Good news today....

Today was a good day. Brooklyn's Doctor Appointment went very well. She was given some medicine that is helping with the discomfort of the rashes on her skin. The Doctor actually said the best thing for her is taking her home to the US. There we will have her see a specialist if needed, but so far she seams to be clearing up. She still has a cold and is congested but we are giving her medicine for that as well. We also found out today they the minor glitch in the paper work was actually for another family here and they have gotten everything taken care of. Our approvals are done and now we are only waiting on the Passports for the babies, and the exit medical evaluation. We are to receive them on the 23rd then we have our final interview and receive our visa's for our children. If everything goes well, we are on schedule.

Today after the doctor’s appointment we walked around with another family here Mary Beth and Rob, they are from Oregon and are very nice. The third family is from Louisiana, Reagan and Brad, and they are great as well.
We went to a large park it was nice although clean for the area.... it still was a bit messy. It cost 2000 VND to get in..... I guess I should give the conversion rate. Currently $100.00 USD is worth 1,580,000 VND so needless to say if you plan everything accordingly and stay away from the International Areas your money can go very far here. The monthly earnings on average for a worker here is around 1,000,000 VND per month. So things in the Vietnamese markets are very affordable.

Brad and I walked to the CitiMarket in the International area to get some things yo can get else where, like ketchup.... Believe it or not my son’s favorite food is not a big item here in Vietnam. Dakota would have major issues here:)

We use Taxis a lot but they try and rip you off every chance they get except for a few companies that caterer to our Hotel. Now that we know the area better they are having a harder time pulling it off but they do try, I have had attempted twice, I am almost sure, a pick pocking on myself. I have been using a special pouch to carry everything in while here, other wise I am sure I be looking for my wallet.... :)

The children here love Americans and love to come up to us and say" Hello" most of them are taking English and love the chance to use it. The grandma's are always having the little ones wave to us when we walk by.

I have seen some interesting items for sale to eat, yet again another discussion for another day....

If I had to give a one word description of walking in Hanoi, I would say" Frogger" like the old game. You jump around traffic and hope not to get hit. The drive on the streets, sidewalks, in to the stores, everywhere, and the signals are either suggestions or pretty lights, for no one uses them.

I would truly love to come back someday. I miss my family and would have loved to have them here to see the differences. The two other families here with us have been great and it has truly made this adventure dealable, and a couple of times I would have told you that was impossible.

The Chinese New year is almost here and everything sill shut down for 6 days or more. We will try and capture everything and send back home pictures.

Hope everyone is doing well, and I think Angie may give an update later as well.


Jac