Spicy Baby

Well Hello...It's been a few days since you read anything from us. We've been either too busy or too tired to blog. So here we are, one week after our arrival and 5 days since we've had the baby and it just keeps getting better. She is really starting to come around and figure out that we're not going anywhere. It's been tough for her but she's really getting happier.

I have alot to catch up on....

So, I'll start off by letting you know what we did yesterday. Hum, I already forgot. Oh, but the other day (Wednesday) they took us shopping at the local Walmart (yup, a Walmart, just like home) and that whole experience would leave anybody speechless, but let me try to sum it up. I believe half of China's population was in the store, with isles so small, an American has to walk down the isle sideways sucking in our guts :o) - okay, I'm exagerating but trust me, you can just about walk down in a single file - good thing they teach us that when we're in kindergarten. On our trip there, we picked a few things for the baby and some beer and Pringles for us - what more can two parents need?! Oh, and the grossest toothpaste - yuck - but it cleans the teeth (we hope). It was a mad house. It really makes Christmas time in our Walmart just a walk in the park. I think after the first 10 minutes in there, we were all ready to leave. Way Way Way too many people.

Okay, now I remember yesterday (Thursday). They took us to this Pagoda Palace that was built in 652 AD. It was real cool to look at and we walked the steps to the top. We walked around the perimeter of each floor checking out the sights. In the distance, we saw the largest ferris wheel in the world, and trust me, it looked pretty big from afar so I can only imagine the immensity up close. This Pagoda was on a river and in the middle of the river was this dirt island with buffalo grazing, on sand, I assume. I'm not sure how the buffalo got there - oh, they must swimming water buffalo. Then we went to the local restaurant - for thoses of you who thought I would starve, no worries, I've been pretty good eating all the meals. Although, it's a little tough for me in Nanchang, Jiangxi because they like spicy foods and I'm not a big fan. James, however, is a fan so he's had a nice full tummy. They like to call the girls around here "Spicy Girls". These girls include all of our babies because there all from Jiangxi, Spicy Babies. After lunch, every day, we always go back to the hotel because the afternoon is naptime for most of the babies. So pretty much from 2:00 - 6:30 (6:30 being dinnertime) we have to ourselves and spending most of our time in the room. Dinner is always in the dining room downstairs and they sit us at 3 big round tables with a huge Lazy Suzan in the middle. Kind of like a wedding. After dinner is James' time to spend with the baby. She's hasn't had any men around her orphanage, except the director, and where not even sure how much time he spent with the babies....so, my point is that she has been trying to get her used to James. And by him taking her for a stroll around the lobby has been quite helpful for them to bond. It's getting better day by day. Last night, James and Tom, a nice guy we met from our agency and got to know him and his wife, Catherine, pretty well over our long wait, went out to see if they could find a bar to get a beer or two (Catherine and I stayed behind to get the babies to bed). They didn't find a bar but they walked the streets and got a real feel of the local life. - Hi, James here,
Haven't had much time to get a word in edge wise, with Kerin being a blog hog. We'll leave it to me to go out with the boys have a few. "Guys will be guys". It is very difficult to describe how city people live. It is totally different from any city I have ever been in. The local streets around our hotel do give you a flavor of how the people really live in cities in China . There are more apartment buildings than you can possibly count, and just about every window has laundry hanging from it, sometimes meat too. At street level, there are "shops" selling every possible thing you can think of, from shoes, to recycled metal, to video tapes, to meat on stick, all within 25 feet. All except a bar! Tom and I walked for several blocks getting deeper and deeper into the back streets, it is here where the typical Chinese city dweller lives. Very narrow dark passageways packed with people. A restuarant in this part of the city consists of a 8 ft shop front with a small wood fired grill, cooking some sort of meat, with seating for six. From the looks we were getting, I suspect they haven't seen too many Americans, if ever. But the looks were not malicious, just of curiosity. We were totally alien to them. There is very little crime here, so while I felt a little strange, I felt safe. After walking for about 30 minutes, we found a small place to have a beer. It was not a bar, just a larger type restuartant, seating for 12, no English spoken...we managed though. After a pretty good 50 cent beer, we heading back to hotel. As much we enjoy experiencing the culture here, it is nothing compared to the experience of holding this little girl in your arms, having her look up into your eyes and laugh her little laugh. It is just incredible, and the real reason we are here.

Today, Friday, we went to a porcelin shop. Porcelin orginates from Jiang Xi Province and this store had the best quality known to man. We bought the baby a tea set for when she gets older and we bought two plates to hang in our kitchen. It really is beautiful and would have loved to purchased more but we still have some traveling to do and we already have way too much stuff. We also went to get the baby's passport. She is still a Chinese citizen, so its a Chinese passport. Once we get home, we finalize the adoption by making her a US citizen. She is screaming her head off in her passport photo which she will probably love when she is older.
We went to the countryside. A typical farming village of where are baby is from. Oh my God. It really makes you understand first hand how unbelieveably fortunate we are. I mean really really fortunate. The village that we went to was very very poor and there is no heat or electricity. We walked around this village and it brought tears to our eyes that there are people having to live like this. They were warm, freindly and very curious, especially the chidren. They were mezmorized by our video camera, and of course our babies. There is such a difference between the city and the country.

I also wanted to tell you about our guides that have been with us every step of the way on this trip and they are so important in getting us through this "first" part of our lifelong journey. First we have Lori, who is a social worker from Wide Horizons. She has been to China 5 times and is very familar with the adoption process. She has been really helpful. Then there is Candy. She is our international guide. She lives in Beijing with her husband and has been and will be with us throughout this whole trip. She is really sweet and just a lovely girl. She knows all the "in's and out's" of everything we need to know. And last but certainly not least is Cindy. She is the local guide here in Nanchang. She grew up in the countryside but her family moved here to the city when she was a young girl. She has been telling and showing us everything about Nanchang. All three of them have made this so much easier.


And lets not forget about the baby, she is doing great. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, she's really starting to come around and enjoy us. Of course, she still has her moments. She is SO super cute with everything that she does. She has the cutest little giggle. She is very content wheather she is holding a packet of sugar, hair comb or a rattle. She doesn't care what it is, it definately occupies her. She isn't figity either....she sits still alot which makes it much easier at feeding time. Oh boy can she eat! She likes everything, including eggs(we hate eggs). She barely needs a bib and she even sits still in the tub! She has beautiful dark skin and big brown eyes. The cutest little mouth, I mean REALLY cute with four teeth on top and bottom. It makes you just want to eat her up. You're are going to flip when we bring her home!
Well thats alot for now, there so much more to say about her, but words do not do justice. We'll try to keep up the blog.
Take care

P.S. to check out all pictures wou will need to click "older posts" at bottom of page