Alone in Saigon

Some of the foods that I have been eating since I've been here:
Banana chips, pineapple chips, and bitter gourd chips. The gourd chips would be good if they peeled the gourds before they dried them. But they didn't and the peels are quite bitter, hence the name.
My mother likes these sweet rice cakes, but they have a strange aftertaste to me.
Mainly I survive on crackers, they're like our saltines without the salt.
There is a French bakery just down the street. We get bread and cakes there that are really good.
And there is peanut butter of a sort. I don't care for it much when I am home but it is something I'm familiar with and I know I can make a sandwich that will be somewhat nutricious.

Yesterday I said goodbye to the other two families adopting through AII, today I took my mother to the bus stop to catch a ride out to the nunnery in Thu Duc and from there she rode with two of the nuns to their other nunnery near Da Lat. She'll be there at least a couple of days, so I'm alone now in the city.

Before they left the Superior of the nunnery, Sister Agnes, called the orphanage where Henry is. She confirmed that all is going well and that in a week or possibly two I would get him. She said I could visit him, but I would rather go with one of the nuns than with anyone else so I guess I'll wait until they get back from the place in the high country.

Even then I'm not sure I want to visit him when I can't take him with me. I'm not sure if that would be a good thing or if it would add to the stress. I'm not sure how difficult it would be to get there, but on the map it looks like it is just past the nunnery in Thu Duc (a sort of suburb of Saigon) so it should be possible for one of the nuns to go with us.

So I just spent the day resting, watching French cartoons such as "La Princesse du Nil" and "Les aventures fantastique du Commandant Cousteau" on Tivi5--I didn't know TV5 had a children's station. I can just get the regular station at home. And I've been reading up and trying to do some work on my dissertation--not sure how that will go after I get Henry so it's best to do what I can now.

I've looked over the three guide books I have to see what to do. There's not much left I want to see in Saigon. I do want to go back to Reunification Palace. I saw it on a day tour and I didn't get to stay as long as I wanted. I mainly just saw the first floor, some of the second floor, a bit of the third floor, and I didn't go at all to the basement or the roof. I also want to go to the Notre Dame cathedral when it's open (I've been three times but it's always locked). It's open early in the morning so maybe I can get there tomorrow.

But for now it's just after 7 at night and it's pouring down rain. Hopefully tomorrow will be dry and I can have a day of walking around the city.