Ho Chi Minh City

Here goes with another long blog entry... It's Friday in Ho Chi Minh city as I write but I did not bring the thingy to transfer pictures from my camera so those will come later (including one of a big smile).

First, as of Friday, early afternoon, Evan is finally down for a nap. He and I are coming to a little understanding about how, even though he wails and wails, he does not get picked up. If he breaks my will then I'll only permanently reinforce the wrong behavior. He's snoring away now since he got a little congested from all the crying. Thankfully the people in the adjacent room have a baby, too.

So I was all excited on Wednesday since I heard I could get my CIS (US Customs/Immigration Service) interview in Ho Chi Minh city a week earlier than in Hanoi, helping get me home earlier. I zipped down to Vietnam airlines and booked us tickets. I was stunned at the price ($30 round trip) and even commented on it but lady seemed not surprised. I assumed I was getting some sort of "locals" fare since I was traveling with a Vietnamese infant. In the evening, everything went downhill. I received a call from my agency contact indicating that there were unanswered questions on my roommate. Key details on the home study were missing and needed to be faxed to Ho Chi Minh City before they would be willing to see me. With a flurry of e-mails and lots of help from my roommate and social worker, the documents were found and faxed over. Literally, CIS asked the question late in the day Wednesday and had a fax on their desk when they arrived Thursday morning. They promptly scheduled me for 11:45 on Thursday.

That would have been fine except that I also realized I only had an airline ticket for the baby. I think Vietnam Airlines is pretty terrific, but who would sell a ticket to a 10 month old and not his parent? As it turned out I would have loved him to go as an unaccompanied minor but that's another story. Calling them got me nowhere - they kept telling me what to do about my "lost" ticket. Though I could have gone to the airport and bought a ticket at 5:30 a.m. I was so stressed from the events of the day that I knew there was no way that would happen. Furthermore, I don't know how I could have packed my things for Evan and myself in my exhausted state. So I was set to miss my much wanted CIS interview. As it turned out, I had a frenzied 3 a.m. call and a batch of e-mails at 6:00 a.m. before all my documents were sorted.

On Thursday, I rebooked my flights (and got at ticket for myself this time), took my time packing, and got myself to the airport (I kept my hotel in Hanoi rather than checking out). Flight was delayed a bit and I used the time to tire Evan out as best I could. He did pretty well on the flight in terms of not having pain from the pressure and all that. However, he did not sleep at all. I spent the whole flight trying to get him to sleep with no luck. He was squirmy and curious about everything. I hope he gets it out of his system before the big flight home.

Saigon is hot and humid and a teeming sprawling city loaded with restaurants and other good things. My hotel is really nice. Modern austere rooms (read: child safe), reliable hot water (did I mention that about my hotel in Hanoi?), and not a bad price ($60). Never mind that they assembled the crib wrong and it was an accident waiting to happen. For dinner, we walked down the street and had some Pho. Well, I had Pho and Evan had a bowl of chopped up noodles and a bit of broth. The employees did not stop fawning over him (can you blame them?). Evan is having a hard time with the heat of Saigon after being used to the cool of the hills in the North.

Up at 5:30 for a bottle. I took a shower while Evan roamed the bathroom and basically woke the neighbors up. At breakfast, I met 3 other adoptive families from another agency, mostly with younger children than Evan. I forgot how lonely I was until I had other adoptive parents to talk to. We plan to do something together tonight. In comparing notes on experiences, I continue to be impressed with my agency. Note: Non parents, skip the rest of this paragraph. The big challenge today was getting Evan to poop before leaving the hotel with my agency representative at 9:30 for his medical exam, the rescheduled (thankfully) CIS interview, and the visa pictures. I did not want to show the doctor a dirty diaper or bum. With 10 minutes to spare Evan did me proud.

The medical exam was quick and easy. Evan checked out fine. A few scabs from scabie bites but no scabies. Weight is about 8 kilos but I don't remember the rest from the report (which I'll surely get). Evan was less worried about the CIS interview than I was, and he passed the 1 hour of waiting time exploring the lounge. There were two other families waiting, and it was interesting to compare stories. They both had older girls who were a little puzzled by their change of circumstances. My interview went well, though Evan was getting hungry (read: unhappy). I learned of two more missing bits of information but other than that, the most important and potentially problematic step was over (single guys are oddities and often subject to intense questioning). After a quick mid-bottle stop for visa pictures for Evan, I was done with everything in Ho Chi Minh. Without the energy for another plane ride and happy to have a change of scene, I decided to stick with my original plan and leave on Saturday for Hanoi.

It's amazing how kids learn and adapt. On Wednesday, I got a small smile. On Thursday, I got a BIG smile. Today he was laughing out loud. In four days he's gone from pulling himself up and cruising to holding onto my pant legs and walking with me. Today, he walked/cruised, holding onto on with only one hand. He grabs my hands and makes me clap. He claps. Yesterday I played peekaboo with him but he did not seem to get it. Today, he spontaneously started playing it with me. I'll shut up now.