2 a.m. from Hanoi

I don't know if it's general jet lag, the nap I took in the afternoon, emotions from the fact that an 11-month old stranger is about to be made my daughter, the loud hammering  that is happening somewhere in our hotel or nearby, or the Vietnamese iced coffee that I decided to try at 6 p.m. Whatever it is, I haven't slept a wink since turning in three hours ago. The coffee, by the way, is called sua and it's an incredibly strong, liquor-tasting drink sweetened with condensed milk.  The milk part tempted me, but I could literally feel myself shaking during the evening, so I think it was a bit much for someone like me who usually has one or two cups of tea a day. It was such a small amount I never thought it would be a problem. Anyway, here's a photo of the lake at night and a couple of videos.  One is of the water puppet show that we went to see tonight, a famous performance art here in Hanoi where marionettes are held horizontally in water by puppeteers behind-the-scene.  That's a simple explanation, but it's the best I can do in the wee hours of the morning. It is performed to live music with folk instruments ("folk", by the way, is pronounced in such a way that you end up giggling every time) and live singing.  It's one of those things that everyone recommends doing before you get the baby if you have a chance. Also here's a video of the traffic near the lake, as watched from an above KFC.  Yup, Anthony found Vietnamese fast food and it was a quick and small meal for about $3.  We're getting really good at dividing by seventeen by the way, to convert dong into dollars you must divide by about 17,700.  So his meal cost 53,000 VND. Crossing the street is also something we've heard so much about and it ranges between challenging and downright frightening.  Anthony is a pro at it and I mostly just hold his hand and try very hard NOT to look both ways, more to look straight ahead and hope for the best. He tells me it's the perfect analogy for our impending parenthood.  You can't wrap your brain around it, you just have to breathe and do it. Watch how the cars, cyclos, scooters, bikes, and pedestrians weave together and, so far, we've not yet seen them touch.  It's like a dance.  As someone once remarked, "there's perfect order in the chaos." Hanoi is such a green city with trees everywhere and sometimes you look to the right and you see a calm, tranquil picture of nature, then you look left and it's a scene like this traffic and horns are beeping wildly.  We tucked into a Buddhist temple this afternoon, not twenty feet from the madness of the street, and it was a peaceful and serene place where the noise from the outdoor world just disappeared. I love the visual extremes of this city. I also love the quote I heard a lot today:  "Please.  Good for you, good for me."  That is what a cycle driver or salesperson says when they're trying to convince you to buy something or get a ride.  I guess it's the Vietnamese version of "it's a win-win" and it must be said with a wide smile. Some answers to the questions in comments: we still don't know when we'll get Beatrice.  Last we heard was Wed. or Thursday. The orphanage is about 30 minutes from here, in a town/province called Bac Ninh, but we've not yet been, nor will we before THE day.  Tomorrow we will do some more exploring and hopefully meet with our agency staff and the other parents, who all should have arrived by now.  Back to try to sleep.....

SORRY!  Can't load video for some reason.  will try again tomorrow.