Home > Feature Family > Barron Family > Our Trip to Vietnam 1996

May 17-19, 1996--First-time Parents:

Sahara had a doctor's appointment this morning at the new International Clinic for a checkup. Mary made this appointment for us. The cost was $50, and well worth it. Sahara had a perforated eardrum in her left ear--the doctor, Dr. Snodgrass (who was from Canada) was even afraid it may not heal properly, and there was a chance she may be deaf in that ear. He took a culture and sent it to a lab in Singapore--we would hear results by Tuesday. We found out that Sahara weighed 16 lbs. and was approximately (she wiggled around a lot) 25 inches long. She is very congested and has a horrible rash around her neck (which Mary had already told us about a couple months before we came--Mary still hadn't been able to figure out what the deal was, and that's why she made the appointment). The Dr. doesn't know what the rash is, but gives us some creams for it, and some Augmentin for Sahara's ear infection. We eat hamburgers and fries for lunch that are very greasy , but not too bad. We visit our friends in their room, where Sahara throws up all over me. We take her up to our room, and the nightmare begins--she becomes very sick! She gets progressively worse, and by nighttime, I'm afraid for her life. I suspect she has the croup--we are so scared. She has a fever, and is so congested! We call Mary at around 10 PM, and she tells us to give her a cold bath, and that if she gets worse, we will have to take her to the clinic. Well, I'm very self-conscience about what Mary thinks of me as a mother. I do not want to seem unfit, so Tim calls his mom (a couple of semesters away from being a registered nurse) and talks to her for 15 minutes. While it's comforting--it doesn't solve the problem. So we pray like crazy. I have a very strong feeling that if I stay up and rock her all night, she will be ok. And so I do--it is the most difficult night of my life. I was exhausted!!!! She threw up mucous all night, and cried--it was awful. Tim started getting very sick too, and so he slept. Around 7:30 am, Tim woke up feeling even worse. I'm so tired, but Sahara seems to be doing tons better. While she sleeps, I catch a couple hours here and there, as well as nurse Tim. The other family we're traveling with call and let us know they are all very sick--we find out we may all have food poisoning from the restaurant in Long Xuyen. I feel fine (other than being tired). We go out to a local pharmacy (which are everywhere--and you can get almost anything you want, no problem) and get antibiotics for everyone. Sahara's temperature goes down,though she is still throwing up. It is not a fun day, and by nighttime, I'm feeling a little woozy myself. Tim feels a bit better, and by morning we have switched places--me very sick, and him fine, with baby duty. I sleep all day, and Sahara becomes so attached to Tim that by evening she WON'T go to me--I cry. Our first weekend with our daughter--a disaster! Mary has left us all here (sick) and headed back up to Nha Trang to bring the other families down. By Monday morning we all (including the other family we are traveling with) felt much better!

May 20, 1996--Around town, with babies:

We all (us, the other family we are traveling with, and Karen & Haley) go to see a Pagoda, and go to the Ben Thanh Market. We also walk along many side streets in search of a good jewelry store--don't find what we want. We go to a wonderful bakery, and get lots of sweet things--first sweet food since America. It tastes great. Because of the French living in Vietnam for so long, many French food is available and quite good. The bakery is very French. On this excursion, Tim is almost pick pocketed. The guy tries to unzip Tim's fanny belt, but ends up jabbing Tim in the side, and Tim pushes him away. The man then follows us all for several blocks. Hoping for a second chance?

May 21-25, 1996--Waiting for passports and visas:

The next week, Tim, Sahara, and I spend every morning out exploring the streets of Saigon by ourselves. We buy gifts for our family and friends. We stop by a little art shop, and make some new friends. We spend close to an hour and a half looking through all the paintings we can. Such beautiful work. We decide on two--which happen to be painted by the owners brother! We pay $30 per painting, and even though we know that's a lot--we do it anyway. We visit the Rex hotel a few times--it is so beautiful, and has an excellent (if not over-priced) gift shop--we make several purchases. We saw (from the outside) the Saigon Floating Hotel--quite interesting. One thing we did not get to see that we had wanted to was the zoo. We'll go next time. We walked up and down so many streets, we soon began to remember our way around. We were never afraid, the Vietnamese people usually just ignored us. We went out to lunch at a new restaurant everyday, and took the other family we were traveling with out one evening. We truly enjoyed each day, and relaxed the afternoons/evenings (mostly watching old cartoons, tennis or badminton matches, and Remington Steele!) in our hotel room or our friends room. We made one very special friend who worked at our hotel as a chauffeur. I never could remember his name, but we talked about America, Vietnam, and babies. One reason we bonded--he and his wife had been trying to have a baby for 11 years. They are poor, and cannot adopt so easily like we Americans can. He told us how very lucky we were to have such a beautiful, healthy baby--I almost cried. He was such a sweet, gentle man, and always smiled wide when he saw us around the hotel. Before we left, he gave us some pictures he took of his home town that he took just for us.

On Thursday, the 23rd, we went to the Dr. again. Sahara's ear drum had healed itself back up. Dr. Snodgrass kept saying, "It's a miracle--I can't believe it!" Needless to say, we said `thank you' prayers.

On Friday, the other families arrived--we met them all but only got to know one more family slightly. They all had been in Vietnam for five weeks waiting for their babies paperwork, passports, and visas to Bangkok. They were tired, and longing for home. We heard from Travis today that Sahara's and the other family's son's passports and paperwork were complete, and that hopefully we could get the visa on Monday and leave for Bangkok on Tuesday. While we were excited by this news, but felt guilty that ours was so much quicker than the other families.

May 26, 1996--Happy Birthday:

Today was the other family's son's first birthday! Mary got in from Nha Trang at around 7 PM, and we had a huge party. We had homemade cake and ice cream--it was pretty good. The cake was covered in pink frosting and Mary told the other family not to be offended--pink, in Vietnam, is not a girl's color--it's a children's color!

May 27, 1996--Packing to leave:

Tim, the husband of the other family we were traveling with, and Travis head over to the Thai embassy to apply for visas--there is no way we will get them until at least tomorrow afternoon (after our plane to Bangkok has already left). Mary tells us not to worry--so I pack all of our stuff. The anticipation of going home is almost nauseating.

May 28, 1996--Bangkok, Thailand:

Mary makes other plane flight plans for us to fly out in the evening. We have to leave today, in order to get everything done in Bangkok on time or we will miss our flight to the US on Thursday. Re-scheduling these flights can take a couple days--something we do not want. So we have our fingers crossed when we all get into the van and head over to the Thai embassy. The visas are ready--thank goodness, and we rush to the airport. The other family will leave for Bangkok on Wednesday, and meet us there. The airport is a cinch--we take off for Bangkok on Vietnam Airways (pretty nice in our opinion). I cry as we take off. I watch the land disappear, and question if I'm doing the right thing by taking Sahara from Vietnam. I didn't expect to feel so torn (I am already starting to miss magical Vietnam). While I'm crying, Tim keeps telling me, "It's ok, we'll come back."

When we arrive in Bangkok, we get a taxi to our hotel-First Hotel. It is more commercial than our hotel in Vietnam, but not as nice or "homey". We then take a taxi (around two hours to get five miles away-traffic in Bangkok is a joke!) to a hospital for a checkup. We have room service for dinner-it's HORRIBLE!!!! And go to sleep.

May 29, 1996--ODP:

We run some errands for Mary and go to the US Embassy and ODP (orderly departure program), and get all Sahara's paperwork, and her visa to the US. We eat at McDonalds--which tastes better than the McD's at home, and go to a grocery store for some snacks. Back at our hotel, we call my mom. Then the other family come in and we visit with them. It is so hard to say good-bye. We love them all like family now, and we don't know how soon it will be before we can see them again. We get ready for tomorrow, and go to bed.

May 30, 1996--Home again!:

We leave for home! Everything goes well, except when a Thai airport worker/officer who checks us through Customs/Immigration tries to open up Sahara's visa packet (this invalidates it for US use). We panic, and tell him several times he cannot touch this, and he finally hands it back. Sahara is a pretty good traveler. She sleeps most of the time, and when she doesn't Tim watches her. I'm so tired, I sleep most of the way home. We go through Tai Pei again, and then on to Los Angeles. When we get off the plane and start walking towards the baggage claim, Customs/Immigration, a narcotics cop asks Tim if he can put a Marijuana scented washcloth in his pocket-they are training a dog. Tim agrees, and it takes two "walk-throughs" before the dog smells the rag! Tim likes it and thinks it's cool. We get through Customs/Immigration in a snap. They stamped Sahara's paperwork, and tell us her green card is in the mail. We board America West (a horrible airline--do NOT go with them), and arrive in Phoenix at 7:30 PM on May 30, 1996 (though to our bodies it's May 31st). We are greeted by about 40 family members and friends--the tears start to flow. Our journey has come to an end--at least until we go get Sahara a baby brother!

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