Rocky Start

As my new friend Joe said, Rome wasn't built in a day. Today Hang took us to the orphanage to meet our kids. It was about 1.5 hr drive from Hanoi, up into the mountains. Its located at a prison complex, so security was pretty tight. After passing through a few checkpoints, we got out of the van and walked the rest of the way. There were kids running around inside a courtyard and my heart began to race, hearing their little voices. As we entered the gate, I spotted Jada and then Ryan. My eyes were frantically searching for Gianna. Finally we spotted her. Her caretaker was holding her running across the courtyard for the dormitory. We weren't sure what was going on. Jada was meeting Joe and Maria, and Ryan was already in Linda's arms wailing. Finally they brought Gianna out and our eyes met. She was curious at first, like who are these strangers--a one armed woman and tall bald white guy. She became shy, then terrified. By the time her caregiver handed her over for me to hold, she was crying at a good pitch. But instead of letting me hold her, they grabbed her back and took her away! The other kids were crying too, but Gianna's caretaker seemed very protective. I am trying to look at it from her perspective; obviously she loves Gianna very much.

In the meantime, we handed out a lot of candy to the other kids. This one guy that I nicknamed cookie monster was more than ready to come home with us. He made me feel good; at least one of the kids liked us.Finally Dan got his chance to hold her, but unfortunately her reaction was the same...You can see more photos from the orphanage by clicking here. We will go back tomorrow and try it all again. This time we are bringing her a toy that plays music. They also requested we bring her dress for the Giving and Receiving Ceremony on Thursday. Oh, shout out to Susan. I think I snapped some pics of your son, but wasn't sure which one was him!

We also took a walk around Hoan Kiem Lake and visited HoaLo prison, AKA the Hanoi Hilton where John McCain was held prisoner. Those photos are coming soon to the main Vietnam photo gallery. Today was emotionally draining. My shoulder was killing me from the long van ride on bumpy roads and from holding Gianna. But I took a vicodin and feel much better now :-)