Free Day in Hanoi

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  Hanoi, Vietnam
Sunday, December 14, 2008

Today we had a free day to do whatever we wanted in Hanoi.  We spent the day at a large park in Central Hanoi.  Anelise was able to sample her first ice cream during the afternoon and some noodles for dinner.  Anelise started out great tonight and fell asleep easily although a bit earlier than usual.  She woke up 1/2 hour later and began crying and just a few minutes ago finally stopped.  We tried everything  but nothing worked.  She did grab at her ear a few times which got us to thinking ear infection. We have amoxicillin that we can mix and administer but we don't want to if it is not necessary. We gave her some children's Tylenol and I walked her around the room for a good while until she fell asleep and I gingerly placed her in our bed.  She promptly woke up and began crying rolled over to my spot and fell asleep.  So since I don't have a place to sleep at the moment, I figured, I'd create a new entry.  Maybe by the time I'm done with this, she'll be deeply asleep and I can move her over.

Tomorrow we have our meeting with the US embassy.  That should be the final hurdle we face before we can bring Anelise home.  We are really enjoying our time in Vietnam but we are ready to come home to some familiar ground. The people here are incredibly hard working and industrious.  They do whatever they can to make a living from walking around selling lottery tickets, standing on the side of the highway selling loaves of bread, pushing a bicycle laden with pots and ingredients for soup (Pho) to sell, you name it. One thing I noticed is that there are no birds in the city nor were there in Halong Bay.  Our guide indicated that was because they have all been hunted for food.  I'm not sure I fully buy that but it makes some sense.  We have seen some extreme poverty in our travels here.  Many of the people here care only about where and when they are going to get money to pay for their next meal.  One of my pet peeves is litter.  People here litter without a second thought.  They simply do not worry about the environment, they have more immediate and pressing concerns.  Yet despite this, everyone we have met and talked with seemed happy and wanted to know how we liked Vietnam.  It sure has been a lesson in perspective, I can tell you that.

I'll finish with a note about Harrison.  He is a fantastic kid and an amazing brother to Anelise.  While much of this trip has been focused on her, he has been there right along with us doing his best to help out, making us laugh when we weren't doing that enough, doing his homework even when that's the last thing he wants to do, being our gopher for just about everything, reminding us to slow down and enjoy it all and being an absolute pleasure to have as our traveling partner and as our son.  Lan and I are both humbled by how lucky we are to have him in our lives.  Harrison - we love you beyond words and you are and will always be our favorite boy in the whole world.

Wish us luck on our meeting tomorrow.  We will let you know how it goes. 

Post your own travel photos for friends and family Pictures & Videos

Ice cream stop - of course she loved it	Harrison and Anelise	Anelise walking to Harrison in Park	Family shot - Anelise wanted to keep moving
Not sure she liked the feel of grass	Assisted walking in grass	Hanoi Park	First noodles
Laughing Anelise Video

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