The process continues....

We had another very eventful day in Hanoi today! We started this morning by taking Zach to the local SOS clinic to have a doc check out a little rash he has behind his ears, and also because he has been congested and coughing quite a bit. We were very impressed with the facility and the medical staff, and got some medications for his ailments. We are glad we went in, especially because the doctor said that his congestion/cough is now only an upper respiratory infection but if not treated would only get worse. Also, this morning, Chad went with representatives from the other four families in the process with us, and a PLAN representative, to the local immigration office to apply for Zachary's passport. They had originally gone there yesterday, but the office was unexpectedly closed due to some sort of local holiday. So, this morning, it was extremely crowded - but after a couple of hours they were finished and came home. By that time, Alyssa was back from the SOS clinic and Zach had come back to our room from his first play date - with Quan, the son of Lisa and Sean, who live in Medford, MA. Considering how close we live to them, we are hoping they will end up being life-long friends! We spent the rest of the day resting at the hotel, then ventured out in the early evening to the old quarter of Hanoi to have dinner with all the PLAN families currently in Hanoi - both the group of 3 families that are closing out their 3-weeks here, and the 5 families, like us, that have just started. It was a very nice dinner and a rare opportunity for all the babies to be together again since they were previously together at Ba Vi. Tomorrow I think will be our first day without any currenty scheduled appointments, although we are always on-call for our first embassy appointment, which could happen sometime this week. It rained hard tonight for the first time since we have been here, and it looks like it might cool down (to the low 90's) later in the week, which should make it a little easier to trek around the city with Zach. We are looking forward to exploring the city and immersing ourselves in this special culture.