Back in Saigon

We've had a very long, eventful day. We left Phan Thiet early this morning after some last-minute paperwork that had to be straightened out for one of the other families.



I'm going to miss the Novotel and our ocean-front room. The place was gorgeous, the food was wonderful, and it was nice to have such expansive grounds to push Loc's stroller on (this evening was back 'n forth down the hotel hallway, and it got old fast). However, Phan Thiet had its downsides. Loc is scared to death of confined spaces -- every elevator ride is traumatic -- and he hated our dark, teak-filled room in Phan Thiet. He would start whimpering the minute we went in, so we ended up spending every moment outside of it until he fell asleep at night. Which meant long days in really hot, humid weather. I got tired of asking myself, Is that the fish sauce factory, or is it me?, because I would seriously be covered in sweat within minutes. No amount of showering helped. I felt perpetually rank the whole time I was there.



But what's a little discomfort? It was a beautiful setting, and I'm thankful we had the extra day there to get to know each other. It made today's long van ride to Saigon manageable. Loc's now comfortable enough with us that he sat in our laps, cuddled up, and slept most of the way back, or looked out the window.



We got back to the Renaissance Riverside around noon, and then we had a busy afternoon. We applied for his Vietnamese passport at the local passport office which was on par, comfortwise, with the Pikesville office where I got my fingerprints done.



Then it was off to Cho Ray Hospital for his medical exam. This one was a bit of a culture shock for me. Saigon is a city of 9 million, and this is a huge hospital -- the size of Hopkins, maybe -- and it was jam-packed. The trek through it to to the Visa Medical Exam building was crazy, with people on guerneys and crowds of relatives around them.



The medical exam was pretty uneventful. He got weighed and measured, and a doctor checked him with a stethoscope and then took off his diaper and gave his junk an okay.



The passport office and the clinic were pretty crowded today, yet we had very short waits to be seen. Thao is awesome at pushing paperwork through. We were told the passport would be ready July 31, but Thao assured us she'll be picking it up tomorrow.



I've been feeling nauseous this evening, and we had a little trouble getting Loc to sleep because he slept so much on the car ride, but otherwise we're all doing well. What a difference 24 hours has made. This evening we did happy hour snacks in the Club Lounge at the hotel, on the 18th floor, and Loc pointed out boats to me on the Saigon River below. He actually spent some time today without his baseball cap and his washcloth. He's starting to get much more verbal -- just wish I understood him. We asked Christine to interpret this evening, but she said it's just Vietnamese baby talk.



Tomorrow we settle up some fees and hang out waiting for the passport and the results of the medical evaluation. We hope to get some pool time in and maybe see a little of Saigon. Titi, we'll give Trang a call and try to schedule something with her for Saturday.



We didn't take a lot of photos today, but Ray did take a movie of us going through a traffic circle in Saigon along with a dozen cars and a gazillion scooters. If you want a good case of nausea, we'll screen it for you.



Thanks again for all the comments. We love reading them. We miss everyone back home. We're praying we can leave early, because we realized today we only left a week ago, and the prospect of another week and a half is daunting. It's not that this isn't the trip of the lifetime and a wonderful place, but living in a hotel room with a toddler is a challenge. I think it'll be better in Hanoi, where our hotel is more like an apartment.