Working in the rice fields...
Girls on the street...
Family floating by...
The orphans letting us give them candy, they didn't know to take wrapper off. They let us feed them like little birds...Precious!!
13 April 2006
Spirit of Saigon
Working in the rice fields...
Girls on the street...
Family floating by...
The orphans letting us give them candy, they didn't know to take wrapper off. They let us feed them like little birds...Precious!!
03 April 2006
Back to the Lone Star State
03 April 06 8:30pm CST
Well, after 23 hrs. of traveling half way around the world, through 3 time zones and days and hours lost...we are finally home to the bright, colorful, "new" town of Frisco, TX (in comparison to Saigon).
What an incredible journey-of-a-lifetime, hard to put into words. The beauty in Saigon, Vietnam goes beyond the Notre Dame Cathedral, Mekong Delta, Saigon River, etc...but the true beauty is in the humility and spirit of the Vietnamese people. They were happy to wave, smile & shake your hand (& LOVED getting their picture taken) & sit for hours just fellowshipping with one another. While the traffic was more than I could bare, way too stressful for me...I thoroughly enjoyed the sights & sounds of Vietnam & going back "home."
I am humbled by the "land of the free" as I live as an American and still remain with one foot in Vietnam as well...forever longing to return back to know more about my roots, my culture, my heritage...my people as well. We went back to my orphanage (which is now a school for the blind as well as several active orphanages...what a ministry to see them, love them, hug them and give them goodies, candy, toys, etc) The smiles on their faces were priceles! Many little ones did not even know how to eat candy, one took the starburst I gave her and put the whole thing in her mouth, wrapper and all!!! The littlest thing, like unwrapping a candy and putting in your mouth, I took for granted...they would let me feed them like little birds- it was precious!
I just have to learn the language to really communicate to a new level with them. I was often asked, "where do you come from?" When a translator would say, "Vietnam, Kim-Lan was born here..." They would reply, "How come she doesn't speak Vietnamese?" Hopefully, when we return to get our little girl, we will have some VN language skills in place!?
Please pray for our paperwork/ Dossier to wrap up efficiently & bring our daughter home soon!
Thank you for sharing in this journey with me, much more to come...
Signing off, Ms. Saigon
Well, after 23 hrs. of traveling half way around the world, through 3 time zones and days and hours lost...we are finally home to the bright, colorful, "new" town of Frisco, TX (in comparison to Saigon).
What an incredible journey-of-a-lifetime, hard to put into words. The beauty in Saigon, Vietnam goes beyond the Notre Dame Cathedral, Mekong Delta, Saigon River, etc...but the true beauty is in the humility and spirit of the Vietnamese people. They were happy to wave, smile & shake your hand (& LOVED getting their picture taken) & sit for hours just fellowshipping with one another. While the traffic was more than I could bare, way too stressful for me...I thoroughly enjoyed the sights & sounds of Vietnam & going back "home."
I am humbled by the "land of the free" as I live as an American and still remain with one foot in Vietnam as well...forever longing to return back to know more about my roots, my culture, my heritage...my people as well. We went back to my orphanage (which is now a school for the blind as well as several active orphanages...what a ministry to see them, love them, hug them and give them goodies, candy, toys, etc) The smiles on their faces were priceles! Many little ones did not even know how to eat candy, one took the starburst I gave her and put the whole thing in her mouth, wrapper and all!!! The littlest thing, like unwrapping a candy and putting in your mouth, I took for granted...they would let me feed them like little birds- it was precious!
I just have to learn the language to really communicate to a new level with them. I was often asked, "where do you come from?" When a translator would say, "Vietnam, Kim-Lan was born here..." They would reply, "How come she doesn't speak Vietnamese?" Hopefully, when we return to get our little girl, we will have some VN language skills in place!?
Please pray for our paperwork/ Dossier to wrap up efficiently & bring our daughter home soon!
Thank you for sharing in this journey with me, much more to come...
Signing off, Ms. Saigon
01 April 2006
Onward to the Mekong Delta & Can Tho
01 April 06
Don & I have fallen SO in love with Vietnam, we know this is HOME...we have decided to MOVE here...can someone send my boys & mom here to 0401 Duong Nguyen Que, Saigon VN???
Ah ha...gotcha...April Fool's...we do love it here, but doubt we'll be finding residence here too soon.
I am in the hotel lobby of SAIGON CAN THO hotel living like royalty after our ONE night's stay at the "traditional house" on Binh Hoa Phuoc Island off the Mekong Delta River (2nd largest river in the world as it starts in Tibet, China!)
Rustic, remote & raw would be my descriptions for this ancient old grounds with stunning living room, like you would see in a Chinese palace or similar...there were several rooms with cots in them and we each had our own MOSQUITO net for our own privacy and enjoyment...ahhhh. After a delicious, homemade meal we walked to the local market with the natives live and they seem to welcome our "celebritory" status as American foreigners. They smiled and waved to us and loved having their picture taken, got some great candid shots of the SPIRIT of Vietnam already just in the people alone...
Picture this, showering in a room as big as the handicap stalls that we know with your toilet & rack for clothes & towel with just enough room for you to stand still and clean up...the sinks were out side the restroom area & while I managed to survive that & get some relief from the intense humidity & heat, I was sweating again within 5 mins. of getting dressed again...no joke. At least it was "clean sweat" and not "dirty sweat" from all day...ha.
Retiring to bed was another interesting event with climbing under the net and talking with Thia, Amy & Don before realizing this was REALLY where we were going to sleep...As I turned on the flashlight to do "name that animal" with my fingers, I found a June Bug INSIDE my net and a couple on top on the outside as well. I freaked out, I thought I had so meticulously calculated my way in without any flying friends joining me in the net. I got the tour guide, Tran, to get the bug out and was hard to settle down. I was happy to have had "rice wine" & a tylenol pm hrs. before bed, but anxiously awaiting for it to kick in!!!
I was ready like a lightening bolt to get out of there and take our row boat out of the Mekong Delta area, then the bus & ferry toward Can Tho where we visited another active orphanage. The toddlers were PRECIOUS, so sweet, happy to see us, lit up with our goodies & candy to give...GREAT PHOTOS there! They sang VN songs & recited ABC's to us too, showing off their musical talents!
LOVE the shopping in Can Tho & Saigon, you know I'm all about a good deal and negotiating the best price...I AM a TRUE Vietnamese. If it's 100,000 dongs, I want it for 50,000 and usually we meet somewhere in the middle otherwise I have to walk away...then seconds later I hear, "ma'dam, ma'dam...what you pay?" and we do the calculator numbers game until she wants to sell it bad enough and I want to get it by then too...
Time to get dressed & head back to SAIGON, where we will spend our last 24 hrs. before traveling another 24 hrs. to the US. Thank you for sharing in our journey, many stories & photos to come...I am blessed beyond words for these travels.
All my love & thanks to my boys & mom for supporting us through this...cannot wait to see, hug & kiss you again...SOON! God bless you all!
Signing off, Ms. Saigon
Don & I have fallen SO in love with Vietnam, we know this is HOME...we have decided to MOVE here...can someone send my boys & mom here to 0401 Duong Nguyen Que, Saigon VN???
Ah ha...gotcha...April Fool's...we do love it here, but doubt we'll be finding residence here too soon.
I am in the hotel lobby of SAIGON CAN THO hotel living like royalty after our ONE night's stay at the "traditional house" on Binh Hoa Phuoc Island off the Mekong Delta River (2nd largest river in the world as it starts in Tibet, China!)
Rustic, remote & raw would be my descriptions for this ancient old grounds with stunning living room, like you would see in a Chinese palace or similar...there were several rooms with cots in them and we each had our own MOSQUITO net for our own privacy and enjoyment...ahhhh. After a delicious, homemade meal we walked to the local market with the natives live and they seem to welcome our "celebritory" status as American foreigners. They smiled and waved to us and loved having their picture taken, got some great candid shots of the SPIRIT of Vietnam already just in the people alone...
Picture this, showering in a room as big as the handicap stalls that we know with your toilet & rack for clothes & towel with just enough room for you to stand still and clean up...the sinks were out side the restroom area & while I managed to survive that & get some relief from the intense humidity & heat, I was sweating again within 5 mins. of getting dressed again...no joke. At least it was "clean sweat" and not "dirty sweat" from all day...ha.
Retiring to bed was another interesting event with climbing under the net and talking with Thia, Amy & Don before realizing this was REALLY where we were going to sleep...As I turned on the flashlight to do "name that animal" with my fingers, I found a June Bug INSIDE my net and a couple on top on the outside as well. I freaked out, I thought I had so meticulously calculated my way in without any flying friends joining me in the net. I got the tour guide, Tran, to get the bug out and was hard to settle down. I was happy to have had "rice wine" & a tylenol pm hrs. before bed, but anxiously awaiting for it to kick in!!!
I was ready like a lightening bolt to get out of there and take our row boat out of the Mekong Delta area, then the bus & ferry toward Can Tho where we visited another active orphanage. The toddlers were PRECIOUS, so sweet, happy to see us, lit up with our goodies & candy to give...GREAT PHOTOS there! They sang VN songs & recited ABC's to us too, showing off their musical talents!
LOVE the shopping in Can Tho & Saigon, you know I'm all about a good deal and negotiating the best price...I AM a TRUE Vietnamese. If it's 100,000 dongs, I want it for 50,000 and usually we meet somewhere in the middle otherwise I have to walk away...then seconds later I hear, "ma'dam, ma'dam...what you pay?" and we do the calculator numbers game until she wants to sell it bad enough and I want to get it by then too...
Time to get dressed & head back to SAIGON, where we will spend our last 24 hrs. before traveling another 24 hrs. to the US. Thank you for sharing in our journey, many stories & photos to come...I am blessed beyond words for these travels.
All my love & thanks to my boys & mom for supporting us through this...cannot wait to see, hug & kiss you again...SOON! God bless you all!
Signing off, Ms. Saigon
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