Trip to China
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Monday-Tuesday, December 22-23, 2008 Yesterday was another long day in China taking a bus ride from Nanning to Guilin, which was approximately 5 hours. The babies were cranky and the parents were restless…or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, we are officially in the 2nd week of our trip so we are closer to getting home. We were surprised at the change in weather. Nanning is much like Florida and we were enjoying the 70’s. Here in Guilin it was 40 today….can we all say “brrrrrrrr”. None of us were really expecting the cold weather so we are layering clothing, just like the babies. Yesterday was pretty much a blur so there’s no much to report there, other than the man that did our laundry in Nanning was kind enough to send us off on our bus trip with glutinous rice & green bean paste balls. YUMMY and I’m not being sarcastic either. I loved it; I’m just hoping that he didn’t cook the rice in the same water he washed our clothes in! The trip to Guilin took us thru the “true China” countryside. We saw many trucks with livestock passing by, many farmers in the fields and very few houses. This part of China is very mountainous & not as populated as Nanning was. We were surprised to see rows of pine trees covering the mountainsides. XiXi told us that the government had planes fly over the mountains dropping seeds to grow the trees to replenish all the trees that the local people had cut down to use their wood. She said that wood is hard to come by here, unlike marble, which is easily mined in the Chinese mountains, so most structures are made of marble instead of wood. That explains the grand hotels we’ve been staying in with tons of sparkling marble walls & floors! Today we got up & went to breakfast (pancakes and honey…boy do we miss maple syrup!) and then went on a River Cruise down the Li River to see the beautiful mountains and wildlife. The “karsts” or bizarre shaped hills are covered in bamboo and other vegetation, making them a brilliant green color against the clear waters. Apparently the area is well known for rock climbing, hiking and it’s caves; people come from all over the globe to see the unique mountains that truly look like a magical fairyland. The cruise took us past natives who were washing clothes in the river, some local fisherman, grazing water buffalo and loads of cormorant birds. These are special birds that are trained to dive for fish. The fisherman place lose rings around the birds long neck, so they can’t swallow the fish….and therefore the fisherman can retrieve the fish from the bird after they take the dive to grab the fish. Genius! After the cruise, we had a quick shopping trip thru the village, which reminded Mike and I of Jamaica….because locals were coming at us from every direction trying to get us to buy their wares. A little intimidating but we got thru it and just bought an engagement ball for Lauren, it’s a little trinket that is symbolic & special to this province, the province she was born in. Speaking of Lauren – she is the reason we are here, right? Lauren has definitely shown more of her true self within the past 24 hours. While we still have crying & moments of sadness, we have also started having some real great moments. This little girl actually does have a tickle spot and her Baba (Chinese term for father) knows that spot better than anyone. When Baba tickles her the laughter that comes out of her is like music to our ears. …loud and bubbling up and over! She breaks out with this huge toothy grin and just melts our hearts. I’m telling you, just wait until you get a load of this kid with the sly smile and those big eyes just looking up at ya….you’ll fall in love in an instant. We sure have! Lauren has this little throaty clicking thing she does when she is playful and happy. I swear she sounds like a dolphin. Of course she has that high pitched squeal that most babies have….but for some reason she saves it until bedtime. As soon as they lights go out, she screeches and babbles and starts laughing and kicking her legs up in the air. Looks like we have another night owl in the family. Pay backs, right mom? Today was the first time that Lauren crawled for us too. We seriously think they carried her everywhere in the orphanage, because she doesn’t really “get” the crawling thing. She kind of sits like a frog and lunges herself forward and then starts again. We were over in Pat & Ellie’s room having some floor time with Tess when Lauren get antsy and wanted mommy. Instead of scooping her up, I sat further away and she fussed and got mad and then finally gave in and catapulted to me. Victory!

Look deep into my eyes....now kiss me! It's bed time & Lauren is staring to get wound up "Ok Eyore, you escape first then break me out of this jail cell!" The beautiful mountains. This particular view is what is printed on the 20 Yuan (Chinese currency). Cruising along Our travel group (minus one family & XiXi)

There’s no attempt at walking yet, in fact she is not at all steady on her feet. She tries to stand up but just crumbles back down onto her butt. We need to build up those skinny legs of hers to get her mobile. Oh and those legs…let me tell you; she is tall and it’s all legs. God bless her, she’ll be a lucky lady if she keeps those long skinny legs! I’m happy to report that she is getting on a feeding schedule though she’s still not very adventurous in her variety. As far as her cold, she’s no longer coughing nor does she sound congested. She is acting fine but her eyes are very goopy. We aren’t’ sure what it is, perhaps some sort of allergy or virus, but we are keeping a close eye on her. I’m just glad that she’ll be visiting her pediatrician soon after we get home. There is a baby in our group that has been sick for several days. Her parents took her to the local ER last night and it was very scary. They told us that the conditions were quite upsetting. There were no private rooms, in fact, there was a surgery being performed in the bed next to their daughter’s. A motorcycle zipped down the hallway as they waited. There was no heat nor was there glass in the windows at this hospital either. Being new parents is scary enough, but knowing that your child needs care that you can’t provide is even scarier. Please remember this family in your prayers that their little one gets better soon and that the rest of our children stay healthy! As for Mike and I we are doing all right. We are both tired but we have been eating and are trying to get enough fluids daily. Mike has had a cold for the past couple of days but it hasn’t gotten “worse” so we are keeping our fingers crossed that it passes soon. Please keep him in your prayers too! As I said before, we LOVE reading all the comments… not only are they a keepsake for Lauren but they truly do lift our spirits & keep us connected with home. As beautiful as China is, we still miss our family, friends, pets and life in PA so much. It’s amazing how much we take for granted - from the little things like Swiss Farms Tea Cooler to the big things like emergency medical care. Problems or not, there is no place like the U.S.A. and we can’t wait to get back to it to start our new life as a family of three!

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