TAM COC- GORGEOUS DAY TRIP!

We are actually sitting in Taipei Airport but since we are a day ahead- you can pretend that we

just got back from this exciting day trip to a 1000 year old capitol of Vietnam 2 hours outside Hanoi and then to a place called Tam Coc,  "Three caves," that was exquisite. More about the the pictures later- Thought you all might be hungry for some news. BTW Thai did brilliantly so far on the airplane. He does NOT like the seatbelt and very quickly learned how to unhook it but other than that he was one of the better behaved males on the plane.

Hanoi #1

We love Hanoi, pure and simple. There is obvious French influenced architechture, food and lovely accents but so far no terrible traffic circles! Hanoi is quartered off and we are in the "Old Quarter." It is shopping paradise and we are all sorry we spent so much in HCMC. Hanoi is proud of it's 'made in Vietnam' crafts and the streets in our section are kind of labeled as to the product sold on them. We are apparently on SHOE STREET because almost every vendor sells SHOES! Enjoy this little taste of Hanoi.

Cynthia has found work here , good thing she loves Rambutans,

Yes, This is what you imagine it might be...I was dying to say "I hate your guts" outloud- or did I?

Even guts need to be attractively arranged for full effect.
















Thank goodness
Thai likes GREENS

If children do not have hats on in the street you are verbally scolded. , top Thai's pick

bottom mommy's pick.

L
Life immitates art or what Vietnamese really think of American children.

A short walking tour of Hanoi with a happy ending.

Totally unrelated clip I

This is too weird-Thai starts singing when we are out walking not softly to himself but really loudly in Vietnamese. No, we don't know what he is saying but we already sent a clip to A.I.

Getting ready for the G & R

The Giving and Receiving Ceremony is practically the whole point of the trip -it IS the final adoption and can be cancelled if the officials are offended or upset in any way or get a wiff of American arrogance. A friend warned me that the officials almost cancelled hers because they did not think she was dressed fancy enough. Luckily, the officials in Binh Thuan Province were very understanding an very dear and seemed to appreciate both family's sincere intent to honor to Vietnam and it's people and raise the children knowing about their heritage.

I prepared, of course, by shopping! The traditional Vietnamese Dress http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aodai is lovely and perhaps not so suited for a western woman "of a certain age" but my efforts seemed to be appreciated. Young girls ran to get me breakfast and people on the street smiled- everyone loved my Ao dia, it seemed except for a little group of street boys who threw themselves on the ground rolling and laughing when I walked by!

Here is the seamstress taking out the arms to accommodate a bit of movement. In Vietnam the Ao dai is considered standard dress. You see women riding scooters in them and at the airport women baggage handlers were wearing them. An interesting mix of modernism and tradition.

The back of the Child Care Center(Orphanage) Very quaint, very clean, very "green."




The back of the resort we stayed in while in Binh Thuan province traveling back and forth to the Child Care Center . It was a little tough going back and forth.

Right after the Giving and receiving ceremony Thai gets his first taste of the good life!

In between trips back and forth from the Child Care Center we all dined in a place we called Paradise. It was a compound so remote a scooter driver had to escort the van or we would still be looking. The food was incredible and we were treated like royalty.

It was so quaint! Around every corner was a lovely little surprise. -

These were some type of bitter cucumber that ended up on our plates moments later. Very yum.

This little guy below was very grateful that no one in our party ate pork. He was an adorable potbellied pig- An authentic Vietnamese potbellied pig, I'd guess. His mother was not happy about the attention he was getting- Can you believe people keep these things as pets in the U.S? I bet our hosts would be quite amused by this.

Did I already say that the food was also amazing?

And you thought D.C. traffic was bad?!

This is a traffic circle during evening traffic.

Thank you, The French!

Backtracking, Backpacking

Some pictures and videos from the last week, not in any particular order

1) Honestly, he was using the chopsticks like a grown-up moments before this was shot. Apparently they do not let the children eat with their fingers at the Child Care Center. He will only accept food from a spoon or chopsticks. He will even take it from you and put in ON a spoon and THEN eat it.

What we know about Thanh Thai after 2 days

1) He likes to brush his teeth

2) He likes to dance

3) He knows how to go potty in the right place

4) He can use choptsticks!

5) He loves noodles

6) He learned to drink from a water bottle yesterday

7) He is definately 2 years old

8) He loves shoes, especially his orange crocs

9) He knows how to turn the t.v. off and on, change the channels and make it really really loud

10) He is learning English faster than we are learning Vietnamese

11) He likes to play catch

12) He does NOT like elevators

13) He and his sister Lina are going to have a blast together