The Journey to a New World

Today was devoted to buying the last rounds of presents and packing. The blooper of the day occurred in our favorite ice cream hangout. Cindi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" was playing and C was sitting in his chair, dancing along, spoon in hand, arms waving. Well the scoop of ice cream landed in his hair. Ordinarily, life would stop until the misplaced spot of food was cleaned off of him, the table, the floor, etc. This time, he didn't notice--he kept dancing along as the ice cream ran down his hair towards his face. He seemed only mildly concerned about Ba vigorously wiping his head with a napkin. Party on, little dude!

At dinner, C started flirting with the pretty waitresses. He has consistently perked up and noticed when pretty women come into view. Tonight, he was calling out to them. We'd love to know what he was saying. Probably something along the lines of, "Hey baby, I'm year of the Rooster! What's your sign?" Look out Mallard Creek Elementary, the Vietnamese Valentino is on his way!

Tomorrow at this time, we'll be somewhere on the Asian side of the Pacific Ocean. Then the adventure really begins as C will enter a world where everything is new. During the past two weeks, he has been hanging out with a couple of strange people who he can't understand, but other than the people they eat dinner with every so often, everyone else is understandable. Soon, no one will be understandable and everyone will be strange. And then he'll start meeting people other than those related to E.

Our review of VN:

• We won't miss the broadcasting of the singing lady and the reading of propaganda (we assume) every morning and evening.
• We won't miss the near-death experience of walking to dinner or shopping.
• We won't miss the constant honking of horns by scooters, cars, taxis, etc.
• We won't miss having great variety in our diets. We need to stick to hamburgers, pizza, and real ice cream for a while. Many restraunts in Hanoi have "European food" sections to their menus, but its a pale imitation of the real thing. We both liked the food better than we expected, given that neither of us are big eaters of Asian food (T demands an exemption for the Thai House), but sometimes the food didn't like us, and three weeks of it is a lot.
• We will miss the fact that meals seem to have about 11 courses. So if you don't an entree you like, there soon will be several others to choose from. Of course, there is also the risk that the next course will be stewed pidgeon or monkey or eel, etc.
• We won't miss seeing our dinner in cages before we eat it. T won't miss the amount of fish served here, shellfish being only a part of the total fish diet.
• We will miss the fact that it costs about 2/3 less to eat out compared to the US. Sodas for 50 cents, anyone? It is expensive for the plane tickets to get here, but once you're here, it is a very cheap to stay.
• We will miss all the new fruits we've experienced and enjoyed: chom-choms, VN grapefruit especially.
• T will miss all the bargain shopping. E believes there is no such thing as "bargain shopping". It is a trap to get you to buy more crap you don't need. E does appreciate the assertion that our Xmas shopping is done before Thanksgiving (not that he believes the assertion that it is done).
• E won't miss writing names in code, particularly since our names are listed elsewhere on the blog. Oops, maybe you hadn't noticed...
• We will miss the fact that C already seems to have outgrown his fascination with bubbles. How quickly they grow...

High points of the trip:

• Having C as part of the family.
• The excitement and anticipation of first seeing C on the stairs of the care center (OK, he started bawling the moment he saw us). The heart-wrenching experience of giving him back to the nannies at the end of day when he wanted to stay with us.
• Watching C be "big brother" to the other kids in the care center. Watching him continue to be big brother to H, who was adopted by another family traveling with us.
• Rocking C to sleep the first night in the hotel in Saigon. All 453 repetitions of "Lullaby."
• C's cooing in excitement when he sees something new or interesting--which is a lot. Discovering what C's discoveries of the day will be. Hopefully, his reaction to all the new things he's about to see in the US also will be the same.
• C smiling and waving hello or goodbye. And sometimes blowing kisses.
• Seeing both rural and urban areas of the country.
• The economy of VN is booming, especially Saigon. Lots of construction is going on. We asked one of the native adoption agency workers who was building all the big new houses were seeing in both rural and urban areas of the country. He replied: "Capitalists."
• Making new friends from VN and the US. One great example was our boat tour in Ben Tre. We intended to visit a catfish farm, but they wouldn't let us stop. The adoption agency rep said to the tour guide, "Find something. We need to give these people something to see on this trip." He called people he knew who lived along the river, we pulled up to the bank of the river at their property (no dock), disembarked, and had a wonderful visit with refreshments of pineapple coconut juice, hot jasmine tea, grapefruit, pineapple and candy.
• Never knowing what the next day would bring.

Finally, we will miss the friendliness of the people and their genuine interest in C. Many local people went out of their way to help us have a memorable experience in VN. There is a book that says it takes a village to raise a child. How fitting this statement is in describing our journey to parenthood up to this point (and moving forward in the next chapter of our lives). During our preparation and paperwork, we've read stories of other families not having such support. Over the past 1 1/2 years, we've received incredible support from our family and friends. You've been with us during both the highs and the lows, during the celebrations of milestones achieved and the long waits between these celebrations where we wondered if we'd ever reach our final destination. We know we can never truly express how greatful we are for your support.

Now, here we are...a family. Let the next chapter begin...

C being a "big brother" to his VL buddy H in the hotel lobby

C with the hotel staffer who dubbed him, "Happy Boy."

C and "Uncle"