July 14 – Guangzhou.
9pm – the blogging hour. I am sitting beside Zoe’s crib and she is not falling asleep. She has made major gains in getting comfortable with me, but her ability to fall asleep is much worse here in Guangzhou. The crib is tiny, but I think that’s only part of the story. The other part is that she is enjoying her awake time and interacting with us, and I think it gets hard for kids to unwind in the evening to sleep at this stage in their development. Or maybe it’s just the crib. Who knows? Zoe takes quite a few tries to go down this evening and she finally needs Karen to lay by her side to calm, quiet, and sleep. It’s suddenly 9:55. Not sure my post will be as long as the prior two days at this hour.
Guangzhou is a pretty place – we are staying on Shamian Island (which is kind of a funny island – you can circumnavigate the perimeter on foot in less than 1 hour – even in the heat) in the Victory Hotel. We have a suite, (as we did in Nanchang) but this room is definitely a step down from our room in the Gloria Hotel – Nanchang. The room here has one bathroom and no kitchen and no eating area. It’s more of a glorified 1br. Apt, complete with a computer and internet hookup in room, and more importantly, a reverse osmosis water treatment unit so we can get drinking water right in our room as opposed to purchasing bottled water (de rigueur for the trip up to this point). The shower is also hit or miss. Start at one temperature, but be hit with either ice cold or boiling hot water at any moment. And all of the towels are shrink wrapped, emitting a chlorine-type odor when finally freed from their plastic mummification.
Zoe had a tough night last night, our first in the room. She woke often and cried loudly all night. I kept finding her pressed with her head into the side of the crib, or her body twisted and bound in the large sheets that were provided with the tiny crib. I finally increase the room temperature by 2 degrees C and this seems to comfort her a bit.
We got a phone call from housekeeping at 10:47 pm last night. Apparently we put a “Please make up this room” card on the door when we went to bed. There is no “Please do not Disturb” card. What you need to do is flip the specially marked light switch by the bed and it turns on a light outside the door to let people know to bug off. And our hotel key card is only merely waved by the lock to activate the opening mechanism (complete with vintage 80’s Robotron type sound effects). So this hotel is a mix of high technology gadgets, and low technology plumbing, and an extra charge on your credit card every where you look if you are not careful.
We wake early and head downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. Same as the other hotels – a mix of American type fare and traditional Chinese breakfast. Zoe has Congee soup, hard boiled egg and banana. The rest of us have French toast, fruit juice, sausage and scrambled eggs. The coffee is better here than the other hotels – a nice change.
Karen has remarked how it already feels different in this part of China. Everywhere you look there are Americans present, finalizing their adoption. Lots of special needs kids that we run across. We see families we met previously in the Beijing Airport (and in our hotel in Nanchang) as well as some new faces. And some people we bumped into in Wal Mart – Nanchang, who currently reside in Steamboat Springs and are adopting their first kid from China. It has a small world feel, and does not quite ring like an authentic experience to us. And this in a city of 10 million – another Manhattan!
Cordelia meets us at 9:30am for our doctor appt and visa photo for Zoe. The clinic is a short walk from the hotel, and upon entering it’s like a scene from the triage hall of a disaster movie – families lining the halls, kids everywhere, no place to sit and what looks like pandemonium. Turns out it’s only a bunch of clueless Americans like us, and our gracious hosts walking us through their system. For all of the apparent craziness, we are only waiting less than 10 minutes before we enter the “three station” checkup for Zoe. Height/weight, vitals, and skin check. Start to finish it’s quick – we’re out of there completely (after lollygagging and waiting for Randy, Amy and Naomi to finish up) before 10:30. Not quick enough for Zoe, of course. And still plenty of time for us to witness some shocking parenting from another group of folks who are adopting.
We return to the hotel, and Randy, Cordelia and I head to the Business Center to fill out all of the paperwork that Cordelia will take to the consulate appointment on our behalf on Monday. Faith makes this process a real breeze, and Cordelia is very professional making sure all of our i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before she collects our paperwork and final fees, and bids us farewell for the day until tomorrow morning. It’s a lot of writing the same information over and over, and it took the better part of an hour for Randy and me to finish up with Cordelia.
Zoe is napping and Emma is having some Mommy time after I return to the room. It’s clear Emma is still adjusting to the idea of sharing attention, and it is understandably stressful for her. Karen has been very good about making sure they get some one-on-one time every day, but I can tell this is still a harsh adjustment for the poor kid.
Emma and I have lunch in the hotel, return to the room, and find that Zoe has slept for 2 plus hours this nap. When she finally awakes, we head out to drop off laundry down the street and do a little local exploring.
Emma bought a cute Chinese New Year doll (same size and concept as Barbie but a Chinese product very popular with local girls) and we browse a few other stores before returning to the hotel to finally SWIM!
It’s hard to describe how patient Emma has been given that we have not had a real good, pleasurable swim since our arrival. The Beijing pool was cold, and geared toward exercise, in the basement of the hotel. The Nanchang pool was mostly closed and when it finally opened, the water was so sketchy (I could not see deeper than the bottom of my swim trunks) that we were in and out in no time. Well, when it comes to pools, the Victory Hotel shines on this trip. The pool is a rooftop affair, outdoors and with great views of the city all around. The water is warm (probably over 90 degrees) and the air is warm, and we spend over an hour jumping and playing, and getting Zoe acquainted with her new favorite sport. She is very game, but would only swim with Karen. Emma on the other hand could swim across the pool and floated on her back for 140 seconds. We frolicked and enjoyed until dinnertime.
Dinner was held at Lucy’s, an American cuisine place that we promised Emma we would try tonight. I had fish and chips, and Emma spaghetti. Zoe had traditional noodles and Karen a sandwich. And the beer was cold!
Back to the hotel for baths, winding down, and bedtime. Amazingly, Zoe allowed me to take her into the bath, cried for only a short time (and hardly loud), and then seemed to have fun with me in the tub getting used to the slippery feel of the baby soap. She was great, and this is a huge change from earlier in the week. I feel like we finally turned one corner – now if only I can be the one to comfort her to sleep we’ll be in pretty good shape.
9pm – the blogging hour. I am sitting beside Zoe’s crib and she is not falling asleep. She has made major gains in getting comfortable with me, but her ability to fall asleep is much worse here in Guangzhou. The crib is tiny, but I think that’s only part of the story. The other part is that she is enjoying her awake time and interacting with us, and I think it gets hard for kids to unwind in the evening to sleep at this stage in their development. Or maybe it’s just the crib. Who knows? Zoe takes quite a few tries to go down this evening and she finally needs Karen to lay by her side to calm, quiet, and sleep. It’s suddenly 9:55. Not sure my post will be as long as the prior two days at this hour.
Guangzhou is a pretty place – we are staying on Shamian Island (which is kind of a funny island – you can circumnavigate the perimeter on foot in less than 1 hour – even in the heat) in the Victory Hotel. We have a suite, (as we did in Nanchang) but this room is definitely a step down from our room in the Gloria Hotel – Nanchang. The room here has one bathroom and no kitchen and no eating area. It’s more of a glorified 1br. Apt, complete with a computer and internet hookup in room, and more importantly, a reverse osmosis water treatment unit so we can get drinking water right in our room as opposed to purchasing bottled water (de rigueur for the trip up to this point). The shower is also hit or miss. Start at one temperature, but be hit with either ice cold or boiling hot water at any moment. And all of the towels are shrink wrapped, emitting a chlorine-type odor when finally freed from their plastic mummification.
Zoe had a tough night last night, our first in the room. She woke often and cried loudly all night. I kept finding her pressed with her head into the side of the crib, or her body twisted and bound in the large sheets that were provided with the tiny crib. I finally increase the room temperature by 2 degrees C and this seems to comfort her a bit.
We got a phone call from housekeeping at 10:47 pm last night. Apparently we put a “Please make up this room” card on the door when we went to bed. There is no “Please do not Disturb” card. What you need to do is flip the specially marked light switch by the bed and it turns on a light outside the door to let people know to bug off. And our hotel key card is only merely waved by the lock to activate the opening mechanism (complete with vintage 80’s Robotron type sound effects). So this hotel is a mix of high technology gadgets, and low technology plumbing, and an extra charge on your credit card every where you look if you are not careful.
We wake early and head downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. Same as the other hotels – a mix of American type fare and traditional Chinese breakfast. Zoe has Congee soup, hard boiled egg and banana. The rest of us have French toast, fruit juice, sausage and scrambled eggs. The coffee is better here than the other hotels – a nice change.
Karen has remarked how it already feels different in this part of China. Everywhere you look there are Americans present, finalizing their adoption. Lots of special needs kids that we run across. We see families we met previously in the Beijing Airport (and in our hotel in Nanchang) as well as some new faces. And some people we bumped into in Wal Mart – Nanchang, who currently reside in Steamboat Springs and are adopting their first kid from China. It has a small world feel, and does not quite ring like an authentic experience to us. And this in a city of 10 million – another Manhattan!
Cordelia meets us at 9:30am for our doctor appt and visa photo for Zoe. The clinic is a short walk from the hotel, and upon entering it’s like a scene from the triage hall of a disaster movie – families lining the halls, kids everywhere, no place to sit and what looks like pandemonium. Turns out it’s only a bunch of clueless Americans like us, and our gracious hosts walking us through their system. For all of the apparent craziness, we are only waiting less than 10 minutes before we enter the “three station” checkup for Zoe. Height/weight, vitals, and skin check. Start to finish it’s quick – we’re out of there completely (after lollygagging and waiting for Randy, Amy and Naomi to finish up) before 10:30. Not quick enough for Zoe, of course. And still plenty of time for us to witness some shocking parenting from another group of folks who are adopting.
We return to the hotel, and Randy, Cordelia and I head to the Business Center to fill out all of the paperwork that Cordelia will take to the consulate appointment on our behalf on Monday. Faith makes this process a real breeze, and Cordelia is very professional making sure all of our i’s are dotted and t’s crossed before she collects our paperwork and final fees, and bids us farewell for the day until tomorrow morning. It’s a lot of writing the same information over and over, and it took the better part of an hour for Randy and me to finish up with Cordelia.
Zoe is napping and Emma is having some Mommy time after I return to the room. It’s clear Emma is still adjusting to the idea of sharing attention, and it is understandably stressful for her. Karen has been very good about making sure they get some one-on-one time every day, but I can tell this is still a harsh adjustment for the poor kid.
Emma and I have lunch in the hotel, return to the room, and find that Zoe has slept for 2 plus hours this nap. When she finally awakes, we head out to drop off laundry down the street and do a little local exploring.
Emma bought a cute Chinese New Year doll (same size and concept as Barbie but a Chinese product very popular with local girls) and we browse a few other stores before returning to the hotel to finally SWIM!
It’s hard to describe how patient Emma has been given that we have not had a real good, pleasurable swim since our arrival. The Beijing pool was cold, and geared toward exercise, in the basement of the hotel. The Nanchang pool was mostly closed and when it finally opened, the water was so sketchy (I could not see deeper than the bottom of my swim trunks) that we were in and out in no time. Well, when it comes to pools, the Victory Hotel shines on this trip. The pool is a rooftop affair, outdoors and with great views of the city all around. The water is warm (probably over 90 degrees) and the air is warm, and we spend over an hour jumping and playing, and getting Zoe acquainted with her new favorite sport. She is very game, but would only swim with Karen. Emma on the other hand could swim across the pool and floated on her back for 140 seconds. We frolicked and enjoyed until dinnertime.
Dinner was held at Lucy’s, an American cuisine place that we promised Emma we would try tonight. I had fish and chips, and Emma spaghetti. Zoe had traditional noodles and Karen a sandwich. And the beer was cold!
Back to the hotel for baths, winding down, and bedtime. Amazingly, Zoe allowed me to take her into the bath, cried for only a short time (and hardly loud), and then seemed to have fun with me in the tub getting used to the slippery feel of the baby soap. She was great, and this is a huge change from earlier in the week. I feel like we finally turned one corner – now if only I can be the one to comfort her to sleep we’ll be in pretty good shape.
1 comment:
Well your almost there 2-3 more days and your on your way back to the US. Reading from the blog I am sure you will have fond memories of china and the urge to revisit in the future. The experience will always be memorable and now we have baby Zoe...what a story to tell when she gets older. Safe travels home and give Emmma and Zoe a big kiss from me.
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