Day 7 Nanchang 2006

Today was a slow day.  We all got a really good night sleep.  We gathered today around 10:00 am and walked down the road to the Teng Wang Pavilion.  We went to the top floor, saw a short show and just walked around and enjoyed the scenery.  A very funny thing happened as we were leaving.  We were looking at some gifts and Jack was sitting on some steps about 15 feet from us.  The next thing you know a Chinese man comes over to Jack and starts talking Chinese to him and picks Jack up into his arms and starts walking away towards his friends.  Jack calls out in a very serious voice, "Mom?".  The man is laughing and smiling at us as he is walking away so we know he is playing around and just wants a picture taken with his friends.  I snapped a picture as he was walking away and then walked over with his friedns and took a picture too.  Everyone got a good laugh from it all, except maybe Jack.

Other than that we are just taking it easy and relaxing.  We want to be alone with Eva so she is just with her family and out of the group environment and doesn't see so many Chinese ladies.  Eva is doing very well but we do think she is overwhelmed with all the activity.  She will put her hand in front of her face when she starts getting upset.  Cheri stayed in the room with her all of the afternoon and the kids and I went for a walk to the supermarket to get some juice and bread.  We are going to have pbj sandwiches tonight in the room and skip the Chinese dinner.  I picked up some chocolate bars too.  

Eva is a year old but more like a 6 month old in abilities.  She can sit up ok but she is wobbly and after a long time of sitting will get weak.  You can tell that she isn't used to being held or loved on.  We pray that the Lord will heal her heart and mind and that she would be filled with the love and peace of Jesus Christ.  We know that our Lord will be doing wonderful and miraculous things in Eva's life and ours as we grow together.  She has been responding to me (dad) when I say "bao bao" which means precious baby or little treasure.  When I say it she will look up and around until she sees me.  So she must have heard that before many times.  She also will look at us when we say "nee hao" which means hello.  Jordan was putting a little toy on Eva's head and then Eva would try to put it on her head.  We are so thankful and continue to trust and depend upon the Lord for guidance and wisdom.  God is so good!

Take a look at the pictures.  The last two are of Jack being taking away by the Chinese man.

Day 6 Nanchang 2006

Eva slept until about 4:30 this morning.  She just sat on the bed with us and looked around.  At about 5:00, I fed her a bottle.  She only took about 5 ounces.  She then went back to sleep for about an hour.  We headed down to breakfast when she woke.  She loves watermelon and the rice congee, of course.

We had to leave the hotel at 8:00 for the civil affairs office so that Eva can officially be ours.  They won't allow us to adopt her until we spend one night together and are satisfied.  This is called the "honeymoon".  Apparently, at some time a family decided that the child they were referred wasn't suitable for them.  So, now they make you wait one day before they do the adoption paperwork.  We went to another "office" for some other official business and then we went to a department store and bought Eva 2 outfits for cooler weather.  We quickly grabbed a couple of pizzas from Pizza Hut and came back to our hotel.  Eva has since been napping and I took the boys to the pool for a bit.

Eva is tolerating us today.  We can barely get a smile from her.  She loves being out of the hotel room.  When we go down the hallway, she makes a funny sound from her lungs like she is excited.  She does smile at Chinese people.  Soon, she'll smile for us, too.  She loves to observe her surroundings.  While in the mall, she kept turning from side to side to take it all in. 

She's very tiny.  Out of our group, Eva is the oldest, but I think she is the smallest.  Her hands look like a newborn's hand.  When I bathed her, I was concerned I would hurt her because she is so tiny.  Nine-month clothes fit her just fine.  Her bottom is so tiny that she'll easily fall out of the sling if I'm not careful.  I also wanted to mention that she does not have a birthmark on her head like we thought.  Apparently, that mark on her head in the referral pictures is a scab!  There is nothing noticable now, but I can't help wondering what happened.  Some of the babies in our group have skin issues.  So far, Eva has beautiful skin.  I did notice today as I changed her diaper that she has little round scars on her bottom like she had terrible sores recently.  I cannot even imagine her life before us.  Not that it was horrible, but one that I would not want for any child.

We met the orphanage director.  She seems very nice and it appears she really enjoys the children.  We are not allowed to visit the orphanage, but can visit the city of Shangrao.  I don't think I want to drive for 3 hours one way and not see the orphange that Eva spent her first year in.

We're planning a dinner out tonight with the group.  I think Eva will do fine.  She enjoys eating and observing her surroundings at the same time.  We are enjoying the Chinese culture very much.  It has been cloudy since arriving in Nanchang and it has drizzled rain the last two days.  We're hoping for sunny skies soon.

We sent our laundry out and I thought for sure it would be cheap.  We had clothes for 5 days for 5 people.  Yikes!  Sixty-two dollars!  

Hopefully, tomorrow we'll get a smile from our Eva Xu Hong.  Good night.

Adoption Day

Eva Day! China 2006

This morning we slept later than any other day.  After breakfast we gathered with others from our travel group and our guide got us loaded into taxis to go to Wal-Mart to purchase some baby formula and other items.  The taxi ride was very fun as we weaved in and out of traffic.  There doesn't seem to be any rules of the road and pedestrians do not have the right of way.  The taxi ride back was even more fun because we were laughing and the driver caught on to us having fun so he even got crazier.  We saw many buses coming at us head on and then a quick swerve to the right.  Two lanes of cars backed up at a red light, no problem just get in the oncoming left lanes and pass them all.  By the time you get to the light it turns green and you're in the lead.

Wal-Mart was really a lot like the US.  I thought they actually had nicer things.  It was two stories with food on one story and clothes and other items on another.  They had a ramp escalator for you to go down a level with your cart and it was magnetized so the cart wouldn't role and you didn't have to hold on to it.

Around noon we are back at the hotel to rest and wait until around 4:00 pm to go gather with our travel group and guide to get Eva.  I will post more later so check back for an update.

Praise the Lord, we have Eva now.  It was a very emotional experience in many different ways.  It all happened very fast.  We were probably in the gotcha room for around 10 minutes.  They called us out one at a time, checked our passports and gave us our baby.  We all changed their diapers and left.  I'm kind of at a loss of what to say at this point so take a look at the pictures and we will post more later.

 Today is Eva's birthday and the day she met her family.  We received a birthday cake from our guides.

We're all trying to figure out which child is ours!

 

Day 4 Travel to Nanchang 2006

Yippee!  Today we slept until about 4:30 or 5:00 so we are making progress.  I have a feeling by the time we get fully adjusted we will be heading home to adjust all over again.

This morning we left our hotel in Beijing around 8:00 am for the airport to take our flight to Nanchang.  The airport experience was a little different this time because we were in the China domestic terminal so it was not very westernized like the international terminal.  We managed to find our gate ok but I wandered away to find an internet connection and almost missed our boarding.  The flight was delayed almost an hour but it was a good 2 hour flight.

Our guide met us in the Nanchang Airport and we took a small van to the hotel.  On the way a lady walked in front of our van and I thought for sure we were going to hit her but our driver somehow managed to stop just in time.  They exchanged a few words, which of course we couldn't understand and then we were on are away again.

The hotel is a little nicer than the one in Beijing and we have a very good internet connection now.  The city of Nanchang is around 4 million people and is much more of what I expected of China than Beijing was.  Beijing is geared more toward tourist and is much more Westernized.  We were met in the parking lot at the airport by a little boy that was very poor, dirty, worn out cloths and very alone.  It was very sad and we all felt very helpless.  He just looked at Seth and Jack and kept saying hello.  Jordan was a little upset by the whole experience and really wanted me to give him something.  This is a humbling and good experience for all of us.

We met several others from our DTC group and completed some paperwork and then our guide Mary took us all out for dinner.  We had a typical Chinese resturant dinner with the turntable full of food in the middle of the table and we paid 80 yuan which is $10 for all five of us and that included a tip.  We are getting a little braver in our eating and so far none of us have been sick.

Tomorrow morning after breakfast we are going to a local Wal-Mart to get a few things and then we will be united with Eva at around 4:00 pm.

We praise the God and our Lord Jesus Christ for everything He has done so far, for His hand of protection and for His guidance.

Descending into Nanchang, Jiangxi

 Nanchang Street Scene

View from our room.

Day 3 Beijing 2006

Oh, can you say exhausted.  Another early rise morning for Cheri and me.  We just can't get past the 3:30 am mark.

So much to say about our second day in Beijing.  We had a full day of activities.  Starting at 8:00 am we went stopped by the jade factory where they make jade into everything you can imagine.  Then we drove to the Great Wall.  This was one of the highlights for me.  We all started out together but after the first set of steps that seemed to go straight up like a ladder, Cheri stopped and said for us to go on.  Next was Jordan and she went back to join Cheri.  Seth, Jack and I continued on, like real men would.  There were a lot of people at the beginning and the farther you went up the wall to the top the less people there were.  It was an incredibly steep climb.  Sometimes the steps seemed too steep that you felt like you would fall backwards.  We saw many elderly Chinese people at the top.  One thing that stands out to me is that the Chinese people seem to be in very good shape.  It took us 45 minutes to reach the top and a lot less to come down.  On the way down toward the bottom our legs and knees were shaking as we were taking each step.

We had to make several stops to rest and take pictures.  Jack, Seth and Jordan were a hit with many Chinese people today.  Everyone would look at them and giggle.  Several people wanted to take their picture and have pictures taken with them.  It must have something to do with the light hair because nobody wanted my picture or looked at me and giggled.    Some people would sneak pictures of Jordan.  They would stand next to her and then the person taking their picture would stand in a way they got Jordan in the background or on the side.  One man would point his camera up like he was focusing in on something and slowing bring the camera down where it would be pointing at Jordan and then take a picture.  Jordan played with some liitle children while we are climbing the wall.  She really enjoyed that experience.  Isn't it wonderful how language barriers can be broken with the little things and acts of kindness.

After the Great Wall we stopped for lunch at a special place they have for Westerners.  The restaurant is attached to a very large souvenir shop.  They have that one planned out for sure.  Then we went to the Summer Palace which is where the Emporers would spend their summer.  The Summer Palace was breathtaking and was surrounded by a walking path with Willow trees blowing in the wind.  We walked for a bit and boarded a boat for a ride back across the lake.  After that we decided we were beat and passed on dinner and headed back to the hotel to end our Beijing trip.

We did wander out to a mall near our hotel and ended up eating at the Bread. Talk  This was an interesting little eatery.  They had 20 or so different varieties of pastry type bread that had different things inside of them like cheese, milk, ham, melon or something else.  We purchased two small ones because we didn't know what they would taste like and we ended up going back for two more and then again for two more.  The young lady that was helping us kept laughing at us because we kept coming back.  She was very nice and she seems like she enjoyed talking to us, specifically Jordan.

That concludes our Beijing experiences so now we are off to Nanchang to get Eva.

Day 2 Beijing, 2006

Mike and I woke up bright and early at 3:00 a.m. Beijing time.  So, we ended up getting ready early, went downstairs and had a nice breakfast.  We met our guide at 9:00 a.m. and headed for Tiananman Square.  It was very windy and chilly and I questioned whether I packed the right clothes.  There was a lot of people there.  Next to TS is the Forbidden City.  I really enjoyed looking at the beautiful architecture and hearing the history of the emperors.  Joe, our guide, did a great job.  Jack kept asking "how much longer".  I know it was very hard for him.  This type of touring is not interesting for him.  

Next, we picked up another family for a tour of the Hutong District.  We rode a rickshaw through the alleys and streets and headed to have lunch.  This is where it got interesting for Jack.  They served a variety of foods, which was all very good.  It was definitely nothing like the Chinese food in the U.S.  Jack immediately wanted the chicken because that was all that looked good to him.  It was small bite-sized pieces.  It also had bones in it, so Jack was a bit disappointed.  I loved all of the veggies.  Jordan and Seth ate very well also.  I think Mike could have completely skipped lunch.

We then headed to the silk factory.  I was very impressed on how they made the silk.  The children each got a silkworm coccoon and seemed to enjoy the guides description of the process.  I learned so much from the little tour.  Mike bought Jordan a silk cover for her bed.  It seems to be much better than her down comforter.

We finished the evening with the acrobat show.  This was the highlight of the boys evening.  We were all amazed at the ability of those people.  You'll see by the pictures.  We left the show at about 6:30 and were supposed to go out to dinner.  Everyone one was completely exhausted, so we decided just to go back to our hotel and rest.  Jordan immediately went to bed and we followed shortly behind her.  It was a very memorable and enjoyable first day in China.

We are having difficulties uploading pictures.  So, keep checking back to see if we are able to get them posted.  We are also able to check our email from the hotel.  Mike could actually work from here if he wanted to!  Until tomorrow...