Our 'sweet, sweet home' has welcomed us yet again...

Greetings from Can Tho, Vietnam!  We arrived here in Can Tho (pronounced 'CanTha') around 6p tonight and it is presently about 9p and I am ready to fall asleep very soon.  It's been a long day +!

We spent another full-day in San Francisco on Friday, walking in all directions all day and enjoying a movie in the afternoon ~ Silver Linings Playbook.  I'd highly recommend it if you haven't yet seen the flick!  We dined at Mel's Diner for brunch and then at Pizzeria Delfina for dinner.  Both were perfect and delicious!  Pizzeria Delfina is another must-dine-at in San Francisco if you find your way to that great city.  

Homemade breadsticks...

Homemade buffalo mozzarella with arugula and crostini

Calamari ala Pizzeola

Napoletana pizza (with anchovies, capers, mushrooms)

al fresco dining in San Francisco(with a lovely overhead heater just above us)

 We convened at SFO on Friday, the 28th, for our 12a flight (on 12/29/2012).  As you can see we had a load of things to bring with us and the kind folks at EVA (airline from Taiwan) were very accommodating and so helpful.

Sitting and waiting for all to come

This baby (about 9-10 months) was sprinting with her tripod walker across the smooth, airport floor literally chasing another little boy.  Hi-larious!

Just a portion of our total bags/boxes/totes!

A better view of our 'stuff'

Organization by Jenni Lehnert, RN...well-done, Jenny!

There is a 13 hour time difference between Can Tho and Omaha/Chicago and so in the course of our travels from San Francisco to Vietnam (via planes through Taipei, Taiwan and Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)) and a roughly 3 hour bus ride we spent approximately 28 hours traveling to get here.  Sadly, we had terrible turbulence on our flight from San Francisco to Taipei, but the up-side of this 14 hour trip is that I slept nearly 11 hours of the flight ~ mostly sleeping because I was tired, but also a coping mechanism for the turbulent skies.  :)  Then once in Taipei, we were grounded for 3 hours while they repaired a computer on the plane...something I am guessing that was important?!?  I don't mind waiting so that all the parts and pieces of the airplane are functional!  The down-side of this 3 hour delay is that we spent it in the airplane on the tarmac...so not fun after just getting off a super-long flight!  Nonetheless, we were off to HCMC and arrived nearly 3 hours late, but were greeted in grand fashion by the docs from the Can Tho General Hospital.  They drive one of the hospital's ambulances to HCMC to pick-up all of the surgical supplies and to greet the IEP staff.  There were at least 5 of the orthopedic surgeons who came, including Dr. Huong, who is now retired.

Just for a moment of clarity for those in winter climes...it was about 94 degrees when we arrived in HCMC today...oh, and just a 'touch' of humidity.  ;)

The grand happening while we were at the HCMC airport is that we made it through the final inspection/customs check of our luggage and supplies without any glitch, stopping or challenge!  This is a first for IEP, as typically we end up spending about 30-45 minutes trying to explain our mission and showing them the items we have brought along to share with the medical staff here.  We apparently had a very official-looking letter from the health minister of this province, I believe, so this appeared to help greatly!  We basically put our stuff on the conveyor belts to  have them scanned and then put them back on our carts as fast as possible, said 'Cam on' (thank you) and got on our way.   

Therapy supplies that Amy and I brought for the 2 pediatric hospitals

Part of our group...waiting in the heat for our bus

So, we jumped into our large 'tour-type' bus and set-off for our ride into the Mekong Delta.  This leg of the trip used to take about 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 hours, but due to a new 'expressway' that bypasses many little towns, it only takes about 3 hours.  We stopped at a road-side eatery and all had a variety of lovely Vietnamese food.  I had Cam Rau, which is basically rice + morning glory shoots (green vegetable).  Delicious!

So, needless to say, when we arrived we were all quite exhausted and so Amy and I got our room, laid flat on our beds for a few moments, decided we must move otherwise we would still be in the same position in the morning and went to exchange our money.  The exchange rate is even greater to our advantage than it was 2 years ago ($1 = 20,000 dong).  We then walked with Diane, one of the surgeons, to get some water and strolled through a very busy and hoppin' Can Tho waterfront (it's on the Mekong River) and scoped out our 'old digs.'

My eyes are getting blurry, so it is time to sleep and start again tomorrow.  We are doing evaluations/screenings of potential surgical patients tomorrow (about 30-40), so will travel to the hospital around 8a with the medical team.  There are a number of 'guests' on this year's trip, so that adds a new dimension to the whole adventure.  These are mainly family members of existing medical team members and/or folks who have donated to our organization and who chose to come along for the ride.  It also includes a baby (little Ziggy, who is so cute!) and 3 other little boys (ages 10, 8, and 6), so they have added a colorfulness to our travels to far.

More to come...tomorrow starts the 'real' adventure of why we come to Vietnam.  Take good care and Happy Eve of the Eve!

Our sunset view as we arrived in Can Tho!

xoxo
Stacy