were very nice and we began to see the famous traffic that we heard so much about over the years. Our drivers were very nice and tried to ask us questions about ourselves, Jacob, and our travels. It was hard at times, especially since the one not driving spoke even less English than the driver.

We enjoyed the drive though and were amazed by our first glimpse of the Old Quarter. Very few people were out on the streets, but as soon as we pulled up to our hotel, a few workers came out to help us in. We were checked into one of the suites and our bags were brought up. I found the business center and sent a quick email and blog post to assure everyone that we had arrived safely. Originally, the plan was to just shower and go to bed, but we had a lot of pent up energy, so we began to unpack. We brought A LOT of stuff!! It looked like a bomb had gone off in the room. We put it all away in the morning. We showered and went to bed.

Last year's post
check out the others from that date, as well

Thinking Back...

A year ago today, we embarked on a great adventure. We flew halfway around the world in pursuit of a dream. My husband told me, soon after meeting me, that he hoped to adopt someday. I always knew that he carried the picture of a little Korean girl from his church in his wallet. She was soon a student of his. Adoption had a place in his heart for a couple of decades.

When we first mentioned to family and friends that we were going to adopt, one of the first questions they asked was if we were going to HAVE to go to Vietnam. The answer was YES and we were looking forward to it! My mother-in-law thought we were nuts! Yes, leaving our other children for 2-3 weeks was scary. We weren’t sure if our parents could handle all of the shuttling of the kids. We worried about their schoolwork, especially with Abram. The 21 hours in a plane wasn’t our main concern. I always said that it would be an adventure for us. We are NOT fliers! It had been 20-30 years since either of us had flown and my husband had only flown across the country. I had at least crossed the Atlantic.

I remember the night before we left. I had finished the last bits of packing, later than we had hoped. The bags had been weighed. My husband would stand on a scale and then I would hand him the bag and I would read the number. We did that A LOT. It was amazing how fast the carry on with the laptop was overweight and how the large bag was easy to keep under the magic # of 50lbs. Once we were packed and the bags were stacked downstairs, the big issue was the kids. They had done very well in the last week of preparation. That night though, Abram was beginning to get a little nervous about us leaving. In the end, the kids and I ended up cuddling in Elizabeth’s bed to go to sleep. They knew that it was probably the last time they would see me for 2 weeks. It was a little unnerving, but we did OK with only a few tears from Abram. Elizabeth was being strong. She even heard us up and about in the morning came down to say Goodbye and give hugs and kisses. Turns out, she was the one that had a bigger issue with us being gone. She did OK in the end, but our parents soon learned that she needed to Skype with us without her brother bugging her.

The alarm went off around 3AM. We quickly jumped out of bed and were dressed. We looked out the window to see that my in-laws were still sitting in their car, waiting for us. We turned on the lights and waved them in. My father-in-law started to load the car and I went over things with my mother-in-law. Before we knew it, it was time to say goodbye. It was so quiet out. We used the GPS to show my father-in-law how it worked. We had a good many laughs as the GPS had NO idea about the new highway. It kept telling us to turn back onto the road and get out of the fields! We found the local airport, without a problem.

We went inside the terminal and stood in line to check-in. The worker told us to use the automated system. We had NO idea how it worked, so like the older couple behind us, we decided to just wait until he was able to help us. Good thing we did because the system had one of us going to Hanoi, while the other was getting off in Seoul! It was soon figured out and it was time to hand over our luggage to security. We were interested in seeing what was done with the bags, other than put them through the x-ray. The officer was NOT happy that we were watching him though. He was very gruff with us. We were the newbies that were fascinated with the process. I know…dorks! LOL

First security check and we were onto our flight. It was small plane and it was LOUD. Good thing it was a short flight to DC, about 45 minutes. We landed and it only took us a few minutes to figure out where we had to go next. It was still so early that the terminals were still fairly quiet. We walked down the long hallway that was the international terminal. We couldn’t find the Korean Airways counter though. Finally, after finding someone to ask, we were told where he thought we needed to be. He said that since they only flew out a few days a week, they shared a gate with other airlines. He said as it became closer to the departure time, Korean Air would put out their signs. After locating the gate, we went for breakfast of some great breakfast sandwiches and juice.

On a side note….I remember eating breakfast and feeling SO connected to my husband that day. We were a TEAM and we were going for our son! Just typing that makes me misty-eyed, a year later. I have told the APs that we traveled with that I think that trip was wonderful for us, as a couple. It was nice for it to be just us. We need to do that more often. While we had some concerns about the flights and the logistics of it all, that morning, I felt like we could tackle anything together!

After breakfast, we went back to the gate area and relaxed. Barry read the paper. I called home to see how the kids handled the morning. They did fine. My mother-in-law said Abram came down and asked if we had leaved. She told them we had and he was OK with it. I waited to call until I knew they would be in school. I paid for internet access and watched Grey’s Anatomy, posted on the blog, and checked in with an online group of GREAT friends (the Sugarplum Mommies).

Soon, the airline workers came to set up the gate and we went to check-in. Again there was an issue with the tickets! This time it was harder because all of the women spoke little to no English. They were helpful though. In the end, the issue was they were expecting Ha (Jacob) to be with us. We explained that we were going for him and he was only supposed to be on the return ticket. They were also very nice and rearranged our seats so we had 3 center seats and therefore, the extra space between us. The time (5 hours total) flew and before we knew it, we were boarding a 777 for a 14+ hour flight to Korea.

As I posted last year, the flight went VERY well. We flew Economy and were treated GREAT! There were lots of good food and snacks. The attendants were very nice and helpful. We each had our own personal movies and the great interactive screen that told us our speed, direction, and location as we crossed over the globe. It was cool to watch our progress! I read a little, watched most of 3 movies, and napped. I do remember looking at my watch after 6 hours or so and thinking, OH MY, we aren’t even halfway there yet! We did eventually land though.

We entered into a very modern terminal. The swine flu was a big issue and we had our temperatures taken. The interesting thing was that they also used an inferred camera to check the passengers’ body heat when entering the terminal. VERY cool! We also noted that a lot of the people we saw, mostly the Asians, were wearing masks over the mouths and noses. They were really taking the risk seriously. The terminal was VERY nice and very clean. It was full of high end shops and cool places to eat. After walking around a bit, we bought a couple of sodas (Coke products that were similar to ours, but still different) and sat at the gate. We ran into a businessman who was heading to Hanoi for his work for an energy company. He spoke of how excited he and his colleagues were because one of them was returning to Vietnam for the first time, after coming to America as a child. He said he traveled to Asia often, but was looking forward to this trip especially.

The 4+ hour flight to Hanoi went fairly well, but it was an older plane and not as comfortable. If I remember correctly, the food wasn’t as good either. Still lots of space though. I believe we had 5 bulkhead seats for ourselves. We napped, as the in-flight movie was BAD. This was the first issue I had with a flight. My ears would NOT pop on landing and I was in pain. Swallowing didn’t help, but I soon learned that a huge yawn does the trick EVERY time!

Landing in Hanoi was an experience….

Last year's post

We Are Home!!!

After all the long flights, we arrived at Dulles to find a dear friend (Carol) waiting for us. My parents were late with the kids. In the end though, it worked out great because it was a wonderful sight to see our kids running across the terminal to us! Jacob was such a trooper on the flights. I will say that the 14 hr flight seemed to go A LOT faster with a toddler in tow. Clearing Customs and Immigration was also a breeze.

Halong Bay

We had planned to take an overnight trip here, but because of our delay in booking it, we decided to take just the day trip. It was an experience! 3 hrs in the van each way and the AC was NOT to US standards, but we survived! We even had quite a few laughs among ourselves.

Once we were on the boat, the fun REALLY began. We were just getting started....when we hit another boat! It was a slow impact and there wasn't much damage, if any. The problem was when we back away from the boat, we hit ANOTHER! That one we did damage. Broken boards on the other boat...NOT good! We joked with the other couple we traveled with because the dad is an insurance agent...for boats! LOL

The caves were hot and there were A LOT of steps to get them, especially when you are carrying 18lbs of baby attached to yourself! We were so happy to get back on the boat. Unfortunately, the AC that was advertised, wasn't really present and the fans that were there didn't work. We survived though and did enjoy our day.

Time to pack...we leave tomorrow!

LOL

This is a common sight here in Vietnam....

I LOVE the pictures at Saigon Today

Dinner Out

The 3 families took our in-country staff out to dinner tonight. This was the last time we will all be together, because the Barnetts are hoping to leave early. The Hylands and us are planning a day trip to Halong Bay.

Our staff recommended a traditional Vietnamese buffet and it was delicious! It was so nice to sit down with them, knowing that everything worked out and we were all set and could relax, breath, and have some laughs!

We had a great time. These 2 men were our lifeline to our children for all of these months. They were the ones who checked on them and took the wonderful pictures that we were so happy to receive over the last 10 months. We could never thank them enough for what they have done for our children and for the hundreds of other children who they helped in the process of finding homes.

Passport & Visa ~ CHECK!!

We had our Embassy appointment this afternoon and our visas were ready later in the afternoon!! 6 days from babies to visas, including a weekend!

That means we are free to go home, but we are keeping our Friday flights, for a variety of reasons. So is the family at our hotel with us. Off to Halong Bay still.

Temple of Literature

When we first arrived, it was cooler and a bit breezy. It was very nice to walk on the grounds a bit. Then more people arrived and it began to get warmer. Overall, it was nice to see. My husband was a bit bored and HOT (the sun actually can OUT today!)