This entry was posted on 9/18/2006 5:56 AM and is filed under uncategorized.
Well so here is the news… our exit interview is next Wed the 27th. The visas take 1-2 days to process. If it takes one day we will leave Thursday night and arrive Friday. If it takes 2 days there is not a flight out until Sunday and we will arrive Monday. We lose a day coming home so its like we live the same day twice… we will email arrival times as it gets closer and we have some sort of confirmation.
Not what we or our social workers expected, but we are going to make Vietnamese lemonade. We know there are reasons that we are supposed to stay- we may meet new friends, visit churches/pagodas, visit more landmarks and we will get to spend a whole month as a family loving on Avi Joy- how often do couples who just have a baby get to do that. SO, can you tell we are trying to be positive!
There are many things to do and see here, so we are going to ask a tour guide for some suggestions. We know we will tour the Hanoi Hilton Prison, see a water puppet show and if we are really wild we are going to take a two day train tour to China. There are two other couples who want too, so we may nike and just do it. We have also switched hotels for financial reasons because of the length of our new stay.
There are 2 other couples here who have children at home and I know they have shed some tears- but thank goodness we are all in this together. I know that we could have done this trip alone, but I am SOOOO thankful for friends to talk with, have dinner with, laugh and cry and shop with and since all our children are sick, share medicines with! I know for you future adoption travelers it is not always possible to travel together, but if at all possible, do it! I know I probably shouldn’t say ‘do it’ because if you have some major personality conflict, I might start getting hate mail, but it has been a blessing to us.
The internet is such a wonderful gift. Yes it can be abused such as anything in this world, but for this season of our life it is perfect. We can talk to our family over the internet by using Skype, we email, post, send pictures and we can still feel like we are a part of our family/friends lives by you all sending us emails/postings as well. We can watch LifeChurch.tv services over the internet and as my girlfriend Andrea says, she is seeing Vietnam for herself through our site! That makes us happy…
But to our parents, it will be ok that we are here, be strong, we are living-it-up in Vietnam. You will have the rest of your lives to love on Avi Joy and her children too…
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” Hebrews 12:1-2
Love your POA’s
(Prisoners of Adoption)
See you soon, I'm going to send some clorox wipes to your house for good measure!