Update from China

Ni Hao from China,

Okay, I know I owe a few explanations (i.e. why I've been in China for almost a week and have only posted one picture). First of all, there was a minor picture crisis when I posted on Wednesday. I am writing from the business center at our hotel. All of the instructions for downloading pictures are in Chinese, so I was at the mercy of the hotel staff. The lady who "helped" me took the card out of my digital camera and inserted it into the computer. All of the pictures were there, which is how I was able to post the one. The mistake I made was not saving them to a disk. Our bus was about to leave and I was in a hurry, so the computer lady removed the card for me. When I put the card back in my camera, it was completely disfunctional. Somehow the card was reformated and all of my pictures from Alexandra's adoption day are permanently gone! What's worse is I can't use the card to take more pictures. I have another card, but it only holds 15 pictures and it is already full. I am now relying on a film camera. Anyway, I have no pictures to share at this time (I don't trust the computers here). I will try to post more from Guangzhou. This time I won't let them touch my card!

Backing up a little, I will try to describe our trip thus far. When we arrived in Beijing we were off to a rocky start. As soon as we deplaned and went through customs, we were approached by a guy who said he was a cab driver- he showed us his business card. Now getting to the hotel in Beijing was the one weak spot in this whole trip, as we were not to meet our adoption agency's facilitators until we arrived in Nanchang. Tired from the long journey, we followed this guy to his cab, who said he knew the way to the Sino Swiss hotel. Things started out fine, but suddenly he started screeching around corners and accelerating through red lights. He then turned down this road which brought us to a very run down and poor area of the city. Suddenly we were on a one way street, which was crammed with bikes, carts, peds, other cars driving the wrong way- you name it. We became very scared and we were convinced this guy was going to bring us to some back alley and rob us. The most uncomfortable part of this trip is that our orphanage donation must be given in cash, so we were carrying quite a large sum in our pockets. Slowly we pressed through this neighborhood and John was trying to get the cab driver to take us back to the airport. Surely the hotel could not possibly be in this part of town! The driver could hear our panic, but we could not communicate whatsoever. Finally, we entered a market area. We calmed down when we saw women with babies buying oranges. Eventually, we made it to the hotel. I cannot tell you the relief we felt. We were SO glad we didn't have Aaron and Joe with us! At the hotel we learned that there is a free shuttle that goes from the hotel to the airport (okay, we're idiots). We also learned that going through the slum section is NOT the most direct route from the airport to the hotel! We were very happy to get out of Beijing. We happily flew to Nanchang the next day.

Our Beijing cab ride was not the only crazy driving experience we've had in China. I'm telling you, these people drive like lunatics! The road rules are similar to the U.S., but none of it is in enforced. They pass on double parallel lined roads on the left while going uphill! At night, some people don't even turn on their headlights. They wait until they see the approaching car and then flash their lights at the last second to let them know of their presence. The rest of our travel so far has been by bus. The only comfort we have is the fact that the bus is bigger than anything else on the road. Fortunately we are just about done with our travel by vehicle. Thank God the airline pilots here don't fly like the people drive!

When we arrived in Nanchang we were met at the airport by our agency's facilitators. They have been great. It really is a comfort to always have them with us. We were taken to the Gloria Plaza hotel in Nanchang. It is a very nice hotel (although the beds are hard as rocks- it's like sleeping on a table) and there are many other adoptive families here. The food is delicious. We have a continental breakfast every morning and they serve American, as well as Chinese food. I must say, I am surprised that so far, all of my meals have been served with a fork- I have yet to use chopsticks. After breakfast on Tuesday morning we were taken to the Provincial Affairs office to get our babies. I won't go into too much more detail here, since I described it some in the last post. Basically, we were interviewed briefly, we signed some papers, offered a gift to the government staff, and were on our way. We spent the rest of the day getting to know Alexandra. A nurse who is traveling with us came and checked her out. She is in great health, other than a chest cold. Per recommendation of Min Hua (our nurse), we started her on antibiotics yesterday.

On Wednesday, we went shopping in Ba Yi square in Nanchang. Ba Yi means August first, which is the day the red army came through Nanchang on the Long March north (1927). It is basically a nice city center with a common area and lots of shopping. Most of us went to WalMart to buy diapers and formula. WalMart itself was very interesting. I must say, I've never seen dead smoked chickens suspended from the ceiling in a WalMart before. But there's a first time for everything. We were stared at and approached by a lot of people, especially beggers. One lady who was anxious to practice her English wanted a complete interview as to why on earth we would want to take home a Chinese baby. I think that many of them are concerned and wonder if we really do love these children as our own. Our cultures being so incredibly different, and with a language barrier, I found it hard to explain to her.

Yesterday was an incredible day (although scary, because we took a 3 hour bus ride). We drove to Nanfeng, Alexandra's birth town, and visited the orphange. The drive itself was so very interesting. Beautiful countryside- all of it farm land. We really got a peek at rural China. Farmers were plowing their fields with ox, and women were harvesting by hand. Women and children were doing their laundry by hand at the river next to their water buffulo, who was taking a drink.

Nanfeng is a relatively large city with orange stands absolutely everywhere. Nanfeng is known as the orange capital of China. When we arrived at the orphange we felt like a rock band on a tour bus. People from all over town came to see the white people with the Chinese babies. We are truly foreign and interesting to them. They flocked around our bus and greeted us with smiles. Most of them were children who live in the area. The orphanage was something to see. Not exactly clean, but acceptable by the standards expected of a poor town. There were not many children in the orphanage. Only a handful of babies live there, the rest of them are in foster care. Since it is a welfare institute, there were also some elderly people who lived there. The babies were wrapped head to toe in very warm clothing. It didn't seem that the building had heat. There were some cribs, a wash room and a kindergarden room where some of the older kids are taught.

After our tour, the orphanage director treated us to lunch. We had an enormous and delicious Chinese meal. Allie ate some steamed egg and fried rice and enjoyed banging her chopsticks on the table. We tried a little of everthing and we were not disappointed.

The best part of yesterday's excursion was learning that Alexandra was raised alongside one of the other children traveling with us in the same foster family. This child's name is Lena and she is about the same age as Allie. We met her new adoptive parents in Beijing (who also had a terrifying cab experience). They are from upstate New York and are very nice. I'm sure we will have many more future visits with each other.

Today we are going to pick up Allie's Chinese passport. We need it to do further traveling in China and to enter the U.S. We leave for Guangzhou on Monday to secure her U.S. visa, so we can bring her back to the states. As soon as she enters the U.S. she will become a U.S. citizen and her Chinese citizenship will be relinquished.

This morning we walked around the Nanchang marketplace. It is like walking through an outdoor mall in the 1980's. Lots of people, loud blaring music, and people desperate to sell their stuff. It's fairly modern though and I felt like I was at a mall. We really didn't want to buy anything because it was mostly the same stuff you see at home. The grocery store was more interesting to us. I've never seen a whole pig's head for sale before. Since we draw so much attention to ourselves already, we put Allie in a jacket with a hood and faced her forward in the Baby Bjorn. Lot's of people were trying to get a peek. People were shocked that John was wearing shorts. It's about 62 degrees outside- a little chilly to us, but freezing to these people.

Well, that is a good summary of our trip so far. We have been really enjoying it, now that we're a little more settled in. Alexandra is doing so well. We are shocked at how well she has adjusted. She is a very happy baby who is easy to please. She's a great eater and sleeper and an absolute joy to have. Aaron and Joe are doing great too. We talk to them every day. We miss them so much. They seem to miss us, but their grandmothers are keeping them so preoccupied, they don't have time to think about it. I am pleased that they are doing so well in our absence.

All for now- I will try to post some more pictures next time. FYI- I cannot access the website you are reading from here, so I can't see what it looks like. Hope it turns out ok.

Zai Jien,
Laura