Day 1 (17 December in the U.S. through
19 December in China)
Photos - page 2 (Pictures
posted for Laura Mitchell's mother - she wasn't able to join her husband
due to having a new baby at home)
Woke up at 6:45a, jumped in the shower, and double-checked
that we had everything.We decided at the last minute
to drive my truck since Cheryl is going to pick up Jenny and Becky in her
car when we come back.Left about 9a, and drove to
Transtec.Dropped in on the folks there to say goodbye.Jenny's
friend, Julia, had graciously offered to take us to the airport, but since
she was under the weather, Nora agreed to drive us there, see us off, and
drive my truck back to Transtec.Checked in without
a hitch.At the airport, we realized that we forgot
to tell our neighbor Earl about our trip, but was able to hook up with
him on the IM while waiting for the plane.Jenny couldn't
sit, and so spent most of the couple of hours pacing up and down the terminal,
talking on the phone.I'm getting over a cold, and
coughing incessantly, so on Jenny's advice, I finally broke down and picked
up some cough drops… they helped some.Our plane
was only a third full on the flight to El Paso, and then again to LAX.We
got a free deck of Southwest Airlines
playing cards dropped on us while on the first leg.Pretty
cool, I thought.While in El Paso, we checked the
voicemail and heard from Anita (the producer of the A&E
Airline show).She told us that she wanted to
film us coming off the plane at LAX, and instructed us what to do: walk
past her as we deplane and don't look at the camera!Called
her again when we touched down to confirm everything, but as we walked
off the plane, it turned out that they were positioned at the wrong gate.They
asked us to walk back up the jetway and pretend to walk off again, but
the gate agent wasn't told what we were doing, and that little stunt nearly
got us into hot water.They interviewed us briefly
as we stood in front of the gate, and then walked with us down to the baggage
claim (filming us as we moved).They interviewed us
some more next to the baggage claim, and again as we walked onto the LAX
shuttle.She told us to give her a call when we come
back into town, as they want to follow-up with some more filming.Made
it to Terminal 5 where China Southern
departs.Found out though, to our surprise, that the
earliest we can check in is 7:30p.Being only 3p now,
our options were pretty limited.The original plan
was to check bags and hang out at the Delta Crown Room until departure,
but since we had the suitcases, we couldn't make it through security to
do that.Both the ticket agent and Jenny suggested
getting a hotel room, which turned out to be a great idea!The
ticket agent suggested the Sheraton
Gateway Hotel, since it was close and the shuttle ran frequently.We
walked to the curb, jumped on the shuttle, and were at the hotel in less
than 10 minutes.Once we got there, I almost opted
to go cheap and hang out in their lobby, but the temptation was too great
for a little more peace and quiet.We inquired about
a room, and $79 later, we were upstairs on the 14th floor overlooking
L.A.After searching incessantly for the room service
menu, we finally called for them to bring us another one.Jenny,
of course, found pasta and alfredo sauce on the menu (one of her all time
favorites).I had a grilled chicken sandwich.Both
really hit the spot.As an added bonus, TBS was playing
back-to-back Seinfeld episodes most of the time we were in the room.It
is nice to get a saturation before we leave it for 2 weeks!Both
of us took a quick shower, and laid down on the very comfortable bed for
a couple of quick z’s.Quarter to 7, and we were ready
to hit the road again.Settled at the front desk,
and jumped on the shuttle.5 minutes later, we were
back at the ticket counter that dismissed us 4 hours earlier.While
in line, we hooked up with some of the other families: the Thompsons, Hasses,
Mitchells, and Talbotts.The other 2 families reportedly
departed earlier, since they were planning to tour Beijing.After
standing in line for about 30 minutes for the ticket counter to open, we
finally got to check those big-ass bags back in.Made
a request for bulkhead seats: denied.Made a request
for one of the 2-seat groupings in Premium
Economy (CSA’s term for business class): denied.What
the hell?!We were originally told that seat assignments
were not done in advance, but apparently we missed that memo.Inquired
for the cost to upgrade to first class: $800 a person: that, I denied! We
got assigned seats 6E and G.Somebody will be sitting
next to us, but oh well, I guess we should be grateful to be in business
class at all! (That is a story in itself)We
finally walked to bags to TSA, and Jenny made sure they made it up and
into the X-ray machine before we walked off.Through
security, and into the terminal.I had my Priority
Pass card armed and ready to get us into the Crown Room… another bit of
peace and quiet before our long flight begins.What
a shame, an open bar, but I am not feeling up to a drink!(not
yet, at least)Took a seat in the lounge, and set
up my computer for little odds and ends like typing in this journal.Jenny
had to keep walking around, so she went off downstairs.She
hit the duty-free shop and after a bit of an education from me on cigarette
nomenclature, she finally bought a couple of cartons of Marlboros for use
as tips and gifts during our trip.She also found
an eye cream that she uses for cheap too. At about 10p, we headed
down to the gate, grabbed our duty-free purchases from the gate agent,
and walked on board. Our seats were located in the front "mini-compartment"
of the business class section consisting of only 2 rows. At about
the time the plane was supposed to leave, we were notified that a flight
along the path we were supposed to travel had experienced severe turbulence
off the coast of Canada, and that we would be delayed as a result.
Long story short, nearly 5 hours later, we finally departed LAX (I already
had cabin fever). The flight went as expected. The seats did
not recline much, and even though we both were soooooo tired, we got maybe
2 hours (of 15) of sleep each. A couple of interesting observations:
1) no ice in the drinks - although the ice would have been from L.A., I
guess that it is "habit" that it wasn't included since ice is not a good
idea when the water it is made of is full of creepy-crawlies; 2) the paper
towels in the lav were really just kleenex - the result was spending 2-3
minutes after you wash up picking small pieces of it off the various creases
in your hand. Finally, we landed in Guangzhou. The 777 pulled
onto an open area on the tarmac, and was deplaned using 2 stairways leading
to waiting shuttle buses. It was so nice to feel the daylight shining
on us after 20 hours of being locked into that aluminum cylinder.
We were driven to the International terminal where we cleared customs and
quarantine inspection without incident. In fact, I was very surprised
just how easy customs was. I guess if you are going to bring something
in you are not supposed to, you risk getting caught and punished by the
People's Republic of China. Yah... good luck getting your free phone
call, not to mention a sweet plea bargain! So we grabbed our bags
and moved onto rechecking our bags for the next flight to Chongqing.
Since our flight was so late coming in from LAX, we had long since missed
our original flight. Fortunately, we were all able to take a 1:50p
flight. While at the International terminal (which was very very
tiny for a major gateway into China), we exchanged $40 for Chinese Yuan
(about 8.2 Yuan for 1 US$), and confirmed our return flight to LAX with
the China Southern folks. Jenny and I hooked up with Carl and Dana
Talbott and walked around the airport, finally migrating to the domestic
terminal where we paid our 100 Yuan airport construction tax, then grabbed
a quick bite/beer while waiting for our next flight. The domestic
terminal has maybe 20 gates, and is best described as a bus terminal in
most any major city. It was quite crowded, but people moved about
in an orderly fashion. Our flight to Chongqing finally boarded (again,
by bus and up a ladder truck). The 757 was packed, and the seats
were incredibly small. I estimated about 10 inches separated the
front of my seat to the back of my neighbor in front of me. While
on the flight, we met a couple who was actually on the previous flight,
and who are adopting as well (through a different agency). The flight
was uneventful to Chongqing,
and we were treated with some interesting sights from the air. Chongqing
airport was also very small - especially for a city of 30 million people
- it had maybe 10 gates. ShaSha, our local adoption center rep, met
us at the luggage area. She had her daughter, YangYang with her.
We all boarded a small bus and headed out for the Marriott
Hotel in Chongqing. Along the way, ShaSha told us of our schedule
for the week. It turns out we will see Becky on Monday. And
to boot, we will get her while visiting the Welfare
Institute in Fuling! (Up until then, we didn't know if we were
going to be able to go to Fuling) We arrived at the hotel and checked
in. The lobby is huge - and a large Christmas tree is prominently
displayed in the center. Jenny and I walked into our room and walked
and walked and walked (the room is HUGE). It is technically a suite,
but I have never stayed in a suite with 1-1/2 bathrooms. Jenny went
out of the hotel for some water, and shortly after she came back, ShaSha
came by the room to settle our payments and hook us up with a phone card
to call home. I plugged in my laptop to the network port on the wall...
high speed Internet... yes! By now, we are so ready for bed.
We did have to eat, so we ordered a quick room service - Jenny had Spaghetti
(pasta again), and I had a club sandwich. We hit the sack around
8pm... the bed was hard as a rock, but at least it was horizontal!
This is Jenny now. We haven't been gone all that long yet, but
let me just say this trip has been awesome so far! I've been having
so much fun! At the various airports in the U.S., I got to talk on
the phone a long time to Auntie Katie. When we were at the hotel
we talked to Rob's parents, and then later at LAX I talked to my Mom for
a long time. I was very hyper and excited that we were going to be
leaving soon. Once we got on the big plane, we waited about 5 hours
before leaving the ground due to a huge storm up near Canada. They
served us dinner on the plane while we were still on the ground.
I got the fish and Rob got the chicken. I thought it was pretty good!
My fish was sort of like fishsticks or the halibut my Mom used to make
for us. I got really thirsty and decided I would need a lot more
water than the tiny glasses of water they occasionally offered us (I pictured
needing at least 15 glasses to start with). I decided to try out
my mandarin, so I asked the flight attendant, "Nin you mei you y ping shui",
which means "Do you have a bottle of water". She said "y ping shenme"
meaning "a bottle of what?", and I said "y ping shui" again. Then
she said "ahh! shui". She ran back and returned immediately
with a huge bottle of water. I said "xie xie" (thank you) and felt
maybe I'd received an extra large bottle for having asked for it in Chinese.
Probably not, but I was pretty happy about it anyway. I can read
a few Chinese symbols in the plane too. For example, on the bathroom
door it says "you ren" in Chinese symbols, which means "have person".
Next to it is the English version, "occupied". I looked at the bathroom
door a lot after drinking the "y ping shui".
When we were finally cleared for takeoff, the beautiful Chinese flight attendants stood in the aisle (I had 4 of them in view since I'm in the middle seat and there were 2 in each aisle ahead of me). They bowed a few times in unison and began the pretakeoff routine showing a demonstration of the flotation devices. I guess this was one reason for the dream I had when I fell asleep after takeoff. In the dream, we were on a man-powered boat about 100 ft long and 3 seats wide at the back narrowing to 2 seats wide at the front. Rob and I were in the front next to each other, and all of our family were further back in the boat. Most people on board were Chinese just like on this plane. In the dream we were rowing down a huge raging river in this long skinny boat, and the flight attendants were making announcements about the huge creatures off to the left and right. They talked for awhile about the 50ft long walrus on shore to our left, and the stork with a 30ft long head on our left. Then to the immediate left of the boat (my side) these 50ft long tentacles came up out of the water and started moving along beside us. The sticky tentacles brushed my leg and I screamed out. They announced that it was a giant underwater sea creature with a huge head and squid-like body, but soon enough we got to see it for ourselves. The tentacles thrashed against us and then the creature pressed its body up under the left side of the boat and flipped the boat over. I looked back and just knew we would all die, but with the cumulative manpower of everyone on board and our oars, we were able to flip the boat back over. Thank goodness we were all wearing our seatbelts to hold us in the boat.
Well, now I'm awake again, and there are no giant sea creatures next to the plane, but I bet there are many fascinating creatures 31,500ft beneath us in the ocean. The little TV monitor shows us over the Bering Strait right now. "We've just entered Russia", says Rob. He's watching National Lampoons Vacation on his laptop in addition to the little flight monitor attached to his left arm rest. The monitor shows our location, altitude, outside air temperature, and other vital information. Well, I think I'll go back to sleep for a little while. We love you all. Wow this is such a fun trip!
It's almost 6am local time, and we're eating breakfast on the plane. I noticed I can also read the Chinese symbols on the arm rest. It says "you dian hua lai" which means "have telephone come". In English it says "incoming call". Rob says to note his observations about the drinks not having ice, and the bathroom "paper towels" being Kleenex instead of paper towels. It is neat because we already felt we're making the transition into China just being on this plane. We are thinking of how amazing it is that in a couple weeks we'll be making the flight back to the U.S. as a family of 3 instead of just the 2 of us. Ever since we left Texas we've both had our wallet-size photos of Becky out looking at them. I tuck the bottom of the pictures into the pocket in the seat in front of us so we can look at her all the time. Once I held her picture up to the window on one of the U.S. legs of the trip, trying to imagine holding Becky up to show her the view. One of the other couples on the trip with us brought their 4 year old daughter Laura. She is also from China, and this will be her first time returning to China. She is sooooo adorable. On the plane she and her dad have been coloring, and she has a care bear doll that she talks to and plays with, dancing the bear around on the lap tray. She seems to be doing much better than the adults, having her wonderful imagination to keep her entertained. Her Mom wasn't able to make the trip because she just had a new baby recently. Laura's grandmother Nancy came on the trip and she's doing very well too. All of our travel companions are very nice.
When we arrived in Guangzhou we walked around at the airport shopping with our friends Carl and Dana. They are lots of fun to hang out with, and they were married the same year and month that we were (May 1993). I used the squat toilets a couple places and then we boarded the flight to Chongqing. The food on the plane was pretty good (noodles) and the view of the countryside was surprisingly similar to flying in the U.S., with hills and trees. I guess I expected all farmland especially in southern China. For awhile I saw a lot of strip mining on the hills and took some pictures. When we arrived in Chongqing, there were some great views of the terraced farmland around the outside of the city, with all the tall buildings really close together throughout the city. While we waited for our group outside the airport, I met a lady with a young girl and talked to her in Chinese for a minute or two. She understood everything I said! I showed her pictures of Becky and she told her daughter about her in an excited way. She was very nice. Our bus ride to the hotel was fascinating. I almost started to cry at one point because everywhere we looked there were many many tall buildings very close together with clothes hanging out every window to dry. It finally hit me that there are really 30 million people here in Chongqing, and they each live in a very tiny space and have minimal comforts of living that we are used to in the U.S. Rob noted the nuclear power plant when we passed by. When we arrived at the hotel, I was so excited to finally be here, knowing we are so close to Becky now! As soon as we got to our room, I wanted to go out on the streets even though it was night time. They said it was very safe here since no one can own a gun. I went out by myself and just started walking down the crowded streets. It was very crowded at night! I was a little worried I'd get lost because the streets were so busy, but I had my room key and planned to point and ask for directions back to the hotel if I got lost. I walked for a little bit and saw ladies sewing on old-fashioned sewing machines in the streets, as well as many other street vendors. I looked around trying to imagine what store might have water safe for drinking. I remember hearing that the big department stores had safe water, so I saw an entrance to a store that had jewelry and clothing and looked pretty big, so I walked in and past all the crowds of people shopping the sales on sweaters and things. I asked a lady "where do you have bottled water" in Chinese, and she pointed to the stairs going down. I walked downstairs and found myself in what looked like a complete grocery store! There was water, juice, diapers, formula, chips, and everything else I could imagine we would want! I was very excited and went to the checkout to buy the water. The exit for the lower level was on the opposite side of where I'd walked down, so I had to get oriented in the store before finding the entrance I'd come in at. Since I remembered the sale-sweater rack, I found it pretty easily. I walked back and thought about how overwhelmingly exciting all this was. Everything I saw was new and interesting, and I felt like a little kid again with so much to learn about a new place. I imagine I have received only a small taste of the feeling Becky will have with all the new things she will see in the next couple of weeks. I imagine she will be scared and fascinated at the same time.
Day 2 (20 December)
Photos (same page as for Day 1)
The alarm was set for 6am, but I woke up about 5:15a or so on my own. Boy, it was a great night's sleep! Jenny and I decided to head on out of hotel first thing, to see if the stores were open. Of course, nothing was (we learned later that things opened up around 9a). It was neat though, walking around the city center with only a few people around. Some were unloading trucks and cars, others were cleaning and sweeping, and others were doing Tai Chi and other exercises on the street. Breakfast is included in the price of the room, so we headed to the restaurant at about 6:30a, just after they opened. It is served buffet style, and there is literally a world of selection. Different kinds of eggs, bacon (american style, but for some reason labeled "canadian bacon"), ham, sausage, fried rice, rice noodles, steamed rolls, various breads, cereals, fruits, sliced meats and cheeses, etc, etc, etc. It is safe to say that for a "free" breakfast, we really got our money's worth. After breakfast, Jenny and I went back to the room and decided that we would skip the Dazu tour that we had originally planned. Dazu is an archeological site located about 3-4 hours outside of town, and although it sounded interesting, neither one of us was up for such a trip after such a long journey the day before. Instead, we met up with a couple of the other families and went to the business center at the hotel to make some last-minute photocopies of paperwork. At about 10, we cashed out $200 more for Chinese Yuan, and hooked up with ShaSha to walk the city center together. She showed us 2-3 department stores, the liberation monument, and a few other places here and there. We walked into one of the department stores together that is more of a "western" style. It was like walking right into a Macy's. Everything was glass, mirrors, and polished stainless. We walked up a couple of floors and was pointed out the ice skating rink, bowling alley, and various restaurants. Peeking into one of the restaurants, Jenny and I noted all of the waitresses standing and huddled in an orderly fashion (military style). They were all reciting something in unison. I asked ShaSha, and she said that they are reciting their duties aloud... as workers in this restaurant. It was amazing to watch, but a little scary too. As we walked out of the department store, we noted an outdoor stage set up with a crowd around it. It turned out a fashion show was in progress, and a number of famous Chinese models were participating. It was rather chilly out (maybe 45 deg), and some of the models looked less than excited to be in sleeveless dresses. We ended up at the grocery store in the basement of the more traditional Chinese department store. There we stocked up on bottled water, Coca Cola, cookies, and a few other odds and ends. Later in the morning, Jenny and I went off on our own. Our first stop (after a few zig zags, asking for directions along the way) was at the Chongqing bookstore. This place was huge! It is 7 floors tall and has books on about every subject. I found an entire section on books in my field (which is very rare or impossible to find in U.S. bookstores). For shits'n'grins, I purchased one called "Structural Behavior Study for Asphalt Pavements". I also enjoyed flipping through books about the U.S. (a lot of them had photos of the WTC from 9/11). There were entire sections of books on Chinese history including "party" activities (not a confetti and cake party). I also got a real kick about the placement of the Chinese translation of Hillary Clinton's new novel - right next to a biography of Adolf Hitler. Meanwhile, Jenny is on the top floor going wild with the kids books - she found a lot of neat books and other items that we snatched up. I discovered the floor with the music and videos, and bought a couple of trance CD's that they call "disco" here. Once I brought Jenny down, we found all sorts of cartoons and other videos that were common in the U.S. (like Monsters, Inc.) but were being sold with a Chinese dub (as VCDs). We thought this would be a neat way to expose Becky to the language some more, since it will almost be certain that she will know the English versions quite well. We also found a number of educational videos. We met up with ShaSha again for dinner at 6p, along with another family who came in from Beijing that day: the Bailey/Browers. We all went to a traditional Sichuan restaurant where we had some very unusual dishes including a spicy chicken dish with (not exaggerating) thousands of chili pepper pieces mixed in. Mmmmmmm!!!
Day 3 (21 December)
Photos
Up this morning at 6am. Took a shower, and headed down to the restaurant for breakfast. Afterwards, we headed back to the bookstore for some more videos, and then back to the department store to do some shopping for donations for the Welfare Institute. It was fun trying to communicate with the store attendants what exactly we were looking for. "Cloth diapers" was particularly difficult to describe. Jenny has been learning the Chinese language over the last few months, and has done great! She can speak and read enough to really help us out in times like this. In the end, we got a bunch of socks, pants, and jackets. While there, I spotted a lieutenant general (that's 3 stars) buying things on the same floor as us. He spotted me too, and we both kind of walked toward each other to get a better look at one another. We didn't say anything to one another, but it was kind of funny. Funny observation: on the way back from the store, we saw a guy walking a monkey on a leash down the road. We had lunch in the hotel (I had a "California Burger", and Jenny... well, you guessed it, pasta). We then headed off to the Chongqing municipal museum. The cab ride to (and from) the museum was wild! I thought driving in New York and Mexico City were crazy - this makes those experiences seem very tame. The museum was virtually empty, and was very dilapidated. The paint was peeling, and everything was very dirty. The exhibits were mostly photographs that showed various angles of the Chongqing "personality". Bottom line: this city is over 30 million people (the largest metropolitan area in the world, by the way). It is VERY industrial, and is booming at an incredible pace. After the museum, we walked "next door" to a park situated on top of the highest hill in Chongqing (at least, the highest in the city center). The fog and pollution were so thick that we couldn't see much of anything around us, but we did have fun watching the people playing cards and other things. There is virtually no animals whatsoever in the city (not even pigeons). However, the park had about 4-5 dozen birds in cages squawking loudly. Afterwards, Jenny and I strolled down the hill down a narrow street that was really an open air market of sorts. The smell cannot be described. It was an olfactory duet: with smells of the most tantalizing culinary treats, followed immediately by the most foul smells imaginable. This city is amazing. There are so many people, and so much activity. The people here seemed determined for change, and you know the potential is there. On the flip side, it is heavily polluted, and even a quick walk on the street leaves you wheezing and hacking. The government here seems willing to give their people more and more freedom as the years roll on, and I only hope that this trend continues. Back to the hotel room, and off to bed early.
The waiting is almost over... tomorrow we finally get our baby girl!!!!!! :-)
Day 4 (22 December)
Photos of Becky
Other Photos
Short Video (but about 11 MB - QuickTime
format)
The biggest day of our lives started about 5am for me, but Jenny has been up all night. :-) All night long there has been activity outside... it has been that way since we got here. Construction is going on all around us, and about every 5th building has a crane on it. Even right outside our hotel window (looking straight down) is a gaping hole where yet another skyscraper will soon reside. At about 4:30a this morning, there was a very loud bang - sounded like either a large explosion, or else something had fallen a very great height and hit the ground. Jenny and I spent an hour or so nervously organizing what we needed to take. At 6:30a we hit breakfast, and although I talked Jenny out of her jitters, I think my doing the talking helped me out of my own. Meeting time for the bus finally came... 8:30a. We all boarded and off we went. The trip to Fuling was about 2 hours through the countryside, roughly following a path paralleling but a few miles North of the Yangtze River. Throughout most of the trip there, ShaSha told us not only what to expect, but also what some of her experiences have been in doing this for a couple of years now. It was obvious through her words that she really enjoyed her job... if anything else, just to see the opportunities that are being provided for some of her nation's daughters. We arrived into Fuling after crossing a new large bridge across the Yangtze. Fuling is a much smaller city than Chongqing... about 150,000 folks. We turned off of the main highway on one of the city streets and ended up making about 3 u-turns and asking for directions along the way. Because of the three gorges dam, the water level even 400 miles upstream here in Fuling will rise 150 feet. As a result, much of the population is being relocated to higher ground, and the new construction threw off ShaSha, who had not been here in months. We stopped along the road, near the institute, and all unloaded. We walked down a narrow side street, and into the courtyard of the Welfare Institute. We were all greeted by the director of the center, who quickly ushered us into a conference room. We each were asked to place our gifts for the Institute, and those for the director, in separate piles in the front of the room. Around the perimeter of the room were black leather sofas that we were all asked to sit in. At the center of the room were bags of fruit for us. The director then came in and joyfully discussed the routines of the children, pausing periodically for translation by ShaSha. At the end of the presentation, we were asked if we needed to visit the facilities. I hadn't seen the "squatties" until now. Wow! Don't slip when using these! We reconvened in the conference room, and minutes later, the babies were brought in one by one by their "aunties". Each of them were wearing identical yellow jackets, and were handed off as they came in to their respective parents. Ours was about the 4th baby, and wow! I was so overwhelmed with emotion when I saw her. This was one of those moments that define a man's life. They handed Becky to Jenny, and I looked on with the video and still cameras going. They passed along some information to Jenny specific to Becky. For example, we got some of the formula she has been using, and we were told that she has bronchitis, which was immediately obvious as she was wheezing and gurgling as she breathed. They gave us some medicine that they have been using. A few minutes later, we were all invited into the rest of the building to meet with the aunties and to see where Becky has been residing for her first 10 months of life. We walked into a room with about 3 dozen cribs. A couple of them had babies in there crying or sleeping. Most of the babies however, were in the room next door, all sitting in walkers, bouncing around the room like bumper cars. Jenny started in with her Chinese again, and learned which crib Becky slept in. We were told that she really loved a small stuffed animal dog that also resided in her crib (they didn't offer to give us the toy though, so we stole it instead). Jenny was told that Becky stood out as unusually smart, and that she loved being held. She hasn't really wanted us to put her down since we got her. I was kidding about the grand theft toy thing, by the way. We assembled outside for a quick group photo, then back on the bus for Chongqing. Becky hasn't cried but 10 seconds since we got her... only when we had to do a quick diaper change in the chilly air. The bus ride back was so comfortable. I mean, the road was very rough, and we were bouncing all over the place, but just looking at Jenny and Becky wrapped up together was enough to get me misty eyed again. I snapped shots of the countryside all the way back. Lots of terraced fields and buildings of all shapes and sizes. The terrain between Chongqing and Fuling is very hilly, borderline mountainous. Bridges and retaining walls are found all around the route. The freeway was surprisingly clear of vehicles, which made the round trip rather expeditious. The sun was out again, which is very rare this time of year. The symbolism was certainly there, if you are a good Hollywood writer. We arrived back at the hotel around 2p, and called our parents (sorry again, to wake y'all up). We quickly downloaded pictures and posted them here. Jenny and I were pretty hungry, so we decided to wrap up Becky and head on out of the hotel. We started with the department store, and along the way thought maybe we should get her a stroller too. As expected, we sure did get a lot more looks carrying our baby down the road. People were coming up and talk to us and the baby, but since we were walking pretty fast, most people just did the "double take". The staff at the department store bent over backwards to help us in finding a stroller. We had about 6 ladies helping us in the end. One of them spoke a little English, and said that if we spend more than 200 Yuan, we would get a free gift since it was the store's 2nd year anniversary. We did it, and got the free gift: a red blanket. ;-) Well, at least it is useful. We bought some more groceries (mostly drinks - and this time, for me at least, a beer - to celebrate with Jenny). We hit McDonalds on the way back to the hotel. I got a Big Mac meal (super size), and Jenny got a 5 pc. McNuggets (not sure if they are all white meat here) and a apple pie. Total cost: 32 Yuan (about 4 dollars). Funny observation: right on the center square was a condom machine, on the wall right around the corner from an ATM machine. There are also lots of advertisements here in China about being safe and responsible so that AIDS is not spread. We walked into a camera store and found that the prices are higher than U.S. prices (for our camera for example), at least in this particular store. Most of the department store prices here in Chongqing are very similar to U.S. prices. Back to the hotel, and for some play time with Becky. We have really begun to connect with her. We are having so much fun together playing with her toys and playing music. Dinner time, and we opted for room service. Becky finally took to her bottle, and sucked it all down. We had to give her the medicine that they gave us, which after mixing it with water, was obviously Penicillin. Open the mouth... squirt it in... and the eyedropper gets chucked across the room. At least she swallowed it - well, most of it. She didn't stay mad long though. A couple of minutes later we were all friends again. It's bedtime for Becky at about 8:30p... and probably for us too. Okay, it may sound corny, but although it is the end of the day, it is only the beginning of a whole new chapter in our lives.
Day 5 (23 December)
Photos
Jenny was up most of the night she said. I did hear Becky make sounds a few times in the night, but I gauged them to be non-life threatening, so I continued to doze. :-) Becky finally went into a fuss about 5a, so that officially got our day going. We gave her another round of antibiotic (that love/hate thing again), and we eventually made our way to breakfast. There, we were able to get her to eat some scrambled egg and Congee from the buffet. Back at the room, she sucked down another bottle of formula after trying it with a little warm water mixed in. The whole water supply issue is beginning to get frustrating, since we cannot use the tap water for anything! Will sure be nice to get back to the U.S., where we don't have to be worried (or, at least, as paranoid). We met with ShaSha and the other families in the hotel business center at 9:30a to go over some last minute paperwork for the Chinese authorities in order to finalize the adoption. Afterwards, we did a little shopping, and then met with the folks again at 1p to board a bus for the government offices. The bus ride was about 30 minutes, and took us through some different parts of Chongqing. Much of the sights were the same, but I could also tell that we were in a newer (a little less dense) part of town. You can equate our trek as driving out of Manhattan and into Queens. The offices that we would spend the next couple of hours were as expected... obviously aged, but decorated enough to mask over it a bit. The director from the Fuling Welfare Institute met us there, and the process to finalize the adoption began. Each family was assigned a number from 1 through 7 (we were 2). The process started with a group photo of Jenny, myself, and Becky. Becky had to be positioned directly between us, and at approximately the same height. Once we got a thumbs up, we were done, and the next step was to review the various forms (e.g. abandonment certificate) for errors. This was particularly important on the English translations of the Chinese documents, since these would need to match up with our passports, etc, to successfully complete the process next week at the American Consulate. One error that was on most all of our forms was the translation of the country of origin as "The People's Republic of Chia". This sent me into a little commercial jingle "ch, ch, ch, chia!" that I continued to repeat over and over again. Becky loved it, and laughed most every time I would say it. The end of the official process included our being thumbprinted to "seal" our signatures. Becky was thumbprinted too on the same document. In addition to the adoption certificate, we were handed a crystal plaque that is inscribed "Hometown Chongqing" - a gift for Becky from the government officials. After giving some gifts to ShaSha to give to the government officials (we gave 2 candy bars and 3 packs of cigarettes), we were down and back on the bus. Back at the hotel, we did room service again. Me, Chinese food, Jenny.... yep, pasta. :-P Becky sucked down another bottle, and we played with her all afternoon. After dinner, she was getting a bit fussy, and continues to be like that until now (it is almost 9p). She is starting to cry more often than when we first got her. I guess she must have been a little shy at first... didn't want us to hear her beautiful voice. Anyhow, off to bed.
Days 6-8 (24-26 December)
Photos - Day 6
Photos - Day 8
Our story has taken quite a turn these last couple of days. Long story short... Becky has been diagnosed with a moderate case of Pneumonia, among a few other things (constipation, sores on her tongue making eating painful - apparently from a vitamin deficiency, and a rash all over her body). This has led too us being up all night, and spending parts of our days in the Children's Hospital of Chongqing where Becky has been given an I.V. to administer her medication. The good news is that as the treatments wore on, she was doing better and better. By the 28th, she was eating again and her fever back down to normal (from a high of 102 F). The hospital was actually quite fascinating. The thought of taking our little girl to a hospital in a foreign country was certainly not a good one, but Jenny and I both felt a bit more comfortable as we spent some time there. The photos that we took explain things a little more. We didn't have any photos from Day 7, since that was when we first took her, and obviously we were a bit preoccupied. Although Becky's condition prevented us from doing a lot of the touring that the others in our adoption group had planned, the plus side is that we got a lot of quality bonding time with Becky in the hotel room. I hooked up my laptop to the TV in the room, and we watched some DVD's. We did room service a few times, but there was only so much we could take, so I got out to the market for junk food, and some KFC and McDonalds take-out.
Day 9 (27 December)
Photos
Becky is doing a lot better today. This morning, she went for her last treatment at the hospital. The only change this time was a nebulizer treatment that the doctor prescribed while we were there. For those that have not enjoyed this before, we had to hold a small plastic face mask on top of Becky's nose and mouth for 15 minutes, as a large machine next to us girgled up steam mixed in with medicine. Becky sure didn't like it, but we were able to get her to inhale a lot of it. It actually did a great job in cleaning out the junk in her lungs. We spent the afternoon relaxing and doing some shopping together. As Jenny and I hit the street, we came across a man and got to talking. Turns out the guy worked for an orphanage in Guangzhou, was actually raised in an orphanage himself, and is an artist that had some work in a small gallery there in Chongqing. We asked to take a look at his work, and he guided us though a clothing store to the center of one of the buildings just off of the city center. His artwork consisted of various paintings on silk and rice paper, and it was all beautiful. Jenny and I were way too tempted, and felt there was a bit of fate in how we met him, and the things that we had in common, so we bought a lot of his work right on the spot.
Day 10 (28 December)
Photos
Finally, a big change for us today! We got up around 6a, and did some last minute packing for our flight to Guangzhou today. They came for the big bags at 7:30a, and we headed down to breakfast and to meet up with the group for our trip to the airport. The bus left about 8:30a, and was about 45 minutes long. At the airport, we walked through a quick medical screening where they were picking out people and taking temperatures. The first case of SARS for the season was reported in Guangzhou this week, and things are beginning to tighten down. ShaSha helped us to get the bags checked in, and out boarding passes. We paid our airport tax of 50 Yuan each, and headed through security. The waiting area was very much in a 1960s/70s style, with hard plastic seats. The flight was rather full, and the airline had almost all of the adoptive families split up on the plane in different rows. after a lot of musical chairs, most of us were able to regroup. The three of us snuck up to an empty row in the front of the plane once airborne. Becky took the flight well. The air pressure changes didn't seem to bother her. Once in Guangzhou, we all boarded another bus for the hotel: the White Swan on Shamian Island. The area here is definitely very resort like. Combined with the ample sunshine today, warmer temperatures, and nice ocean breeze, it is a lot like Hawaii or Florida here. It is sure a contrast from the relatively dark and dirty conditions of Chongqing's streets. We had dinner with Dana and Carl at an American-style cafe nearby. I started off dinner with a shot of Tequila, and had me a burger and onion rings. Jenny had the same (minus the tequila, and, ahem, the beer that followed).
Days 11-12 (29-30 December)
Photos - Day 11
Photos - Day 12
Guangzhou is without doubt a much nicer city to visit compared to Chongqing. The hotel room was much smaller and not as nice as the Marriott in Chongqing, but that didn't matter that much since we spent most of the time during the day strolling around the island, shopping, and enjoying the sunshine. Becky is so easy to please when she is in Jenny's sling. Much of the time she dozes off. The rest of the time she is observing all that is going on around her. There are maybe a dozen and a half shops here on the island... each of them is packed with clothes, jade, pearls, paintings, and numerous other items. Every square inch of floor, wall (and ceiling) space is covered with merchandise. In many of the shops, local artisans are busy crafting away at custom etchings and other personalized items that are bought by adoptive parents such as us. We gave in and had 3 etchings done of pictures we had taken of Becky. In addition to shopping, the first morning was Becky's medical examination. There was a Chinese clinic on the island at about a 10-15 minute stroll from the hotel. All seven of the families went as a group, and we were escorted into a back room in the clinic designated for adoptive parents only. ShaSha informed us that each of the children had to go through 3 different examinations in order to get the certification needed for the exit Visa. The first exam included a weight and an underarm temperature. We passed (at least, it appeared that we did). The second exam included a nurse that went back and forth playing a small piano, and rattling a toy. Becky appeared to hear ok. It got a little weird at this point, because we were asked to answer a few questions about Becky's health. One of them was if she had a fever in the last 14 days. Eeks. Another was if she has been hospitalized. Ok... now I am beginning to freak a little. ShaSha came in and did some fast talking, and was able to comfort us in how we answered these questions. Oh, maybe I forgot to mention that the day before, the news came out of the first suspected SARS case in China in months... right there in Guangzhou! The third exam was more thorough. A doctor poked and prodded at Becky and caught on to her raspy lungs (from the Pneumonia). Again, ShaSha helped to talk him through it, and in the end we passed everything we needed to. The following morning was our second (and last) appointment in Guangzhou.... the American Consulate! We were not allowed to bring in anything but ourselves and our passports, so we weren't able to get photos. However, it was pretty much as you'd imagine. The consulate was about a 5-10 minute walk from the hotel. Security seemed to be stepped up a bit, which was not much of a surprise since just a couple of days earlier the threat level in the U.S. was raised to Orange. We showed our passports to a couple of Chinese guards outside the building, then passed through 2 security desks. We were X-rayed at one, and our temperature was taken by a thermal imaging camera (again, checking for SARS). After making it through all that, we were all led upstairs to a small room where after a few minutes, we were all asked to stand and take an oath that everything that we have submitted is truthful, yada, yada, yada. The consulate officer concluded the oath by congratulating us for completing the most bureaucratic process imaginable. :-) We were then handed Becky's Visa, which consisted of a stack of paperwork that was sealed in a brown 9x12 envelope. We were told not to open the envelope, as it would be need to be received and collected in a sealed state by the customs officer back in the U.S.. Our last adventure of the day included a "field trip" to the Jade and Pearl Markets on the other side of town. ShaSha arranged for a shuttle bus that carried us and 3 other families. The traffic was very heavy as we left, apparently due to the new years holiday. We were told that what normally would have been a 20 minute drive took over an hour. At one point traffic was moving so slowly (and we were close enough), that ShaSha suggested that we get out of the bus and walk. Of course, with no sidewalks, that was an adventure in itself as we walked maybe 300 yards under a freeway overpass and along an arterial road with traffic moving just inches from us. Finally, we arrived at the market. It was virtually empty with people but packed wall to wall with sparkling counters filled with jade and pearls in about any and every shape, size, and setting you can imagine. On the floor were about 2 dozen young women that descended on us like hornets. After a brief demonstration of how they extract pearls from the freshwater shellfish, we began to walk the floor. The aggressiveness of the sales staff is unparalleled to anything I have seen before... and I have been to my share of swap meets! Just these sheer hint that we liked something would turn into a 5 minute hard sales pitch - 1/2 in Chinese, and 1/2 English. In the end, we walked out with a few smaller items... falling way short of what they were hoping we would leave there with (at least, that is the impression I got by interpreting their glares). :-) Since traffic was so heavy, and since we needed to get back quickly before our last group dinner, ShaSha thought we should take the subway. The subway in Guangzhou is the newest and "best" in Asia. It was definitely impressive, as it had everything from smart-tag "coins" to allow you in/out of the station, along with fixed doors on the platform to prevent you from falling onto the tracks. Upon arrival near the hotel, we still had a bit of a hike ahead of us. By now it was dark, and the 1/2 mile or so that we had to go consisted of more near-death street hiking and a climb over a freeway pedestrian bridge. Somehow we cheated death, and made it to the restaurant. The other families met us there, and we finished our day by spending a couple of hours experiencing some excellent Cantonese cuisine.
Day 13 (31 December in China, then 1 January flying over
the Pacific, then 31 December again in the U.S.)
Photos
Our last day in China began around 7am. We decided to get to bed early the night before, and do all of our packing this morning. Our flight is not scheduled to leave until 9pm, so we had plenty of time. Packing this last time became quite an adventure as we had amassed a lot of gifts and other things that we wanted to bring home with us. Somehow, after a few hours utilizing those skills we learned from the hours of playing Tetris growing up, we got it all squeezed in. The bellboy came by at 3p to pick up the bags, and we spent the last couple of hours (before the bus came to get us) at Lucy's. We hung out again with Carl and Dana, had a couple of beers, and talked about the "first things" we were going to do when we got back. For me, it included having a big ol' mexican dinner. The bus ride to the airport was fast (compared to the day before), and we were greeted with yet another SARS scan as we walked in. We paid the airport tax, and with ShaSha's help filled out the medical questionnaires, and sweet-talked our way ahead of everyone else in line to check in (after yet another - but final - SARS screening). We spent the last hour before the flight at the first class lounge (that we paid 100 Yuan a piece to get in). This turned out to be a good deal, since not only did we get "free" drinks and snacks while we were in there, but as soon as boarding began, they walked us in front of everyone else, and guided us through. The flight time from Guangzhou to L.A. was scheduled at almost 13 hours, but because of strong tail winds, we arrived about an hour and a half early. What a difference compared to the flight over! I thank heaven that the flying times were not reversed. Our seating was much better this time, with a bulkhead on the "2 side" of the plane. This allowed Jenny and I to build a little nest with our belongings. As the trip progressed though, fatigue certainly kicked in. Jenny took the brunt of it, holding Becky most of the time. I tossed and turned and made bottles about every 3 hours for "the machine" (as we lovingly called her) to suck down. About the time we flew over Tokyo (which was an amazing sight), the local time clicked past midnight. This was to be our first new years. A few hours later, we were over the date line, and back in 2003. We landed in Los Angeles a little after 4pm local time. Once we were on the ground, I called Anita from A&E, and she told us that the film crew would be waiting outside of Customs for us. We got off the plane, and after walking maybe 300 yards of corridors, we made it to the Customs and Immigration checkpoint. The officer asked for our passports and Becky's Visa paperwork. About 5 minutes later, we were cleared, our passports stamped, and bingo! Becky is now officially a U.S. citizen! We grabbed our bags, and headed out. Sure enough, the film crew was there and waiting. We said goodbye to a couple of the other families that we saw there, and after a little interviewing, made our way to the LAX Terminal shuttle back to Terminal 1 for our Southwest flight to Phoenix. Most of the time we were in the midst of the camera, and answered questions and talked about our trip. For about an hour though, we were left alone for some dinner. The flight to Phoenix was comfortable (maybe 1/2 full) and short. The film crew kept us company, and when we landed in Phoenix, they ran ahead of us to meet up with our families that had set up camp to meet us. Jenny and I took our time and got Becky ready for the big reunion, and finally made our way out of the terminal. The reunion was very nice. Our families had made big signs and we spent about 20 minutes just sharing our excitement with each other. We picked up our bags and headed out for the hotel. The original plan was for all of us to stay at an Embassy Suites near the airport, but as part of the deal with A&E, they offered to put us up for free at the Wyndham Resort. Our families were also treated with rooms at the resort at the same price as the Embassy. What we didn't know is that for us, the room was the Presidential Suite. It was huge! But honestly, not as glamorous as the Marriott back in China. I think I am spoiled now. :-) We all sat around the room and drank a little Champagne that the hotel provided, and welcomed in (at least, for us) our second new year. Boy, it was nice to be back in the States. Being able to drink water from the faucet, seeing a Circle K, and breathing comfortably again. It was even nicer to see our families... to have them share this moment with us. It goes without saying, but this trip was likely the biggest trip of our lives. We just thank God that everything worked out okay, and we look forward to the years of happiness to come.
P.S.
We spent a day and a half in Phoenix, and finally made it back to Austin
on the 2nd in the afternoon. Because Becky was still a bit raspy
in the lungs, we took her to a clinic when we got in. She checked
out okay, and after another doctor's visit a few days later, was diagnosed
a healthy, normal, little girl. So thanks for following our story,
and we invite you to check back with us in the weeks, months, and years
to come. Jenny is likely to post pictures somewhere on her webpages
in the near future.