Today we woke up and went back across the street for
breakfast and then met our tour guide for our boat ride down the MeKong
River. Our guide was Thao and
spoke very good English. We both
enjoyed him on our trip. We first
headed over to the River and on to the Floating Fruit Market. We saw real life on the Delta. We saw farmers growing the fruit, those who transport it to the market, and the market itself.
Once to the market, different fruits and vegetables were on each boat
and a sample was up on a bamboo pole, so you could see what they were
selling. We saw everything from
sweet potatoes, turnips, bananas, lychee, and many other things. We also saw them transporting rice and
the husk from the rice which is used for fuel.
Then we docked at a place where they harvest honey from
bees. We could have held the bees,
but we both declined. We mostly
enjoyed the tea sweetened with the honey, so of course we had to buy some. We also enjoyed some ginger candy,
melon candy, and a peanut brittle, all made there at the store.
From there, we walked to a pop rice
plant. We saw them heat sand
in a huge wok and then put the rice in with the sand. The rice would pop out of the husk, much like watching popcorn. Then he used a screen to
empty the husk which would then be used for fuel. So that is where rice cereal comes from. We then tasted it mixed with carmel
that was made there as well and peanuts for a rice krispy kind of treat. It was very interesting and fun to
watch. They were also making rice paper for spring rolls. Have you ever bought the rice paper to make fresh summer rolls? You know it has a pattern on it. Well, that's from letting them drive on basket weave. They were also making caramels. Yum!
Then we headed back to the
boat and went through some canals.
It was much like being in the jungle, and I couldn’t help but think of
our Vietnam Vets who tromped through much of the Delta during the war. Hard to believe we are now touring the
area.
From there we stopped at an ancient homestay. It was a home built after the French influence and was a
French colonial type house. I
wasn’t really sure of the significance, but we did enjoy some fruit and a
little show with traditional instruments and singing.
So our tour was suppose to be 3 hours, but it’s already been
3 hours and our guide asks if we would like to stop for lunch. So we did. After a traditional Vietnamese lunch of
noodles and beef, we were about to head back to the boat when we saw dragonfruit
growing, so we had to go look.
Yes, we love dragonfruit and it is such an unusual plant. We also saw a banana flower with the
bananas growing inside. So
neat. And yes, Hannah enjoyed her lunch!
Back on the boat, we
headed back to the hotel. We
grabbed our belongings and checked out of the hotel and found our driver. There seem to be a little confusion
about where we were headed. The
plan was to drive to the clinic where Hannah was brought at 2 days old. We had already discussed that, but he
kept having me talk to the hotel lady.
Finally, I went to get our guide from the boat and he talked with the
driver about where we were going.
It seems that it was far enough away that he needed more money to take
us there. Well, we were already
this close, I told him to go on to the clinic. I was a little worried he didn’t know where we were going,
and he really didn’t. I had the
paperwork from Hannah’s adoption which told about the clinic, so he kept
stopping and asking for directions.
Finally we found the clinic. It was almost and hour drive from Vinh Long
(but not that many miles). They
tried to send us somewhere else because of the paperwork, but when we showed up
there, they said to go back to the clinic. I told them that we just wanted to get pictures, not find the
birthmother. I think they were trying to find the paperwork on Hannah. So we went back to the clinic. It was much bigger than either of us
had imagined. I will say, we were
quite the object of attention. I
don’t believe many Americans have been through this area and they seemed
fascinated, especially since I had a Vietnamese child with me. But once they understood what we wanted
to do, they took us up to where the babies would have been taken. We got pictures there too.
I wasn't sure it meant a great deal to
Hannah, but it was a link to her past.
But here's what we learned. Her birthmother's village was still several miles from this clinic in Mang Thit. They traveled a ways to get there. The clinic is also quite far from the orphanage, so Ha (Dillon's contact in Vietnam who worked with the orphanage) had to go almost an hour away to get Hannah and bring her to the orphanage.
As we were
leaving, and viewing the surroundings, Hannah and I discussed all the factors
that led to her adoption. We
talked about the fact that we didn’t’ believe any of the children in the
village we had just seen had probably ever seen a pair of ballet slippers. If she had grown up there, she would not be taking ballet. Her
birth family had traveled a good distance to bring her to the clinic. Ha went quite a distance to bring
her to the orphanage. That would have been in June of 2001, the same time I took our youth to Passport and our
teenagers gave money to Dillon International to help an orphanage in
Vietnam. I ended up using Dillon
International as my adoption agency.
I chose China as the country I would adopt from, but that option closed
for me and was given the choice to pilot the program to Vietnam. Is there any accident that
Hannah and I are a family? God
brought us together, just like He brought us on this trip. There are no accidents. So my question to Hannah was, Now that you know all that has happened to bring you here, what are you going to do with the life
God has entrusted you with? Her
answer: “Dance for Jesus!” She's already doing that and we'll have to wait and see how the rest of the story plays out. But there is not doubt in mind that God has a special plan for this beautiful young Vietnamese American girl.
Right now we’re in the car on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh
City. It has been a beautiful day
as we have experienced a link to the past.
Back to the hotel and tomorrow we get to shop! If you know me…that’s a Woo Hoo!
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