Laina's Hometown

Today has been a journey of finding every detail about Laina that we can. Our 4 family group had to divide into 2 vans and go separate ways to seek out our daughters' abandonment sites.We were met at our hotel by Mary, a very sweet, soft-spoken woman and a smiley bus driver that came up to about Nancy's waist. Our agency guide, Pat came along as well. The city of Laibin is about 2 1/2 hours from Nanning, so it was a long ride. Mary told us that Laibin is not a big city, and much poorer than what we have seen so far. It was actually more modern than we expected, online I had seen streets with water buffalo and dirt roads, but inside the city was fairly bustling. There were a lot of motorbikes, as there is everywhere here, and in Laibin there are a ton of them with little green roofs that act as taxis. We are not allowed to go to the orphanage, or even to get get out of the van near it. Our driver pulled over across the street and we had to take pictures through our open windows. A man in uniform came up to our window and said "what are you doing?' and then spoke to the driver so I think we were in trouble, but mission accomplished, we continued on to explore the area. We went to the hospital area where another baby had been found and many people come right up and stare at us until we smile and say hello. Woman with their babies often come over to smile and coo. Some very cute elderly women came over and Mary told us that they had never seen foreigners before. Laibin is not exactly a tourist spot! We had a great time with the locals.Jimmy wandered a bit and found a baby store where I bought a beautiful quilted, silk outfit for Laina, red with blue dragons, it was 60 yuan, or about $7.50. We went next to Laina's spot and were both moved by the enormity of how we will be changing her life. After taking pictures, we decided to go to a restaurant for lunch and Mary found a hotel that looked fairly clean and decent and the food was delicious. The waitresses and patrons obviously enjoyed watching us and Laina got passed around as usual. After a lunch of 'congee', a sweet sesame pork rib dish, some steamed pumpkin, a platter of sizzling beef with peppers and some steamed pork, and rice,and some small custards, we asked to go to a local outdoor market. This was a market for food and 'commodities', there were rice stands,sugar cane, nuts and beans and spices, and also a rather unsavory, and unrefrigerated assortment of meat, and I'm talkin' pig-heads, snails,all kinds of fascinating things we never think to eat. We often had school children say hello and run away giggling. The elderly people are as interested in us as we are them, they shyly stare until we speak to them.The entire market was buzzing, all eyes were on us. Aman tried to sell Jimmy some live chickens. Mary and the driver seemed anxious to go so after lots of picture-taking, we started back to Nanning. The other group wasn't back yet, so we decided to change our usual routine and go down to Pizza Hut. Yup, we really needed some American food, and it turned out to be a really great night. The square of eateries,a neon blazed shopping and gathering area of about 6 blocks square, including McD.'s, and KFC, was a large area totally crowded with teenagers. A group of about 6 kids came up and told us it was one girl's birthday and asked us to sing, which we did. We had to wait 20 minutes for our table so we stood outside the door. Suddenly we were surrounded,the people were crowding around us, at least 4 or 5 people deep, it was so funny. Felt like a Rock-Stah! All the kids want to practice their English, it was really fun. Jimmy took some pictures and they ttok some of us and the birthday girl,and then we went in and thoroughly enjoyed some pizza and beer. All the time, Laina and Isabella are being cooed over and patted. Luckily, they don't seem to mind. Laina loves riding in the stroller and puts her little feet up and kicks back to enjoy the scenery. It is now about 10:00 p.m., my family is quiet and soon I will be too. Tomorrow is our last day here in Nanning, we will be sad to go. This is an absolutely beautiful place. No pix tonight, the other group has not returned and so I can't ask to use Peeps'laptop. Hopefully tomorrow! Heard you are having sleet and rain, and maybe a storm back home, glad to miss it! Maybe we'll stay a while....

Yiling Caves

Today we went to a place called Yiling Caves. The mountains of Guangxi are famous for the limestone formations and ancient caverns. When you see a traditional chinese painting of steep mountains, with farmers in the valleys working the fields with water buffalo, this is the area that inspires that. It is exceptionally beautiful, very green and lush. The farmers here are very poor, these are minority people who still farm and live in the same ways as generations before them. An average annual family income in this countryside is about 5000 Yuan, or approximately $625 US. We feel very excessive in our Reeboks and toting fancy cameras, etc. The caves are over a million years old, it took us over an hour to tour only one area. We went down deeply, on steep stairs and winding pathways. There were stalagtites and stalagmites all around, but the formations here are each unique, many are named for the resemblance to things.I was astounded by one that looked like a huge old man with along beard, and another that looked like 2 men playing chess. There are a lot of myths and fairy tales about the formations. Inside, you are sometimes in almost complete darkness, except for colored lights up in nooks and crannies to illuminate some of the most fascinating ones. It was really incredible. Also at this area the people perform Bamboo Dancing, Primitive dancing in furs with large bamboo drums, we had ginger tea and some local delicacies to try, and 4 women sang a folk song for us. Glenn said that when someone sings to you, it is common courtesy to also give them a song in return. Everyone was shy, but Jimmy started up with "Yankee Doodle" and we all sang and everyone cheered. A woman came over and put a "love-ball", a very fancy decorated ball on a string with multiple tassels, around his neck. They took a sort of 'Touristy' photo of us inside the cave that we could buy and we did get ours.(less than $2)On the way back to the hotel, Glenn let us pull over to take some photos of the farms and people with oxcarts on the street. We came back for lunch and talked about our journeys tomorrow. We will be dividing into 2 groups to go to the areas where our babies were found,so Jimmy and I with Laina, will be going with a couple Bob and Tina, their 6 year old son Zacchary, and new baby Isabella to the city of Laibin. A local guide will help us find places to go, and Pat will be with us also.This will be meaningful for us to tell Laina about when she is older, so we hope to find something special to get there for her, and maybe we will go by the orphanage too. On Sunday we will go to the mountains, and in the afternoon to the local outdoor market for shopping, then on Monday we leave Guangxi and head toward Guangzhou to meet back up with the other families. I am in my own room, it is naptime for daddies and babies, after resting, we plan on going for a walk around the neighborhood, just the three of us.That's all for now. Forgive me if everything is just in one long column, I cannot use the Layout feature, and also cannot view the blog or the comments. At least I finally managed to get the prompts in English!

The Great Wall

Nancy's Dad asked about our day at the Great Wall. We went there on Easter Sunday, with all 27 families, in 2 buses. This was the day before "Gotcha Day" so most of us were thinking about the babes and getting anxious, but it was an amazing place to see and we wouldn't have missed it. First, we stopped at a jade factory, where they carve, and of course, sell, beautiful jade and other things at a place referred to as The Friendship Store. We found some fun gifts but the jade was pretty expensive. At most places here, you do not handle the merchandise yourself. Clerks will be right with you as you walk around and they will point out things. If you pick something, it is written on a receipt, you pay at a cashier when you are done and then get your items. We went from there directly to the Great Wall. It was very crowded as it was a nice, clear, sunny day and we were all getting hungry and cranky and looking for bathrooms. We finally crept up to the parking area for buses, shared any snacks we had and headed up. The views are so overwhelming, it was so huge and with such history around us, we were totally awed. Cameras were all out, including video. We went out as a group but some tired quickly and found viewpoints to rest. Jimmy and I and some others from our Guangxi group decided to climb as high as we had time for, and boy was it a climb! The stairs are all different widths and heights, sometimes more of a ramp. There are handrails but they are set down low and awkward, especially coming down! But if you get going down a ramp too fast, they are life-saving. There are vendors and craftman all over the wall, they trap you when you are catching your breath and hawk their wares. Many beautiful things but we must shop carefully for packable items. An old man was playing a sort of flute and Jimmy decided to try one, as he can play the fife and many wind instruments. Well, you should have seen the man's face when Jimmy caught on to it and played a quick little riff! We are having so much fun with the people here. Some pose themselves just near enough so they can get us in the background of their pictures, others ask outright to pose with you. Jimmy decided to have some fun with it and jumped into a couple of their pictures, and everyone got a good laugh. I had to use the bathrooms, and I can't write exactly how that was, but let's just say...crowded place, porta-potties, chinese style, which is a hole in a plastic floor to squat over, unisex, hot day...oh my! Purell me quick! The people don't wait in lines either, I had to touch the door of one or old ladies would charge right in before me. I find I can be a bit intimidating because I am taller than most everybody, it sometimes works to my advantage. We finally gathered the group back at the buses and we went to "lunch" at about 3 p.m., thank god we had found some ice cream at the wall. From there, we headed back into Beijing to see an acrobatic show which was quite impressive. There were unbelievable balancing acts, feats of strength, contortionists, bicycle acts, etc., and it was all in colorful costumes and impressive sets. We were all whispering about packing and going for the babies in the morning so it was a bit much after such a busy day.Throughout our journey, we are sprinkling some ashes of Jimmy's dear friend, Burge, and we know he would truly appreciate where we have traveled and places we are going. So much emotion on this trip, it is hard to put into words.Today is Thursday, the 12th, it is 3 p.m., we are hanging out as Laina the Lioness is napping. Jimmy just went for a massage downstairs, it cost $150 Yuan, or a little less than $20 for 45 minutes. I think I put an incorrect conversion on a previous post. The yuan is approximately at 8 yuan to one US dollar. Once you get the landmark numbers it's not too hard. The internet costs 20 yuan, so that's only between 2 and $3 a day. Most things are reasonable but you still must be careful. We got a carafe of coffee one morning and found we paid over $6, and it isn't very tasty at all. This morning we went for a 'stroll' through the local park, right near the hotel. It has a lake in the middle, beautiful landscaping and stone carving, arched bridges, orange carp in the water, musicians everywhere playing all kinds of instruments, some ladies were singing very operatically to impress us so we clapped enthusiastically. Laina was Princess for the day, getting lots of kisses and cheek-squeezes, all the old ladies want to fuss with the babies and try to talk to us. The young people want to practice their english and say hello. Jimmy had a long talk today with the bellhop at the front door, who asked if we knew Yao Ming, the basketball player who plays with the Houston Rockets. This afternoon we are having some personal time to catch up, clean up, and take naps. Tomorrow, a trip to the famous mountains of Guangxi and maybe some caves. Sounds great to us! Laina loves being outside and watching everything. She had her first baby belly-laugh this afternoon and we just melted. We are total putty. All the babies in our group are gorgeous; we have Laina, Roma, Isabella, and Jianna..we call them the Italian connection. They like each other and share toys easily. All 4 have seemed to double their appetites, we just eat and eat. Each day there are breakthroughs. Today Jianna, who had been reserved and watchful started giggling and running around. Each has her own transition to make. Some were in Foster care and are a bit sad leaving loved ones, but all are starting to bond well with Mommies and Daddies. Our Wide Horizons guide, Pat, flew in today after helping a family who traveled alone, so now we have both Pat and Glen to play with. It is fun for her to meet all the babies today and catch up with all of us. Wow! I guess you are getting some info today, eh?

Our Girl

It is early morning on Wednesday,I think. It seems that the whole family needed to catch up on sleep, we slept about 11 hours and the little lioness is still just about to wake up and give a good morning growl. She sleeps on her back, spread-eagle, with her arms wide like an angel. Soon, we'll dress and go down to breakfast. There are 3 meals a day here for us; breakfast is a buffet with all kinds of interesting things, some Chinese and some american style. There is a chef with a very tall hat who will make eggs and other things, there are servers who will bring you coffee and high chairs and 'congee' for the babies. It is a sort of rice-porridge, served warm. Things can be added to it for different flavors. Jimmy and I make an effort to try different things all the time. At lunch and dinner, our group of 4 families meets in a dining room and we are served a selection of large plates on a lazy susan that everyone shares. There is usually a nice balance of poultry, beef, veggies, duck, tofu and noodles and a fried rice of some sort. For a few days, there were french fries and we mentioned to our guide Glen that there seemed to be an impression that Americans eat them at every meal. Since then, we have not had any. Yesterday we all went to Wal-Mart. We cause quite a stir wherever we go. Lots of people stare and some even come up and adjust the baby's clothes or blanket. They bundle up the little kids like they are in a blizzard. The little ones wear 'split-pants and some are trained to go to the bathroom when being held over the toilet and signaled by a whistle. Good thing our friend Hugh, who whistles all the time isn't here, things could get messy! Our guide is man named Glenn, he has only ever left China to spend time in Australia so his English is spoken with a combination of a chinese and an aussie accent, very fun to listen to. When we first received the children and got back on the bus(we went to another hotel), Glen offered to sing lullabies in Chinese, it was so nice. The main one that worked is basically "Frere Jacques", so we hum that a lot to calm her still. We are all starving so that's it for now. Hello to all our loved ones and to our kitties!

It's All About Her

We finally have a free moment and the means to communicate. Our hotel here in Nanning has computers in the room! Yippee!For 20 Yuan a day, or about $2.50, not bad to connect to the world. We just want to talk about Laina. She is awesome! Although she came to us with an ear infection, things are looking up in that aspect already. She is gorgeous, which we knew already, but really and truly amazingly so. She has a hot temper and growls when she's angry, baring her tiny 2 bottom teeth, perfectly appropriate since she is a little Leo, born in August. She doesn't have much hair still. She weighs in at 15 pounds and is the littlest in the group, as well as the loudest! Her caregiver said she was the loudest of all. Today we went to the Civil Affairs Office and were interviewed by officials and granted our Adoption Decree. It's official!They took a picture of us together and we signed lots and lots of beautiful rice paper documents with our signatures and also our thumbprints. Laina signed with a foot. They did not need Jimmy's foot, although he made sure to ask! After that, we went to a Notary office, where they asked us more questions and we signed and printed our thumbs on more papers. We promised to love and care for her as our own, promised not to neglect or abuse or abandon her, and pledged to give her everything possible. We passed and on Friday we'll get our official copies. We were able to have a talk with her main caregiver, our guide Glenn interpreted. She gave us our disposable camera back, we have to develop that, and surprised us with other gifts too. It turns out that she was with a foster family for a time, a couple with a son, and they sent a photo album for us! She also gave us Laina a beautiful book about the area where she was found, with a meaningful and poetic inscription. Today has been another amazing day in Nanning, tonight we have a birthday party with all the kids, there is a one year old today. Tomorrow we plan a trip to the zoo. More posts to come!

Gotcha Day

Hello out there! At last! Our beautiful baby is in our arms. She is a perfect little beauty. Today we experienced the most amazing moments of our lives, tears of joy that keep coming. All 4 families received the babies successfully, it was an incredible and miraculous thing to share. I will try to put a photo of the three of us here, although we have tons of photos, we may have to add them later. It is late, the baby is finally asleep after crying for hours,we are exhausted beyond belief, but also ecstatic. I am in someone else's room so I have to be quick and am anxious to sleep before another big day tomorrow, standing before the Civil office of the Guanxi Province, to "show our purpose, our promise and our pledge. Moe later!

Beijing-Day2

We are unable to get to our blog from the business center so I am depending on the kindness of other people to go in their rooms to post. Also, we cannot view the blog or your comments from here. Yesterday, we went to a beautiful park called Jingshan Park in the early a.m. People were exercising, doing Tai Chi, sword dancing, ribbon dancing, playing instruments, all kinds of things. One man was doing cartwheels down the path and a boy from our group joined him, which drew a big crowd. We are taking tons of pictures but can't send thm yet, so sorry. Later, we went to The Forbidden City and Tiannamen Square. It was absolutely amazing! So much history and such a unique culture. There are street vendors everywhere, they don't all take no(or Bu) for an answer. We broke away from the group for dinner last night. We went to place where all the servers were in traditional costume. We have tried many cool foods, this a.m. I had a pastry stuffed with dates, pork dumplings, marinated eggs, steamed vegetables and a couple sweet rolls. Everything was delicious! Last night they served crispy duck, abalone, chicken in an orange sauce, many unidentifiable and very delicious things. There was "camel paw" on the menu but we did not try it! The people are very nice, young folks like to say hello and giggle when we try and answer in Chinese. They really stare at us, and the elderly ladies will actually grab the young kids in our group and give them big kisses, one little blonde girl in particular.Today we are about to head out to visit a jade factory and the Graet Wall. It is hard to concentrate on all these trips when all we can think about is that TOMORROW we will see our babies! We fly out at 7a.m., arrive in the Province around 10, and get the babes in 'the afternoon'.We will have a guide there named Glenn who we have heard is really great, and has a nice singing voice too. Our small group is totally bonding as friends, we are so happy about it all, can't believe we are here!

TheFirst Day

Hi Everyone; We made it to Beijing, safe and sound. The Capital Hotel is very nice. In our room there are bathrobes, mini-bar, frig., safe, all kinds of luxuries. Today we are up early, going to a local park before breakfast. Later, we have a child-care class and a trip this afternoon to the Forbidden City. Tomorrow the Great Wall. We are taking tons of pictures already, but haven't figured out how to post them. I am borrowing a laptop in our friends' room. All the people in our group are fantastic! The city is under tons of construction, getting ready for the 2008 Olympics, everyone is busy, busy. More later!

THIS IS IT!

Today we are starting our trip to China! Just can't believe it is finally happening. We are so excited, it is so amazing. We will be blogging along as we go..there are computer centers in all of our hotels. We will also be checking our emails for those of you who want to do that. Tonight we will stay near the airport so we can get up for our early flight, and tomorrow we will fly from Newark directly to Beijing! Whoopee! Yay! Yippee! Sorry, no photo today, I have to go sit on my suitcase. We think we have everything..we think. We'll miss our 2 kitties terribly but they are in good hands.They know something is up, better make sure that THEY are not in the bags! Might not be able to blog until Friday, your time. We will be exactly 12 hours ahead of you. Laina, we are on our way, can't wait to have you in our arms!

Three More Days!

Sorry there hasn't been much posting on the "Blob" as one of our friends calls it, we are suddenly busy, packing and organizing, washing baby clothes, decorating her room, making list after list after list.....It is tricky to fit all the stuff we'd like to bring in our allotted bags. Our checked bags can only weigh 44 lbs., and then we have a carryon each. We have documents, cameras, medications, diapers and diaper bag, baby carrier, clothes for all of us, baby bottles and formula,and of course, we want to leave room for all the stuff we'll buy over there, so we pack and then take some stuff out and try again. Luckily, there's Wal Mart and lots of places to buy whatever we don't bring over there, as well as laundry in the hotels. We are shrinking our stuff with "packmates"; those cool bags that you roll the air out of. Today we put the car seat in the van.I just tried to take pix in Laina's room but it is very small and hard to get a decent shot, so here is a photo of a funny thing that Jimmy gave me for my birthday last year, called "The Wheel of Responsibility".Only 3 more days!!Yippee!