Cu Chi and rice paper.

I fell asleep after uploading two photos last night so this post had to wait until this morning. I finally slept 8 hours last night. We all enjoyed our trip to the Cu Chi tunnels yesterday, touring an area of tunnels north of Saigon used by the Viet Cong during the war. It started with a really old propaganda film giving the communist side of the story only. After that, it was all fun, looking at old tunnel entrances and actually going in a tunnel. We skipped the shooting range since it was a little too loud for Sarah and we can shoot anytime in the backyard. Sarah is still doing great. We had our CHI rep. show her photos of her bedroom and explain it is her room. She really liked that. We're heading to breakfast so I'll post more later.
This is the husband and son of the wonderful mother who spoke to Sarah the other night when she was so scared. Mom wasn't feeling well this morning so their family stayed in and didn't go with us to the tunnels.
Family of four on a motorbike. Note the one-handed driving also.
Water buffalo on the edge of a rice paddy.
Vietnam "Subway".
Sarah watches the pro demonstrate the rice paper making process.
Lifting the rice paper.
The pro lifts the rice paper after it is heated.
Isaac starts the rice paper making process.
Isaac spreads the rice milk.
He refills the applicator, for lack of the proper word.
Sarah watched patiently as her anh made rice paper.
Isaac lifts the rice paper.
Isaac places the rice paper on a screen to cool.
Isaac was a trooper and jumped right into the mock tunnel.
Our CHI rep. helped Isaac with the cover for the tunnel.
Almost gone.
Isaac disappears into the bamboo jungle.
Isaac needed a little help out of the mock tunnel entrance. They said these were made a little larger than the real ones to allow more tourist to fit.
Sarah listens as the tour guide talks to the tour.
Some adults were lifting on the M41's gun so Isaac tried. He barely moved it.
The entrance to the tourist tunnel.
A good size room before entering the tunnel. Isaac followed another CHI mom who is traveling with us. She's from Olathe, KS.
Entering the "little" tunnel.
"Where are you dad?"
Isaac making his way through.
Here I am at the first exit. That was enough tunnel for me. My back couldn't take anymore.In our version of "Where Are They Now?", we discovered those meddling kids have moved to Vietnam, changed the paint job so as not to attract attention and even added windows to the van.

A down day after a bit of a meltdown.

After a little bit of a meltdown last evening, Sarah is back to her usual self today. While we had already discovered that Kelly could not leave without upsetting Sarah, I was able to leave for a short time to go to the store across the street without any problems.

So Isaac and I ventured to the pool yesterday about 4 p.m., leaving Sarah and mom to do some girlie stuff in the room. In fact, the last two photos from yesterday's post were taken by Kelly while we were gone. We must have stayed away for too long because Sarah suddenly began crying, so Kelly came and found us. As mentioned in the caption on those two photos from yesterday, we were swimming with another CHI family. The mom was back in their room, and lucky for us, she is Vietnamese. We took Sarah to their room and the mom spoke to her. Sarah was missing someone from the orphanage and was also worried Isaac and I weren't coming back. It was just awful for awhile. It was so nice though having someone who could communicate with her during that difficult time. She was so reassuring and helped Sarah understand that we won't leave her. The other dad had bought a lot of fruit at the Ben Thanh Market and gave Sarah some jackfruit, which also helped a little.

Sarah recovered quite quickly and as you can see from the photos, all of which were taken today, she is doing fine. Isaac on the other hand woke up around 4 a.m. with a headache and fever. He stayed in bed most of the morning and we hung out in the room until mid-afternoon. So we didn't get to visit Vung Tau Beach today as originally scheduled. Sarah has gotten to go on several trips there in the past. The orphanage even added a photo of her on the beach in 2007 to the back of her photo album that we sent her. Isaac is feeling much better now and we will be heading to the Cu Chi Tunnels tomorrow.
9 a.m.-Sarah was all smiles bright and early this morning.
She finally got in a good nap today.
We stopped to smell the roses down the hall from our room when we were leaving this afternoon to get something to eat.
Sarah had a blast wrapping herself up in the towel after her shower tonight.
Ba is barely visible behind Sarah. He found a "sweet spot" for the internet connection on the floor.
Sitting on the floor as we speak to family using skype on the computer.

Motorbike ride and visit to Go Vap orphanage.

Up until today, we traveled everywhere in a van or small SUV. The CHI representative told me yesterday to meet in the lobby at 8:30 a.m. to go pick up Sarah's passport. When we applied for them, one parent of each child went to the government office, so I expected to see the other parents there and we would be going in the van again. Well, I arrived in the lobby and met up with the rep. As we went outside I asked if our ride was already there. He said yes and pointed to his motorbike. So off we went to get the passports. I expected it to be much worse than it was and I actually felt more comfortable on the bike than riding in the van. There was one spot though where we were between two buses going in opposite directions and the one to our right was close enough that I could have reached out and touched it if I was so inclined. I was not.

We visited Go Vap orphanage today where Sarah was cared for for a short time before being moved to her permanent orphanage where she had lived for nearly 4 years. We visited the infant room and were able to hold some very young children who had just arrived at the orphanage recently.

It's almost 10:30 p.m. now and I need to get to bed. I'll add more photos to this one tomorrow, including some nice baby photos.
A Vietnamese soldier stands guard outside the French consulate in Ho Chi Minh City(Saigon).

Fresh fruit is available all over the city. Don't worry Georgeanne, there is plenty for you to eat over here.
The infant room at Go Vap.
Kelly wanted to take them all home. Our CHI rep. said most of the babies in the room have already been matched with adoptive parents.
This is the same little guy as the next photo.Sarah lets this little guy hold her finger while she reaches in the crib to touch his cheek.

Isaac tried to give all the babies some attention. There were about 30 in this room.
No words needed.
Walking to another building of Go Vap.
The entrance to Go Vap.
A small fruit stand on the street.
This little guy was so cute. Note the chair they are setting him in. We were parked in the van at this time and after the boy was in his seat, he noticed me and we were waving at each other. I wanted to take a photo of him waving, but didn't want his parents to think of me as a goofy tourist snapping photos. ;-)Probably too late for that.
Ni Ni gives ba a kiss on the cheek. If she does that, you have to give her one too and vice versa.

Kelly didn't even realize Isaac was being a goof until we had the photos on the laptop.

Kelly and Sarah had a fun photo shoot while Isaac and I went swimming with another family. The other family adopted a 9-month-old boy this trip. Their almost 9-year-old daughter was adopted from Vietnam when she was only 2 1/2-months-old.