The Stroller Connoisseur

Today I REALLY thought about skipping my work out! I think it was a mixture of the end of the week tiredness and soreness, but alas off we went (although Khaly and I did skip out of class a little earlier than usual).

When I stopped at my fruit man, he either ripped me off or can’t do math (sadly I think it’s the latter) but I didn’t know how to explain it to him. After doing the math in my head I realized we were only talking about 10 cents, so I moved on!

I tried to skype Emily, but unfortunately it wasn’t working! Those are the times I really miss wireless because it is SO nice to be able to chat with someone (hear their voice and see their face) before heading off for the day!

Khaly and I left a little early because we were on a mission! Strollers! When I had visited Jemma’s orphanage I was happy to see they had strollers they used to bring the children outside and get some fresh air. When we were leaving our orphanage yesterday our bus passed by a few street shops with strollers! So I told Khaly about my idea to buy 2 strollers for our kids and then we could take them for walks. She loved it and for the rest of the ride home we had our eyes peeled (no such luck!). We decided today when we saw them we would stop!

We each sat on a side of the bus and took action. I THOUGHT I saw where it was but there were so many trucks and cars in front I didn’t actually see the strollers. I told this to Khaly and we continued to try and figure out what to do as the bus rolled on. Finally I said let’s just get off, BUT you still have to be my friend if I am wrong (it wasn’t THAT far of a walk..maybe 5 minutes). As we got closer I knew we were in the right spot so I was thankful I would still have Khaly’s friendship!

There were about 3 or 4 shops so we started looking. Then we thought..shoot..what do we look for in a stroller? So we decided to get an idea about price. We had talked it over beforehand and decided we would be willing to spend up to 400,000VND (less than $25) each. The first strollers we looked at were about double that..but we didn’t need anything too fancy. We found smaller fold up ones which were nice because they still had a bar across the front (which some of the children need so they don’t flop over)! I think we had settled on one place..so we tested the strollers. I am not an expert on strollers, but I learn quickly. We tried pushing it to check out the wheels. We tried buckling and unbuckling. We put my backpack in as a “child”. We decided we did not like the wheels (they buckled a lot..not ok for our kids) and the strap didn’t work. Although the woman was kind enough to tell us it did work she just couldn’t get it. Riiiiiiight. Not only were we not satisfied with the quality, we couldn’t get the price we wanted, so off we went!

Eventually we ended up at the middle store, with a stroller we really liked. And the problem was..they knew we liked it. Khaly started bargaining and right away I could TELL this woman was not budging. It had nice wheels, a nice strap..all the things we were looking for. It was priced at 380,000VND which was under our top number, but it’s always about pride. I had to laugh because I remember the first day I had Khaly bargain for me..and she was like oh no they won’t go lower just buy it! But I have turned her into a bargaining guru! She went at it and went at it and went at it! We left, came back and did it all over again. It became apparent this lady was not budging and we wanted them. I told Khaly to pretend it was priced at 450,000VND and we got it down to 380,000VND because if that really was the case we would have been happy (isn’t perspective a funny thing?) She was so funny though and was STILL not happy the lady wasn’t agreeing on anything. We both agreed that the cause was well worth our pride and we left the proud owners of two strollers. Next on the list..babies! (Just kidding Mom and Dad)

I was so excited to get to the orphanage. I didn’t feed Cho con (some other woman snatched him..the nerve) but it was fine and actually maybe a nice little break. The girl I fed normally NEVER eats and is always crying but today she was GREAT so I was happy! Then, it was game time baby!

I first went to get Thuong to show him his new kicks. I wish I could describe the way I felt when I saw how happy he was. And I wish pictures could convey his emotion. But neither will do. You will just have to take my word that his smile and excitement was MORE than pictures or words can tell. I truly wish all of you could have been there to see it. The shoes were a little big but I figured he could grow into them. So then we also picked up two little ones (the girl I fed today and the boy Khaly feeds), put them in the strollers, and the 5 of us were off.

Again, I wish you could have seen them. Thuong was ALL smiles and couldn’t get his legs to move as fast as he wanted to go. I could tell that in his heart he was running! The little girl I had fed was LAUGHING her head off..she thought it was great. She especially loved when the stroller hit bumps! Thuong’s shoes slipped off a little bit but we easily put them back on and he just loved them. We took them to a street vendor to get sugar cane, a sweet drink. The little ones didn’t really like it, but Thuong did. Unfortunately, they had just had lunch so they didn’t have much. It was so funny because my little girl continued laughing her head off, but Khaly’s boy kept pointing to go back in. At one point he was adorable and was putting his arms out for Khaly because the noise was too much for him (I don’t blame him..the noise is too much for me!!!)

We took them back and I had Thuong push the stroller, which I think he loved. Although, maybe he went a little too fast because he tripped and scraped up his knees..but he is a tough guy and didn’t cry.

Since today was Khaly’s last day, one of the workers was SO sweet and gave us all cards. Mine said season greetings and had braille on the inside! Ha! She also gave us scarves (I actually REALLY like mine) which was so unnecessary and sweet. I think they really like us because we hang out with them more..and most importantly because they can talk to Khaly.

Khaly and I were both dying for a nap (we had one of those…. we are very hot and overtired headache) but unfortunately we came back to no power! I know we are SO spoiled with AC..and I could have rested without it..but since I am on the 4th floor and there was NO power (which meant no fan) the air was thick and heavy. Not ok when you are sweating while lying in your bed!

So we went out in search of some internet (still uploading the pictures..I know I know) and then by the time I got back we had AC! Yay! I was able to rest for a bit which was VERY well needed and then a HUGE group of us went out to dinner! It was everyone I had met while being here (about 15 of us) and it was just SO nice to be able to enjoy time together.

Hugs and kisses from the stroller specialist.