I have finally gotten back to Hanoi with the little miss – and what a fun plane trip that was (not). At least Vietnam is the most baby friendly country in the world… while we were waiting for our bags people were coming up and literally kissing Maya’s feet. As though I had baby Jesus in my arms. Don’t you love Asia?
The chi’s were thrilled to see her as well, showering her with adoration, “so fair, so beautiful”. Though they were clearly alarmed by her lack of attire; in the middle of summer with just a nappy, “baby cold, baby get sick”. And Chi Hang said that if she gets sick now, she will be sickly all her life. I think that’s what she meant. I waved away their protests and repeated “she’s fine” but they were unconvinced. Regardless, I popped her in their arms and went off to have a shower. When I came out they had her bundled up to her neck in a wrap and more feet-kissing abounded.
Later I put her down for a nap and had to push them out of the room and close the door. Cause when I left it open, they were both in there peering and cooing and Maya was wide awake again. Leaving her to cry for a bit was also a faux pas. Chi Hang came and pleaded with me to let her hold and soothe Maya. I’m sure babies are never left to cry in Vietnam. In fact, I doubt they are on their own for any waking (or sleeping) period at all. Always held, rocked, cuddled by various relations and friends. Actually you never see any Vietnamese babies Maya’s age outside as they’re traditionally kept at home until they’re at least three months old because of a fear of dirty streets and germs. Hmm, well Vietnamese streets don’t get any cleaner after that point…
It is heatwave summer here and no afternoon storms to cool things down as yet so we’ve been mostly indoors. I ventured out a couple of times with Maya in the baby carrier and she promptly falls asleep (or passes out from the heat). And everywhere we go people are excited to see her. It strikes me that friends’ babies and children here are confident, happy little people, I think because they’ve been held and played with by so many different people. Kids back home are often very shy because their worlds are considerably smaller and babies aren’t welcome everywhere. So it’s nice.
