For the three days I spent in Vung Tau, I was hanging out with David, Peter and their beautiful daughter Chloe, who is 8 years old. We had so much fun together. The day after we arrived, David rented scooters for us, and they taught me how to ride one. After a few practice runs around the parking lot, we set out along the waterfront road.
The traffic rules in Asia are unlike anything I have experienced, and I had concerns that if I drove defensively, as we do in Canada, I might cause an accident. However, the traffic in Vung Tau is quite light compared to Saigon, so I was fine. We cruised along the ocean road for a while, then stopped at a seafood restaurant for lunch - a patio built on stilts over the ocean. A beautiful view, fresh ocean breezes and we feasted on fresh seafood. Then we took the highway up to Ba Ria to visit the orphanage and Molly again. We spent quite a long time there that afternoon, and drove the scooters back in the dark. I was always sandwiched between Peter and David, and we trusted Peter's uncanny sense of direction to get us back to our hotel. It was quite exhilarating! There are so many scooters and motorbikes on the road in Vietnam. It's an experience I couldn't have had anywhere else, and wouldn't have had without David, Peter and Chloe. A big thanks to them for giving me memories!
Back at the hotel, we spent a lot of time in the pool. Chloe is a great swimmer, and we played a lot of games, swam races across the pool, and watched Peter do a synchronized swimming routine! He did it for the entertainment of some wedding guests one evening - a reception that spilled out to the pool deck while we were in it. Some children picked a bunch of yellow flowers and tossed them into the pool while we were swimming. It was beautiful. However, we felt somewhat like goldfish in a bowl, hence the synchronized swimming performance!
Chloe was my best friend those few days we spent together. We became very attached to each other. She is an amazing, creative and inventive little girl. Some of the games she would invent was: we had a newspaper one morning, so she gave me a pencil and said 'blank out all the "the" words'. She took one news article, and I took another. Try it sometime! It's an interesting exercise. Then she looked over my work and pointed out that I missed a few...
Another game we played was in the back seat of a taxi on the way to the orphanage. We both have the same camera, but hers was pink and mine is green. I had a picture of her Dad holding Molly on the display screen of my camera, and she took a picture of it. Then I took a picture of her camera's screen, and we went back and forth about 8 times. In the end, the picture of Peter and Molly were just some orange blobs - we both got a kick out of it!
Chloe is continuing to travel the world with her Dads for the next few months, so when they were saying goodbye, I gave her my necklace to wear to remember me for the rest of her trip. We live in the same neighbourhood in Vancouver, so I said when we both get home, she can return my necklace and tell me about all the places it travelled with her.
Out of all the people in the world I could have spent those particular memorable days with, I couldn't have chosen any better people. They are very special individuals, and I am very grateful to have had the chance to get to know them better, and have their support, guidance and love during the days I first met Molly. They will forever be part of Molly's story.
It was such a pleasure being there with you when you first met your little daughter Molly.
ReplyDeleteThrough your experience of those first moments, the challenges that came after and the bewilderment that it all brings, took us back to our first introduction to Chloe.
Being with you was a gift. It was a special memory for us and we've talked about it often through Laos, India, Bhutan and, now, Indonesia. It was very special for Chloe and she wears your necklace everyday, so it's been through a lot. Chloe and you will have much to talk about.
It was also special because Chloe could observe you and imagine what it was like when she first met us. A little girl in a packed baby room at the orphanage meeting these new, excited people for the first time, being cuddled and fed by us, the medical stuff, and then settling in and starting her journey with them. I think Chloe's understanding of her adoption and the start of life together became a lot clearer.
She wants to go back to the orphanage with you and Molly, so we'll have to coordinate our visits next time again.
Oh, and Chloe wants to tell you, Catherine-swim-buddy, that she is now swimming without her floaty vest and is going to be snorkling on a coral reef in a couple of days! She's very proud and has worked very hard to be a stronger swimmer, and strokes hard with BOTH arms and kicks hard with BOTH legs. No more circles for this girl! Thank you for your part in getting her going!
Much love and lovely memories. See in YVR. David, Peter and Chloe