The Trip Home

My photo taking has diminished so these latest posts might be a bit barren. Maybe I need to delve into the archive from the trip to provide some visual interest. Here are the girls in People's Park, Nanchang. At any rate:

It's 11:45 am here in Seattle. This house is ghost quiet. China is 15 hours ahead, so all of our body clocks tell us it is 2:45 am tomorrow, which explains why everyone is asleep.

I thought I would be able to post an update yesterday that was a little longer than "we're back" but I was just too tired. Slept for 5 hours in the afternoon - got up at dinner time. Zoe and Karen got up at about the same time, and Emma slept until about 8 or 9 pm. It was a bit strange - I was continually shocked about how late in the evening it was - my whole body clock was thrown off. It's funny because I take pride in my ability to adapt relatively quickly to a new time zone, but I was way off in thinking I could push through, stay up all day yesterday, go to bed at a normal time last night, and wake up at a semi-normal time today. Even coffee is not powerful enough to combat the effects of such sleep deprivation as we've had due to our trip home.

The trip home...

Our travel day started in a typical fashion for China. We had ordered a 4:30 am wake-up call and the bellhop was due at our room by 5:20 to pick up bags. No way I was going to spend 15 hours on an airplane without a shower first, so Karen and I allowed enough time for the two of us to clean up before we woke Zoe and Emma this morning.

I woke up several times prior to 4:30 am and checked my watch. Must have been about hourly all night. I think I was anxious about the trip. I am glad I did not sleep soundly, however, because I heard somebody coughing outside on the street and looked at my watch and lo and behold - 4:40 am. No wake-up call. Karen had even set the alarm by the bed. No alarm this morning! The gods of travel are not smiling on us this morning. Cordelia told us later that this was not the first time the Victory Hotel forgot a wake-up call. Hopefully she will work this little tidbit into her future warnings to others who are staying here. Little details like a wake-up call help explain the price difference between the cheaper Victory and the more expensive White Swan.

The hotel has packed us a breakfast and we board the van for the airport. It's our final look at China, and unfortunately we spend most of the time focusing on feeding Zoe and Emma and not really looking out the window because before we know it, we are at the airport and checking in.

Cordelia helped us with check-in. Luckily this time nobody decided to just blatantly cut in line ahead of us. In Nanchang this had happened at the airport and Michelle had given the culprit a hard time (in Chinese) but he did not care. One thing I have learned through the Tokyo Airport and in various waiting situations in China - it seems to be every person for themselves. You need to be a bit aggressive in defending your position if you want to get anywhere. Anyway, we are pulled aside for a bag screening at check-in, and two officials go through one of our checked bags in detail before we are allowed to get our boarding passes. This is one with lots of gifts in it, and I can only hope they re-pack it as well as we had to protect these items.

We get our passes and have just enough time to say goodbye to Cordelia - take a final photo - pass through the Passport Check, Security, bathrooms, and board our plane. Our departure is 8:20 am, but boarding starts an hour before that. This is because we go through another screening on the jetway where all of our carry-ons are examined in detail before we are allowed to get onto the airplane.

4.5 hours to Tokyo. This is mostly uneventful. Zoe is great, no complaints, and we get a meal. Karen Zoe and Emma are in one row of three, and I am on the aisle in the row behind them. Zoe soils her first diaper as we are backing out of the gate and it turns out things are not fully contained. Karen applies a "patch" - our new strategy for this situation - basically add a diaper on top until we can deal with the issue correctly. We take off and once in the air, I take Zoe to the bathroom for a change. She does not like this at all and lets everyone on the airplane know about it. In my mind, the bathroom is a soundproof chamber- so I am not too worried- but by the time I return to the seat (after enduring stares and glares from the peanut gallery on the plane), Karen tells me that Zoe was quite audible through the bathroom walls, and at least up to our row which was about 5 rows away. That explains the reaction of the onlookers. I am sure they pictured some sort of torture being applied behind closed doors.

Tokyo was a scene we'd experienced before: Off the airplane, another security check (all bags on the belt, etc.) and then to our connecting flight. This time we had a bit of a break - about 30 minutes until boarding. Emma got out her jump rope and worked in a bit of exercise in anticipation of our long flight ahead. I'm feeling pretty good - we've knocked off 1/3 of our travel so far, and no major incidents to report.

Our second flight is arranged better. We have the 4 seats together in the middle of the 2-4-2 airplane. This flight also has power ports, and entertainment (video monitors) on each seat where you can select your own movie or music to pass the time. Emma dives into the DVD collection, and Zoe spends a lot of time in Karen's lap.

The video monitors also show the airplane's progress on an interactive map. I check this a bit too often - like a watched toaster that never pops, our route across the Pacific Ocean looks endless and the clock appears to have stopped because time is passing so slowly. This flight has two meals that are hardly memorable but at least take some time out of the schedule as we are eating. We are scheduled to arrive in Seattle at 8:15 am local time (11:15 pm in China).

The child in the seat behind us is having a terrible time. He cries for most of the first 6+ hours of the flight and his parents appear helpless to assist him. Although they are not trying much - just sitting there and asking themselves aloud why this child won't sleep. Not sure they were prepared with any diversions for this child. A kind mother approaches them at about hour 4 and asks if they need anything (she has a quiet infant traveling with her) and they decline.

At about hour 6 Zoe starts to get a bit wild. We can tell this is her typical "I'm tired" behavior, but she cannot find a position of comfort laying on the seat between Karen and me. Karen takes her and walks her on the airplane for more than 30 minutes, but she is not calming a bit - she is just talking and pointing this out in a loud voice. I take her and hide in the bathroom (fortunately there are something like 10 bathrooms on this plane) for 30 minutes. She is quiet in here, but fascinated. "What's this - Kleenex? Let me pull on this! What's this? Soap dispenser? How to I work this? How do I turn on the water? Who is that in the mirror? Can I rattle this door latch a bit more?" She shreds a Kleenex for a while before I decide we have dominated the bathroom for long enough, and she and I return to the seat with about 2 hours of flight time remaining.

Emma is exhausted but cannot find a comfortable sleep position. She is trying, but nothing seems to work. Zoe is exhausted, and starts to amplify her voice. She is clearly overstimulated by this environment and all of the new things to check out. We have fed her on and off all flight, and finally she is tired of snacking on Cheerios. We need to get this plane on the ground ASAP!

Just when the child behind us finally goes to sleep, Zoe picks up the charge of unruly child and starts to alternately cry and be quiet. The quiet times to not last long, and at this point, it dawns on me that we are finally cashing in all of our good luck travel karma. Emma has been such an easy traveler that we are a bit unprepared to sit in our seat, helpless to calm a screaming kid, and ride it out until we get home. It's a terrible feeling, and there is nothing we can do. Zoe wants something (a flat surface upon which to sleep) and we are not providing this for her, so her response is to get louder and louder to present the facts of her case to us. Nothing we can do here. Ugh. This is terrible - truly terrible.

Mercifully, both kids fall asleep about 15 minutes before we land at Seatac. I hate for a 15 hour travel day to be dominated by memories of the last 2+ hours, but that's the way things go. In fact and on the whole Zoe did great. She bore the first 12+ with little complaint - more than many adults can vouch for. But we are not eager for any long airplane flights any time soon.

We are on the runway and allow the airplane to clear out. Lots of carry-on luggage for us. Waking Emma is like waking the dead she is so asleep. We manage to get off the plane, and put ourselves last in line for Customs in the U.S.

Okay - I will say it. Our system is an embarrassment. We have an initial 30 minute wait for our passports to be checked. About 29 minutes longer than China. But this is not the half of it. Once we get our initial check, we need to step into another line because Zoe needs to be processed specially. She has a visa to enter the US, and the paperwork needs review and special handling. Like, tear envelope, staple papers together, ask parents two questions. Tell them they are free to go. Straightforward? I suppose so. It took an hour and a half.

We collect our bags two hours after landing. Zoe has been sleeping in her front pack the entire time. Emma graciously agreed to watch another DVD while we waited. Our bags pass through customs quickly, then off to the main terminal to meet our friend and neighbor Jill who is picking us up.

Our dear friends have posted "Welcome Home" signs on the house, and put some food in the fridge and fruit in the kitchen. What a warm surprise. This is true salvation for us - to have something to eat when we are finally back. We have a lot of great friends in West Seattle.

A few hours to settle down, and then nap time for all. We are finally home.

We are home!

After an epic journey - we are finally home - the Whole Gang. I am due for another long post to describe the planes/trains/automobiles experience we had, but right now we are all so tired that I think we need to get some sleep. More to come - probably when I wake up at 3am in Seattle fresh as a daisy.

Last day in China

July 17 – Guangzhou

Have I mentioned the peacocks? I cannot believe I have not mentioned the peacocks. That’s the funny thing about China. In any other location, at any other time, the peacocks would make a great story in and of themselves. But this is China after all, and something as germane as peacocks does not rate nearly as high as the other things we see every day on the streets here.

At any rate, on our first morning in this hotel, we awoke to what sounded like a cat stranded high in a tree and howling for help. It was an odd cry – not quite a cat, but we could not place what it was. It started about dawn, and then stopped after awhile. We heard it and forgot about it. Then, that afternoon, we were finally looking out our hotel window, right across the ally, and lo and behold – there it was. A peacock (and other large tropical bird) cage with at least 3 peacocks and various other specimens, in an open air outdoor pen, atop the roof of the adjacent building. A building that by all measures looks abandoned from the street. But it’s clearly not abandoned. There are peacocks in residence.

We got a good laugh over that, but then moved on to other adventures and experiences.

Today is our last full day in China. Unbelievable that the time has gone so quickly, and yet when I look back on the photo of Karen, Emma and me leaving the house in Seattle (last time as family of three!) for the airport, that time seems eons ago.

We were basically unplanned for the morning. Tried to do a little shopping on the Island, have some lunch, and then head to the US Consulate for our swearing in. Emma, Zoe, and I went to the park while Karen packed the room a bit in the morning. We had some lunch, and then met Cordelia and the rest of our group for the 45 minute van ride to the new US Consulate building in East Guangzhou – a modern neighborhood with tall skyscrapers, cutting edge architecture, and fancy automobiles. Unfortunately I did not take my camera with us because it was forbidden in the consulate building. But the sites were pretty impressive and the feeling was antiseptic compared to the rest of the city.

The swearing in was rather unceremonious after two weeks of paperwork and meetings. We verified our faces to the man behind the window (yep – family and kid match our records), we got a bit of a lecture from a consulate official about being a good parent, and then, as a group, 30 families (over 100 people in the room) collectively swore that we did not lie to anyone when we filled out our paperwork.

Then it was done. All of 45 minutes later the process was complete, and Zoe is clear to travel to the US with her Chinese passport and entry Visa. Once we step foot on American soil, Zoe becomes a US Citizen, but she can retain her Chinese passport as well.

We pile back in the van, and John’s new daughter (Lan Lan who is about 8 years old) starts singing a beautiful traditional Chinese song with a happy smile on her face. Cordelia joins her but tells Karen and me that she (Cordelia) usually cannot sing the song because it’s so emotional to her. The lyrics describe how a happy girl is a girl with a mother, and it’s clear that Lan Lan knows it well and must have been singing it for years in the orphanage. It’s a bit of an emotional moment.

We get back on the island and go our separate ways. Our family is hungry; Randy, Amy and Naomi have one more day here and will lay low this evening, and John and Lan Lan head to the airport tonight. So Emma, Zoe, Karen and I head back to Lucy’s at Emma’s request for one final meal in China – at the American restaurant…!

After dinner Emma needs the bathroom, so Karen takes her back to the hotel (it’s a short walk and a guaranteed Western-style toilet) and I take Zoe in the front pack. Unfortunately Zoe is having none of it this time. She is screaming in despair, and nothing I can do will calm her. I am on the street, at prime evening time when everyone is out, and I have an inconsolable kid on my hands. As I try to ignore the furrowed brows and steely stares, I being to walk with her. No dice. Then I bump into a nice shop keeper who we have met before and where we shopped this morning. He looks at me and sees my predicament. Asks where Zoe is from – I say “Shangrao.” He says, “oh – Jiangxi Province” and immediately breaks into calming Mandarin phrases “Please don’t cry,” and “You are a good child.” Zoe stops crying immediately and looks at him in wonder. Either the words are magic, or it’s the familiar language, but at any rate it works. He asks me to repeat the phrases in Mandarin several times until I get it right, gives me a thumbs up, and sends me on my way. Zoe is calm now. She tries to cry a bit, but then I speak to her in Mandarin and she calms back down, looks up into my eyes, and smiles.

We walk into the public park and watch the badminton players who come out in the evenings when it finally cools off. Karen and Emma return, and we set out on our way again as a group.

Collectively we shop quite a bit. There are plenty of interesting stores we never explored in our few days here, and we try to take it in now. We spend the last of our Yuan, and head to the hotel for a bath for Zoe and swimming for Emma. Tomorrow is an early wakeup call (4:30) and a long day of travel, but I don’t fear it nearly as much as I did even one week ago.

Emma and I are disappointed to find the pool has closed early tonight – a real bummer for her on her last evening here. We try to shake it off, but she is pretty devastated. We return to the room and she has a bath – then some final packing and off to sleep for everyone.

I would love to be able to sum up this trip into something pithy and meaningful. But you will all understand once you meet Zoe that it’s not so easy to put whatever “it” is down into writing. I feel like we are incredibly lucky and am excited to return home to start Zoe’s life in the U.S. She’s a funny, strong, engaging kid and the fact that we’ve struck gold with two kids in a row is almost too hard to believe.

My biggest initial fear when Karen and I first talked about adoption was whether I could possibly feel bonded to an adopted kid like I feel bonded to Emma. Would my love for her be the same, or would it somehow be conditional? How would I know? It felt like a really big gamble to me, and I was afraid it would be unfair to adopt a kid that I felt less love for compared to my natural child. But this kid is amazing. After less than two weeks I feel like Zoe is an integral part of the family. I feel strongly protective of her and I wonder how I could have ever worried about adopting in the first place. The best part for us is that this is only an early chapter in our family, and we have lots more adventures ahead of us.

The first of which is 15 hours of airplane time…

I’d better get to sleep.

Emma's new dress; Scenes from the White Swan Hotel; Group dinner

July 16 – Guangzhou
Today is a low key day according to our schedule. Cordelia is taking all of our paperwork to the U.S. Consulate for review. We are required to stay in our hotel rooms from 10am to 11:30am in case there is a paperwork snafu, in which case Cordelia can call us and try to clear things up. She will give us a confirmatory phone call when all is done to let us know that we are free to enjoy the day and leave the room.

We have breakfast in the hotel and then I quickly set out to try and change some money into RMB (yuan) at the local bank. I have heard the process is slow – but what does that mean? I have about 30 minutes until the 10am witching hour – surely this is enough time.

I walk in the door and take a number. I see – now serving number 29. My number: 67. Hmm – not looking so good, but there are three different tellers working, so this could work out.

I look glance around – there are rows of chairs for sitting. Not a good sign. I decide to browse a local shop across the street to kill time for 10 minutes before returning to the bank. As I walk in the door I hear an announcement “Now Serving Number 31 at Window 3.” Hmm – I return to the hotel defeated and am back at the room at 10 on the dot.

We spend some family time in the room playing a bit – updating the blog, etc. Cordelia finally calls at 11:35 and tells us Congratulations – all paperwork is clear. We will be officially sworn in tomorrow at the US Consulate in the afternoon. Our final hurdle has been crossed in the paperwork odyssey.

I set out again to change money and see that they have already passed my number 67 while I was waiting in the hotel room. But there is still a queue 30 deep. Then I start to wander the island and find another bank, this one with a queue only 15 deep and three tellers working. 45 minutes later I am out the door with more RMB for shopping today.

Karen, Emma, Amy and Randy are going to walk to the clothes shopping area near the hotel. I am going to spend some QT with Zoe in the room – have lunch and maybe take a walk – just bonding. They head out while we feed on noodles and prunes. She makes a mess of herself, but generally is pretty happy. After all, it’s noodles!

After lunch, she reluctantly allows me to towel her off. Then I get out the baby carrier. She looks at it in terror and sees me putting it on, and immediately goes ballistic calling for mommy. I get her in the carrier – walk into the hallway to her piercing screams echoing off the walls. Geez – I am afraid we’ll wake the dead and am a bit embarrassed to walk through the lobby with her this way. I try to duck into a stairwell marked “Exit” but this hardly seems like a good solution. The concrete walls and stairs seem to amplify her screams, and now it seems like I am some sort of shady character, ducking down a back stairway with a screaming baby. So, back to the hallway, back to the room, and a quick deep breath for me.

Okay, we need to do this thing. I am not going to sit in the hotel room all afternoon. I will just deal with the stares from everyone as we go screaming through the lobby. So, back to the hallway, walk to the elevators. Hope nobody is taking a noontime nap. Then, magically when Zoe sees the elevator she calms down and studies the buttons. We board and ride down to the lobby, and walk out the door all calm and grace.

Zoe likes being outside. She tucks herself close to me as we walk, and holds my arm with one hand. We took an hour long walk through the streets (across the river and off the island) to see what was selling in the local shops. Mostly clothing in an open-air mall that was teeming with people. I’m the only westerner that I see during my entire walk.

We take some side streets and loop around back toward the island. See shops with cured meat hanging from hooks, and a smell I don’t need to experience again. Guys sitting around with a band saw carving up some sort of meat slab. Strange exotic dried scorpions and snakes, and other delicacies that I would rather not know too much about.

Then back to the hotel, where we get return to the cool of the A/C. Zoe and I have completely sweated through our outfits during this journey. We play a few games in the room (lots of pass-the-ball and such), and it dawns on her that she has not seen Karen for the last 2 hours. Suddenly the flood gates burst. She is inconsolable. Crying at the top of her lungs. Hoping that somewhere, somehow, Karen can hear her screams for help. She is exhausted but giving it all she’s got. We lie on the bed and attempt to sleep. She is alternately quiet, and then full-bore screaming. You’d think this was a Hollywood murder mystery with the blood-curdling cries emanating from this room. I’ve resigned myself to a kid that will not calm down until she passes out from exhaustion, or…

At this moment I hear the key card “beep bop bee bop” at the door. Karen and Emma have returned with all sorts of goodies (fantastic deals as usual) but the best goody of all, as far as Zoe is concerned, is that Karen can lay by her side and she calms down immediately.

My walk with Zoe was a great success. I never thought she would go for it, but she did and I enjoyed spending that time with her. But it is still clear that her primary comfort and sense of security is Karen. I am feeling better about the airplane ride home now (except for the 5:20 am departure from the hotel in two days).

Cordelia asked the group to assemble at 4:30pm to walk over to the White Swan hotel for group and kid photos on the “red couch” and in front of the waterfall there. It’s a tradition, and the kids are mostly game but Zoe is tired enough that all of her photos include her crying. The White Swan is the fancy hotel on the island – much more expensive than the Victory – with nice shops, an indoor waterfall with coy pond, and expensive restaurants.

We then head to a group dinner at a Chinese restaurant down the street. The menu reads disgusting (lots of pig ears, tripe, silk worms, etc.) but Cordelia does an excellent job of ordering tasty food like fried rice, dumplings, noodle soup, sweet and sour chicken, black pepper steak, green beans and drinks. We ate family style, which is the way it’s done at all of these restaurants. Take a bit from a dish on the lazy Susan, spin it a bit, and take something else that passes you by and looks interesting. We fed 10 people in this fancy place (with food left over) for just over $40 U.S. total. Even on this mostly tourist haven of an island.

Karen, Emma, Zoe, and I return to the hotel for an after-dark swim in the rooftop pool. The moon and stars are out, and it is still warm. Amy, Randy, and Naomi join us a few minutes later and we splash around and take in the nighttime city views.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been here almost two weeks. Karen and I spoke of how we thought by this time we would be dying to return to Seattle. But we have really only spent what feel like a few days in each city, and with all of the meetings and paperwork, we feel like there is so much more to explore. I suppose that’s a good sign. It will be nice to leave wishing we could have stayed longer, as opposed to feeling like we are crawling the walls of our hotel room.

Tomorrow morning is unplanned and maybe we will shop some more before our afternoon meeting and swearing in ceremony at the Consulate. And then one more dinner in China before our grand adventure back to the U.S. It will be an odd change to be in a place where I can understand the background conversation, as opposed to the din of unintelligible voices that I have become accustomed to hearing lately.

Emma and Zoe

Zoe feeds herself - a practiced hand

Six Banyan Temple and our Blessing; Emma meets the Monks

July 15 – Guangzhou
Emma did not sleep well last night – had a lot on her mind she said. We had our breakfast in the hotel, and met Cordelia at 9:30 for a trip to a Six Banyan Temple, a Buddhist Temple, and then some shopping at the Provincial Arts and Crafts store in town. Unfortunately Randy was up all night last night sick, so he is unable to join us for this trip.

Cordelia warns us about beggars when we approach the temple. She recommends that we do not make eye contact if we are not going to give them money. She also recommends that if we give money, we give it from our pockets, not our wallets. Cordelia is very protective of us and gives us lots of tips for survival in the city, but Guangzhou feels no less safe than any other typical city in China or the U.S., and I think she is trying to be as careful as possible because those who adopt come from all walks of America, including folks who are not so comfortable in the city. At any rate, the scene is much less aggressive than Tiananmen Square, and we enter the temple without any trouble.

Cordelia provides us with a history of the temple area and gives us a little lesson on recognizing some Chinese writing as we examine the carved entablatures surrounding the area. Even better, she leads us to the main temple, where we all receive a blessing from a monk. It’s hard to describe in words how powerful this experience felt. We all knelt before the alter, and closed our eyes, and listened to the incredibly beautiful singing chant during the blessing. It’s a traditional blessing for good luck, and we were kneeling in front of three huge bronze Buddha statues – one for past life, one for present life, and one for future life. Something about this experience was very emotional for me, and all of the kids were as quiet as can be during the blessing – all you could hear was the chanting. It’s as if the girls were moved to silence by the power of the moment.

After the blessing we walked the grounds. Emma met two older monks sitting in lotus position and gave them postcards from Seattle. They loved her eyebrows and agreed to be photographed with her. Then they provided her with a blessing for good luck.

I ran into a Bucknell classmate here – we knew each others names, but were not direct friends while in school. Her husband was fully decked out in Bucknell Class of 92 garb, which was a dead giveaway. She and her husband are on their second adoption – a common theme we see among westerners we have met.

After the temple we head to a traditional crafts store. Emma bought a fan (like you see in a dance performance), and we bought some beautiful paintings as well as some gifts (details of which will not be provided to the viewing audience, but consider yourselves warned for your next birthday or Christmas!). The back to the hotel for lunch and a rest. Zoe inhales an adult portion of noodles, as well as some prunes, and then spends some tummy time with me on the floor just chatting and cooing. We are warming up nicely.

We also met up with John today, the third Faith family of this group. He is on his 5th adoption from China, and his 7th kid. His new daughter is 7 years old, with cerebral palsy, and was days away from permanently being put into an orphanage because she was made available three times and nobody would take her. So John stepped in and will bring her home with him to Houston this week to join his large family.

Anyway, Cordelia agrees to take John and me to the electronics shopping area. Randy would have joined, but is still too sick. So, the three adults and John’s girl head out in a cab to this area, about 20 minutes from the hotel.

This is like a large mall with booths everywhere and everyone wanting to sell me an MP4 player. I wander a bit while John buys some games for his kids, and browse the camera accessories. Turns out the starting offer for things like lenses and accessories is similar to prices we would pay in the U.S., but you can bargain lower than that. Unfortunately I did not have enough cash on hand to purchase the flash unit or lens I was considering, so I didn’t even venture to bargain, but it was amazing to see how quickly the price started to drop when I expressed little interest in buying.

I bump into John and he waves me over like a kid in a candy store. Then he grabs the clerk, and tells me to follow them. We wander some halls, go to the back of another store, through several locked doors and into a locked closet room where there are hundreds of current DVDs for movies that have been barely released in theaters. This is a movie nut’s dream, and each DVD is only 10 Yuan (about $1.25 U.S.). I felt like we were straight out of a movie scene ourselves with this little back room adventure, and it was exciting just to experience how this whole thing works when you know the game.

We finish up here, and step out to find a cab and notice that a rain storm has passed through. It’s still humid though – we are told today is 38.8 C (102 F) degrees in the city.

Back at the hotel Zoe has still not napped and dinner is approaching. I put her in the front pack, and set out with some Cheerios to pick up our laundry. This is our first venture together, and a test to see if she will freak out. Turns out that Cheerios must be pretty comforting because for the entire journey she made not a peep – did not seem to care at all that it was just she and me, and Karen was nowhere to be seen.

We gathered with the rest of our group for dinner. Headed to the White Swan to check out the dinner buffet but the prices were ridiculous, so back to Lucy’s, where as you will recall, the beer is cold and there are family-friendly food choices for all. The back to the hotel for a Zoe bath (she took a huge lick of liquid Aveno baby soap from her hands and gave me a totally unfazed look in response), and a special nighttime swim with Emma in the rooftop pool. Again the water was warm, the air was warm, and this time she and I could enjoy the tremendous view and the nighttime city lights from our perch in the water. That was a wonderful end to this day. And Zoe crashed hard in bed with nary a complaint she was so tired.

Scenes from Guangzhou