Ahhhh - Guangzhou!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After a rough start to the trip, we are finally on the last leg of our journey.  Our flight was delayed a couple of hours and the Jinan airport terminal is tiny.  We hung out for about four hours, which wasn’t too fun.  Half of the terminal is not air conditioned and that is the half we sat in for half of our wait.  Once we discovered that the “other side” had AC, we moved.  Less seat availability…go figure.  Thankful we had electronic entertainment and some snacks.  Lollypops, rice crackers and tablets saved the day.  We had a little bit of an “OMG” moment when we thought our flight was further delayed, but that was only due to the gate agent’s limited English language skills – or Lee’s limited Chinese language skills, take your pick. 

After much pushing and shoving, we got in to our seats on our wonderful Schenzen Air Flight.  Never heard of Schenzen Air?  Neither had I, which made me a teeny bit nervous, but we did OK.  It was a bit bumpy due to weather.  We got served an interesting meal and the boys were both complete rock stars.  Zack fell asleep before takeoff and had to be woken up when we landed and Kyle stayed awake for takeoff (thought it was big fun), decorated my leg with Mickey Mouse stickers and then fell asleep for the rest of the flight.  I took some pictures – until I got yelled at by the flight attendant for using my mobile phone.  I tried to explain airplane mode to her and she was having none of it. 

 

 

 

 

It was very nice to see our friend John Feng again and to check in to the Holiday Inn Shifu.  There is a lot of comfort in familiar faces and familiar surroundings, even if it wasn’t home.  As “jet set” and adventurous as I am, there is a lot to be said for comfort in familiarity.  After a week in Jinan, I was ready for some more familiar food choices.  Surprisingly, I had a bit of a hard time eating in Jinan.  Part of it was the extreme heat – it was sweltering outside and I did not have a great appetite.  I thought the food in our hotel was terrible. Well, the second floor “main restaurant” was terrible.  What was supposed to be hot was cold and vice versa.  There were too many recognizable “animal of origin” in the dishes.  I am of the “meat comes from the store” mentality and I usually don’t question what I eat too much because I really don’t want to know, but this stuff looked unappetizing.  What looked halfway appetizing wasn’t.  Let me tell you – banana pizza isn’t very good.  The third floor “fancy” restaurant was absolutely fantastic – we ate there once.  It was about $35 for all 5 of us to eat dinner.  The “executive floor” breakfast was a little better than the main restaurant but there was no AC and the weather was 100 degrees…it was just unpleasant to sit and eat.  We mostly ate outside the hotel and found some very, very good food but the heat and the overwhelming task of managing food equity for two 3 year olds…well, I just did not eat a lot. 

What the heck?!?  This was supposed to be a post on Guangzhou, not the food critic post on what I ate in Jinan.  Anyhoo…I was craving some “comfort food” and the Western style breakfast buffet at the HI Shifu delivered.  A ham and cheese omelet and a chocolate doughnut served with hot coffee in an air conditioned room – just about perfect!  Did I say I’m happy to be here?  It isn’t a good feeling to not be able to eat or enjoy food.  I’m usually not very picky…I think the combination of the heat and just being overwhelmed by the initial hustle and bustle of having TWO toddlers that my appetite was dead and I felt drained. 

We’ve been in Guangzhou for two days and have knocked out the initial medical exam for Kyle. This is something that all kids being adopted have to go through – it is a very cursory look at the ears, nose and throat, a height and weight check and a TB test.  The TB test was a little traumatic.  Last year with Zack, they did a skin test and they let Lee hold him the entire time.  There were some tears, but it was really not that much of an event.  The “International Travel Healthcare Centre” has changed their policy, and they now require a blood draw for the TB test.  They do not allow the parents to be present in the room when the blood is drawn, which was not only traumatic for Kyle, but hard for us.  He’s JUST beginning to trust us as his caregivers, and when he does, we hand him off to complete strangers who hold him down and poke him with needles.  I think situations like this help the bonding process…we are continuously exposing Kyle to new things and new places and new situations where WE are the only constant. 

We have pretty much just been chilling in our hotel rooms.  We are in two connecting rooms on the “executive floor” which means we are fairly spoiled.  The rooms are down the hall from the lounge, which have nearly round the clock amenities, including a free happy hour with amazing food. We’ve hardly left our hotel in a day and a half. If you are contemplating travel to Guangzhou - call Sue Sorrels, our travel agent.  We have a RIDICULOUS rate on this room. 

We took a short outing with John this morning.  We visited a temple and had a Buddhist monk “bless” the boys.  No…we are not Buddhists.  We still hold the same beliefs we did when we got here.  We thought it was a nice thing to do for the boys and a nice photo op.  Besides, anyone in our family needs as many blessings as they can get.  It was a really neat experience.  Laura bought some incense and said some prayers at the temple.  It was a very gentle and peaceful experience, and whatever you do or don’t believe, I think you can express your faith and find peace at 6 Banyan.  We enjoyed it…except for the rain. 

After the temple we went to an open air museum and looked around….we enjoyed that a lot and bought some really cool “finger paintings”.  What these artists are able to do with their fingers/fingernails and ink is pretty amazing.  We paid about $32 for two really handsome prints and we know the boys will be happy to have them one day. 

After a nice, long rest, we went to Shamian Island – which is really not an island but a sandbar.  This is a short walk from our hotel and it’s a really cool walk through some local streets.  Shamian Island is home to some really cool colonial architecture and used to be southern China’s hotspot for foreign embassies and consulates.  For whatever reason, everyone has bugged out except for Poland.  They are still there.  The architecthure remains and the island is sort of a home away from home for adopting families.  The U.S. consulate and the International Travel Healthcare Center used to be on the island and the White Swan Hotel catered to adopting families.  There are many shops and restaurants that cater to westerners.  The U.S. consulate and the ITHC have since moved and the White Swan has been closed for renovations for about 2 years, but the island is still hanging on.  Really, it’s just a few souvineers shops and a few places that westerners feel comfortable eating.  Honestly, I think most of it is junk and the restaurants are mediocre at the very best, but it’s still a place to go while we are here.  Today, we bought a few trinkets for the boys’ future adoption anniversaries and a few things for my coworkers.  We also ordered some artwork with the kids’ Chinese and American names and a “chop” – a stamp with Kyle’s name.  We’ll probably visit another time at least while we’re here and buy some more junk and maybe I will get desperate enough for some American food to eat at Lucy’s (although I doubt the latter – I might just get some shrimp flavored Pringles at the 7-11 and call it good).  I really do love visiting with the shop keepers and I feel bad that most of them are going out of business.  I know we are supposed to barter with the shop keepers but I just can’t.  They are selling us their stuff for next to nothing and I feel horrible for trying to get them to come down in price.  Although…there is a horrible watercolor of some nekid little boys in a watermelon patch I had my eye on last year that is still in the same store (personally, I think it is MEANT TO BE).  I wanted to buy it because it was so hideous but I didn’t.  I have had buyer’s remorse for almost a year and it is STILL THERE.  The asking price is about $8…but I think I would take pleasure in talking the lady down…just a little.  It really is so horrible that I just have to have it. 

-         Things are still going pretty well with Kyle.  Here are a few tidbits that I have written down about him, entitled “Things I’ve learned about Kyle this week”:

-       He doesn’t like blankets.  He sleeps completely outside the covers. 

-         He pulls his tee shirt up over his face when he is tired.  I think he might have had a lovey or a blanket at the CWI.

-         He is a jokester.  He really likes the little organic lollypops I brought with me.  They are MAGIC and have stopped a couple of different meltdowns.  Anyway…he likes to offer me a lick and then pull the sucker away before I have a chance to sample it.  Then…he laughs his head off.

-         He’s a great sharer.  This comes from being in an environment with so many other children, I’m sure.  If I give him ANYTHING he wants to make sure Zack gets the same.  Unfortunately, it does not work the other way. 

-         He’s afraid to sit down in the bath.  He likes being in the water and doesn’t mind getting his hair wet but he prefers to stand.  For safety, we cannot let him do this.  We have compromised and he squats. 

-         He is a tough little cookie.  He’s bonked his head a few times and taken a couple of spills – he gets up and dusts himself off and keeps on going! 

-         He is SUPER TICKLISH!  Everywhere.  His favorite thing is to be thrown on the bed and tickled.  Then he get up and runs to the other side of the room and runs back and wants you to start over again.  This scares me a little because he’s so tiny and seems so frail. 

-         He is another daddy’s boy.  He’s willing to let me hold him and care for him but he seems to show a preference for Lee.  If Lee is out of his sight he gets very distressed.  He does not do the same if I leave the room, but I’ve been pretty much in his chili since day 1. 

-         He is independent – he wants me close at hand so that he can grab my hand if he needs to but he prefers to navigate on his own.  He has teeny little spindly legs – but man oh man, he can move. 

Enjoy the pictures – many more to follow. Cheers!