Last Day in Vietnam

Neither one of us slept well last night...maybe it was the excitement of the day...but we were up bright and early to eat breakfast and wait for Thomas and our driver to pick us up at 8am to head back to Ho Chi Minh City.  It was a little sad to leave this breakfast view!

Yes, Ella was sad to leave...

It's about 6 hour drive from Ninh Thuan to Ho Chi Minh City with a stop for lunch.  We are both fascinated by the motorcycles.  There are more cars in the bigger cities, but motorcycles are definitely the way to go, complete with divided toe hose to wear with your flip-flops, helmets and face masks.  It you can put as many people as you want and as much as you want on a motorcycle.  I did ask Thomas if there was a rise in crashes as I saw many looking at their phone while driving their motorcycle.  We took several pics along the way home today.

We also bought a dragonfruit to eat on the way!

It reminds me of kiwi.

You can find them in the US in season, but they will cost a pretty penny.

We got back to our hotel in Ho Chi Minh City around 2:15pm...unloaded in the room and decided to quickly head back to the Ben Thanh market to pick up some last souvenirs.  As we walked down the stairs, it was pouring down rain.  We decided to head on, but decided to get a taxi to get there.  We made it, and headed back to some of the places where we had shopped before to get the best deals.  We also bought Ella a new ao dais for when she gets a little older.  Our suitcases are full.  I saved plenty of money for dinner, except on our way out, I spotted some jewelry that I had been looking for  and spent the most of our Vietnamese Dong.  We headed on to the Lemongrass Restaurant, one of my favorites!  We had a delicious meal and I asked for the check and realized that I didn't bring my credit card (was planning to use that when I spent most of my Dong!)  Hmm....I'm in a predicament.  I told the waiter what I did and they agreed to send the waiter with me to the hotel if I would pay in cash.  It was a long walk back to the hotel in the rain...I was so embarrassed. I paid him cash and tip pretty well too!  What would a trip to Vietnam be without something crazy happening! 

We repacked for our trip to Myanmar and decided to go out one more time to look around.  We walked the streets and looked at some of the shops.  There are really beautiful things to purchase here...wish I had more room to bring things with me.  We enjoyed seeing this man playing on the street.

I've never seen one so big.  We stopped for a frappucino at a coffee place and then headed back to finish packing.  I do want to say thank you to all those who helped make this trip happen...for Dillon International, Thomas, Jynger, my church family, and those who helped pay for Ella's plane ticket.  We are so grateful...it has been such a gift for us both. 

We leave at 7:30am to head to airport to fly to Yangon, Myanmar around 9:30am.  We should arrive around 11:30 to meet up with Hung Kee Paing.  Our Associate Pastor will fly in tomorrow night.  You can follow our journey there on my church's blog...

http://www.snydermbc.com/category/blog/

or just go to the website and click on Family Blog on the right side.

Looking for to the next part of this journey!  Keep praying!

A Fun and Amazing Day!

We started the day early this morning (a first for us).  Up at 6:30am and dressed to eat breakfast by 7:15am.  Ella chose pho this morning as we ate with the Red China Sea behind and the sun shining.  

We were ready to leave by 7:45am with Thomas and our driver picking us up.  We headed to a governmental building where the children and teenagers would meet us to receive their scholarships from Dillon International Adoption Agency...my adoption agency.  This agency continues to change lives!  There were children from 2 districts and 10 children from the same orphanage that Ella lived.  Here is Ella with some of the students as they arrived.

Both Ella and I sat at the front (sort of a head table) and listened as the children sang, did Simon Says (we think) heard the speakers share.  Of course it was all in Vietnamese, so we're not sure what all was said.  Then they brought 10-15 students up at a time and passed out the envelopes to each one.  Thomas passed out the first ones, but eventually, I was called on to help out as well.

Even Ella got to come up on stage with us.  Then Thomas shared his encouragement with the children.  And then I got to share a little encouragement.

Everyone headed out on their motorcycles afterwards!  It was an amazing experience for both Ella and I and just want to say to everyone...watch out...we're going to be looking for donations for the scholarships!

I must admit, I am overwhelmed with the beauty of this province.  I don't think I got to really experience the beauty when I adopted Ella as she was so heartbroken, I stayed in with her most of the time.  

Just look at those mountains behind Ella!  We then loaded in the car and headed to the social center (orphanage).  It looked different as their were many new buildings, but it looked familiar as well.  We first went and set down with the Assistant Director and some of the other employees.  They were all new employees and no one really remembered Ella except for the nurse who remembered her well.  We sat and talked for a few minutes and I could tell, they were a little discouraged with us that Ella could not speak Vietnamese.  That didn't surprise me, and I still think Ella will learn some at some point in time.

And then we headed up the steps....

And down came the tears...those steps...the anticipation of meeting my daughter for the first time...all those emotions came rushing back.  We got to the top of the stairs 10 years ago and they handed me Ella and she cried and cried.  And here we were again, but this time, it's different.  I'm the proud mother of beautiful Phuong-Thao (which is what they called Ella the whole time we were there :) 

We walked into the baby room and there were only 2!!!  Only 2 babies...amazing.  And of course, I feel in love with one of them.

Look at that smile!

Below are the caregivers who were there and the other baby who cried every time we tried to pick him up.  He is a special needs baby and they are working on his paperwork and hoping he will be adopted.  There are more adoptions going on in Vietnam these days and the US only can adopt special needs children.  There are 3 agencies approved to do those adoptions and yes, Dillon is one of them!

Then some of the younger children arrived back from school.  We enjoyed getting to play with them as well.

And here is Thomas with Ella!

Thomas left and Ella and I walked around the orphanage and I got some video of what she was feeling.  I think the  overwhelming thought was that all children deserve a family!  YES they do!

The next pictures are for my Dillon Ninh Thuan friends.  

We then loaded back in the car and headed back to the resort to change clothes and grab a snack for lunch.  We then headed downtown to the market.  We were looking for a few things, but didn't find what we were looking for, but we did find some adidas pants that Ella loved and they were too long.  So the lady took them, measured her length and cut them off and re-sewed them while were looking around.  We also found something Hannah wanted for more than 1/2 the cost...can't say what it is :)  The people stopped us left and right wanting to know if Ella was Vietnamese and if I was her mother. I think Ella got tired of it after a while and again, they wanted to speak to her in Vietnamese.  Fun shopping with out a translator.  Many times, they didn't understand what we wanted, but sometimes, the phone helped!!!  Here are some shots from the market:

Our driver picked us up about 2 hours later and we headed back to enjoy the resort one last time.  It's nothing fancy, but it is beautiful.  We walked on the beach, checked out the pool, played a little foosball, and went swinging.  The weather was perfect!  

We then headed to the outdoor restaurant for a little dinner before returning to our room.  Ella's keeping a journal and reading a book about Vietnam, plus trying to keep up with her homework while she is gone.  So she got to work on that while I re-packed and started blogging.  We head out at 8am to head back to Ho Chi Minh City.  We hope to make it back in time to get back to the Ben Thanh market before we fly out to Myanmar on Wednesday morning.  Thanks for your prayers!  I think Ella will process this trip for quite a while, but she enjoyed seeing her birth town so much and knows how important family is!  I do too!  My beautiful daughter -