Day 2-May 12th

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEAH! Wish we could be there, but wanted to wish you a happy birthday.
Today we got up and had our first meal in Vietnam.

The hotel includes free breakfast. We each got this huge piece of bread that I guess they give to everyone. I ordered Chocolate Pancakes and Mark got an omellate. The pancakes weren't really pancakes though, more like a dough thing.


After breakfast, we and another family went walking around the city looking at different shops, getting an idea of what we want to buy. It's definitely a different world out here. It's hard not being able to speak the language, as a lot of people come up and try to talk to you.

We had a couple of beggers following up around for awhile, and man are they relentless. (although harmless)

We decided to try to make our way to the Somerset Grand to check at the market they have there. We really had no idea where we were going and were relying on directions from people who really didn't speak English. We got totally lost! Then of course we got stuck in a torrential downpour, although it only lasted a few minutes. After an hour or so we finally got our bearings and made to the Somerset. We decided to have lunch there as well. Mark had a chicken, bacon, and tomato panini while I had a chicken and avacado sandwich. Both were pretty good and I would say pretty american. One interesting thing was that you have to pay extra if you want your drink diet...

After lunch we made our way back to our hotel. On the way we discovered a salon a few doors down from our hotel. We went back to our rooms and then Mark and I ventured back to the salon. I had a manicure and pedicure while Mark got an hour massage. For the massage, manicure, and pedicure it cost a total of $18. The manicure and pedicure weren't anything special, in fact I could have done just as good a job if I had done it myself. Had I paid for it what I would have had to pay back home, I would definitely not have been satisfied, but at $9, I couldn't complain. The hour massage was only $9 as well. At that rate, we are definitely going back before we leave!

Now we are just hanging back at the hotel. We are supposed to meet the other families along with Thuy and her sister Emmy for dinner at 6. I'm not sure where we are going, although I hope it's somewhere vietnamese.

I'm pretty sure that we are going to have an orphanage visit tomorrow. We're pretty excited about that! Our G&R ceremony has been pushed back though. Originally we had been told that it would be on Monday, which is why we had to get here so early. But the morning we left we found out that they wouldn't be able to do it that day. We're being told that we will definitely have it by Wednesday, possibly Tuesday, but we'll see. I'm not going to get my hopes up...