Joelle and Micah are back in Quy Nhon. We arrived there about a week ago from America and had time to get the house mostly cleaned and get over jetlag before I had to take off. At the end of next week we'll all be meeting up in Hanoi for some Team Vietnam orientation time before the school year starts. Craziness.
Since I have a little bit of time, I thought I'd update everyone on how our travels went and what we've been up to. Our trip from Washington to Quy Nhon was, in a word, sweet. Micah once again proved that he is a champion traveler and once again garnered praise from someone sitting near us on the 11-hour Seattle-to-Seoul flight. A lady told Joelle at the end of the flight that Micah was one of the best behaved little ones she'd seen on a flight and that Joelle's parenting skills were top-notch. I concur on all counts. Somehow she kept a 23-month old happy and occupied for probably 8 of the 11 hours we were in the air (he slept the other 3 hours). Not an easy task in a tin can traveling at two-thirds the speed of sound across the Pacific Ocean.
We had a short plane transfer in Seoul and arrived in Saigon late in the evening. We all got a good sleep at our favorite hotel (the aptly named "Happy Inn") and flew to Quy Nhon the next afternoon. Our house was in remarkably good shape for having been left to its own devices over the summer, but it still required a good spring (fall?) cleaning. Joelle once again proved her awesomeness by getting things cleaned up while Micah and I played toys. Our teammates the Bankstons showed up a few days after us, with their little one Ezra in tow. We've been enjoying their company and helping them get moved into their new house off-campus--just a couple of blocks down the street from us. So far things are going very well. No dog bites or hospital visits like last year.
Here we are in the taxi on our way from Quy Nhon's airport to the city. Somehow Micah (although he weighs about 1/6 as much as I do) triples the amount of luggage we have to carry. The massive stack of bags behind us is, embarrasingly, all ours. Micah is zonked out on our laps, demonstrating his ability (inherited from his mother) to fall asleep just about anywhere.
We've enjoyed getting back to Vietnam for many reasons, not least the food. Micah loves him some coconut, and in the following shot we're breakfasting on xoi (sweet sticky rice) our first morning back in Quy Nhon. Both are, in Micah's estimation, "ummy."
After long travels and a couple days of hitting the cleaning hard, we opted to spend an afternoon at our favorite "staycation" spot: A local hotel with a nice pool and a rooftop cafe overlooking the bay (where we had to wake the waiter up from his afternoon snooze to order a banana split). We love you, Quy Nhon.
This last shot, I include just because of its sheer awesomeness. Before Micah was born I told Joelle that I wanted a chubby, happy baby. She totally delivered (pun intended). Add some robotron sunglasses, a wolf shirt and a we-are-the-champions-my-friends pose and you've got a pretty good idea of what our little man is all about. With a baby girl on the way this winter, I'd better figure out what I want to order this time... :)
