Early morning today. We fly from Jinan to Guangzhou. Last leg of our trip. Whew. One observation - all the kids suck their thumbs, fingers, arms. Whatever it takes to soothe. Claire sucks one middle finger and ring finger on her right hand.
We are leaving the place Claire has lived at least since she was abandoned. She was actually abandoned right next to the baby hatch. Which could mean she isn’t from Jinan but rather another town on the outskirts. (Only kids from Jinan can be abandoned in the hatch.) I find that I’m still compartmentalizing to a certain extent. Whatever I need to do in the moment/ in the day gets my attention and focus. Another couple spent yesterday afternoon going to find where their son was abandoned. Essentially a back alley. So hard. I know I will deal with that at some point. I just can’t right now.
Off we go to the airport. We were encouraged to see an air traffic control tower. :) Just kidding. This is a big city and a huge airport. Bigger than Norfolk. We checked into our flight and checked our bags. (All six families) Soon after the ticket agent came to get us and another couple. Something was in our checked bags that shouldn’t be. Still not sure what the problem was with ours. With Terry and Carrie it was a lithium battery. Had to be taken out of their checked bags and put into their carry on luggage. That’s a head scratcher. (We had a translator with us, so nothing was really lost in translation.) Terry and Carrie are some of the funniest people we have ever met. We had so much fun with that - I was crying laughing. (Carrie - with her southern accent - said “well, let’s be respectful. If we’re going to blow up the plane let’s do it from our seat. Not the baggage compartment.)
Then on to security. I went through with Claire and Kyle had all our carry ons - 4 carry-ons. At security they made him open every bag and take every single thing out. Literally every single thing. They made him eat the baby formula. To prove it wasn’t an explosive powder. And they made him break the seal on a baby tylenol and drink it. And break the seal on a baby advil and drink it. We definitely got pictures. No way the Chinese are trusting American-sealed medicine.
Claire was really good on the plane ride. Roughly two and a half hour flight to Guangzhou. Flying into Guangzhou it looks so lush and pretty. Oh and before reaching Guangzhou we saw the bluest sky we have seen, yet. Took a picture from the plane. And it looked like it was uninhabited land beneath us. (Trivia - a friend of mine told me 4000 people die in china each day from the pollution.)
Landing in Guangzhou - it is really pretty here! Lush green everywhere. Palm trees all over. Organized roads - at least compared to Beijing and Jinan. And it seems clean. Interesting to see lots of expensive cars on the road. More so than Beijing. This seems like a cross between Boston and New York. Just bigger. There were four lanes going in our direction to our hotel - and they each had different speeds. Interesting.
Get to our hotel - The China Hotel (Marriott). It is a nice hotel, but I’m a fish out of water again. It takes me a while to get comfortable with a new place. Settled into a new room. Figure out where everything is. I’m unsettled. Kyle is going to round up a glass of wine for me. :)
Every day is new with Claire. She is super wiggly today. And she started walking a few steps holding my hands. She is so capable. She is crawling all over the place and climbing all over me. And I got more kisses today! For a baby who loves to be snuggled and soothed with love. I have to hope that the unlimited snuggles she gets mitigate the trauma she is going through. Somehow. I literally haven’t put her down at all. And we don’t have a stroller. So if I’m not carrying her, she is in the ergo, and I’m wearing her.
Forgot - getting off the plane she smiled and waved to everyone walking by. And we have had a few diaper changes without tears!
We all stopped for bathroom breaks right after getting off the plane. I gave her to Kyle which she didn’t like. And funny enough Molly walked by and she put her hands up for Molly! Seems she is really comfortable with women.
Checking into the hotel - literally every Chinese I see has a smart phone and is looking at it. Not a single exception in the lobby. And the lobby is packed. It is so much more than in the states. Just makes me want to raise my kids with absolutely no electronics. The rudeness factor with the smart phone here taking over makes me crazy.
Getting settled in the room, and we are laughing hysterically. Kyle is trying to plug in the boiler to warm water for a bottle. And he literally can’t find the plug. (Different type of plug than the one we had in Jinan) After multiple conversations with the front desk and a few dead ends, we finally plugged it in. One conversation - the plug is under the stairs. We don’t have stairs. Another person told us it was behind the mini bar. So Kyle removed the entire mini fridge from the compartment it is in. Had me laughing until I was crying. Not there. Under the sink in the bathroom. Not there. Finally someone came up and showed us. I needed that laugh.
This trip can feel so crazy at times. And others I get glimpses of normal. For bedtime tonight - got Claire a new diaper. Snuggled in pajamas. A bottle and a lovey and snuggle time. And she went right to sleep easily. I’m singing the same song to her every time I put her to bed. Jesus Loves You.
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