More Hanoi, more Mexican food hallucinations...

We've had two nice, slow, lazy days, if anything in Hanoi can be considered slow. We've spent time at the pool with Zoe and Sam (and Ben, with Liam happily supervising). We've gathered up food from a local market (Dad and I tried our best to pretend we were in some Rick Steves documentary..getting a taste of the local flavor, as he says. It really didn't work too well. It looks so quaint and charming on the Travel Channel because YOU CAN'T SMELL THINGS ON TV.) In any case, we bought milk in little cartons that were sitting on the hot sidewalk (what's up with that? It tastes ok, but why do I have to keep my milk in the fridge at home?) We later discovered a very clean supermarket in the same building as our hotel later. Ah well. Rick Steves would have been proud of us...

Later in the morning, Mom and Dad and Brian visited the Hoa Lo Prison, aka the "Hanoi Hilton", where John McCain and others were held captive during the Vietnam war. Our hotel is actually on the grounds of most of the old prison grounds. So very sad, the stories contained there; so surprising how enduring the human spirit can be.

We ventured out in the late afternoon to stroll around the lake and went to the water puppet show, an absolute hit with Sam and Zoe. Sam clapped and stood up and was just captivated by the music and the puppets. The water puppet show is a traditional form of Vietnamese entertainment. It was a bittersweet moment for Brian and me--Sam enjoyed it so very much. We are taking him to a new life, a great life, but he is giving up something too: part of his heritage. We hope to help him preserve his pride in his people--people we have observed to be hearty and resilient, and with warm, generous hearts.

We had a pleasant morning with another Conway connection! We fortuitously were able to link up with our friend Lance Kershner, who lives and teaches in Singapore. He adopted Samantha, a beautiful little Vietnamese princess, about a year ago. We got to know him through his parents, patients and friends of ours who shared his story with us before we even embarked on OUR Sam journey. They all happened to be in Hanoi these two days visiting Samantha's orphanage, and we were able to introduce Sam to Sam! Special moments!

Brian and I were able to stroll around some of Hanoi this evening without our dear sweaty children stuck to our hips. Zoe and Sam didn't seem to mind us slipping out for a couple of hours, as they had full grandparent attention. We enjoyed the evening: amazing art galleries, charming shopowners, and of course, the scooters.

Sam is continuing to settle in with us. He is a really happy kid much of the time. Lest I paint too rosy a picture, his heart-wrenching crying episodes still punctuate the day...often precipitated by either a minor disappointment or even nothing we can determine, he just cries inconsolably, almost in his own little sad world, for 10 to 15 minutes...then seems to gather himself together again, or falls asleep. It is so terribly different than the 2-year-old tantrums I had with Zoe. It's just heartwrenching. I can only imagine the frustration and confusion his mind must have. We just love on him and know it will get easier for him. We look forward to being home and giving him a routine.

All things look good for our departure here on Friday night! We have our visa interview tomorrow early afternoon, and are supposed to be able to pick it up at 5 pm. If all things work correctly, we should be home to LR on Saturday morning! YIPPEEE!!!!