by Ivy and Olivia's Mama
24-Dec: Arrive in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC, AKA Saigon)
Ivy and I met up with Sandy in Bangkok as he had been on a business trip in Germany. After an exhausting journey Phoenix-Minneapolis-Tokyo-Bangkok-Saigon (with a short overnight in Bangkok), Ivy slept through from soon after we arrived in Saigon on Tuesday until the next morning. Vinh, a Children's Home Society of Minnesota (CHSM) staff person, checked our paperwork out in the hallway so as to not awaken Ivy. Sandy and I took turns leaving the hotel room on Christmas eve. I went downstairs to the restaurant for Pho (Vietnamese Noodle Soup). Sandy went outside to check out and photograph the celebration on the streets. It was fun to tease him the next morning as he woke up with confetti in his hair. We could hear the commotion from our hotel room and it seemed like everyone was out to celebrate Christmas Eve.
25-Dec: Travel to Binh Thuan Province and visit Olivia
We left Saigon in the morning for the 3+ hour trip to Ham Tan Children's Home to visit Olivia. We bought a bobble head dog at our food stop on the way out of town to entertain Ivy along with some croissants and meat-filled pastries. Ivy named her dog "Juno." We had a short, unexpected stop along the way when a belt broke on our bus. No worries, the bus driver had extra belts along (just had to unpack some of the luggage to get to them). There was a home with a monkey in a wire cage on the patio that captivated Ivy.
When we arrived at the Children's Home, Olivia was wearing the outfit that we left for her on our first visit. She looked happy to see us, especially Ivy. Ivy enjoyed seeing the people that she had met on our first trip, especially the boy that she had befriended. We had a chance to talk with the orphanage director and learned a few more details on the circumstances of Olivia's relinquishment to the Children's Home. We were surprised to have the opportunity to see a photo of Olivia's birth mother. We gave small gifts to the babies and staff at the Children's Home. We took lots of pictures of Olivia, Ivy and the caregivers. Ivy enjoyed visiting all of the BABIES!
We drove the final hour or so and checked into the Swiss Village hotel on Mui Ne beach near Phan Thiet. We went for dinner. We were hungry! Then, we got our things together for the next day and went to bed early.
26-Dec: Giving and Receiving Ceremony (G&R) !!!
Today was a big day! We officially became the parents of Nguyen Hai Lap (Last Middle First names). Ivy and I wore our Ao Dais, traditional Vietnamese dress for women. Sandy wore the same favorite "butterfly" tie that he wore for Ivy's G&R! All of us adoptive parents and agency staff (and Ivy ;o) drove to Phan Thiet where we met the babies and caregivers and also the provincial government officials. Our appointment time was 9:00 AM. There were six adoptive families including ourselves on this trip, three baby boys and three baby girls. The babies ranged in age from three months to five months old. There were three families that already had one child (including us) and three families that were brand new parents.
First, we waited in a big room around a big table. Then, each couple was called individually to sign paperwork. Then, we all gathered again in the big room where each family was called forward to receive their baby from one of the attending caregivers. Olivia's caregiver handed Olivia to me while Sandy held Ivy. The officials shook our hands and congratulated us. Then, the officials gave a brief speech. Lastly, some of the adoptive parents expressed our gratitude, honor and pleasure for the opportunity to be the new parents of these special babies.
After the ceremony, Ivy and Sandy went to apply for Olivia's passport while Olivia and I returned to the hotel. I gave Olivia a bath and held her and fed her. The agency staff brought us lots of "equipment", bottles, formula, bouncy seat, etc. Sandy carried Ivy in asleep after running their errand, but she woke up and couldn't fall back to sleep once she figured out that Olivia was in our hotel room.
27-Dec: Relaxation Day!
We had a full day at the beach resort with no tasks. Well OK, we had two tired, hungry kids to entertain us so we were a little bit occupied. Ivy and Sandy went swimming in the pool while Olivia and I visited with some of the other families. We took turns taking pictures of our surroundings. We didn't even try to find out where the computers were...
28-Dec: Return to Saigon
Early Saturday afternoon, we drove back to Saigon. The trip back into the city seemed to take longer both this trip and our previous one as the traffic was always very heavy going into the city. In addition, there were torrential rains on this trip and the streets were very flooded at one point. It was amazing to watch how life continued around us while the streets were so flooded, considering that most people were not in cars/trucks.
We took Olivia to the caregiver's hotel room so that we could take Ivy to get something to eat. We went to the Diamond Department store so that we could buy a high chair for Ivy to use in the hotel. She is just too easily distracted from eating if we don't help her focus on that task. We decided to eat right there at the KFC, yes Kentucky Fried Chicken. There were lots of rides for small children right outside KFC that Ivy enjoyed. Also, there was a Christmas scene just outside the store where we had Ivy's picture taken.
When we returned to the hotel, the caregiver said that Olivia had vomited. Olivia was becoming more and more fussy and didn't sleep well that night.
Note: Several of the caregivers from the orphanage came to Saigon with us. They shared a hotel room with each other. We were requested to not take the babies outside of the hotel for their safety. It is much more hot, noisy, and polluted in Saigon than in the environment that they were accustomed to. We were very fortunate that Olivia's primary caregiver was one of the three caregivers that came to Saigon with us. We had a great opportunity to get to know her better and also to see her interact more with Olivia on a daily basis. At first, I was a little uncertain about how this would work out, but we soon became comfortable with it. It really helped us a lot, especially since we had Ivy with us. We wanted to be able to take Ivy out of the hotel to see old friends, eat different food, and burn off some energy!
29-Dec: Took Olivia to the doctor and then to have her Visa photo taken
Since there had been a virus that resulted in several babies going to the hospital just previous to this trip, I was worried and took Olivia to the international medical clinic on Sunday morning. Sandy and Ivy stayed at the hotel. The doctor diagnosed her with a viral infection and gave directions on what symptoms to watch for in case it became more serious. It turned out to be a 24 hour bug, except that she was more fussy off and on for the remainder of our trip. There was so much going on that it was difficult to tell why she wasn't feeling well, illness or huge changes in her life.
After the doctor's appointment, we met up with the other families at the photo place so that we could get Olivia's visa picture taken and proceed with the remaining immigration steps.
The three caregivers came to our room to see how Olivia was doing. They told us to slack off on the air conditioning (actually the housekeeper had turned it colder each day when she cleaned our room and it would take us a while to get cold and remember to turn it back so we wouldn't freeze). Then, they noticed that we had all of the pictures we had taken thus far running as a slideshow on our laptop. They sat down to view and giggled a lot at the pictures that we'd taken. They really seemed to appreciate those of Ivy and Olivia googling at each other.
Sandy took Ivy for lunch at the Rex hotel.
I know that we stayed in the hotel that night because we wanted to be with Olivia and get lots of rest. I think that we fell asleep before accomplishing our plan to go eat in the hotel restaurant. We had lots of snacks in our hotel room.
30-Dec: Submitted paperwork to the INS and had brief interviews
Olivia slept much better the previous night and was smiling again on this morning!
First thing this morning, we all headed over to the INS office to submit our Visa applications. Each couple was called up individually to have a brief interview with the INS officer, Rick Sells. Rick Sells is a well known name in the Vietnam adoption community as he has a reputation for wanting to ensure that adoptions are done ethically and that the children are truly orphans (adopted children are not allowed to immigrate to the US unless they are orphans as defined by our government). He is known to be very thorough. We hadn't met him before so I was very curious to talk with him. Our interviews all went smoothly.
We left Olivia to visit with her caregiver at the hotel while we took Ivy to go eat lunch at the Rex (again). I finally sent off an e-mail message to tell everyone we were alive and things were going smoothly! We liked eating at the Rex because we stayed their for our adoption trips when we were adopting Ivy. It is a big hotel. Actually, this was an almost daily routine. One or both of us took Ivy to the restaurant on the top floor and we'd order Pho (Chicken Noodle Soup but much, much tastier than what you're thinking)! We also would order steamed rice, papaya and don't forget the Pepsi!
Then, we either roam the hotel to see the birds in cages, huge animal sculptures and koi pond on the roof garden terrace, check out the Christmas tree and tropical fish tanks in the lobby, or visit with Luan and other friends across the street at the park by Uncle Ho's statue. Then, we bring Ivy into the downstairs cafe to have fruit or ice cream for desert. Ivy lost a little weight on our first trip to meet Olivia in November, so we try to have this one super-good meal each day as we have found that she has a big appetite at the Rex.
After sending my one and only trip report from Vietnam, I headed across the street to join Ivy and Sandy. They were playing with Luan and friends at the park by Uncle Ho's statue. Ivy has such a huge smile on her face when playing with Luan. Anyway while we were playing, a bus pulled up with a huge entourage of uniformed men on motorcycles. It was the national football (soccer) team and their "escorts." All of the team members had wreaths of flowers and greenery around their necks. They unloaded from the bus and ceremoniously carried a huge flower memorial up to Uncle Ho in celebration of placing third in the Tiger Cup. Afterwards, there were swarms of fans surrounding players for autographs. At the last minute, I found the courage to chase after the most popular player to ask if he would take a photograph with Ivy. He was very friendly and, after posing for the photograph, he took off his "wreath" and tried to hang it on Ivy's neck. She gave him a two-year-old's "that thing looks itchy to me" glare, so he handed it to me and continued on to the bus. Then, I asked Luan who he was. Luan told us that he is Le Huynh Duc, the star of the Vietnamese soccer team. We passed the beautiful wreath of flowers on to Luan so that he could share it with more people. How fun is that?!
That evening, we ordered Annie's Pizza for delivery to our hotel for dinner so that we could hang out with Baby Olivia.
31-Dec: Olivia's Visa Medical Check-up
In the early afternoon, we took the babies to a local hospital for brief medical evaluations to support their Visa applications. Sandy and Ivy stayed at the hotel as we remembered that this had been a long, hot wait when we took Ivy to the same hospital for her check-up. Fortunately, it went very quickly. The doctor was very friendly and talkative. The medical check up was brief.
I made the crazy decision to go on a "wet wipes run" on New Year's Eve evening. I guess that I thought that it was too early to be crazy outside yet. I was wrong! I ended up in stopped traffic. Finally, I asked the driver about the possibility of my walking the rest of the way. He was very happy about that idea and he pointed me in the right direction. We couldn't communicate well enough for me to understand how far I needed to go still, but it turned out to be just ONE short block. I bought Ivy a "Happy New Year" balloon and pasteurized yogurt (!), Sandy got oranges, and the wet wipes went to Olivia (lucky girl !). The traffic was much better on the way back to the hotel (thankfully since I hadn't paid attention to how we got there and it was dark out).
We met the other families at the restaurant downstairs in the evening. They ordered pizza for delivery, but we ordered chicken and rice dishes because we had ordered pizza the previous night. We all visited together for New Year's Eve. Then, we watched holiday specials on TV in our room, children singing and dancing to familiar holiday songs in both Vietnamese and English.
Also, I think that this was the first time that Ivy met KATIE! Katie is John's (CHSM lead representative in Vietnam) daughter. Ivy loved Katie. It was so much fun to her to have another little girl to chase around. Katie is 3 1/2 years old. For the remainder of the trip... "Katie go?" "Katie go?" "Katie go?" It didn't hurt that many of the adoptive families were giving gifts of candy to Katie and her brother, Thomas. Ivy had to go all the way to Vietnam to taste her first peanut M&Ms and Nut Goodies (not to mention the Godiva chocolate that she accepted from the flight attendant on NWA on the way there).
1-Jan: Met Luan's Family for Dinner
We took Ivy to the Rex for lunch again... Then, we did a little shopping near the Rex. I was trying to find purses that would match the Ao Dais that the caregivers had made while we were in town. All of the families went in together so that the caregivers could buy Ao Dai material, have a tailor sew their Ao Dai, buy shoes, umbrellas, etc. We wanted to do something special for them for caring for our new babies while we ran errands or went to eat dinner. Another family thought of this and it was a great idea that seemed to make the caregivers very happy. They wear this traditional clothing when they go to weddings or other special occasions.
We met Luan, his wife, and three of his five sons for dinner at Ngan Dinh restaurant (where we had met Vivian on our previous trip). I really enjoyed the dinner. We had spring rolls, lobster, crab, whole fish, and Chinese broccoli, plus fresh fruit for desert. It was so exciting to meet Luan's family, but difficult since we don't speak Vietnamese. His sons were very polite and handsome.
When we returned to the hotel, we were able to catch the last bit of a New Year's party that our agency staff held for the adoptive families. We didn't learn of the party until after we had already made plans to meet Luan's family. The wife of the lead agency representative, John, in Vietnam had cooked all of the food for it and everyone told us how delicious it was and that there was NONE left. At least, Olivia was able to partake in the festivities. She was sleeping in her bouncy seat near her caregiver.
2-Jan: Mandarine/Cyclo Dinner
We learned this day that we could proceed with final processing of the Visas on the next day. We hung out with Olivia at the hotel in the morning.
We asked Luan to arrange for cyclos so that we could go as a group, four couples and Ivy, to dinner at Mandarine restaurant that evening. Dinner was delicious as usual at Mandarine along with vegetable sculptures and live, traditional Vietnamese music. After dinner, the cyclo drivers took us the long way home along the Saigon river. It is amazing how peaceful one can feel riding in a cyclo amongst the craziness of the Saigon streets. I think that it's the darkness and relative coolness (and almost a breeze riding in the open air). Plus, the street noise approaches the hum of white noise.
3-Jan: US Consulate to complete Visa process
We went to the US Consulate to complete final paperwork for Olivia's Visa in the morning, then changed our flight plans to return earlier and went for lunch. Sandy returned to the Consulate in the afternoon to pick up Olivia's Visa package (The Sealed Envelope).
4-Jan: Shopping Day and Farewell Party
We worked on our travel arrangements more, including confirming a bassinet for Olivia on the return flights and trying to confirm seats on one flight (Minneapolis to Phoenix) where we remained wait-listed.
Today, I did a final shopping trip to the Ben Thanh market. I had Ao Dais (traditional Vietnamese clothing) in almost every size for Ivy and Olivia from our previous trips when we brought Ivy home and wanted to fill in the few gaps. This time, we did relatively little shopping both trips as we were so busy completing adoption tasks, getting to know Olivia, keeping Ivy well fed, active, and out of danger, visiting old friends and places, getting to know the families that we were traveling with etc... I was a little disappointed when we returned home to have not done more, but I wouldn't have traded any of the other activities for shopping so I'm OK with it. Vietnam and the opportunity for great souveniers just seemed suddenly so far away when we arrived home.
Sandy took Ivy to go eat lunch while I stayed at the hotel with Olivia.
In the evening, the agency staff held a farewell party for us. Once again, John's wife prepared all of the food including fresh and fried Vietnamese spring rolls and a desert that, living in Arizona, I thought of as Flan (one of my favorites, probably it was creme brulee related to the historical French influence). OK there was a lot of other food, but those were my favorites! The caregivers wore their new Ao Dais which were beautiful. We took LOTS of pictures. Four new families had arrived that day (one more was arriving that week) for their second adoption trip to two different provinces and they joined us as well. It was fun to share our experiences with them. The staff gave Olivia and Ivy engraved laquerware gifts. We gave them Arizona/USA t-shirts, hats and calendars. We sang the Barney "theme song" with Katie and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" (I don't know why... I guess we were high on the moment).
5-Jan: Goodbyes to Saigon Friends
We were in the midst of packing when the caregivers came to our room to say goodbye as they were leaving for Binh Thuan at 11:00 AM that morning. It was a tearful goodbye. Afterall up to our entrance into her life, Olivia's caregiver was the closest thing to a mother that she had ever known. Their style for caring for the children was considerably different than mine and I was thinking about how hard it might be for Olivia to now make that final transition.
After naps, we took Ivy and Olivia to the Rex hotel for lunch. We showed Olivia some of Ivy's favorite places and took pictures. I checked e-mail one final time. Olivia slept for the whole visit to the Rex, except for waking up right as we were leaving.
An exciting moment during our visit to the Rex was when we ran into Thuy by chance. Thuy was the Vietnam representative for the agency that we used when we adopted Ivy. We didn't see her much during our trips to adopt Ivy because she was almost due to have a baby on our first trip and just post-C section on our second trip, but she was the main person in Vietnam responsible for our adoption of Ivy. It was exciting to have the opportunity to take a picture of Ivy and Thuy together. It was nice to run into her.
That afternoon, Luan (whom we call Uncle Luan) came to our hotel to have tea with us and to say goodbye. Sandy had asked him to bring his cyclo so that he could take our picture sitting on it with Olivia. We rode all of the way to the end of the block and back with Sandy chasing after us to take the photos.
Then, all six families with our new babies crammed into a smaller bus than we had used on previous excursions and took off for the airport.
6-Jan: Olivia becomes US Citizen!!!
When we went through immigration at the Minneapolis airport, Olivia automatically became a US citizen as our adopted child entering the country on an IR-3 Visa.
Long, long, long trip... From Tokyo to Minneapolis, the pilot kept the "Seat Belt" sign on the whole way and the flight attendants "reminded" Sandy to return to his seat when he tried to take Ivy for short walks to release some energy. Ivy did amazingly well considering!
My mom and sister met us at the Minneapolis (my hometown) airport, with food and toys. They took over kids while we gobbled salad with FRESH Vegetables. They took turns meeting/holding Olivia while the other chased Ivy. They had all of Ivy's favorite foods, but she was too busy running them around the airport after the long flight. Olivia was just mellow.
Olivia and I slept the whole flight from Mpls to Phoenix and Ivy did too for most of it. In fact, they both were asleep upon arrival in Phoenix and slept through the drive home from the airport!
PICTURE INDEX or
LUV PUPPY HOME PAGE
