Joyful Noise

Today was the first morning in Guangzhou.  All the families in our travel group are in the same city in the same hotel.  What a welcome sight to come around the corner at the breakfast buffet and see some of the people we had met in Beijing with their new sweethearts.  Broad smiles on tired faces were everywhere.  A few are having tougher times than others, but we're all proud parents. 

Today was the medical exam for all the children.  Pretty chaotic but reasonably quick with our guide telling us go here, go there in a small space.  We weren't the only families there and the place was packed.  What a joyful noise to hear so much crying and chatter.  That means families have been created and kids are in the loving arms of their parents.  It's a quick can you see which way the hand is pointing eye exam, a look in the mouth, listen to the heart type of thing.  All the kids over age 2, I believe, must have a TB test and that's the only bit of tension to the exam because a positive test requires a chest x-ray and if the chest x-ray shows TB you can't get into the US until the child is clear of TB, about 6 or so months later.  I think we'll be okay because it looks fine so far, but we'll go back on Monday and have the test checked.  All children over age 8 must have their blood pressure checked, and apparently we haven't been getting her too stressed out because hers was excellent.  Shouldn't they be checking the parents' blood pressures?

We have had a lot of interaction with Da Qing today.  She allowed Baba to apply sunscreen this morning, and this evening the two of them had a lot of growling and giggling going on.  He scooped her up a little bit and the two of them laughed hard.  More joyful noise.  When they did her TB test this morning, her eyes were wide, and she looked to us to help her out.  Don't get me wrong, but a little fear goes a long way to help with getting closer.  The escalator was a good source of terror the first couple of times, but she's kind of figured it out so I'm losing that as an opportunity to hold her hand.

Tomorrow we are going to a park at 10 a.m.  The families that have been in Guangzhou the whole trip have already been there and word on the street is you don't want to go on the kid-sized roller coaster.  No warning needed here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's Plane to See

I'm sitting in a Starbucks in the bottom of the hotel in Guangzhou.  Put the other two down for the night, grabbed the room key and here I am.  It's quite international in this small space, and it feels good.  I can get out and about with my faced washed, teeth brushed and just shy of wearing my pajamas, since it's 10:30 at night, and no one is staring at me.  Sweet relief.  I loved the roadtrips our guide took us on when we were in Hefei, but we were ready to move on from the city.  The staff in the hotel restaurant were so nice to us because they saw so much of us that I hated to leave them behind.  Took pictures of them and with them on our camera, and one of them even brought her camera on our last night so she could take pictures with us.  I never shed a tear, but this is the closest I've ever come to doing so over a hotel employee.

We left Hefei this afternoon missing yesterday's typhoonish weather here in Guangzhou and getting here with no problem.  Da Qing took it all in stride, sort of.  Imagine this, she flew in a plane today.  What is a plane ride to someone who has probably never even seen a plane in the sky?   She was fine as we taxied to the runway, but when the plane started to lift off, her eyes were wide, and she looked at me to explain what was happening.  Baba was sitting in the middle seat, and she was frightened enough that she allowed him to put his hand on top of hers.  That was huge for the three minutes it lasted.  She's having a bit of a hard time having a man in her life, even having a new woman in her life.  We remind ourselves that she's really only five days old right now, trapped in a big body with an infant's comprehension of all the changes.  Sure, everyone wants a mom and dad, but some of us have to learn what that means.  She's like a toddler in her discoveries, but she's a lot taller, faster, smarter, etc., and it's hard to stay ahead of her.  We are building brain neurons like crazy.  Here in Guangzhou they speak Cantonese not Mandarin so we will have a bit more of a taste of our life without a common language.  It's good practice for when we get home.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the plane ride, but I left the camera up in the room and forgot to load the pictures onto the computer before heading down here.  I'll give you a few pictures from a different day to keep you interested and coming back for more.  Tomorrow she has her medical exam and then we'll shop around Shamian Island.  We are expecting a visitor from the (north)east as well, so you'll want to check back for news on that.  Da Qing has a jie jie.

 

Things Are Going Swimmingly

How cute is she?  I know one of the shots is blurry, but our little tadpole moves quickly, and that's what you have to accept.  Of course, she wants nothing to do with the swimming pool, but the goggles work great for her in the hotel dining room, and we like them, too.

Fitness Fanatic Family

Is this a match made in heaven, or what?  This is not a posed picture.  The girl loves to work out! 

I tried to post this last night, but it wouldn't connect, and I just had to get to bed.  Sorry about the wait for more.  We had clean laundry delivered yesterday afternoon by Peter.  We took our laundry, paid him, said thank you and bye then went downstairs to meet our guide and the driver for a roadtrip.  There was Peter.  From laundry guy to driver in a matter of 18 floors.  Seems like a nice guy, and he did get us safely to and from our destination so that speaks volumes.  Turns out we never needed the seatbelts that weren't in the van anyway. 

Today Maryn's passport will be delivered to our room, and we must pack for our trip to Guangzhou this afternoon.  The US consulate is in Guangzhou and there we will begin to process the paperwork and do the steps necessary for her immigration.  All of the 19 families in our travel group will be in Guangzhou today.  Some of those families we met in Beijing and others have spent the entire time in Guangzhou because their children were in the Guangdong Province.  One of those families has adopted an 8 year old so we are interested to see if there will be any interaction between them or will they want to stay close to their families.  People in Guangzhou are very familiar with foreigners and adoptive families so we should be able to roam more freely with a greater opportunity for playtime.  We'll see if she goes for it.  She just might want to stay in the gym.

Nonfiction Bestseller

No namebrand cafe in the local bookstore, but just down the street is a lovely, ancient teahouse selling talls, ventis and grandes.  Did I get that in the right order?

The Great Wallgreens

There's one on every corner.  Here, too.  Half Chinese medicine, half western style.

San He Tour

Today our guide took us to the town of San He, which means three rivers.  It is an ancient town about one hour from Hefei.  It was extraordinary.  We loved it.  I think we went in a big loop, but, when we came back to where we started, I told Jane she could take us the exact same way again, and I wouldn't know it because I would see something new to look at.  It was exactly the kind of town you would want to see if you were to take a trip to China.  The local residents seemed a little more used to tourists because it is an ancient town that draws Chinese tourists from Hefei.  They were interested in us, but we weren't the same sort of attraction that we are on the streets of Hefei, a city of 3 million people, all of them staring at us.  Our daughter, who goes by the nickname of Da Qing, prefers Jane when Jane is with us, and we understand that.  It was better for her to hold Jane's hand when we toured around with her today because people see us with her and talk about her being an adopted child in front of her and we can appreciate how difficult that is for her.  They assume she was adopted as a baby and we have brought her back to see her country.  With that in mind, they are impressed that she still speaks Chinese, although I think the only way they know that is they see her turn away when they speak to her about being adopted.  When someone asked Jane if Da Qing was her daughter, she kindly said yes. 

 

I wish so much that all of you could have been with us today so you could have experienced it with us.  I'm replaying it all in my mind because I don't want to forget any of it.  Of course, I can use my mind that way right now because our 8 year old darling is napping so I am free to be in my own thoughts.  She is opening up more each day, and getting more lively, but she is used to a routine of napping after lunch and going to bed at 9 p.m., and so far she has not tested those routines.  She hasn't been speaking when we leave our room, but today at lunch, she was talking a little bit in the hotel restaurant.  We don't understand each other, but according to the offical rules of diplomacy and parenthood, we're interacting, and it shows she is opening up.  When we get back to the room, she is giggly and happy, especially when turning the bathroom light on and off.  Let me rephrase that because just saying on and off doesn't paint an adequate picture.   It's really more like onoffonoffonoffonoffonoff.  Well, you get what I mean, but it is simply delightful to her and we are delighted she's delighted.

 

I will try to post a few more pictures of our trip today after this.  The internet connection is a little slow, and I'm not sure how much time I have until our live wire comes to.  Right now I've got to get to the window.  We're on the 18th floor and way down below at a construction site (they're everywhere in China) there are some workers bathing against one of the fences screening the view from the street level - but not from those of us on the 18th floor.  And me with no binoculars!