Precious and Priceless

We got up early and left the hotel by 0900 today on a bus to Hai Duong (pronouced Hi Zong), a 60 some km trip. To our surprise, it felt like we never left Hanoi, in that there were wall to wall buildings and businesses all the way. There were some fields here and there, but relatively small, and never on both sides of the road at once. Not at all what we'd expected. Traffic was heavy, although it was Sunday, so bet it'll be busier tomorrow.

We arrived in an hour and a quarter, and drove into the orphanage compound. It's huge. Yellow 3 or 4 storey buildings surrounding a large tiled square. In the square was a large round lily pond, a painted elephant about 5 feet tall, swings upon which were draped assorted coloured blankets, a corrugated metal roofed area, and clothelines festooned with kids' clothes. There were children of all ages, some kicking the bus, some watching, some following us in. The younger ones smiling, as were many but not all of the older ones.

We were brought into a room in which it felt like we waited forever, listening to our guide speak to the orphanage staff. Then, the babies were brought in, one by one, by the nannies. Tanje was the second of the four to arrive. She watched the scene with big eyes, quietly taking it in, that is, until the nanny tried to hand her over to us. Wah! She wasn't impressed, or having any of it! So the nanny heroically saved the day by giving Tanje a bottle of formula, and gently easing her over once she'd shown me how Tanje likes her back patted, and once she was sure all would be well. Can't imagine what must have been going through Tanje's mind! It sure was fab to finally give her a (gentle) big, long awaited (for us, anyway!) hug! Savannah was right in there too, wanting to touch her hair, rub her back, and tell her she was her sister. She looked so proud, and all the way back on the bus, she'd say "ca c'est ma soeur!" and singing a little song with Tanje's name in it, and that she was very happy about her.

And Rick? Let's just say he held her the most, and when you see her photo, you'll see that..... yes......she looks like his mini-me! Totally! Even the nannies kept saying so - we didn't get the words, but the gestures and their laughs said it all! They'd point to their eyebrows, then to Rick and Tanje, to their eyes, cheeks, and forehead, and say the same. There's no missing it! 

Little Tanje held onto her bottle for dear life, sometimes with a few tears in her eyes, but mostly pretty quietly. She fell asleep for a bit in Rick's arms. We got to see her sleeping quarters. There were 2 more babies there, and we think at least one of the babies of our group also slept here. There was a big 'party pen', a low to the ground playpen about 12 by 12 feet, lined with straw mats, and a similar non-fenced-in raised area on the opposite side of the room. A cupboard held supplies, and a small table held a thermos, bottles, formula and such. In the corners of the party pen were some tiny green hammocks for rocking sleepy babies. The room was one of many many, and it was on the second storey of the building, opening onto a hallway that ran the length of the front, and that was filled with all kinds of clothes and hangers and assorted stuff. The place was reasonably clean. The nanny had us sit down in the room for a bit, and a beautiful young girl of maybe 10 or 12 seemed to be used to picking up Tanje and helping care for her. Older orphans often do work here, and our guess is that this was her story. Here, we discovered that Tanje can walk, albeit a bit unstably. So, that should make things at home a mite more interesting (as if they won't already be!)!

Tanje felt almost as heavy as Savannah's 25lbs, and we fear we may not have brought sufficiently large clothes for her! I feel a shopping trip coming on for us girlz! Papa had better get used to it - ha!  Can't wait for today, to finally bring her home with us!

And now, without further ado, her's our priceless, precious little Tanje Nguyen Thi Tiep!

 No, that's not a beauty mark. Just a little scratch on her forehead.

 Mini and big Ricks!

 A proud and so happy grande soeur!

 Guardian big sister watching over her new little sister

 Tanje's care providers in their sleep quarters

Doesn't this remind you of a photo we have on Savannah's blog, from the first day we were with her?

Stay tuned! Will blog some more when we can (only seems to work in middle of night or early morning here - blogspot not accessible in evenings). Cheers matantes Elaine, Josee, Tania, Kim, Denise, Shirley, mononcles Mike, Mars, Luc, Ray, Roger, Grandpapas, Grandmamans, Poppa, Nanna, Vanessa, David, Chris, Ryan, Michel, Nicky, Joanne, Marcus, Jenna, Franco, Christy, Tessa, Debbie, Dominique, Germ, Chris!