Business Done in Saigon

Wednesday, August 1

We are having a lot of problems getting connection today. Not sure if this will upload. We can’t get to any of the email servers yet today either. There have been a couple of power outages in Saigon today so not sure if that is what is causing the problems or not.

We are officially finished with our work in Saigon as of yesterday afternoon. We took the girls to Cho Ray Hospital for their official check up. This is the only hospital that is CDC approved so it is the hospital that the paperwork for the girls has to come from.

Both girls checked out ok. The doctor tried to examine Ilona twice because he wasn’t able to easily differentiate them. He said both of them were small but very strong. He told Al he had to come back to adopt twin boys so that he will not be outnumbered in the house.

None of the scales here are accurate, but Holly, if you are reading this, Maia weighed in at 11 lbs. Ilona at 14 lbs. At 8 months. They’ll be like newborns to you!

We received their Vietnamese passports yesterday so we are free to travel to Hanoi now. The pictures on their passports were taken when they first arrived at the orphanage and it is almost impossible to tell them apart. I think they looked a lot more identical when they were young before Maia decided she didn’t want to eat as much as her sister. Once Maia catches up to Ilona we think it will be hard to tell them apart again.

Unfortunately because of the time of year there are no hotels available in Hanoi, and the flights out are all pretty much booked. Otherwise, we could probably finish up in Vietnam 5 or 6 days early and leave at the end of this week or next Monday. Unfortunately because of the hotel and air situation we are staying here in Saigon until Sunday even though our official business is done now, just because we have a hotel room here and we don’t have reservations in Hanoi until Sunday. Sort of frustrating to know we could get through the process early and get home but are stuck here.

At this point I really just want to go home. I’ve had enough of Saigon and don’t really feel the need to be out in the heat battling the traffic and street vendors. Today we may just stay by the pool.

Plus, Maia is not liking her antibiotic too much and is sick to her stomach a lot so I don’t want to subject her to hours of heat.

Tomorrow, if Maia is feeling better, we will take a few hours and go on a cyclo tour of the temples in the area.

Both of the girls are doing well. Both slept around 9 hours last night, so we don’t have too many complaints! They have very good natures and are happy and charming. Their hair is starting to grow back. The orphanage cut their hair very short before we picked them up but it is growing now and sticking straight up in the back of their heads. Funny.

We are very lucky.

Hope to load some more pictures up later today if I can get connection.

Love Tina