"Duong" Dream Cruise...

28 March 06
8:45pm Saigon Time/ 7:45am CST

For my MICHIGAN friends, you will appreciate the Title, "Duong" Dream Cruise...in honor of the "Woodward Dream Cruise"....You ain't seen nothin' until you come to Saigon....The cruisers are on "motos" here (mo-peds) and all speed a like, no stopping, no signals, no streets...just BEEPING to say, "get out of my way..." It's is AMAZING to me that I have not seen an accident yet with 100's of vehicles, motos & bikes flying down the street in total chaos & disorder. Don asked why do they paint lines in the road? Nobody stays in them, it's so crazy & overwhelming to watch traffic here...I literally get nauseated riding in a taxi (thankfully we have not had to do it very often!)

We've met some wonderful friends here, the tour group as well as TX friend's sister, Van Wynn and AIAA (agency I was adopted from) has a representative here, Phat Nguyen and he has been so kind & wonderful too.

We went to several "active" orphanages" today, Phu My (foo-me) and Go Vap and handed candy & goodies to the kids...they were excited to say the least to see "celebrities" hand out treats & take pictures...it's incredibly humbling... One little girl just put the whole starburst in her mouth that I gave her, she did NOT know to take off the wrapper...Yikes! I held a sweet newborn baby, "Nam" and made me more anxious to get our little girl & pluck her out of the orphanage, like me...

We saw Hoi Duc Anh (my orphanage) & my "neighborhood" in which the tour guide, Viet, thinks I came from...it's the poorest area of town (if there such a place in Saigon.) We are amazed by how many people there are selling all the same goods, clothes, services...how do they survive? Families huttle in circles cooking and eating, elderly ladies peddling carts or buckets of produce, babies being rode around on motos with mother & father all on the bike & NO safety belt, seat, gear...nothing... It's an overwhelming sight...truly one hard to put in words. The pictures I have taken definitely speak 1000+ words or 15,900,000 dongs (in Saigon!)

Signing off, tomorrow we go to Cu Chi tunnels from the American War...
Take care & PLEASE hug/ say hi to my babies (& mom) for me...

With love from 1/2 way around the world, Golden Orchid