Day 7: Pandas!!

Today we splurged and went to the safari park which is in Guangzhou.  Several families decided to go and so our guide arranged a bus for us.  Even better, a virtual friend who is also in Guangzhou adopting her daughter was able to go with us, so now she is a real-life friend.

The weather here in Guangzhou is very humid and warm.  It felt like summer to us and was probably 80 degrees.  There was a chance of rain, but we were thankful it never showed up.  We had a lovely time wandering around and looking at the animals.  Here I am with H. looking at something... I can't tell what.

It's a pretty nice zoo and for the most part looks like a zoo you would find in the US.  But every so often we would come across something to remind us where we were.  Take this trash can for instance.  They were everywhere and I just don't recall seeing something like it before.

We also had many chances to get close to the animals.  Here we are feeding some birds.  You put some sunflower seeds in your hand, hold it out, and the birds land on you and eat the seeds.

H. fed the birds as well, we just don't have a picture.

There are also several shows you can go to and we managed to catch one.  It was a monkey show and was oddly baffling.  Once again, it seemed to tell a story which we couldn't really comprehend, but my guess was that it was about things that happen in a small Chinese village.  The only difference is that the village is populated by monkeys, real ones and humans dressed up to like them.  Here is a chimp sweeping his little house.  There were various scenes which happened and then suddenly a monkey was pushing a bunch of pigs down a slide which they slid down and then landed in a moat below.  The pigs then swam to a ramp, ran up onto the stage and into a pen, at which point the monkey shut them in.  I don't know why.

A., TM, and H. also fed a giraffe.  They were selling branches which you then hold up to the giraffe who very efficiently strips the leaves off and moves on.

We realized our time was running short, so we then headed to the pandas!

They really are as cute in person as they are in photos.  When we Skyped with our family this evening, G. really wanted to know if we brought one home and was a bit disappointed, I think, to find out we hadn't.  Since I don't have a real panda to show you, you'll have to make due with pictures.  There were several enclosures, each with several pandas.  We took a few photos.

I have more if you want to see them.

At the end of the exhibit were some red pandas. I have never thought them overly cute in photographs, but I have to say, they are pretty darn cute in person.  See?

What this picture doesn't show is that the tree had several other red pandas draped over it.  I have a new appreciation for the little guys.

The last thing we did was to take the safari tram.  Unlike zoo trams in the states, where you ride around and see the animals in their enclosures, here they have employees stationed with food to be sure the animals (at least the big, impressive ones) do something interesting.  For example, when we rode by the brown bears, a zoo employee would hold up a treat to get the bear to stand up and then throw it to him.

I think H. enjoyed the day, but as the day heated up and we continued to walk around (the park is fairly extensive), she became less and less enthusiastic.  She kept telling me she was hot and tired (yes, she knows those words in English now), and I pretty much had to hold her hand and keep pulling her along to make it to the exit.  I'm sure at that point she was wondering how on earth she had ended up with these crazy people and are we going to do this often.  She was so tired, she fell asleep on my shoulder during the tram ride and then again on the bus home.

She did recover after a rest in the cool hotel room.  After dinner, we headed to the pool and she even agreed to put on her swimming suit and sit on the edge of the pool with me.  It was fun to watch her play in the water with her hands.  She loved finding out that she could make bubbles and just watching her experiment makes me think that just being able to play in water is a fairly novel experience for her.  At one point, she even leaned over and tried to put her face in.  I bet by the end of the week she will be completely in the pool.

Day 6: That horrible sound you heard? That was me grinding my teeth in fury

We began the day with a trip to the clinic that does the physicals for visa applicants.  I don't think I can convey the unique sense of chaos that this involves.  See this picture?  This is just some of us waiting for whatever step comes next.  (There are three stations you have to visit:  general medical history, vital statistics, and the ENT. Essentially you just get in a line and hope you picked one that moves.)  What this picture doesn't convey are the other hallways also filled with people, the noise of so many people talking and an equal number of children screaming, and the stuffiness of a not-quite-air-conditioned enough building.

But all of this inconvenience pales in comparison to what my daughter had to endure.  While things each happen in their own room, there is little privacy so you can see what is happening with everyone else.  This is why I can definitively state that my daughter received very different treatment.  The doctors we saw evidently had a degree in humiliation.  It was evident with their facial expressions, demeanor, and outright poking and prodding that my daughter was not a child, but a bizarre specimen to be openly gawked at.  I kept getting mental images of the drawings I've seen of potential slave owners at a slave market.  Their faces expressed the same sort of detachment to my daughter as a human being as the slave owners did to the slaves they were inspecting.  I watched my daughter just shut down, I could see her personality disappear as this continued.  And I couldn't stop it.  Perhaps it's just as well I don't speak Mandarin, because I was so angry by the end that I just might have caused an international incident.  Even writing down the description of it has caused my adrenalin to kick in.  And what's worse, we have to go back to the same clinic to have her TB test read in a couple of days, so I couldn't even tell her that she never, never, never has to go back to that place and go through that humiliation again.  

I am happy to report that the day got better from here.  We returned to the hotel and decided to take a walk in search of lunch.  In doing so, we wandered down a little alley which turned out to be a dead end, but had some exercise equipment.  (In China it seems, there are parks with lots of exercise equipment for adults, but not playground equipment for children.)  Of course, my three had to try it out.

After lunch and a rest, it was time to try out the pool.  At least J., A., and TM tried out the pool.  H. and I tried out the chairs on the side of the pool.  It is much warmer here than it was in Zhengzhou so that it is comfortable swimming in an outdoor pool.  Here at our hotel, it's on the fourth floor and is quite lovely.

The day ended with a group dinner at a local restaurant which everyone enjoyed.  (It has been fun to get to know the different families in our group.  We feel blessed that all 14 [yes, we've added one more] are very nice and we enjoy their company.)  So, the day wasn't a total bust.  With an early bedtime tonight, everyone should be ready to head out early tomorrow to go and visit the safari park.  Where rumor has it they have pandas.  I think I've mentioned I like pandas, right?

Day 5: Amusement in the morning and then not so much

Our last day in Zhengzhou was spent packing, and then since the weather had warmed up a bit we took a walk to investigate the small amusement park which was near our hotel.  It was a cute little park with a small collection of rides.  It was also pretty laid back.  If a ride was going and a new person wanted to get on, the operator would stop the ride, let the new person on, and set it going again.  The length of ride seemed purely arbitrary.  It wasn't a bad deal for 10 rmb (or about $1.50 a ride).

By far, the most popular ride with my crew was the bumper cars.  The riders also gathered quite a crowd, who evidently were curious to watch a bunch of white people drive into each other.

Can you tell that H. really enjoyed it?

TM and H. also went on one of those rides that goes around and around in circles and you can control its movement up and down.  By this time, H. felt confident enough to ride in her own car.

TM really enjoyed the toy machine guns which were mounted on it and made appropriate machine gun noises when you pushed a button.

The amusement park was located in a much larger city park which was very enjoyable.  We had a nice walk around it and enjoyed seeing the trees and flowers budding out.  It would have been nice to be able to see Zhengzhou later in the spring.  March is not a kind month to any city in a northern climate.  The other thing I enjoyed was reading the English translations on many of the signs. While this is a fun pastime in general in China, this park has some particularly quirky ones.  I was sad to discover that the "Island to practice English" was under construction and we couldn't visit it, and somehow we managed to miss the "Area for erecting makeshift tents". 

Here we are on our walk around the park.

I have to say this was the best part of the day.  On our way home from the park, TM had a brief plunge of the edge into the abyss.  I hadn't fully realized how much energy he had expended and that combined with the approaching plane ride proved to be too much for him.  If I had been thinking, I would have given him a protein bar before the plunge.  We somehow managed to make it home and he (and I) eventually recovered and had some lunch.

At about 2:30, we were to meet everyone for the bus ride to the airport.  Sitting in the lobby, I noticed H. becoming a bit more subdued than we had seen her.  We called our guide over to explain what was happening and H. replied that she, "Didn't want to leave this place."  She became more and more quiet and eventually fell asleep on the bus to the airport.  Waiting at the gate, she was starting to act as though her stomach was upset and J. and I were wondering if we should grab one of the airsick bags which we now travel with.  We managed to find out that her head hurt so I gave her a little pain reliever.  Once on the plane she perked up, though both she and TM fell asleep on J. for the last third of the flight.

We arrived in Guangzhou at about 8:30pm and by the time we got everyone and everything collected and to the hotel, it was at least 10pm.  We were tired and hungry (though we were served a small dinner on the plane... emphasis on small.) and I have to admit I was not feeling particularly generous toward the world.  This was not helped by the rest of the evening. 

When we entered our room, we discovered that we had thoughtfully been provided with a crib.  We briefly joked that perhaps TM would fit in it, but decided to call housekeeping to request the roll-away that should have been there.  A simple mistake wouldn't normally bother me; it was actually kind of funny.  But I cease to be amused when at 11:30, I still don't have a bed for my son to sleep in and it has been a long day. I admit to making a not-quite-happy phone call to ask about it. At midnight the bed finally arrived and J. took the sleeping boy from our bed and moved him into his own.

And to add insult to injury, we couldn't get the internet to connect.  The only reason this was tragic was because I had neglected to write down Ann's (from Crazy for Kids) room number and needed to get into my email so I could find it.  (No, the hotel wouldn't help.)  Our great plan of meeting in China never happened because though we were in the same hotel, we had no way of finding each other.  My brief hope of meeting at breakfast the next morning was also shot because she left at 6am... before we were even awake. 

All of this made for a very grumpy wife/mother.  I have to say, I have the world's most patient and understanding husband.  And just to let you know exactly how dire the evening had become, J. went out and brought food back from that restaurant with the golden arches... somewhere we rarely eat... and we ate it and didn't hate it. 

A quick update

We arrived in Guangzhou late last night, had various difficulties, and now are getting ready to leave for the visa physical appointment.  I'll post more about the events of yesterday and today later on, but since we had been flying wanted to say that all is well.

A couple of links for you until I can post more.  First, several of you sent very generous donations with us to give to a foster home in Zhengzhou which needed supplies.  I though you might be interested in reading about the foster home.  It's Eagle's Wings (click on the name to see their website).

I have also had a new article published about homeschooling while distracted at Heart of the Matter Online.  Take a look.

Day 4: Fish... real and surreal

Before beginning on the events of the day, I thought I would show you what Zhengzhou (at least around us) looks like at night. It is very bright... and very neon. Imagine many more of this type of sign up and down the street.

Today's event was to go to the Zhengzhou Aquarium. I have been to zoo-type places in Asia before, and so I was prepared for it to be rather dire. Happily, some of it exceeded my expectations. There was lots of fish (of course), and some of them were rather interesting, in a large, fishy sort of way.

But along with the tanks of large fish, we were also treated to a couple of shows. The first was a sea lion show. At least by the end we figured out it was a sea lion show. I guess the sad dolphin in the pool in front was merely a decoy.

The sea lion balanced balls, did some sea lion acrobats, and did some math problems for us.  

After the show, we were ushered along on the tour. We walked under a tunnel of fish.

And then were directed up a set of stairs. Here was the sign on the landing. (If you can't read the English, it says, "Welcome to the Caribbean Town". I feel this was highly misleading as the air was growing noticeably colder as we ascended the stairs. The reason soon became apparent. The top of the stairs was open to the outdoors and we were treated to a rooftop park.

Now, perhaps this is charming in the summer, when it is warm.  But today it was not warm. It was decidedly cold at about 40 degrees and overcast. (Please don't ask me how I feel about missing 80 degree weather in Chicago in March.) And so my opinion of the rooftop park may be a bit colored by the shivering. I think something was definitely lost in translation because it was a little odd. For instance, there was the 'Leisure park' area which was filled with large rocks, wet cement, and dead goldfish.

Or the 'Monsterhouse', where there was a room with a beach scene complete with sand and chair, but nothing else. This little still life was followed by two fun house-type rooms that slanted this way and that. The final room had furniture nailed to the ceiling. But no monsters. Not even nailed to the ceiling.

It did make us wonder what we would find inside the 'Marine gentleman house'. But, brave souls we are, we entered anyway. It was a little anti-climactic to only find some sad, sad sea otters, one of whom obviously was suffering from PTSD.

I don't think the children found it as surreal as the adults and TM and H. happily posed on a cement sea turtle for me.

The roof also offered an interesting view of Zhengzhou, which doesn't seem likely to become a top contender as one of the world's top beauty spots.

After what seemed a slightly longer time then necessary, we were ushered back inside where it was warm and there were actual animals. H. was rather taken with the large pool of sea turtles, though she didn't like the more vicious-looking types of fish.

Next on the list was to attend the Mermaid show. This took place in one of the large salt water tanks and really did consist of a mermaid. (I'm pretty sure that it was a person dressed up as one... if you can imagine.) There were also some other male characters who were swimming around, but they didn't have tails. They were obviously acting out some type of drama, but the meaning was lost on us. Some of the male characters did spend some time 'dancing' with some of the fish who live in the tank. Since this involved spinning the various creatures around in ways that they don't normally move, I'm pretty sure that it wouldn't pass AZA muster.

Now, you might think that this was about all the excitement that could be had in a morning, but you would be wrong. We had one more stop to make. It was time to feed the fish. For 10 rmb (or about $1.20) you could purchase a small baby bottle filled with fish formula. The fish evidently love this, because they come right up to you and slurp down the contents of the baby bottle. I really don't think you've lived until you've seen a carp  eating from a baby bottle.

The rest of today was spent either resting in our room or swimming. It takes a while to get over that much excitement. Plus it has been raining all afternoon and has not warmed up. In just a few minutes we will be given the paperwork that we need for the next steps in the adoption process, including H.'s passport. Tomorrow we repack the suitcases which have exploded all over our room and board a plane down to Guangzhou. That is where we will do the US side of things in order for H. to get her visa so she can enter the US.

H. continues to do quite well and adds more and more English words to her vocabulary. She feels comfortable enough to have opinions about things and she has begun to compete with TM over who gets to use the room key to open the hotel room. The rest of us are also doing well, though J. and I are getting tired of shelling out money for every meal except breakfast. And from what I've heard, this is the cheap city in comparison.

Day 3: A walk in the park

First, a couple more photos from Monday that another father took.

Today has been one of our free days. We had brought a bag of donations for a foster home outside the city and needed to drop them off. The best place for us to do that was a cafe owned by an ex-pat who would then pass them on to the foster home. We decided to walk and do some exploring at the same time.

It didn't look too far on the map, but we had no idea of scale so set off right after breakfast. The walk didn't take nearly as long as we expected, nor was it terribly difficult to find where we were going. The whole walk was fairly uneventful... as long as we kept moving. We did have to stop once so I could convince TM that really we all wanted him to eat the protein bar I had in my bag. (Like a large dog, when TM takes walks with us, he covers at least twice the amount of ground as anyone else.  It is extraordinary to imagine how much energy he actually uses.) As soon as the walking sideshow (AKA us) stopped, it was as if we had given tacit permission to approach. A woman on a scooter immediately stopped and wanted to talk with J., and a crowd then gathered to see what was going on. Her first question to us was to find out if we were Christian.  After hearing we were, she then wanted to talk more. The whole exchange was made a bit more difficult by the fact she spoke very little English and we speak about 5 words of Mandarin. Her solution was to call a friend on her cell phone to translate, though the friend spoke not a whole lot more English. J. took care of the conversing while I hung back with TM and convinced him that everything was fine, no we didn't know who these people were, but that was OK, and no, we weren't going to get lost.

Eventually we were on our way again and found the cafe (Cafe Alayna) with little difficulty. The owner of the cafe was very nice and allowed us to use his key card into the park next door since he had only just opened and nothing was ready yet. We spent some time walking in the park and I took some more pictures since I realized I have been rather lax in that department.

These next two are shots of what the area looks like. You can see the vaguely yellow, pollution-y haze that covers the city. Today was particularly bad as the sun never actually broke through it.

But back to our walk around the park.

This was one of the walkways... I liked the heart.

We had a lovely time chatting with the cafe owner, enjoying some good food which included some French fries and onion rings (which H. loved) and TM and A. played more than a couple of games of Uno with the owner's daughter. It was a nice relaxing time. (If you happen to be in Zhengzhou and would like to visit, I'll write out walking instructions at the end of the post.)

We swung by Walmart (which is not like the ones in the US) to pick-up some things that friends of our wanted back home and then headed back to the hotel. Poor H. was dragging a bit by the end. I think we wear her out a bit with all of our walking and going places.

We spent the next few hours relaxing in the room. TM and H. are becoming much more friendly with each other and have actually talked to each other now. (As opposed to just pretending the other doesn't really exist.) It's one reason why I think these two pictures are so cute. All three children snuggled together relaxing after a long morning.

Later on TM, J. and A. went swimming in the hotel pool. H. didn't want to go, but this time she was willing to sit with me and watch. (She didn't even want to go watch the first time they went.) And that brings us to dinner which we'll head out to get in just a moment.

Life continues to be pleasant and easy.  H. seeks out both J. and I and wants to hold our hands or sit on our laps. She is using some more English words, too. Life is good.

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Directions to Cafe Alayna (71 Wei Lai Lu).  From the Crowne Plaze, head toward the Walmart.  When you arrive at the corner where the Walmart is, this is Wei Lai Lu.  Cross the street as if you were going to Walmart, but instead of turning right, turn left and cross the street one more time.  This will put you on the far corner.  Continue along Wei Lai Lu in the direction away from Walmart for several blocks.  Eventually you will see a big coffee shop on your right called Dio Coffee.  There is walkway between the park and Dio Coffee which you will walk along.  Cafe Alayna is down this little walkway.  You'll see the awning with the name and a small porch with outside seating.  The owner's large dog was tied out on the patio when we were there this morning... the dog is very friendly and H. and TM were rather taken with him.  Open 10 to 10.