Day 6 With the B-ster

Guangzhou is hot, humid and drizzly. We were up bright and early for the medical exams. Our group of 9 families is back together again (the other family is adopting 2 boys, so they are off to another province). We all piled on the bus. Each family has grown and it is so fun to see everyone together. The oldest child in the group is a 9 year old girl. Then Bebo and the little girl with the Hawaii family are both 7. One little girl will turn 6 on Aug 15. The rest of the ages are 5, 4, 3, 2 and 15 months.

The waiting room at the medical facility is hot and noisy. This sign cracked me up the last time we were here too as all the babies are screaming. Toot is being unusually whiney and I wonder if she has some memory of this place. So we waited for about 20 minutes before things got started. It all went fairly quickly... eyes, ears, mouth, nose, height, weight, check the privates. Done!



When we got back to the hotel it was lunchtime so we made instant noodles , put on a DVD and relaxed. Toot and Bebo are playing very well together. Weatherman had to go upstairs to do paperwork for Bebo's visa application which took longer than expected. Iowa mom came down with her 15 month old boy to visit. He is a sweetheart and, no offense, but I sure am glad we are NOT adoting a baby! Been there, done that!


We went to dinner with the Iowa couple to an Italian restaurant. It was good but let me tell you the cheese in China is NOT nearly as good as the cheese at home and I want a salad SO BADLY. We are not supposed to eat fresh fruit or veggies that can't be peeled. Earlier in the evening, Weatherman had given Bebo a coin which he promptly pocketed. He took it our later and showed me. He was happy and proud to have it. On the way back from the restaurant we passed some beggar women. Bebo quickly took out his coin and dropped it in their cup with a huge smile on this face. What a kid!

Back to the hotel around 8pm. Time for a swim.

9:30, bedtime.

Day 5 With the B-ster

Our last day in Kunming. We had a wonderful buffet breakfast at our hotel each morning. There was even a little play area for the kids, so we never felt rushed.

We checked out of the hotel at 11:30am, but our flight was not until 7:50pm. So we had the hotel store our bags and we went back to Green Lake Park to be ogled again. We let the kids play at the very noisy amusement area then we shopped until it was time to catch our bus at 5:30pm to go to the airport. We had a little scare when our guide wasn't back and the bus was ready to go. She was picking up the kids' passports and there had been a small glitch on ours. I am SO thankful that we don't have to do all the paperwork ourselves. There are families that come with no guides. I can't even imagine! But Fontana was only 15 minutes late and off we went.

When we got to the airport, Bebo looked confused and asked Fontana where the airport was. He was very quiet until we got to the gate, saw the airplanes and, oh boy, did the floodgates open... not tears, but WORDS!! I have never seen anyone so excited to be at an airport. He was practically jumping out of his skin. You have to remember he grew up in a small farming village so EVERYTHING is new and exciting to him!

We got on the plane and the guide asked him if he was sure he wanted to sit by the window, he said "It is my first plane ride, I want to see the sky!" He talked to the guide nonstop for the whole 1hr 40min flight! I had a list of questions for her to ask him and we got most of them answered. We found out the name of his village and his foster parents' names. We found out he had a foster brother and sister and their names. He told the guide that "you can't drink water properly on the moon". He knows the earth is round and circling the sun.He knows about clouds and rain and rainbows and rockets. He can count to 10 in English. Most important, he told the guide that we are his family and that's that. He also told the guide he is so happy because we kiss him goodnight every night!

He is a bundle of energy and we are truly blessed. I am humbled to think that God put this precious boy into our family. We didn't get to the hotel until 11pm so is was into our jammies and to bed.

The other family being stared at (notice the man on the bench... click on the picture to see a larger version)

A beautiful Lotus Blossom (that's what Grandpa calls Toot)

At a tea shop where we sampled tea

Posted newspapers

An old woman with bound feet (I was very surprised to see that!)

Traffic on the way to the airport

More traffic... see the man on the bike. I took that picture out of the bus window and it is typical of what we saw every day. The people on bikes are either crazy or brave... I haven't decided which yet.

Two sleeping kids, one great dad after an exhausting day.

Family photo at the airport. Bebo showed no remorse about leaving.

Day 4 With Bebo

Day 4...Thursday. We decided we wanted to go to the Minority Village. It turned out to be kind of like Epcot Center with different areas set up for the different ethnic groups. the costumes were beautiful and varied. My favorite setting was the Mongolian village.The houses or "yerts" were round with venting all around and beautiful painted supports inside. They looked small on the outside but felt quite spacious on the inside.
















The downside was that all the gift "shops" in all the areas carried the same things. It would have been nice to see crafts from each area. The most unexpected thing we did was ride an elephant! The kids favorite thing was bubble waling. They each were zipped into a giant deflated "beach ball" then the ball was filled with air and rolled down a ramp into the water. I think Toot was the most coordinated of the groups. Surprise surprise!

After returning to the hotel, we took the kids swimming. Boy was Bebo ever excited! We had a blast although the water felt like the Boundary Waters in May...brrr. Dinner was at Happy Steak....not so happy!


Bedtime.

Day 3 With Bebo

Bebo sleeps like a log, but wakes up happy! I think he realizes there is plenty to eat so he is not eating quite as much now. He is still eating very well though, better than Toot.

So now it is day 3, Wednesday. Our guide set up van to take us (including the other family) to the Stone Forest. For a while we were beginning to wonder whether we were going to make it! Our guide and the driver were arguing a little. It seems our driver took the long way (3 hours) instead of the expressway (1 1/2 hours). The drive was very interesting though...very bumpy in spots and sometimes wondering if we were even on a road. Our driver even started arguing with the police when we had to wait for traffic in a small village. Driving through rural China is an experience. We passed one shop where they were gutting an animal right out on the step. Not sure if it was a pig or a dog... hmmmm.

The great thing about taking the long way was that we were able to stop at a famous silk embroidery shop that has been owned by the same family for 3 or 4 generations. The owner and his nephew spoke English. Weatherman and the owner had a nice, long conversation about many things, but mostly politics. Weatherman enjoyed it very much until he got the bill for the pictures I bought!!

Back in the van for the final leg of the trip to the Stone Forest. Our guides ordered lunch for us there. Luckily for us they chose not to order the fried crickets or meal worms that were on display. The lunch was tasty and plentiful and NO chicken feet! My favorite items were slices of fried goat cheese and a mushroom and some "green stuff" dish.


We took a small open bus around the outeredge of the forest. It was shorter and the kids were already tired from the long ride. It is amazingly beautiful and awe-insprining.The pictures, I know, can't really snow you how beautiful it is. The picture with Bebo is in front of a formation called "Mother and Son". At the end of the tour was a small pond SWARMING with coy!! The kids all got to feed them. That, of course, was their favorite part.

We took the expressway back to Kunming. Our guide, Fontana, had made reservations for dinner for us at a nice restaurant called Wei's. It is owned by a Dutchman who is married to a Chinese woman. We had great Italian food! Go figure.

Day 1 - 2 With Bebo

Here's a little fill-in of our first day with Bebo. After paperwork we went to lunch with the other family and the director of their orphanage. It was a beautiful old building that used to be a government building a few hundred yers ago. Lunch was very interesting. We let the director order as we were clueless. The dishes were plentiful! I can't tell you exactly what all we ate but I can say the chicken soup was good. Luckily I didn't notice the chicken feet in the serving bowl until AFTER I ate it! Bebo ate everything in sight. I'm thinking he didn't get much at this foster home. Only one pair of shorts fits him; even his underwear is too big!!

After lunch we went to WalMart to purchase clothes and shoes as a a gift for the orphanage. The orphanage thakes care of 400 children, but only about 100 stay at the orphanage. The other 300 are sent to foster homes so they can experience family life. The remaining 100 are either babies under 1 year or special needs children. We will visit there tomorrow afternoon. By the time we got back to the hotel it was dinner time, bath time, then bed time. Bebo and Toot went to bed exhausted and didn't wake up til 7:30!!

Now it is Tuesday in Kunming. We got up, had a nice breakfast and took the 5 minute walk to Green Lake Park. It's a beautiful lake right in the city. Kunming is a very nice city. Much less smog than Beijing and the weather is much milder. We rented 2 paddleboats. The kids were all very excited! Bebo and Toot paddled the whole time...about 45 minutes. Bebo was tired, but wouldn't quit. Toot could have gone on for another half hour. She is so strong! There is also a small amusement area for children there so we took them and played a few games. It was nice to be able to do fun things for the kids. We do have one "small" issue we are trying to work on with Bebo. Let's just say growing up in the country, he is uninhibited with his urinary habits. OH MY GOSH!! Toot has gotten some education.

After the lake and some lunch we were able to go to visit Bebo's orphanage. We were able to get some of our questions answered but not all which was what we expected. We took a tour and we got to see some of the babies and special needs children. One beatiful 12-year-old girl in particular touched my heart. She looked like she had a cataract on her left eye. She was very beautiful. It made me so sad because in 2 years she will be turned out of the orphanage. If only we could bring them ALL home. Back to the tour... they showed us where Bebo slept while he was there (1 week?). I asked if I could take a picture. The guide looked around and said "Quickly, quickly". We are not supposed to take pictures on the inside.

By the time we hot back it was dinner time. We went to a nice italian restaurant owned by a Dutchman who is married to a Chinese woman. We had Pizza and spaghetti!! (NO chicken feet!).

Day 2 is done!

Gotcha Day!

8:30am we are on the bus on the way to meet our son. My stomach is flip-flopping, my heart is racing, I can't complete an intelligent sentence.



Just the way I wanted to meet Bebo!! :O} We arrive at the building which looks more like an apartment building than a official government building. We walk up a few steps into a rather small room with a large table and a few chairs. I look across the hall and... there he was, sitting on a couch with another child. Of course I lost it! We had to wait about 5 minutes before they brought him to us. It felt like an hour. When they brought him in he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. My heart was breaking for him.

He cried quietly for a good half hour. He would pull away from us if we tried to touch him. He kept repeating that he was homesick and wanted to go home. At one point he even tried to leave the building. Talk about not knowing what to do! We just kept telling him we loved him and tried to stay in front of him. If you know me you know that this was extremely hard for me. I wanted to scoop him up and hug him and kiss him and tell him everything would be OK.

Finally while I was doing some paperwork, Dad was able to offer him some raisins. He took a few then put them away in the backpack we brought for him. In a few minutes he started playing with Toot and a toy car we gave him. He then took a granola bar and shared it with Toot and Dad. Then he shared fruit snacks with all of us. Then he and Toot got out a puzzle and put it together. What a difference a few minutes makes!

By the time we left to go to the police station (Passport and photos) he seemed fine,he pack up his backpack and was anxious to get on the bus. He then played with Baba (Dad) and Toot at a little playground near there while we waited our turn.


Now we get to the hotel. We open the door to our room , he runs in looks around, turns the TV on, strips to his skivies ,and climbs in bed!!!! Oh my goodness!! What a hoot. He is calling us Mama, Baba, and Mei Mei (little sister). He chatters nonstop but of course we can’t understand much of what he says. It doesn’t seem to faze him though. He is definitly a goof. We gave him some sunglasses and you would have thought they were made of gold! He loves them and wears them everywhere!! He likes to look at himself when he wears them and strike a pose. I think we are in for it. ;0}


Goose and Shrimp you will appreciate this…..Before bed we said it was time for a bath and he stripped naked and started doing a happy dance! ;0} Sound familiar?

Well it was an exhausting day. I’ll write more when I can.

Love to everyone.

Whirlwind Days

It has been steamy whirlwind the past couple of days!!! On our first touring day, Saturday, we went to see Tiennamen Square, The Forbidden City, and the Great Wall!! There are two sides of the Great Wall that you can walk on. One is called the womens' side , or easy side the other is called the Men's side, or difficult side. Fred is proud to tell you that he made it all the way to the top of the Men's side! I made it a little more than half way. It is very steep with a few step hear and there. The hand rails leave alot to be desired. The poplation of Beijing is around 14million and I think they all showed up to tour with us!!! Luckily most of them took the easy side. The Chinese are not afraid of a little shoving and a LOT of cutting in line.

It was hot and very steamy in Beijing. We were all wringing wet. I know I had a river flowing down my back to a more southern location!!!! Toot's hair was totally soaked. We left at 8:40 and returned to the Hotel exhausted and smelly at 9:30. It was a very long day. Toot has been doing amazingly well. Our whole group has commented on how good she has been. I think (surprise) that she has charmed everyone. One of the families here to adopt a boy has been playing with Toot everyday and has already decided that they will come back to adopt a little girl. Good work Toot!!!!!

There are 7 other children traveling in our group ages 12-2. Toot has made friends with all of them. I think they have all been supporting each other.

Our second day of touring, Sunday, started with us having to be packed and out of our hotel room by 7:30am! After breakfast we boarded the bus to go to Chruch. It is a government sanctioned church and is only available for foreigners. No Chinese national are allowed inside, so our guides were not allowed to accompany us. After church we headed off for a nice "Western" buffet. I particularly enjoyed the "ham sandwich". It was a hotdog sliced long way between two peices of bread. :o} From lunch we walked to the Pearl Market to spend some American dollars. We went straight from the Pearl Market to the Summer Palace. And again I think all of Beijing followed us there!! We took a boat ride across the lake which was fun, but it is difficult to enjoy everything when it is so crowded. Toot had to use the "facilities" there. There was a sign outside the door that said that is was rated a 3 star facility by the Chinese tourism department. I would love to know how they rate their squatty potties! Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!

Makes port-a-potties seem luxurious.

We left soaking and smelly again to go straight to the airport to leave for our Provinces. We have 11 families heading for 8 Provinces. We won't meet up again until we go to Guangzhou on Saturday. On the plane we were told that we would meet our children the next morning. We were originally told it would be later in the afternoon.

And now it is Monday. This is the day that our family gets a little bigger!!! I had hoped to have those extra hours to get settled, but that is not the way things are happening. Yikes!!!! We are about to go down to breakfast and then go meet our SON !!!. I am feeling nervous, excited, scared, hopeful, petrified and nervous!!!! Be praying for us today. Pictures later.