This morning we had to take the kids over to the medical clinic to have their medical examination and vaccinations needed before they can enter the US.  In addition, they have to have a TB test that must be read by early Tuesday morning before we go to our meeting with the US Consulate that same day in order to get a VISA. 

Now, I am not going to say that our guide, Connie, is pushy.  BUT, I can say that it is nice to have a guide that basically walks you to the front of the line everywhere at the clinic!  It was VERY busy there as all the families that are here this weekend were trying to get the same stuff done that we were.  I would say that we were NOT the first ones there, but we were pretty close to the first ones out!  Connie took our paperwork and ran us through every station quickly.  I feel that we may well have been put ahead of other people, but with whirling dervish Caleb in tow, we were not about to argue with her!  She did make us stand in line a few times … very few!

I mentioned the other day about the construction.  They were paving the street in front of our hotel until about 10:30 last night.  That is nothing compared to the construction noise we had to deal with in Hanoi with Mia.  They worked until 12:00 or 1:00AM there. 

So much of the work here is done by hand.  They have very few power tools.  It is amazing to watch people working away with a hammer or an axe to break up concrete when a jackhammer could do it in about 1/100th of the time!

That last picture almost cost me the family.  I loved the character of this building so I let the group get ahead of me while I tried to find the best angle for this picture.  Of coarse, when I was done they had slipped into a side door somewhere and I couldn’t find them!  If Clayton, the father from the other family, had not seen me walking by I would probably still be wondering the island!

I can tell you that this medical clinic was SOOO much nicer than the one we visited in Vietnam.  If you go to Mia’s blog (www.xanga.com/journeytomia) you can see that it was kind of a pit!  This place was nice and clean and everyone (except maybe the Malaysian doctor that takes you money) was very nice!

Caleb was told what was in store for him and Brittany had to do a little comforting.  Thank goodness she is here!

Connie working out our quick tour through the medical center!

The entire reason why we are here ….

The meeting of the Nintendo Anonymous members – China Branch.

Kelly had to hand over Caleb’s immunization records.

Then, Caleb had to have his temperature read and his height measured.

Then it was off to get his shots.  It looks like a scene from the Green Mile!

Then, we took Caleb over to get his medical exam.

After that, the ENT exam…

… and finally the visual exam.

We went back to the hotel and Kelly worked with Connie on all the paperwork needed for the Consulate.  Brittany went and played with her new friends and Taylor and I took Caleb back to the room to get him feed.  Now, I guess it is off to more shopping????

Two big credits to Taylor today.  First, she showed me the joy of peanut butter on Oreo’s.  That is some good stuff.  If you have tried it, you should.

Second, she rigged up a clothes dryer in our bathroom.  She took two hair dryers and set them on each side of the bathroom, aimed to shoot a hot cross breeze through the wet clothes we had hand washed in the sink.  She was trying to figure out a way to get a third hair dryer in the mix, but I was amazed that the electrical circuit could handle the two!  I think a third would have shut the entire room down!  Nice job, Tay!

Tomorrow we go on a safari!  Yay!

Cameron