Our first breakfast together....

We are stuck out in the middle of nowhere for the next few days. There is nowhere to go, no shopping .... nothing... plus it is still pouring down rain. We got so bored that we decided to go for a walk in the rain. We saw water buffalo, pigs and dogs, as well as a few people.

This morning we had our first breakfast together. She let me at least put food into hand and then she put it into her own mouth.... an improvement from yesterday. She likes noodles, chicken, banannas.... of course.... and granola bars... a new treat. Here we are soaking wet (me anyway)... having breakfast.
And here is the sleeping beauty.

Giving and Receiving Ceremony........

Yeah, the little princess is finally officially mine now. She's not too happy about it yet. She cried for the first hour or so, then we took a bath and got cleaned up to go downstairs to have lunch. I couldn't get her to eat one bite of anything. I ordered something that looked like what they would get to eat three times a day in the orphanage, rice, chicken and vegetables, and she wouldn't even look at it. Next I tried a bananna, her favorite, and no luck. The waitress/ attendant wanted to feed her, and I told her no. I want the food to come from me now, and no one else. Hopefully, if she gets hungry tonight or even tomorrow morning, she will take food from me.

The G& R Ceremony was not what I expected. I don't know why, but I expected more people to be there for some reason. It was just the nanny, the orphanage director, Jasmine, me, my in country representative, and the Department of Justice official. We signed the forms, the DOJ gave a speech about how many orphans need homes since the war, then I said something like she will have the best schooling, care, and love. That was it. Very short and simple.

The princess is napping right now. It has been raining pretty much non stop since I got here, with the exception of one day. Today, it is pouring sheets of water... not raindrops.... just like the first day I got here. It's a jungle out here! So, here we are in the town of Tam Ky which is the capitol of Quang Nam province. Everyone said, "you don't need to bring alot of baby clothes, toys and supplies because there are stores everywhere. Well, I am glad that I brought all of the stuff I did, because nowhere have I found to buy baby clothes or supplies either in Hoi An or here. If it's not raining tomorrow, we will take a walk and see what we can find. Might as well, .... we are stuck here for at least 5 days.

last day in orphanage....

Yeah.... this is Jasmine's last day in the orphanage. She is not happy for the first few minutes she sees me, but each time her reaction gets better and better. She smiled much more today, allowed me to give her a bananna for the very first time, and played really well.... until one of the nannies came in.... which is always when things go south. I gave the orphanage director Jasmine's little dress and shoes for tomorrow because she will bring her for the ceremony.

Earlier in the morning, my in country facilitator's cousin (Thao) took me shopping. It was much faster having her around to talk for me and show me the correct place to buy things such as a Vietnamese child's CD, and other gifts for Jasmine such as a Vietnamese flag. She is a language student at the local university and I really couldn't understand very much that she said. I guess that Vietnamese women hold hands when they are walking down the street... which we did:) That was a little different for me:) especially when the sidewalks are not that wide and there are usually motorbikes everywhere. She took me to the Central Market in Hoi An which is the ancient city where I am staying. The city was relatively untouched by the Vietnam war. Here are some photos.

meeting with Grandfather...

Yesterday afternoon, I had the opportunity to meet with Jasmine Tam's grandfather. It was a very emotional experience, but I learned much about the circumstances of her birth so I will be able to tell her when she grows up. Her grandfather is a rice farmer who also fought and lost an eye in the Vietnam war. His land is owned by the government since this is a Communist country, and his crops are frequently destroyed by flooding, storms and typhoons. The worst typhoon occurred in the history of Vietnam in 2006 right when Jasmine was being born. When she was born, he had to collect scrap metal and sell it just to buy milk for her. I told him I would bring her back in 5-6 years so he could see her again, and he was very happy about that.
I am very grateful I had rare opportunity to meet and interview a relative.

Here is a photo of Jasmine and her grandfather. Later she had a bath.... which I was privy to taking photos:)

Today is my last day in Hoi An. I have to move to another hotel for one night because this hotel is booked up tonight. As I have mentioned before, I am having to stay here an extra day due to someone's "meeting". Next, we will go to Tam Ky for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony, and will stay there 5-7 days waiting for the passport and Visa.

Birthday Party.....

This morning, most of the kids went to an outdoor restaurant type of place for a "birthday party". Apparently, they occasionally have a party for whomever's birthday it was for the past month or two. It was pretty chaotic. There were animals around for the kids to look at. Jasmine was infatuated by the Koi and other fish, as well as the geese and birds, but she was very afraid of two dogs that were tied up nearby. I am not sure how she is going to do with my dog, Spirit. She seems to be getting a bit more attached to me, especially when the nannies are not around.... like today. She was leading me around the place showing me the pond, and the fish and flowers. She still refuses to take food from me, but did let me peel a bananna for her. She refused to eat any of the food at the party, but when they brought out the banannas, she ate almost two whole ones.... for such a little tummy, that was alot. All of the other kids ate like crazy. At the orphanage they are fed the same thing three times a day... cold rice, with a couple of little vegetables on top with maybe a little piece of meat or tofu.... so this party was a huge treat for them. I think they did it partially for my benefit and partially since I just paid them my cash "gift", so they had some extra. They call everything around here a "gift", when it is a required fee. It's ok.... I was glad to do it. I will get to pay many more "gifts" in the next couple of days that I am just learning about .
Here are some photos from today.

I got lost today:)

This morning I wanted to do bunch of shopping before going back to the orphanage for the day. I walked pretty much everywhere in the entire city, but couldn't find my hotel:) It was kind of fun until the blisters started forming on my feet. I purchased two little aoi dai's.. the traditional Vietnamese dress,... some lacquer art, and some gifts to give to Jasmine each year on her adoption day. I have quite a few more things to buy. I finally ended up flagging down some guys riding motorcycles, which is everyone, and found one who could understand the word "orphanage" and I just paid him to take me there. I overloaded his motorcycle with all of my stuff.

Jasmine accepted me a little more today. She only cried for a few seconds instead of the entire time that I held her. I was kind of surprised at what I saw at the orphanage on a weekend day. All of the smaller kids were in the one bedroom with a few nannies. They had no toys or stimulation. They just lay around and sleep all day long. The older 5-6 year olds had no supervision at all. All of the doors to the play room, dining room and offices were all locked. When I walked her past the play room she started to cry and tried to pull me that way... but I showed her that the doors were locked. I don't think she understood.
Later I ran into one of the volunteers who said that it was like that every day of the week until the organization she volunteers for had purchased and donated the toys and started the play room. They had absolutely no stimulation whatsoever. Not even a radio or music. She said that Jasmine is much more subdued on Mondays because of the lack of stimulation over the weekend, then by Friday she is more lively and smiling. I didn't get her to smile at all today.
I believe this is probably the reason that she does not yet speak. She has not even reached the babbling stage yet. I was told that an Australian speech therapist evaluated her last week and said that she is at the 3-6 month level in her speech development. We have some work to do, for sure. They recommended a sign language program.

Tomorrow morning we are going to a birthday party which is held every month or two for the children who's birthday occurred
that month. Then I meet Jasmine's grandparents in the evening, which should be the most emotional, but hopefully helpful part of the trip. I hope to learn more about her mother and just be able to get pictures of them so that she can see them as she grows up.

I didn't take alot of photos today, but took tons of video.

We meet for the first time.... Day 1.

I finally met her today. It was kind of unceremonious.....One of the nannies just brought her out when I was speaking with the orphanage director. I got to see her for about 1 minute initially, then they took her back to the play room. As I was told , she is extremely timid. For the first part of the day, she wouldn't let me touch her without screaming, and finally by the end of the day, I was able to hold her for a few minutes, although her body was really stiff. Feeding her was out of the question. She would just turn her head away from me. Only the orphanage workers could feed her,... but we are only on day 1. She loves to draw and scribble. Every time she would draw something, she would give it to me:) She also loves to play the little plastic instruments. Here are some photos.