Guangzhou

I've got a new perspective on how the standard adoption trip works. It is like a parenting sprint. You get about 5 days to parent the child enough to get ready for a flight, which is just a big of prep for the long, challenging flight back to the States. I'm hoping for a bronze.

We're in the third and final leg of this trip. The flight was at 1:05pm, so we had plenty of time for a late, leisurely breakfast and packing up the room.  Ruby slept through airport security, but she woke up as we boarded the shuttle to the plane. Thing didn't go all that smoothly, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. She screamed on the shuttle and then during the descent, both times out of frustration. Since Ruby is under two, she doesn't need her own seat but sits on our laps. That is, she sits on our laps if she isn't mad that we said no about something. Then she hangs out around my feet. But that worked out ok. She didn't mind the change in air pressure at all.  I think the long flight might be ok because we will have all those Disney movies to entertain her.

We're in Guangzhou now, because that is where the US consulate is. This city used to be called Canton back when the Europeans first accessed China through the south and they learned Cantonese rather than Mandarin.  The Garden Hotel is the nicest place we've stayed yet. The lobby is enormous, and we have a suite. They had a Combi stroller for us to borrow, and a basket of baby presents for Ruby, including a panda toy. We see the occasional adopting family here, since all the US families have to come through this city, and many stay at this hotel.

John is our guide here, and he seems very knowledgeable. He took us for a walk in the hotel's neighborhood and showed us some restaurant options. We ended up going to a local place that serves Cantonese food. The main dishes we were told to try in this part of China are dim sum (steamed buns filled with pork bbq that they eat especially for breakfast), fried rice, and wonton soup. I loved the orange drink you see there--it has large pearl tapioca at the bottom and mango puree on top. I might have one every night.

Guangzhou feels a little like New York City.  Hohhot had poorly planned sidewalks, half of which were useless for walking because they were either partly torn up, being put in, or covered in parked cars. Here the sidewalks are very reasonable and useful, and the shops are more of the NYC variety.

Ruby seems to really like "Old MacDonald had a Farm." We brought a book with pictures, and she's trying to get the "e-i-e-i-o" right, but she doesn't have it down yet. She let Jasper hold her today to see a truck full of pigs pass our van. He thinks he's making progress.

I think things will go just fine while we are here in Guangzhou. If you are a pray-er, I'd appreciate some help praying for wisdom for us as we thoughtfully work through parenting Ruby and her upcoming relationship with her sisters.  This won't be anything unusual for adopted children and their siblings, I'd just like this to go as smoothly as possible. 

A Tiny Disappointment

I received an email from Ruby's foster care center that she will be leaving for Inner Mongolia to begin her part in the paperwork (she has to have a passport photo taken!) on the same day we fly to Beijing. This means we won't get to see her in the home she's known for 20 months of her life. This is disappointing. I had hoped that we would get a chance to meet her in surroundings she felt comfortable with, so that when we met her again in Hohhot, it would be less of a shock to her.

Not only that, but the idea of her going through 5 days of transition even before the big transition to come with us is distressing.  She'll be leaving her only home to go to an orphanage, and after several days there she'll be handed over to us.  One bright spot is that a nanny from Beijing who she knows will stay with her the whole time in the orphanage until we meet her.  The woman in charge of her home assured us that they won't leave her alone with strangers. That is a big relief, at least.

This is a tiny corner taken from a photo of a little girl who spent most of her 3 years in the Social Welfare Institute that Ruby will be at for those five days. I've cropped out the other little girl (who is going through her own massive battle for health with a new, loving family who writes about her here) to focus on the cribs and the suggestion of a bright mural.  I wonder if Ruby will be in this room or will stay somewhere with her nanny. 

We will still go to her foster center in Beijing to meet Grandma Li, her caretaker.  We will be sure to take lots of photos.

We're back home after a few days away (a visit to the Renaissance Faire and our parents' homes), and we're looking at the final stretch before we leave. Jasper will have some busy errands on Monday, and I want to bond with my luggage and make sure they are all at their best. I'd also like to finish painting the porch so that Ruby has a pretty house to come home to in a few weeks!