The Paper Chase

It has begun, the infamous paper chase.

We went today to submit our paperwork for Tram's Vietnamese passport. The government has a very unique way of doing things over here. To obtain a Vietnamese passport - it costs 200,000 Vietnamese dong - roughly $15 US. To expedite the process, it costs $300 US. Wow - the problem is, if we paid the $15 US we might get her passport back in 10 days or it could be 4 weeks. If we expedite it, we get it in 3 days - it makes sense, its just a very large jump in fees. It feels more like extortion than expediting.

I had an interesting conversation with the officer that was accepting my paperwork. I got the usual questions -"Were you born here? Do you speak Vietnamese? Why not? Do you like Vietnam? Do you have family here, etc etc." But this guy threw in a new one - he said "You are young, why don't you just get pregnant?" I laughed and told him that I already had a 3 year old and we wanted to adopt a baby from beautiful Vietnam. (good answer, huh?) For a second I thought he was going to ask for my phone number! He didn't. But Hao, one of the other parents - said that I should have given it to him because maybe then he would have waived the $300 expedition fee!!! Oh well - :)

After we submitted the passport forms, we went to a Vietnamese hospital for the official medical exam. Tram did not like that. I am not too sure about the doctor that we saw either. He wasn't very knowledgeable - was terrible with all the babies- it just was not a good experience. He drilled Chris and I about Tram's habits (of the last 5 days, come on!) from eating to sleeping to the potty!!! I think he thought that we were too young to be adopting.

Tram was very upset after the exam. She screamed (yelled, not cried) for a good half hour. Thao (one of the adoption coordinators) finally calmed her down by buying her the equivalent of a Vienna sausage!! Yum yum. I thought that maybe all of the progress that we had made in the past few days was gone - she looked at me like - how could you let them do that to me!! - but after a snack and a good nap she was happy again.

We had dinner with my cousin Tuan and Hao, Connie and Tammy (one of the other couples that is adopting and their new baby). We went to a restaurant that specializes in crispy rice (rice that is "overcooked" in a clay pot). They cook the rice in the pot - then they take the pot and smash it and toss the rice disk across the room where another person catches it with a plate and then serves it. It was very entertaining to watch. Chris and Hao are convinced that they could manage it so I think they are going to practice in the hotel room tomorrow afternoon. (You know how men talk! They think they can do anything!! Hehe) Dinner was pretty good - we had rice, frog, eel soup, crispy whole fish, clams and a salad type dish.

Speaking of dinner - the night before, we had dinner (again with Hao and Connie - but this time with my cousin Ngoc Lan) at an outdoor restaurant. It was the best dinner that I have had in a long time. Rice noodles, rice soup and rice paper along with spicy clams, another salad dish and, uh - its getting late here, I can't seem to remember the rest - I will have to ask Chris in the morning!! But it was good - and for 5 adults and 2 kids it came out to less than $20 US - including drinks and dessert! Man I love it here - great food at a fantastic price.

Tomorrow we are going to go shopping and do a little sight-seeing, maybe the zoo or something. Monday is when all the paper work starts again - we get the weekend off!! Yay. We should have our interview on Tuesday or Wednesday - then we should head on up to Hanoi by the end of this week. Hanoi is a totally different ball game - I have never been there so I am really excited to go there.

Tram is doing much better now. She is still on the inhaler 3 times a day. She doesn't fight it anymore. I think she knows that it really does help her. She is eating really well. She loves shellfish and rice. She eats whatever we eat - so it is pretty easy to please her. We will go back to the International Clinic on Monday I think. She needs to be checked again for her bronchitis as well as the scabies.

Christopher is starting to get a little bit sick - it is starting as a sore throat and I hope that it will end there too! We don't need a sick Daddy and baby!!

Tram called me mommy in Vietnamese tonight. It was so cute!! She is so smart - I swear she said "da-da" and "uh-oh" tonight too!!! She loves to feed herself and she is sooo super clean. She picks up everything that she drops - it is so cute.

Well, I think that is it for now - I will post some video and more pictures tomorrow -



xoxoxox - lan-marie

*ps - kisses from Tram!!

The Orphanage in Vung Tau

After the Giving and Receiving Ceremony, we got the chance to visit the orphanage again.


We found out about Tram's time at the orphanage. Tram was dropped off in front of the orphanage on June 8,2007. They have a bench outside where parents can leave their children. It is right outside the gate of the orphanage, in front of where the security guard stays. They usually leave the children at night so that no one can tell who they are. I don't know how they can do that - to just abandon a child - one that they have had for a year at least - I know that I couldn't do it. I guess in the parent's eyes, it is a chance at a better life for their child. It must be one of the hardest decisions that a parent would ever have to make.

This is from the report that the security guard filed:


"Re: Discovering an abandoned child:

My name is TRAN VAN HOA, born in 1960, ID card No: #########, issued in Vung Tau. Now, I work for the Care and Vocational Training Center as a security guard. I would like to state the following matter:
At 7pm on 06/07/2007, I found a child abandoned outside the gate of the center.
The abandoned child was a female infant, she was about 12 months of age. She had big black eyes and a well-proportioned body. She wore a bracelet on her left arm and wore earrings in her ears. She was dressed in a pink shirt and violet trousers. There was no note on her..."

They have a unique way of determining the age of the kids when they get to the orphanage. They just kind of guess. The security guard and orphanage director thought that Tram looked to be about 12 months, so they made her birthday 1 year before her drop off date. She could be older, she could be younger - we don't know.

Tram was only at the orphanage since June. Before that - who knows where she was, who she was with. I wish we knew more about her past because I'm sure one day she will want to know. There really is no way to find out anything either.

The Giving and Receiving Ceremony

Thursday, September 27 was our Giving and Receiving Ceremony. We left HCMC for Vung Tau with the other families around 7:30 am. The ride to Vung Tau was horrendous. The rode was decent but really bumpy. It was only 100 km away but it took over 2 and a half hours to get there.

Tram did ok on the drive there. She slept most of the time since we had to wake up so early. We have been sleeping in until about 10am every morning because there are no windows in our hotel room - so there is no sunlight to wake us up. We are changing rooms soon. We need a window!!

The Giving and Receiving Ceremony wasn't really a ceremony at all. We had an appointment at the Justice Department in Vung Tau at 11:30am. We had to stop at the orphanage to pick up some paperwork on the kids before we could go to the ceremony. When we pulled into the driveway of the orphanage, Tram got really excited. She knew where she was. We got the correct paperwork and then headed over to the Justice Department.

They call it the Giving and Receiving Ceremony so I thought that there would be alot of people there - you know, like city officials, the orphanage director, a judge?? But no -there was only one woman there. We sat down, signed a few papers, took a picture and then we were done. That's it. Tram was ours - no one can take her away now. Now all we have to do is work on getting the paperwork to get her out of the country.

some pictures of Tram

Today is the Day!!!

It is 6:45am and we are getting ready to go to Vung Tao for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony!! After the ceremony, Ngoc Tram is officially and legally ours! We are so exicted!! I will post pictures and video when we get back!!

Tram playing with her toys in the hotel room

She is one feisty girl!! We think she will fit right in with Jaydon - maybe even give him a run for his money!!!

xoxoxo - lan-marie

Our First Encounter With Tram

We finally got the chance to upload video of our first encounter with Ngoc Tram.

wow - what a day -

We have only had Ngoc Tram with us for about 24 hours and we have already visited the hosiptal twice!

When we picked her up, the nannies at the orphanage told us that she had a little cold -like a cough, runny nose and slight fever - well, it turned out to be more.

When we got to the hotel last night, I talked to my cousin Yen about Ngoc Tram being sick. She said that she would set up an appointment with her family doctor for the next night.

Ngoc Tram really warmed up to my cousin Ngoc Lan. She is quite a feisty girl. She started to run around the hotel room and laugh at my cousins. I think that she was very comforted having them here. When she was just with us, she was very chill - just trying to watch everything that was happening and figure us out. When she is around my cousins and they speak to her in Vietnamese - she is like a different girl. I know that it will take some time for her to get used to us, but I can't wait until she does.

She went to bed around 10:30 pm and slept through the night. We had to wake her up one time because she was coughing and her nose was so runny. We figured that she had had a very big day so coupled with the medicine that we gave her she slept for almost 12 hours. When we woke up around 10am her cold was worse - alot worse. My cousin called the doctor and we went to see him soon after.

We got to the hospital and saw the doctor right away. He said that she had a bad case of bronchitis along with a small case of scabies. He prescribed her some medicine and we were on our way. We stopped at a restaurant to have lunch. Ngoc Tram ate a big bowl of chicken and rice soup and a glass of orange juice. After lunch we attempted to give her her medicine. It was quite tricky as we had to grind some of the pills up to get her to take them.

Right after we gave her the medicine, the adoption coordinator called. She said that we needed to take her to another hospital to get a second opinion. So we headed out to the International Clinic. The doctor there said that she had bronchitis but she also might have bronchial asthma. He said that she probably had it for a long time. He prescribed a baby inhaler to be used with a special breathing chamber so that she could inhale the medicine and let it go straight to her lungs. We have to go back after 4 or 5 days - hopefully she will be feeling better.

So as you can tell, it has been quite a day. We are hanging out in the hotel room for the afternoon trying to rest up. We can't use the air conditioning because Ngoc Tram isn't used to it and we are afraid it might make her condition worse.

I think tonight we might go out with one of the other couples that is adopting a baby from the same orphanage. They are a Vietnamese couple from Pinellas Park, Florida. Their names are Hao and Connie. It has been a blessing having them here because we can not bring any of our family with us to the official appointments. They have helped translate for us and are fun to be around. We are already making plans to get together when we get back in the States.
They wanted to take me out for dessert last night for my birthday but we were all so tired that we said that we would do it another night.

The Giving and Receiving Ceremony should be soon - probably by the end of the week. After that - Ngoc Tram is officially and legally ours. Then we will just work on getting her a passport and other documents needed to get her back home.

I think that it is nap time - you know the saying - sleep when your baby sleeps!!!

xoxoxo - lan-marie

We have Ngoc Tram!!!!

We got Ngoc Tram today!! She is beautiful!!! We have been up for almost 24 hours so I will tell you all about it tomorrow. We are so tired!! But here are some pictures of our beautiful baby.

We finally decided on a name ..... Ngoc Tram Natalie Malin. But everyone can call her Tram :)

Ketchup Time!!!

We are in Vietnam!

We arrived late last night ( Friday, Sept 21 ) in Ho Chi Minh City(aka HCMC or Saigon). Our flight out of the US wasn't too bad but it wasn't exactly good either.

The flight from Orlando to San Francisco was ok- I passed out during take off. We ended up staying up for 24 hours before we left so I was very tired. I woke up about 3 hours into the flight. We arrived in San Francisco on time but we still rushed to catch our next flight.

The funniest thing happened in San Fransisco - Christopher went to check on the current exchange rate for Vietnam and he saw JJ!! I swear, it was a spitting image of him. He could have been his twin!! After saying goodbye to JJ (I took a picture of him, but I will have to post it later) we stopped to ask directions to the international terminal and were hurried down a flight of stairs - we followed a long hallway and came out in a back alley of the terminal. We jumped on a bus headed for who knows where - trusting that they weren't taking us for our last ride. We were sitting in the front row of the bus, minding our own business when this lady came out of nowhere and told Christopher that he was going to have to give up his seat and let her sit there. She flashed this medical card at him - like she was with the FBI or something. It was so unexpected. It was hilarious. We went for a little ride around the tarmac and ended up in the international terminal.

In case you didn't know, the San Francisco Airport is high class. They had a bunch of restaurants but the prices were ridiculous. We were not going to pay $30 for sushi in airport!!! So we decided to share an $8 chicken terriyaki sandwich that ended up not having any terriyaki on it(seriously, what a rip off!!) and took our chances on the plane food. Bad idea. Once again, I passed out during take off. I don't know what it is with me and airplanes these days. Not sure if you were aware of this, but airplane food is not that good!!

The flight from San Fransisco to Hong Kong was about 17 hours - maybe more (i started to get cabin fever and lose track of time around hour 8) - way too long. Christopher requested the last row on the airplane - we got so many confused looks when he asked for that. He was smart though, because behind the last row was a power outlet so we got to use our computer as much as we wanted on that long flight. We didn't sleep very much even though we were exhausted. It was like we were so tired that we were incapable of actually falling asleep. So we watched a couple of movies and ate some ramen (seriously, ramen, that is what they give you for a "snack" on the airplane - a steaming cup of hot noodle soup - sounds real safe, I know) to pass the time.

We arrived in Hong Kong about an hour early. Originally, we were not told about our stop in Hong Kong - we thought we had a direct flight into Saigon. Then it turned into stop at Hong Kong without exiting the plane. Then it turned into a 2 layover in Hong Kong and a plane change. Then the flight got delayed - I'm telling you - the airline loved us!! Our plane was supposed to leave at 7:20 pm but we didn't end up leaving until around 10:30 pm. We had to call my cousins in Vietnam to tell them that we were going to be late - we didn't want to leave them standing around in the rain for hours!!

We called using our computer and a program called the Gizmo Project. It cost around 13 cents a minute. We were sitting in front of the departure gate when we overheard an American man trying to make a call to Vietnam from a payphone. He wasn't exactly the smartest guy because he recited his credit card number rather loudly for everyone to hear. They wanted to charge him $8 a minute to call Vietnam. We ended up letting him use our computer to call his friends. He told us about his trip - he danced around the subject a bit but I think he was coming to Vietnam to find himself a wife.

The Hong Kong airport is awesome. It is very big and we were only in the international terminal. You could definitely get lost in that airport. The security people were really nice and polite - which, as you can imagine was very strange.

We got onto the flight for Saigon and I once again fell asleep. The flight was only about 2 and a half hours long - so not too bad. We arrived in Vietnam around 11:30 on Friday night. They recently remodeled the Ho Chi Minh City airport - it is very nice. It has come a long way since the first time that I came here. We got through immigration and customs ok. My cousins: Ngoc Lan, Yen, Bebo and Tuan were waiting for us at the airport. We went to Yen's house and dropped off our bags and then headed out for a midnight snack. I really wanted Pho, but all of the Pho shops were closed so we ate a pork noodle soup. It was very good. We stayed up until 3 am catching up with Ngoc Lan and getting settled in. I made the mistake of waking up at 7am the next morning. 4 hours of sleep really didn't do it for me - I am so tired!!

We had breakfast at a Pho shop called Pho 5. My cousin Tuan wanted to order the regular beef pho for us but Ngoc Lan order us the "special pho". It had rice noodles, sliced beef, beef meatballs, tendion and tripe in it. It was very interesting. I didn't finish my bowl - it was called a small bowl but it was huge!! It was so funny, Ngoc Lan ordered a pizza, for breakfast!!

After breakfast, we left for Tay Ninh, which is where my grandmother lives. It is about 2 hours away. My cousin Yen works for the Nestle company in Vietnam. She has a pretty high powered position. She frequently travels out of the country for business meetings. She just returned from Thailand before we got to Vietnam and she will be leaving for New Zealand in a couple of days. She has a personal driver that her company pays for. He is the one that drove us to Tay Ninh. The ride wasn't too bad, they repaved the road and made it safer by making separate lanes for motorcyclists and cars. The passing countryside was very beautiful. We passed many small towns and rice paddies as well as the mountain.

When we arrived in Tay Ninh, the first thing that we did was visit with my grandmother. She had been waiting for us all morning. The first thing that she said to me was "anh com" which means "eat rice". And so we did. We had pork with sugar, chicken with ginger and a pork and vegetable soup and of course, rice. It was so good, way better than anything I can make. Seriously.

After lunch, we went to the market to pick up a few things. We bought flowers, chum chums, some herbs, rice noodles, rice paper, and candy. Christopher got a surprize visit from an old friend. It was a older woman who walks around begging for money. Last year when we were here, he gave her about $20 right before we left Tay Ninh. When she saw him today she said "Hello, long time no see!" It was so funny.

After the market we came back and layed down in our room. Our room is on the third floor and is only one of two airconditioned rooms in the house. I convinced Christopher to take a 20 minute power nap. Well, 20 minutes turned into 3 and a half hours!!! We woke up around 7pm. It was dark outside and I thought that it was morning already. It wasn't morning but we did miss dinner. I went downstairs, very carefully, trying my hardest not to fall down them. They are steep. My aunt Chau was so sweet. She cooked us dinner. We had rice noodles, herbs, cucumbers, lettuce, and stir fried beef with onions all wrapped up in rice paper. It was so good. For dessert we had pomegranites, pineapples, oranges, grapefruit and chum chums. They really know how to eat here.

After dinner, Ngoc Lan, Tuan, Kiet, Christopher and I went to a coffee shop. While we were at the coffee shop, we got a call from the adoption coordinator's assistant in Vietnam. She talked to us about our plans for going to Vung Tao to pick up Ngoc Tram on Monday morning. We are going shopping tomorrow for gifts for the children at the orphanage.

Tomorrow my whole family in Vietnam will be coming to Tay Ninh. My Grandfather's memorial day was on Thursday but because we were coming they pushed back the party until Sunday. So everyone is coming Sunday to eat and remember my Grandfather. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

This week is also the Autumn festival at the Cao Dai temple. We are going to try and come back on Monday night or Tuesday to see it. I have never been to a festival here so I am very excited about it.

Christopher was playing World of Warcraft with my cousin Kiet. Kiet whooped his butt!! Christopher claims that his keyboard broke towards the end of the game, but I don't believe him.

Well, it is past midnight here so I should be going to bed.

By the way - Jaydon is staying with my parents while we are here. We will be gone for almost 4 weeks. It is the longest we have ever been away from him. He is doing ok, we talk to him at least once everyday over yahoo messenger using the webcam. I don't think that he really understands that we are gone. If you get a chance, give him a hug and kiss for us, we really miss him alot.

If anybody wants to talk -we are on AIM and Yahoo messenger alot. Christopher's Yahoo name is ChrisMalin2001. Look us up. I will post more tomorrow - and add more pictures.


xoxoxo * lan-marie

bbbbbbbbbbuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrr

I can't think straight - so sorry if this is a little choppy.

It is official - we are on our way to pick up Ngoc Tram. We are in Terminal B of the Orlando Airport. We have been up for 24 hours straight and it is starting to wear on us. Christopher is laying on the floor trying to get a little sleep while I guard the bags. I'm hoping that I can get a little bit of sleep on the 6 or 7 hour flight to San Francisco.

We finished packing late on Wednesday night and made a few emergency trips to good old 24 hour Wal-Mart. We got to the airport around 4ish - Lindsey and Andy dropped us off. I had my first major problem when I thought that I had misplaced my glasses - wearing contacts for 24 hours straight is not exactly recommended. But, alas, Christopher found them in his carry on - or else I was ready to buy a new pair.

The terminal that we are in is currently being renovated - that means exposed wires, air ducts, dust and dirtyish floors. It is so cold in here that I am shivering. You know it is freezing when you are holding your laptop on your lap trying to warm up from the battery. It is about 7am now and our flight boards at 7:45 so I will see you later.

Ngoc Tram is coming home soon!!