October 12th 2010 - Consulate appointment day!
Today I have decided that I am so sick of our hotel that we will be moving to the White Swan Hotel. We had breakfast with our friends, and then we will be packing to move. I know it sounds silly, but I have been here too long. I am sick of the elevators smelling, the same boring breakfast and everything else. Our room at the White Swan is smaller, but the atmosphere is unforgettable. I was told the food was much better. Being from Dallas, my food standards are higher than other, so we will see. I know just having more options will be a blessing!
Our guide told us to hang around the hotel just in case they need any further information for the consulate appointment. That makes me nervous, as I have no idea what other information I could provide for them! They know everything about us! The lady that is staying at our hotel is on our same track, so after we get the okay from our guides, we will go shopping across the street. It is about a 15 minute walk through a rundown part of town that Roger and I are experts at maneuvering. We have been up and down these areas with Kai several times. We took our ex-hotel mate and walked all through the town, literally doing almost no buying. Roger hates this kind of shopping. :) I don’t mind it so much - I like seeing everything.
We still don’t know what to get people who have helped us so much. If my thanks were expressed in monetary value, I wouldn’t have enough money to tell everyone how much I love sharing this experience with them and how much we appreciate and love them.
"An invisible red thread connects those who are destined to meet regardless of time, place, or circumstance. The red thread may stretch or tangle but it will never break." —An Ancient Chinese Proverb
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
October 11th 2010 Safari Park!!
Today we went to the safari park. It was really fun for all of us! We picked the best day ever to go because it was not busy at all! This morning we had breakfast with the family that is in our hotel, and they said yesterday the safari park was so busy you could not even stop to look at the pandas. We were in the panda exhibit all by ourselves! Kai slept through that part of the park, but I am not worried because we will see more pandas in Chengdu next week. The safari park is all I really ever wanted to do here in Guangzhou.
We are getting pretty tired of our hotel. Kai never wants to be inside, even with his toys. He always wants to be on the go! We are always on the move. He still has food issues. I feel bad because if he hears you going into the food pantry, he quickly crawls to come see what you are getting. He would eat every waking moment if we let him. If Roger and I want a snack and Kai has had enough food for the day, we have to wait for him to fall asleep. It makes me feel guilty. My friends with knowledge in this department say this will pass - I just hope it passes soon.
Tomorrow is our consulate appointment, which apparently we don’t even go to. Our guide goes in our place. We are excited to be one day closer to getting home.
October 10th 2010
This morning we had breakfast with a lady that adopted a 6 year old boy that is post surgery for a cleft lip. She traveled by herself and left her family at home. They have been here almost as long as we have, and she just saw here guide for the second time yesterday. She was desperate to talk to an adult. Poor thing! He is a sweet boy that was living with a foster family. The foster mother taught English, so the child only speaks English! It was cute listening to all of his stories.
It was our first attempt to eat with what Kai would know as strangers, and we were not sure if he would expect them to share their food or not, but he didn’t. Whew. I don’t want him to grow up thinking that he is entitled to everyone else’s food. He definitely thinks that he is entitled to our food.
This morning, we went to the Carrefour Market again to restock our supplies of food. We bought some Lego’s and beginning picture books in Chinese, English and pinyin for Kai. He is already getting bored with his toys that we brought from home. At the end of the shopping trip it was easier to carry Kai and put the heavy stuff we bought in the stroller. I was carrying Kai and Ike asked to hold him. It is so sweet how Ike talks to him so much. Kai smiles a lot, so he must be funny. He even nibbles on his ear like he is going to eat it! It really is cute!
I do have to say that finding souvenirs is a bit difficult. It is so hard to find stuff that does not weigh too much, and that doesn’t look like it would go in the back of someone’s cabinet for the next 20 years. I like some things and I know that I might want it, but do I need it? No. We don’t need anything. We got the most original gift I could ask for, Rory Kai!
October 9, 2010 Rainy boring day
Kai is doing well today. He had a bit of a fever from all of his shots, but it is under control with Tylenol. He is in a great mood. I know that his legs are bothering him because the way he stands on them carefully, but it has not dampened his spirit. He is so loving and sweet this morning.
I on the other hand am not feeling as well. It started out when we got in the elevator and it reeked of cigarette smoke. I’m not sure what they are smoking here, but it smells cadaverous. We are in at least a 4 star hotel, and I don’t want to have this pungent smell from the elevator on me and my family all day. I see a lot (70%) of boys and men smoking. When I found out our guide was male, I was worried. One of the first questions I asked him was if he smoked. Thank goodness he said no. I know I would not have been tolerant of that at all! I asked why so many people smoke, he said it was a stature thing. It is an expensive habit and if someone smokes, they appear to have money even though they probably do not. Seriously, it is not the 1950’s anymore. It is not cool to smoke. I don’t know why people in China do not pick up on that! My guide says it’s a slow suicide. He is right. It is so repulsive to me.
Then, we go to the same boring breakfast we have had for 9 days now. It is a buffet of the same food every single day. I hate it that we paid $15 a day times two people for eggs, toast, and cereal for the baby. This hotel does not seem to have as much variety as the other hotels we have been in, and we are here the longest. At least in Changsha, they attempted some sort of pancake or French toast and their fruit and vegetables looked fresh.
To top off this morning, it is rainy and I don’t feel like getting the umbrella and walking in the rain. I am so ready to finish up here in Guangzhou. I pray that it comes quickly. I miss my family and friends so much. I just to hug them tight and don’t ever want to be gone this long again.
Friday, October 8, 2010
October 8th, 2010 Medical Check and Vaccination day
This morning we went for our immigration medical check and vaccinations. It was a mad house! Anyone who wants to emigrate to the US has to go through this process, and let me tell you, it was so busy! I am glad we had an appointment because we were lucky to be in and out of there in 1.5 hours. The doctor did a pretty decent history and physical. He stated that Kai’s chest is, “formed like a chicken” and noted that he could see his heart beating probably because as he stated, “he has a bit of an enlarged heart”. He felt his PMI (which for Kai is large) and noted a thrill. (It feels like a cat purring.) He also asked if his lips were always a bit blue, and we said not normally, only when he gets worked up. Apparently he was nervous. Poor baby! He made note of a few other things that I can’t wait to read in the report. I couldn’t read it now because he wrote it in Chinese. :(
He weighed in at around 18.5 pounds fully clothed and a wet diaper. He has gained around 3 pounds in these last 2 weeks! He is 76 cm long which is right at 30 inches. He is off the Asian boy height charts by only 2-3 cm, and off the Asian boy charts in weight by only 1 kg. Not too bad for a heart baby! If we had the weights from the day we got him that would be a different story.
Unfortunately, he had to get 5 vaccinations, which were painful shots in both arms and legs. He cried while they gave him the shots, but as soon as mama gave him a Cheerio, the crying stopped. We felt so bad for him! It is hard to sit there and know your baby is in pain. As the day went on, we had no issues with the shots. He took a great 3 hour nap and woke up in a good mood as usual. You would not even know he got shots today.
We went for a long walk and played at the park. Kai loves to watch kids play. Guangzhou is finally quiet again because the holiday is over. We went to the White Swan to take pictures with the Koi fish. Before there was hundreds of people around and we couldn’t even get on the bridge over the water. Kai loves the fish. He can say fish in Chinese and it is so cute! I was bending down taking pictures and someone behind us asked if we were from Dallas. I said, “How did you know that?” She recognized my Medical City Hospital tee shirt! She even knew one of the doctors I work with, Dr. Rosenthal. Small world!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
October 7th 2010 Yun Tai Gardens
Yesterday I forgot to mention that Kai said “daddy” and “da da” for the first time! We only worked on it once! He is so smart!!!! It was clear as day!
Kai slept well, but he is not in the best of moods. He isn’t grumpy, but is not smiling and laughing as much as usual. His abdomen is distended and I think he is uncomfortable. All things considered, he is very well behaved. I still have not completely caught up on my sleep, so I am tired. We are getting tired of the same breakfast every day. I think tomorrow I will just have toast.
It is very humid and warm today. We went to the Yun Tai Gardens, a HUGE park and garden, the biggest of its kind in Guangzhou. I loved watching the kids play in the fountains. Several children wanted to say Hello to us! How sweet! I loved talking to them! Kai on the other hand, gets so jealous! He gives the kids a dirty look and won’t talk to them at all! It looks like he is telling the kids telepathically, “Hands off! These are my parents!” It is kind of cute. It only happens to the children that we pay attention to. He loves to watch kids until they start talking to Roger or me.
After we get home, Kai goes down for a nap and wakes up with a full diaper and a happy smile! Yay, my baby feels better! He is now himself and as happy as can be. My sweet baby keeps kissing me and talking to me with a sweet loving voice. We are so blessed to have this angel.
October 6th, 2010 Folk Art Museum
I am so exhausted because I went to sleep around 6 AM. Every day that goes by, Kai decides to sleep in more and more. He used to get up around 6-6:30 like clockwork. Today, we got up around 8 am, talked briefly to family on Skype, and then went to eat. When we got back to the room, I wanted to lie down. Then, I looked at the time. Darn. It was 20 minutes until Ike was going to be there and I am so exhausted.
Today, we went to The Folk Art Museum. This building used to be Chen Clan’s Academy. It was established in 1894 during the Qing Dynasty. It has impressive architecture. I took many pictures of the building because it was a piece of art itself. Guangzhou is getting ready for Asian games, so everything is under construction. Instead of walking through the front door, we were detoured into this neighborhood and entering through what looks like a servant’s entrance. That was interesting.
At this museum, we saw a 6 or 7 year old child on a sculpture posing for a picture. When the family got him down and they started to walk away, we put Kai up there to pose. This child saw Kai up there (see picture) and lunged at the sculpture wanting to get back up, and was screaming loudly. First his mother was yelling and pulling him off and when that didn’t work, the father decided to help. This child was out of control and too hard for them to handle. It was so odd to see! Kai was watching this happen and was holding on for dear life. The look on Kai’s face in the picture was a result of watching this kid through a huge fit. I whispered to Kai that he was not to learn from that kind of behavior. He smiled even though he did not know what I was saying. Ike called him an “Emperor” which made me laughed. That is how he refers to spoiled boys.
Although I was so tired, I would have done that again if I had to choose. We were not thrilled about doing it to begin with, but in the end, it was well worth it.
When we got back, Kai took a 3 hour nap with mommy, and he woke up so happy! (As usual, but I love it!) We then decided we would go try out the pool. It was windy and the water was cold. Kai didn’t look too thrilled about it, so I went for a quick cold dip, and then we went to our room. Kai is still worried about water and I want to lessen that fear. We both got in the bathtub in our swim suit/swim diaper and played with water toys. It took a bit of trust, but finally he felt comfortable enough to sit by himself! I am so excited! This baby is amazing!
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