Getting Used to our Surroundings

Day 2 Sunday July 15, 2007

We still have our nights and days mixed up. I awoke at 2:00 am wide-awake and decided to start writing our journal. Logan soon joined me with his movie DVD player. Becky didn’t seem to have a problem sleeping until sometime around 6:00 am, good for her. After we all were up and ready, we all got dressed and went downstairs to get some breakfast. The hotel has an elevator but since we are on the third floor we just use the stairs. One must be very careful while using the stairs of this hotel because the tread height is not always the same. They can range from 4 inches to what appears to be about 10 inches or even more. The building standards could use some updating here. The restaurant shares the same space as the bar and it holds about 12-15 tables. They offer a buffet every morning that comes with the price of the room. The food is pretty good but Logan is still not able to find anything that he will just tear into. The menu has rice (of course), vegetables and noodles, cereal, some sort of sausage roll, eggs easy-side up, flavored rice with vegetables, and an assortment of rolls, croissants, donuts (not like Golden Glaze), and pastries. I kind of stayed with the rice and noodle items so it was a lot like dinner. Becky got a little gutsy by trying the milk. Since she normally has to have it very cold, this didn’t seem to work for her. She still makes Logan and I eat yogurt every time we see it on the table to try and prevent any bacterial problems.

While we were eating breakfast one of the hotel staff, who spoke very good English, came to our table and starting messing with Logan. His name is Tong and he has a child that is 6 years old. He along with everyone over here is amazed at how tall Logan is for his age. Tong asked Logan what sports he liked to play so Logan told him baseball, basketball, and football. Tong asked if he liked soccer so Logan looked at me and I told Tong we were fans of soccer now because that’s all we can get on our TV in our room. He asked if we wanted to go watch Vietnam play I believe Japan on Monday night. This is the first time Vietnam has made it to the playoffs in whatever league they are in so it will be a huge event. I told Tong we might not be here because we may be going to get our baby but if we are back in time, then Logan and I would like to go. I only hope we all don’t have to ride on one scooter to the game.

First Meeting with Kim

We were getting ready for our walk to the lake when the phone rang. I answered the phone. There was a woman’s voice on the line and the only thing I could make out was she wanted to come up to visit. I guessed it was someone from the agency so I said come on up. It was Kim from World Child International and she was introducing herself and giving us some information for the next couple of days. When she entered the room, she shook Becky’s hand then Becky gave her a hug. Becky said she could tell Kim stiffened up because apparently Vietnamese don’t like to be hugged. God Bless Becky, but it’s just a natural reaction for her. Kim told us that our receiving date may still be Monday or Tuesday but we can contact them by phone on Monday to get an update. Kim also said she would call as soon as she heard. I will bet the house Becky calls her first. Kim briefed us on the sequence of events that will take place over the next couple of weeks. Her English is not bad but I don’t think she understands us all the time. I asked her a question that was an “either or” question and she replied yes. On a couple of occasions we had to try a couple times to explain ourselves. This is when Becky decided that the problem must be that Kim just can’t hear us so Becky kicked up the volume. Anyway the meeting went well and Kim told us to take it easy and that she would be in contact soon.

Our Walk Around the Lake

After our meeting with Kim we decided to try walking the streets again to get a look at the Old Quarter. The place where our hotel is located is right in the middle of what they call the Old Quarter. It is a network of 36 roads (none of them square) that are lined with many shops and cafes. Each road’s name starts with “Hang” which means merchant. The next part of the name is what the merchants specialize in (e.g. silk, tin, hats, etc) so all the shops are grouped in specific areas of the Old Quarter. We left the hotel and headed for a nearby lake that is roughly ½ kilometer from the hotel. It was 10:00 and the heat was already very intense. I honestly don’t see how anyone can get used to this heat. We started on the same path as we did the previous night when we got something to eat. On the way to the lake we were approached by an old woman selling stick/cloth fans (no fan water bottles here). Another couple had advised us to get some because the orphanage is smoldering hot so the fans are a must so Becky proceeded to barter with the old woman. This concerned Logan because he thought mom should stop arguing with the old woman and just pay the price. Logan will definitely need his mother when he buys his first car. Becky and the old woman came to a price they both agreed and we were again on our way. We reached the lake in about 10 minutes and we seemed to get through the traffic much better than the night before. This was good because as we reached the lake and there was a wide road with much more traffic that we had to cross. We just closed our eyes and ran (just kidding). This seemed to work because we made it. The park around the lake had several stone paths intertwining each other that circled the lake. It took us about an hour to walk around it. There was plenty of shade from the numerous large trees so we were able to stay out of the sun. We got plenty of looks from the locals. There is just not to many red heads here in Vietnam. About half way around the lake a young man who thought he spoke good English approached us. He struck up a conversation with Becky and they seemed to by hitting it off so Logan and I trailed them. After walking with us for a couple of minutes, the young man asked if we would like him to be our interpreter for the next couple of weeks for a small fee. We politely said no and he wished us a good day. I am amazed at how these people think of goods and services to sell. As we continued our trip we spotted the Water Puppet Theater across the busy-wide street. We crossed the street but this time I had my camcorder pointed at the oncoming traffic. If not to only capture the thrill of the moment but also for insurance purposes. Before we went up to the ticket window, we walked through a couple of hat shops. There was a woman who was carrying fruit for sale. We didn’t want any because it could make us sick so we said no. She proceeded to put her hat and carrying device on Logan so we could get a picture. I didn’t realize that after the picture, she wanted money. We paid her a quarter worth of dong and she finally left us alone. This didn’t help Logan’s fear of walking the streets of Hanoi. The tickets were all sold out for the shows we wanted for the puppet show so we decided to try again another day. It was getting very hot so we finished our walk and headed for the hotel.

Relaxing at the Hotel

We are still trying to get over this jet lag along with the time change. Back at the room we decided to have Logan read for a half hour. Becky did the same while I started on my nap. After Logan finished his book, he laid between Becky and I and we all fell asleep from 1:00-5:00pm. We missed happy hour down stairs. After we woke up and got ready, we took a cab to the Melia hotel where the others are staying.

Meeting with Martin and Kenny

While the doorman was getting us a cab, I was approached by two young men that were dressed casual and they also knew my name. I figured they had to be from World Child so I signaled to Becky to come and meet them. They were Martin and Kenny both from World Child and they wanted to introduce themselves. I got from them that they were just visiting with some friends and they just happen to see us. They were a lot younger than I thought they would be and both were very friendly. I often catch myself wondering what this place would have been like thirty years ago and how unwelcomed we would have been then. Anyway the taxi was waiting (this also bothered Logan) so we said good-bye and hoped we would see them Monday or Tuesday. We jumped in the cab to the Melia; the cab ride cost 2 US dollars.

Melia Hotel Visit with Friends

This hotel is not far from ours but it is worlds apart. It is more of a Western style hotel with a large drive with big automated glass doors. The entry is large and spacious and it resembles something similar to a Hilton class hotel. The friends we met on the plane, Tracy Precepe and her sister Amy, both stay at this hotel along with some other couples, Samatha and Tom McCall and their new daughter Molly and Michelle Shaw (not sure what her daughters name is) that Becky has kept in contact with. We tried the rooms of several people but nobody was there. After walking around the hotel trying to explain to Logan why we couldn’t change hotels and stay there, we ran into Tracey and Amy in the hallway. They just returned from some shopping and were in need for some air conditioning so we went to their room to chat. We compared notes from the day because they also got a visit from Kim. After a while Becky, I, and Logan decided to eat at the restaurant at this hotel. It was $18.00 US per person and they didn’t charge for Logan. It happened to be African night at the buffet and it was quite good. They had many different types of food but Logan stuck to the fried potatoes and fried shrimp. The meal also came with unlimited soft drinks and draught beer, not bad. While we ate, it just poured down rain outside. We saw flashes of lightning but we never heard any thunder. It was very strange. I remember it doing the very thing when I was on Okinawa years ago. The storm still didn’t stop all the scooters. Although it did reduce the numbers scooters, there were still several hard-core riders out in it. We finished our meal and took a cab back to our hotel. Our cab driver drove passed a church on the way back and Becky ask if it was a Catholic church. The driver said yes and asked if we were Catholic. He was happy to hear us say that we were Catholic and told us that his name was a Christian name. It was one that I never I heard before. He dropped us off at the hotel and we retired for the night.