First Night at Zhengzhou from Arlene

Hello all-

Loy's been the main writer on the blog since we left -it was his idea so he's been the main historian. Now that we have Zhang Rui- I'll chime in too.

It's 6:45 am and we're waiting for her to wake up so we can hit the breakfast buffet. I'm all ready- have her clothes laid out, wearing my ergo carrier thinking today I'll give my arms a rest. She's bonded to me (I heard all the caretakers at her orphanage were mainly women) and yesterday I carried her about 2 miles through the sidewalks of Zhengzhou to get her passport photos. We had to dodge all the electric scooters and the bicycles who were sharing the sidewalks with us. They told me Zhang Rui's never been out of the orphanage before except for medical reasons- so she was pretty wide eyed-taking all the sights in. We got a nice shot of Loy, Zhang Rui and I -but her individual passport picture is teary eyed.

Yesterday was our Gotcha Day - It was also a Chinese holiday -Children's Day so we saw numerous carnivals around town. The other 10 families got their children in the morning at 10 am -so we went to join in the momentous moment and took lots of pictures. The night before we joined with 3 other couples praying for our new children -and for peace to reign for them as they join our new families- I could truly see how God answered that prayer . Of course there was inconsolable crying for some, but there was a lot of joking, horseplay and running around for others- The range of children were from 9 mos to 10 years old- with the majority being toddlers. 5 of the children were already there when we arrived, but we had to wait for another group from an orphanage van that went to the wrong place. It was quite a site seeing the van drive up and all the cameras out catching the moment of them getting out of the vehicle. We would make great papparazzi!

Our girl Zhang Rui was going to arrive late at around 330 pm we were told. She had a long way to travel- from the southern portion of Henan to the capital of Zhengzhou. She was coming by train - Our travelmates were very supportive -offering to take pictures when she came. In fact they were pacing the hall of our hotel floor -hoping to catch a glimpse of her when she arrived. It actually turned out nice getting her in our room. We got to ask a lot of specific questions to the orphanage rep and helper to learn more of Zhang Rui's routine, likes and dislikes. She cried non stop for over an hour- I was stressing out- since all my tricks didn't console her- I was trying to be positive - because I've heard if they cry when first left with you- it means they've formed a healthy attachment to their caretaker- and that's good ! I was thrilled to learn that she comes from an orphanage that Half the Sky Foundation works with- so she has been a part of an infant program with trained caretakers that give one on one nurturing and stimulation to the orphans.. (Their name comes from the Chinese saying- Women hold up half the sky)

Never had time to finish yesterday's blog- Zhang Rui's been adjusting fairly well. We have her laughing, playing peek a boo, playing dress up, piling up her plastic cups and now sh'e turning the pages of her mirror book- looking at herself in each page. She had an episode during the night where she cried for about 20 min non stop. I think she had way too much stimulation yesterday (Walmart, bus rides, walking through town), and we're trying to keep things real low key today. Maybe she had a bad dream, or is missing her life at the orphanage. She's been eating and pooping well - We have much to be grateful for- Thanks for your prayers and support- Until later- Arlene

Adoption Day

Today is a special day where we make our adoption official and the group was leaving at 0930 am. We had to wake up Rui so we could eat at the hotel breakfast buffet. We got to the buffet around 815. We didn't realize that it would take us 2-3 times longer to eat. We spent most of our time exploring what Rui ate and almost forgot to eat ourselves. It is impossible to enjoy a buffet breakfast in 15 minutes. Tomorrow we plan to spend 2-3 hours there to eat (haha). My cool photography vest has been converted to a diaper vest (not very macho....ha!). I also learned that bottles leak (when they fall over in your pocket) and that is soo not cool. We were rushed to eat, rushed to get the right stuff to register and notorize documents for Rui. We had no time for lunch and ate dinner around 8pm.

After going to the registration office (same location where most of the children were delivered), we went to the notary office. I think it's an official government building. We had to climb up 6 big flights of stairs and everyone was in such a fantastic mood that I felt I was in a dream. Huffing and puffing up the stairs reminded me of the reality that it was not a dream. Walking back in 90 degree, super bright,humid, and in full traffic was no picnic. We spent time playing dodgeball with the scooters driving on the sidewalk. I felt like target practice. People would look at us, or our caucasian friends and point at us and create a traffice jam. I felt like yawning and doing a full stretch clobbering the scooters driving by too close to us. But I didn't. Some older people would come soo close to us that I thought they were either pickpockets or trying to smell us.

Our reward for finalizing our local documents for adoption was to go to a brand new Walmart that opened in May 2009. We took our rented bus there to shop for 1.5 hours and then took the same bus back. It's a drag to buy drinking water ( I appreciate where I work even more DDWEM) because it's soo heavy, because you have to carry it in plastic bags. I spent 178 rmbs for water, snacks, and soda. Some parents are already getting tired carrying their child and three families purchased a small stroller. Arlene is in great shape and with her special ERGO child carrier, we hope to avoid buying a stroller. We learned the average monthly salary here is 1100 rmb a month. We spent roughly $600 rmb on formula and donations of clothes to Rui's orphanage. I understand more now how, in their perspective, they see us as being rich.

I was looking for butterfinger bars , granola bars, chocolate bars and kungfu dvd movies and didn't find any snacks, just the typical asian crackers. The dvd movies didn't have english subtitles and were 14rmb (2.50 us). As long as I buy dvds from walmart and not peddlers, I should have no problems with customs. I'm hoping to visit another shopping type mall (with AC) to relax and shop for nick knacks.

Tonight we at at a hotel next door to us. It felt like we were living in a hotel filled mafia type folks. The whole parking lot is filled with cars in total black with tinted windows. Apparently a black color car is cooler to drive than a white color car. I'm glad they didn't belong to the mafia. Our first dinner out with Rui went well. She surprised us by using a spoon and eating on her own a little bit. She also surprise us by breaking a small plate with her over active hands. Oh well. We sure left a mess there. sigh.....

Ending today's blog on a funny note, guess what is the name of the restaurant they have here for their non-super fancy meals? They just serve really nice meals there. It's called Mamma Mia!

"GOTCHA!"

Mission accomplished, at least for the first day. I think I watch Star Trek too much. Everything occured at Warp speed today. Nobody could reallly sleep this morning and most families were up by 4-5 am. and eating breakfast by 6:30-7:00. The official "gotcha" day also coincided with China's childrens day celebration. At 10am 5 families got their matches and it was very dramatic. I was the photographer and videographer. the second 5 families got their matches roughly 25 minutes later because the van got lost. We proceeded to Walmart to buy gifts for the orphanage and rui supplies. Our match came roughly at 4pm and there was a lot of crying (not from me) and then filling paperwork for the documents needed to be submitted tomorrow.

Zhang Rui cried for the first 2 hours. Then she fell asleep when she wore out on my right ear. She then progress from crying, to standing, eating, playing with stacking cups, talking, tossing, stacking the cups correctly, rolling away, throwing, laughing and sharing the universal language called "NO" by shaking her head. I't about 10:30 and I'm ready to crash. Good thing we purchased instant noodle bowls for dinner. At the moment, Zhang Rui doesn't like cheerios or fish crackers. Guess what I ate for dinner tonight?

Zhang Rui's english name will be Katherine Grace Locke. She reminds me of my boss's daughter Katie, who is a nuclear ball of energy. I need a way to tap that energy. I'm looking forward to his advice. Today Arlene is soo sore from carrying Katherine, that she took an advil. I better eat a big breakfast tomorrow, in case I'm stuck eating fish and o's for dinner.

Getting Ready for the Big "Gotcha" Day!

0531 - Beijing to Zhengzhou (Capital of Henan province) It feels like we're couples in a show called the Amazing race where couples of all different nationalities, abilities, conditions, and shapes are racing to find the treasure. In this case, each couple will be rewarded with an adoption child. It was rough but we made it fron Beijing to Zhengzhou 1130am with minimal problems. Our guide brought us directly to the check in counter for our flight and when we reached the security check point, the guard pulled me over to question my water purifier bottle. What was in it? "water" Why is it wet inside? "the security check point does not allow us to bring in any liquids" eventually I made it out back to Arlene with my water bottle. I didn't hold up the group too long, everyone else went crazy and ran to Starbucks for a drink. The cool thing is that no one here is worried about the swine flu and we had no check points to go through.

We were all picked up by another CCAI rep to be briefed on the days ahead. The group will be receiving their matched child Monday at 10am. Except for one family. Locke you will see your child at 330pm because your child will be coming by train and it is very long ride to come from orphanage. We need to try and go to bed now at 11pm and will have a very long and exciting day tomorrow. Please pray for us and the other families that the bonding transistions will go smoothly. It's hard to type in a dark room so I need to sign off.

(Comments are being forwarded to us and are much appreciated!)

Our First Full Day in China

Today should be our first full day in China. The time is 543am and I'm finding it hard to sleep due to the hard bed. Looking forward to our first buffet. I think people think we're crazy here because we keep taking pictures of the food and even the dishes. haha

The buffet was really nice. It was really nice eating with big plates again. We could drink a lot of juices but was reminded about that we couldn't just drink their water. It was funny seeing roughly 9 families up at 7 am loading up on everything from yogurt to wonton soup, chow mein, and sausages. The best average price for water is 2 bottles for 5 rmb dollars.

We then went to Tiananmen square and the Forbidden City and the Hutong section area and a silk factory. We had over 13000 steps. It tuned out today was the beginning of a 3 day holiday and it felt like everyone wanted to go to the same place. The weather was blue sky, light clouds and breezy. It was great and wow it was really sunny. The light fog I believe was pollution that is slowly catching up with us. Arlene and I both have sore voices, mucus buildup. We walked through the FC on the main center line direction and it was beautiful. I was worried about pick pockets and I had to act really mean sometimes to the peddler sales people and random people that would surround us closely for no reason. There were guards/police everywhere. We heard that a teenager tourist girl was taken to the police station for littering a piece of paper. She must of did it on purpose in front of them. At FC we were listening to our guide, when a little chinese boy pulled his pants down 15 feet away and did a number #1. We were soo shocked that no one took a photo and no reacted but us. We were laughing too hard. We saw this incident again on our way back to the bus.

We had a good history lesson on FC and everyone was exhausted by noon due to the pollution and walk. We had a nice 12 course meal. One teenager had to try a little bright red veggie and ended up drinking up a half a pitcher of water afterwards. He didn't heed my advice about peppers. He said he knew what he was doing. He underestimated the power of a small red pepper. He did heed my advice about milk later to neutralize the effects.

We went to a government silk factory afterwards. We had a great lesson on the silk worm, and their products. It was like a live government informercial and it was impressive and kinda pricey. Many of us couldn't buy much because we were still packed to the limit on baby stuff and couldn't pack any more. We wanted to buy a silk bed cover but after they nickel and dimed you, it was roughly $500 dollars US. Here are pictures of a rickshaw . . . the Hutong Section . . . and a waterway.

Bits & Pieces on Adjusting to Our First Day in China

It's 5am and I'm semi wide awake. The beds are hard here and I really appreciate being able to drink water anytime back in the states. Many of the locals here keep speaking to me in Mandarin and they give me puzzled faces when I can't speak. The restaurant waitress kept staring at us because we wanted a big bottle of cocacola (they had no bottle water) to drink and also wanted rice. Interesting. I thot rice bowls were small. We eat out of 3.5 inch dishes with a half inch high rim. I guess they really believe in portion control. Ironically we at nearby where there was a giant pizza restaurant on one side and another giant pizza place across the street. When in china, eat like the chinese. But somehow we and some new friends were not in the mood to eat pizza . . .

We walked 13000 steps today walking through the Forbidden city. Our voices are all dried up. Not sure if because of dehydration or pollution or food. I'm going to take a airborn tablet tonight. I accidently drank a ice mochal coffee. Please continually pray for good health.

Arrival in Beijing & H1N1

We made it to Beijing and met some other adopting families. The trip was tedious because we spent roughly 45 minutesgoing through the H1N1. They checked our temperatures and documented where we were going. It was a good thingthat we had a lot of documentation and be sure to not lose your travel ticket. I misplace my small stub and got in troublefor a few minutes. China is very through and check and recheck your documentation. We are planning to do two daysof visiting Beijing to aclimate to the jet lag/time zone. Currently we are unable to update the blogs directly. We think the are being blocked both ways in Beijing. So the updates will come in spurts. Beijing, feels just like SF but there is no drinkingwater. We ate at a local restaurant and there was no bottle water, drinking water, or tea.

That's it for now. Pictures will be added to the blog when I have access to it more freely