It seems that Monday is the day of the week that things are closed in Hanoi. We woke up thinking we would hit different museums before we had the baby, but it’s a day off here. It probably worked out OK because we got an opportunity to introduce ourselves to Hanoi. Today was such an interesting day. First, jet lag is a beast. S did really well because he slept about 19 hours last night (went to bed to take a nap in the afternoon and didn’t get up until morning), while I on the other hand walked about and did laundry and other chores during my insomnia. Anyhow, we got up this morning and it was raining (just misting) so we had breakfast at the hotel, met up with our new friends (another couple from our agency with their 13 year old daughter) and braved the weather to see a bit of Hanoi.
We walked from our hotel and looped the Hoan Kiem Turtle Lake. Around the lake are multitudes of shops and vendors of every kind. Traffic is unbelievable. It seems very chaotic, but “S” has decided that it’s more courteous than not. I will try to post video later of the traffic. Basically, you have no traffic lights and few rules. They just go and keep going. If you have to cross the street, you move quickly. Despite the weather we made it around the lake and even went across the Red bridge (see top of blog) to the little island in the middle of the lake which housed a temple.
Because Bear will be happy to hear, I must mention that we found the Vietnam version of “Wal Mart”. Amazingly, it sits on the top floor of a very nice six story mall. What is so funny is what a LARGE man S is in Vietnam. He was looking at the clothes at the mall and his normal size of “L” or “XL” was about the size of an American 11-year-old. The right size for him was a 4XL. Look at the picture of him with the guards to see that even this man of 5’7” looks big somewhere. Perhaps we were just meant to be Vietnamese. The other funny thing about size is that every time I have ordered a coke (in two different restaurants) they automatically bring me a Diet Coke despite the fact that others in the group get their regular Coke. I guess that is a nice way of saying, “your behind is too large and you need the zero calorie soda”. We have laughed. It’s funny because today as we were walking, we realized that despite all of the adventure of the adoption, we are on vacation and should just indulge in all that this wonderful land has to offer.
We cannot wait to get this baby and start loving her up, but we are determined not to sit in this hotel and let this experience pass us by. We bought the Bird his first prize today. We also got some wonderful tiny watercolor paintings that will go wonderful in her nursery back home. At the end of our walk, we stumbled past a wedding party. We held up our cameras and they just invited us in to take photos. Can you imagine? How sweet was that to just let us barge in?
The Vietnamese are very kind and gentle people. We look forward to seeing and learning more and updating with all of our adventures. We haven’t quite figured out the video posting yet, but we still have about 36 hours before we get the baby, and that’s all people want video of anyhow.
We walked from our hotel and looped the Hoan Kiem Turtle Lake. Around the lake are multitudes of shops and vendors of every kind. Traffic is unbelievable. It seems very chaotic, but “S” has decided that it’s more courteous than not. I will try to post video later of the traffic. Basically, you have no traffic lights and few rules. They just go and keep going. If you have to cross the street, you move quickly. Despite the weather we made it around the lake and even went across the Red bridge (see top of blog) to the little island in the middle of the lake which housed a temple. 
Because Bear will be happy to hear, I must mention that we found the Vietnam version of “Wal Mart”. Amazingly, it sits on the top floor of a very nice six story mall. What is so funny is what a LARGE man S is in Vietnam. He was looking at the clothes at the mall and his normal size of “L” or “XL” was about the size of an American 11-year-old. The right size for him was a 4XL. Look at the picture of him with the guards to see that even this man of 5’7” looks big somewhere. Perhaps we were just meant to be Vietnamese. The other funny thing about size is that every time I have ordered a coke (in two different restaurants) they automatically bring me a Diet Coke despite the fact that others in the group get their regular Coke. I guess that is a nice way of saying, “your behind is too large and you need the zero calorie soda”. We have laughed. It’s funny because today as we were walking, we realized that despite all of the adventure of the adoption, we are on vacation and should just indulge in all that this wonderful land has to offer. 
We cannot wait to get this baby and start loving her up, but we are determined not to sit in this hotel and let this experience pass us by. We bought the Bird his first prize today. We also got some wonderful tiny watercolor paintings that will go wonderful in her nursery back home. At the end of our walk, we stumbled past a wedding party. We held up our cameras and they just invited us in to take photos. Can you imagine? How sweet was that to just let us barge in? 
The Vietnamese are very kind and gentle people. We look forward to seeing and learning more and updating with all of our adventures. We haven’t quite figured out the video posting yet, but we still have about 36 hours before we get the baby, and that’s all people want video of anyhow.
