Monday,
September 18, 2006
Well, today was the big day. We hopped on the plane from
Beijing to
Nanchang (the capital of Jiangxi province) at about ten this
morning
and
arrived at Nanchang airport a little after noon. We're not in
Kansas
anymore - Jiangxi is one of the poorest provinces in China, and
it's
obvious. On the bus ride from the airport to the hotel, our
guide was
explaining that, since Jiangxi is much more agricultural than
Beijing,
the
air is much fresher and the scenery is much more beautiful. I
gotta
give
it to her, we could probably see a good 1/4 mile further here
than in
Beijing through the polluted air. We arrived at our four star
hotel
with a
room that overlooks a lake. I don't know how to pronounce the
name of
the
lake in Chinese, but I think it translates something like "muddy
brown
water
with dead fish floating on top" - really. It's too bad, because
the
country
could be so beautiful. It really makes us appreciate just how
fortunate we
are in the US. Take my word and count your blessings that you
don't
have to
worry about whether you can safely breathe the air or drink the
water,
or
whether the nearest bathroom facility actually has running water
and -
added
bonus - a real toilet rather than a hole in the ground. The real
toilet
would rank it at a 3-1/2 stars (yes, they really give their
toilets a
star
rating right over the door). Thank God we haven't experienced a
1-star
bathroom; I can only imagine. All that aside, it is a really
fascinating
culture with a tremendous amount of pride in their heritage and
their
way of
life. Hopefully we can pass some of this on to Mia.
Which brings us to the fun part. We all gathered in the hotel
lobby at
3:40
for a 20 minute bus ride into downtown Nanchang where the
provincial
adoption office is located on the 26th floor of a brand new high
rise
building (sky scrapers are under construction all over the city
- I saw
at
least 4 in progress just during our bus rides today). Because
the
Chinese
trade fair and Chinese New Year both happen in October, they're
completing a
lot of adoptions over the next couple of weeks to avoid the
high-priced
hotel fares and government office closures that are coming soon.
As a
result, they're completing over 120 adoptions in Jiangxi this
week.
Needless to say, the office was packed with parents who had just
received
their children, parents waiting to meet their children, and
parents who
had
returned with their children to complete interviews, paperwork,
etc.
Shortly after we walked into the crowded room, our guide told
us,
"families
1-5, your babies are here - be ready to come up when we call
your name
and
your baby's name". We were family number 5, so we immediately
scanned
the
far end of the room where babies were seated on the laps of
their
caretakers. We didn't see a baby that we could recognize as Mia,
which
is
no surprise since our photos are nearly 5 months old now. Then
Jenny
noticed another little girl sitting on another lap, hidden
behind a
mass of
people, and as soon as we saw her, there was no doubt. We waited
not
so
patiently as they worked their way up from family one, and sure
enough
when
they called our name, the little girl in the corner was brought
to us.
I was doing double-duty with the cameras (video in the right,
still in
the
left) and filmed Jenny as she took Mia from the caretaker. Tears
were
flowing. Mia, as all of the other babies in our group, was very
subdued and
wanted to do nothing but snuggle which was just fine with Mama.
Jenny
had
heard stories of some of the children being given a little
something to
"take the edge off', and we think that might have been the case
here.
Within a few hours, she livened up a little bit but still
clearly was
wanting to be held and of course we obliged. No luck getting her
to
eat
anything yet, but she did dose off for a good hour or so on
Jenny's
stomach.
She appears healthy and alert with nothing more to be concerned
about
than
a diaper rash and a bit of heat rash. And she is a peanut. We
weighed
her
on a scale - of course in kg's rather than lb's - but we think
she
weighs
between 15-16 pounds. But she certainly does not look skinny.
She's
just a
petite little girl, which will make her fit in nicely with
Hannah and
Mags.
She seems to be equally comfortable with both of us, although
comfortable is
probably not the right word yet, and understandably so.
Enough rambling. It's obviously been a very long and emotional
day,
and
everything has gone very well. Now let's see how the first night
goes........Update you again soon.
Andy |
A joyful handoff
Finally!
Mia checking out her new daddy
Holding on tight
1st bath - Poor Mia!
Exhausted after a VERY big day
|
