Lilah Meets Uncle Ben

It's almost like I'm home...

Man, we both look so young!

I just went through my photos and found the closest picture of Zev that matches up with Lilah. Don't they look alike?

Hayden Update II

This is good news:

Aussie lost in Laos jungle 'improving'

August 22, 2008 - 4:34PM

An Australian man who was lost in a Laotian jungle for 11 days without food is having his body re-built "one organ at a time", his father said today.

Queensland-based Stan Adcock said he was hopeful his 40-year-old son Hayden would make a full recovery after being rescued from a remote jungle location in central Laos and evacuated to Thailand.

"He's still in a critical conditon of course, he's not out of the woods yet, but they're working on it and they feel there will be a total recovery - well they're hoping so," Mr Adcock said.

"I'm hoping that means not only will he survive but they'll have all of his bodily functions restored, he won't be in a wheelchair or anything."

Hayden Adcock, who was born in Victoria and grew up on Queensland's Sunshine Coast, went missing after setting out on a short walk to a waterfall in a national park in Khammouane province on July 31.

The Australian embassy in Vientiane was notified he was missing on August 8 and two staff immediately travelled to the area to help coordinate search efforts.

However, heavy rain and flooding hampered efforts on the ground and it was not until a helicopter search was conducted two days later that he was found and evacuated to Bangkok.

Mr Adcock said his Hong Kong-based nephew arrived in Thailand yesterday and held the telephone to Hayden's ear so he could talk.

"They'd just taken the tube out of his throat and he's still got an oxygen mask on and they put the phone to his ear and he was able to try and talk to me," he said.

"I couldn't understand a word he said of course because the tube in the voice box had upset his throat but that was the most thrilling piece of news we'd had."

Mr Adcock said it was still early days for his son but the family was feeling positive.

"I'm thrilled that Hayden has got such a fighting spirit and that gives me a lot of confidence," he said.

"If he'd dropped his bundle or something like that that would have been hard to bear."

Hayden Adcock's mother will arrive in Bangkok tomorrow, Mr Adcock said.

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I also found a news story on him: http://video.yahoo.com/watch/3349231/9393172

You know he's going to end up selling his story rights for millions. I hope he lets me write his screenplay.

She's a GIRL!!!

...which we knew. What we didn't know is that she's GORGEOUS!!!

Lilah Rose August, 8 lbs 3 oz, 20 inches, was born by c-section safe and sound early this morning Vietnam Time.

Congratulations Zev and Kathy!!!


I know what you're all thinking: She looks just like her Aunt. I agree, she's got Huyen's cheeks.


Uncle Ben

The Countdown Is On...

(PICTURE: Kathy, ready to pop!)

...Nope, not for when I'm thrown out of Vietnam. I'm sure that's imminent.

The countdown is on for when I'll be an uncle!!! Zev and Kathy have gone to the hosptial. The doctors will be hooking Kathy up to an IV to induce her around 5-5:30 am.

Lilah! Lilah! Lilah!

Note for the people of the future who read this blog: tailgating should become a part of giving birth. How awesome would it be to have all your friends in the parking lot, BBQing, drinking beer and chanting your name. Okay, yeah, I'm sad I'll be missing Jets games this year.

Hayden Update

Here's the latest on Hayden. He's still in critical condition but improving:

Jungle tourist critical: father

(PICTURE: Hayden Adcock ... close to death when found.)

Alex Tibbitts
August 21, 2008 - 3:36PM

THE father of the Australian tourist who was lost in the jungle for 11 days in flood-ravaged Laos has no idea how his son survived.

"It's a good question," Stan Adcock said. "He was in pouring rain and he was covered in scratches and bruises and goodness knows what. His stomach was empty, the doctor said, so he hadn't been eating and he was pretty close to death when they found him.

"He was conscious but away with the fairies. He wasn't able to make a great deal of sense."

Mr Adcock, who lost his other son in a motor accident at age 16, is unable to find out much more because his son is still in intensive care in Bangkok General Hospital after being found on August 10.

Hayden Adcock, 40, set off for a short walk to the Tad Namsanam waterfall in the province of Khammouane on July 31.

"He's a bushwalker, he just loves that type of thing," Mr Adcock said.

"He just went out for a two-hour walk to a waterfall in the jungle and there was a second waterfall and he decided to go to that as well.

"Then the downpour of rain just washed away all the walk tracks so he became hopelessly lost.

"When he didn't return to his lodgings they went searching for him, a ground search, but that was at the wrong waterfall."

The Australian ambassador to Laos, Michele Forster, said the embassy was not told of Mr Adcock's disappearance until August 8 and sent two officials to the area. "At the time, it was raining in the village, quite cold and the conditions were very difficult," Dr Forster said. "The village community and local government had done a lot to try to find him but they had been unable to locate him."

After two days, the embassy and the Red Cross organised a helicopter search.

Mr Adcock was found at the other waterfall but the helicopter was unable to land.

It took villagers almost four hours to carry him out on a stretcher, cutting through the thick jungle.

Mr Adcock, who has worked around Australia and the world, had taken 12 months off from his job with the Tax Office to teach English in Vietnam before heading to Laos.

His father has managed to speak to him once since his rescue. "He just said it took them three hours to get where he was and that's all they'd allow him to say," he said.

Doctors took Mr Adcock off a ventilator yesterday.

"He's in critical condition but there has been slight improvement," his father said.

"Now and again he has to have a special operation. Yesterday he had an operation for bleeding in the stomach."

Dr Forster said the embassy planned to support a small tourist office with guides to lead treks to the waterfall and the surrounding jungle.

"We will be looking at different ways to support the community," Dr Forster said. "We feel deep gratitude to the local villagers and authorities that assisted us."

Traditional Values and Morals

Okay, this is amazing. Perhaps you won't find this as funny as I do but I just can't get over what I'm about to tell you. So as you know, Ryan and I are being evicted from our house. The reason given to us is that our girlfriends -- really just Huyen -- slept over. Our real estate agent told us that Binh and Minh, the landlords, are very "traditional." I took this to mean that they have traditional values and morals. Fine, whatever.

So today Ryan and I signed our lease on our new house. When paying our deposit the real estate agent said to us, "If any of the neighbors ask you how much you pay, tell them you live here for free. The landlord doesn't pay taxes. They just pay the police." Immediately something clicked in my mind and I asked, "Did Binh and Minh pay taxes?" The real estate agent looked at me and laughed, "No. Just the police."

For those of you who aren't finding this as funny as I do, let me remind you of something. Minh, my landlord, is one of the heads of Vietnam. He works directly for the Prime Minister and travels to other countries for him. His wife told me he's in charge of, "Education, Arms, and a few other things." So, basically the Secretary of State of Vietnam IS NOT PAYING TAXES ON HIS RENTAL PROPERTY. And this is just one of their properties. But that's not the point. The point is, just to be repetitive, THE SECRETARY OF STATE OF VIETNAM IS NOT PAYING TAXES ON HIS RENTAL PROPERTY.

Can you imagine if this happened in the US? Wait, things like it do but the politicians generally resign or withdraw from the posts they are nominated to (i.e Bernard Kerik and Bobby Ray Inman come to mind over illegal housekeepers/taxes, etc.).

One of the problems with living in a communist country is that they control the papers/news. If I had a story like this in the states it would be the front cover of the New York Times tomorrow. Here, well, it just ain't making the papers...and I'm pretty sure if I tried my Visa would mysteriously not be renewed next month.

In conclusion, traditional values apparently means no sleepovers...but tax fraud is a-okay.

A Walk In The Woods

On June 27th I went to Finnegan's Irish Pub for a farewell party to my friend and fellow teacher Hayden. Hayden is one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. He's one of those people who is always smiling and has nothing but good things to say about people/things/life. When I first started teaching Hayden was my go-to guy for any questions I had and he was always more than willing to lend a helping hand.

Here's a picture from Hayden's party that I took of Chi, one of my favorite Language Link employees, and her friend (Welcome to the blog, Chi!).

(PICTURE: Chi on the left. Her friend who owes me two beers for beating her in Connect Four on the right)

So why am I posting a picture of Chi here instead of one of Hayden. Well two reasons:

1. I didn't take any pictures of Hayden that night.

2. Chi comes into play right here:

A week ago when I walked into school Chi came up to me and said, "Ben did you hear about Hayden." "No," I replied . The last I had heard about Hayden he was headed to Laos before going home to Australia. Chi then let me know what it was that I needed to hear: "Hayden got lost in the woods in Laos. They found him. He's in the hospital." "What? Lost in the woods? Is he okay?" Chi just looked at me and said, "That's all we know."

Over the past week I've asked quite a few people whether they had an update on Hayden. Nobody did. The only other information I found out was that Garth, one of the other Language Link teachers, had been in Laos and was supposed to have a drink with Hayden. Hayden never showed up for the drink...and well, Garth heard about Hayden being lost the same time I did... BACK IN HANOI.

So tonight I just got an email from Jessica with the subject line: "I think this is Hayden." Here's the article that a link took me to:

Aussie survives 11 days in Laos jungle

August 19, 2008 - 6:23PM An Australian man missing for 11 days in the jungle of Khammuan province has been found alive, but is in a critical condition.

The Vientiane Times has reported that the middle-aged man was transported to Bangkok for treatment, but remains critically ill.

Australian Ambassador to Laos, Dr Michele Forster, told that the man was attempting to walk to the well-known Tadsanam waterfall in Hinboun district.

He left on the afternoon of July 31, but the Australian embassy was not notified he was missing until August 8.

On Sunday, the embassy and the Red Cross organised a helicopter search and located the man at a different waterfall in the district.

"At the time, it was raining in the village, quite cold and the conditions were every difficult," Dr Forster said.

"The village community and local government had done a lot to try to find him but they had been unable to locate him."

The helicopter could not land in the jungle and the man had to be carried out over land.

It took villagers almost four hours to transport the man on a stretcher, cutting their way through the jungle.

"When they found him his condition wasn't good. He was very weak and sick and obviously cold because he had been exposed to the cool weather over the last few days," Dr Forster said.

The man was brought back to the local village and transported to Vientiane by helicopter, before being taken by ambulance to a hospital in Undon Thani, Thailand, and then later transported to Bangkok.

Australian Embassy Second Secretary, Emily Russell, said the area contained thick jungle and it was easy to become lost. She said rising water may have covered the main track in the area, causing the man to lose his way.

Khammuan Tourism Department director, Thaiyaphone Singthong, said the waterfall was a beautiful and well-known site which attracted a lot of visitors, including foreign tourists.

Mr Thaiyaphone said he thought the man may have wanted to go upstream from Tadsanam waterfall, but was warned against doing this.

Dr Forster said the embassy planned to support a small tourist development office with guides to lead treks to the waterfall and the surrounding jungle.

"We will be looking at different ways to support the community, particularly the office, in terms of possibly putting up signs or providing training to the local guides to thank them for all their help," Dr Forster said.

"We feel deep gratitude to the local villagers and authorities that assisted us."

GET BETTER SOON, HAYDEN!!!