Two More Feet: Filling the days...

When we decided to come to Vietnam, we didn't know what we would be facing. Would they turn us back at some point along the trip, would they postpone the adoption? The only thing we knew was that despite the outcome we had to try. The alternative of taking a passive route and staying home and just hoping for the best was not an option. While COVID 19 is bigger than Piper's adoption, we are just looking for a small window to open, amidst the chaos, so that we can slip in and complete the adoption. Once she is in our custody and she is our daughter legally, I will have the luxury of making plans for our family of 4. So right now...all eyes are on the ball. We are so close. Vietnam has categorized provinces into low, medium and high risk for COVID. Hanoi, where we are, is classed as high risk; Lang Son where Piper is classed as medium risk. The borders leaving high risk areas have been blocked and travel has been curtailed for the past 3 weeks. To date there have been 268 cases of COVID-19 with 203 recovered and zero deaths. They are quick to quarantine people as needed; there are just over 50,000 in quarantine on military bases or a home. They have capacity to test 13,000 people per day for the virus.

On April 22nd they will review the situation and decide if another week is needed. We are seeing some great signs that the decision in a couple of days will be positive:
-There have been no new cases of the virus in 4 days.
-There is more traffic- people have more confidence to be out
-A few small stores are starting to look open, or are preparing to open
-In low risk provinces high school students have returned to school with social distancing measures in place.

Once we get word on April 22nd, we will then arrange a trip to Lang Son as soon as we can. I would like to see this happen on April 23rd but the adoption coordinator won't reach out and arrange a visit until word comes out on April 22nd. It is important in Vietnamese culture that people stand by their word. To ensure this, they are hesitant to make a commitment that might change later. This is especially true when they are working with foreigners.

In the meantime, we are keeping busy enough. We were able to go back to our friend Gioi and Phong's house yesterday. They are in the "country side" outside of Hanoi. I am not sure why, but coffee shops and restaurants are open here. We started the morning with a bowl of Pho, then went for coffee at a beautiful spot on a lake by their home. After that, a walk through the park by the lake, lunch at Gioi and Phong's home. We were home by 12:30pm as the day was hot. With humidity factored in, the temperature was expected to be 38 degrees. I tend to melt in that temperature.

Here are some pictures of the day.

Enjoying Pho

Coffee shop on the lake- it was as beautiful inside as it was outside

While we had Vietnamese coffee, Natalie is always happy with a big old coconut!

Natalie and our friend Mi

Outside our friend Gioi and Phong's apartment building has this covid disinfectant sprayer that you walk through on the way into the building. Pretty smart idea.