A Long Trip Today

After a hard night watching the flooding in Fayetteville and concern about our own house, we were up extra early.  My phone connected with service when we were in Seoul, but have not been able to connect while in Vietnam.  I keep it on airplane service most of the time and use wifi only, but would like to connect to service to update the time on it.  Unfortunately it still says 2 hours ahead which is what the time is in Seoul.  Last night, I set my alarm on my phone forgetting about the time on it and we both woke at 6am instead of 8am.  That was not enough sleep for me!  Ella could not go back to sleep, but i tried. Finally we were both up getting ready around 8:15am.  We kept our room in Ho Chi Minh City, so we didn't have to bring everything with us.  We met Thomas at 10am and headed on the road.  The first part of the drive was a new highway which was great.  After about 3 hours we stopped for lunch.  It was Ella's first time to use a squatty pot :)

and to eat lunch with the chickens.

And I learned what dragonfruit plants looked like!

This is the area where most of the dragonfruit is grown.  Dragonfruit is yummy!

Ella was fascinated with the gravesite

And we saw a little flooding here as well.  There has been a big storm near the Philippines that has brought lots of rain.

And then we arrived in Ninh Thuan

and were welcomed!

Never too many on a motorbike!  We only see motorcycles and mopeds here in Ninh Thuan.

We arrived safe and sound to our little resort here in Ninh Thuan.  We have never stayed here, but I found it on Trivago for $36 a night.   A little slice of heaven:

We rested a little and then headed out to explore.  We are right on the water...not many here.  After exploring, we went to the outdoor restaurant for a little dinner.  Lemongrass Beef and rice.  The beef was wrapped around the lemongrass stalk and was yummy.  Ella enjoyed an orange creme soda (orange juice with club soda).  She thought it was pretty cool.

Photo credits to Ella!

Ella thinks it is pretty cool that she was born near the water (South China Sea).  

Tomorrow we are to be ready by 7:45am.  We will meet Thomas (not sure why I didn't get a picture of Thomas today!)  and head out to give out the scholarships from Dillon International to the school children.  On the way here, Thomas asked if I would say a few words to the children...what a privilege.  Afterwards, we will head to the orphanage where Ella spent the first 21 months of her life. We are so hoping her caregiver is still there so we can see her.  Thomas thinks she still works there, so we shall see.  Ella feels very positive about being here and is proud of her birth home.  Pray for tomorrow for us please.  And please pray for my hometown of Fayetteville, that was deeply affected by Hurricane Matthew.  I am sorry I am not there to help coordinate some clean up work.  We had several church families that were flooded out and had to be removed from their homes  by boat.  I am sad for them, but I know God is good and in control and I will trust in Him, just as I will tomorrow with Ella.  Thanks everyone!

The Great Adventure!

Ella woke up quite early this morning.  She watched TV quietly (Disney chanel in 

English!) and I went back to sleep.   We got up and headed down for breakfast!  Ella was excited to have Beef Pho and I had eggs and bacon. 

We went back upstairs to finish getting ready to go shopping and we looked out and it was pouring down rain.  We exchanged some money (I always feel rich changing my money to Dong.  $50 is 1 million Dong.  We bought tickets for the water puppet show and decided to get a taxi to get to the Ben Thanh Market.  As we got to the market, we started off in the meat section and I forget that Ella has no memories of any of this.  Hannah went with me when she was 5 to adopt Ella and so when we returned when she was 11, she had some memories of it all.  Ella was shocked to see the raw meat being cut in the market.

We did a little shopping and then wanted to head to the Tax Center (shopping center by the Rex Hotel), and were disappointed that it was closed!  We tried to venture around hunting for a place to eat lunch and got a little lost.  We ended up getting a taxi to get us back to the Rex Hotel.  The Rex was where we stayed with Dillon Adoption when I adopted both of the girls.  It still surprises me how much it has changed since then.

And Dillion friends...the round about at the corner of the Rex is gone.  They have closed the entire street from the park in front of the Rex all the way down the street to make it a walk way. ( I'll post pictures on the Vietnam camp FB page.  Anyway, we found a place to eat lunch and then found a new shopping place, called the Lucky Plaza where we did a little more shopping.  Ella has been impressed with my bargaining abilities.

We then found our way back to the hotel (because we had wifi at the restaurant...thank goodness...didn't realize how lost I could be with our my phone service!)  Fortunately, it had stopped raining after we left the Ben Thanh market and it didn't rain the rest of the day.  We laid out on the bed and rested and cooled off!  We cleaned up and headed back out with a little better plan and directions.  We walked back down to the Rex Hotel and took some pictures in front of the Rex Hotel park and the "People Committee Hall" adjacent to the Rex.

We then headed back to Ben Thanh to pick up a couple things we had seen and ate dinner close by.  Our time for the Water Puppet Show was at 6:30pm.  We made it just in time.  The show was great and such a unique learning experience with the language, instruments and puppets.  But as the lights got darker and Ella got more still, her eyes got a bit heavy.  I kept her awake, but she was ready to head to sleep.  

As we left the show, I realized that I had gone the way trying to find a sports store for Ella to look at.  I had gotten my bearings and we headed back the way I had gone before and we found the stores.  Ella loved them!  She found just what she wanted and we headed through the night market of the Ben Thanh market.  Fun time to explore.  We then stopped for some delicious ice cream before heading back to our hotel.  We love the Spring Hotel...nice location...very reasonably priced and the people have been so helpful and friendly.  When we stopped by this morning, the lady at the desk remembered me (from 4 years ago!)...of course, it might be the fact that I lost my purse and she had to help me call and cancel my credit cards :)  Anyways...it was a good day...ready to get some sleep and get up to meet Thomas from Dillon in the morning.  We're riding together to Ninh Thuan...Ella's first home!  

We Made It!

We made it to Ho Chi Minh City and our hotel at midnight, Saturday morning!  We flew from RDU to Atlanta, then from Atlanta to Seoul (14 hours) and then had a short layover in Seoul before heading out at 6:20pm on Friday night.  We both slept off and on during the flight to Korean, but Ella sept the entire trip to Vietnam.  We made it through the hard part...off the plane and had to do our visa on arrival.  It took almost 45 minutes, but went smoothly, then through customs, and then to exchange some money and get a ride to the hotel.  By the time we got done with the visa, our luggage was the only ones left, but it was there!  Then a guy helped us find a one of the car rides (I was worried about the taxis, but this was much better).  He exchanged $20 for me and gave me $10 back in Dong (220,000 Dong :) and we made it to the hotel safely.  They had our room ready and we settled in.  Tomorrow we will explore Ho Chi Minh City, shop at the Ben Thanh market, and maybe see a water puppet show.  And yes everyone, I will do my best to keep my purse safe!  I even bought a new travel purse that will be sturdy!  We are off to bed for a full day tomorrow!  Praying the hurricane only brings rain.  I've heard my sister was okay and didn't even lose power...so thanks for praying!  

Here we go again!

This time it's Ella's turn to return to her birth country.  We leave for Vietnam in less than 12 hours.  The hardest part to get ready for the trip has been getting Hannah's schedule ready for the people who are keeping her.  Ella and I will arrive Friday night in Ho Chi Minh City.  We will visit around Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday and then Sunday head to the province were Ella spent the first 21 months of her life in the orphanage there.  We will visit the orphanage on Monday and have some other opportunities that day as well.  We return to Ho Chi Minh City on Tuesday and then fly out to Myanmar for Ella's first mission trip.  She's a little anxious about that part, especially since she has to wear a skirt every day :)  We will meet up with our Associate Pastor to work with Hung Kee Paing there.  We partner with Hung Kee Paing as he pastors a church there and has taken many children who did not have homes.  Bruce will lead a Pastor's Conference and I will update all the children our church members sponsor there as well as lead some Bible studies.  Ella is taking an soccer ball to teach some soccer!  Please pray for us as we journey.  Pray for Ella's heart as she experiences so much in a short amount of time.  Pray for our safety and pray for Hannah as we are separated for 2 weeks!  May God be glorified in all that we do!  Susie

A Crazy Night and an Upsetting Day

After resting up in the hotel yesterday, we had to hustle to make it to dinner before the Water Puppet Show.  We decided to just eat at the KFC which was right down from our hotel and see what American food taste like in Vietnam.  It was pretty good.  Hannah had 2 pieces of chicken, mashed potatoes, and a drink.  It was all served on real plates and glasses.

The we caught a taxi to make it to the show in time.  The show was all in Vietnamese, but we could still follow the story some.  The puppeteers are behind the curtains and the puppets are on long rods.  Enjoy the pics from the show!

After the show, we decided to walk back and I'm so glad we did.  They had closed off one of the streets by the market for outside shopping.  We didn't buy anything, but we had fun walking through everything.  The city is always alive and noisy, but there were so many people out just enjoying the evening.  It was wild!  Here are some pics of the city and Hannah at the park.

We got back to the hotel and watched a movie and headed to bed.  Before I went to bed, I had an email telling about the death of Dorothy McEachern whom I have worked with for the last 17 years.  She was our church hostess and one of the most giving ladies I have ever known.  Don't know much about what happened but she had been having trouble breathing and they found her on Friday morning dead.  I am so sad that I didn't see her the last few days.  I will miss her as well as our church will miss her terribly. I am hoping to be home to celebrate her life!  

Today it is Saturday already and so we slept late.  Our flight is at 11:15pm tonight so we paid for a late checkout so we could go back out and enjoy the city.  I asked about what to see and the desk said to go to the war remnants museum, but Hannah didn't want to.  So we decided just to explore a little.  Famous last words.  We walked a block or so and decided to try some Vietnamese coffee.  I know, I'm not a coffee drinker, but you can get Vietnamese coffee sweetened with condensed milk.  

No, neither of us liked it!

Then we decided to head down to the Saigon River.  We've always been close, but never been down there.  It was fascinating.  Along the way, we saw guys doing ice sculpture, probably for a wedding.

At the river, we saw men fishing and just watched for a little bit and of course I took pics of Hannah.

Then we decided to head back towards our the tax center.  I was taking pictures of a big statue with buildings behind it.

I had my camera in my hands and my purse over my shoulder and neck.  I had bought a new purse at the market.  Had a little Dong in it, my phone, a few receipts, and of course, my drivers license and credit cards.  As I went to get a close up of the statue, I felt my purse strap snap, and looked up and guy going by on a motorcycle had grabbed and off he went.  Here's the resulting picture:

We were both okay.  I screamed trying to get some attention.  Took a few minutes, but finally some ladies at a restaurant behind us came to help.  They found a taxi to get us back to the hotel and he took me even though I didn't have any money.  The desk help make the calls to cancel credit cards.  I tried to find the phone on the "find my phone", but to no avail.  He must have known what he was going.  I've suspended the service and hopefully the phone is connected to internet, it will erase everything.  It shook us up a little, but we're okay, and I had some cash hidden in our safe and it should be enough to get us home plus pay for the hotel.  Our passports are also safe.  After all the phone calls, we came up to the room for a snack and just chill.  We have gone over it and over it.  I was an easy target...purse with a fabric snap...he just pulled on it.  I was on the side of the road...an American.  Shouldn't have had my ID and credit card, but we needed to get some cash.  lesson learned.  We have about 3 more hours before we have to leave the hotel which will give us about 3 hours at the airport.  Must admit, I'm ready to go now.  Thankful I didn't get my new iPhone (yes, I still had the cracked screen one) till I got back.  Sorry Ella, no iPod touch for now.  I had tried to get a new phone before I left, but the 5's were not in.  I decided it was probably better to bring the old one in case something happen.  Well, something happened.  I've also suspended my service.  If anyone reads this and thinks of something else I need to do, please let me know.  Prayers for safety coming home, but now we are grateful we only lost "stuff" and I had extra money to come home!  Susie