Finally arrived in Hanoi after 16 hours of flight time. My sleep is non-existant while I fly anywhere. I knew that before I started so nothing surprised me.
Arrived in Hanoi, collected our luggage, went through customs and immigration with ease. I tried speaking with the customs agent, but he was having nothing to do with me and my banter. I am pretty observant so I took his cue and kept quiet.
Dr. Vy met Jim and I (Jim is a Eugene, OR RN that I travelled with) at the airport and brought us to our hotel. Finally, a shower and a bed. Awww, all cozied in to sleep. Ok, why is it that it took another 3 hours before I could fall asleep? A cruel joke and I'm not laughing.
Once I did sleep, it was one of the best moments of the night. I woke, showered and met Jim for breakfast on the rooftop of the hotel: french toast with honey, banana milkshake and coffee with sweet cream. Delicious.
We then ventured out to the store to pick up some essentials for my stay: chocolate, diet coke and my absolute favorite while in Hanoi; vinamilk yogurt. I could eat the yogurt by a caseful. We strolled the area, talk with a wonderful Australian tourist that we met, and did some window shopping. Jim has been here many times and knows many locals in Hanoi. He took me to a shop where you can get pearls and jade. I am not usually a jade person, but I did learn that jade isn't only green. There was a beautiful jade bracelet swirled with yellows, browns, oranges and splashes of red. I must have it! I believe it will be mine before I leave here!
The plan for today is that we are going to the clinic with our team and the Vietnamese team. We will meet the patients and make the surgery schedule for the week. Dinner will be somewhere tonight but I plan on avoiding the snake head fish (carp) if I see it on the menu.
My room is nice and quiet but I do look out on a neighbors patio and hanging laundry. It just adds to the flavor of urban life, right? I will post pictures later, as I can. A quick lay down before it all begins.
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