The Part Where We Became Parents of a Daughter

The bags were packed, a timeline was left for little boys to keep track of where mom and dad (and sister) were, and we were off to become parents, again.

April 9

We were up at 3:30am. Our first flight was Cincinnati to Detroit at 6:30am. Good thing we were there early because it took us an hour to get checked in.  Apparently, checking into a round trip flight without a lap child who is listed on the second half of a flight is not something you should ask a gate agent to do at 4:30am.

The Detroit airport was nicer than we expected. We spend 4 hour watching this fountain, having McDonald’s breakfast and watching Netflix.

April 10

Arrived in Shanghai at 2:40pm.

Outside of security, we were assaulted by the taxi offers, but after reading advice online, we knew to go straight to the taxi stand outside. We gave our driver the printout of our hotel address and it took about 40 minutes to arrive at Les Suites Orient. We didn't believe we were there because our hotel had no sign outside! A very dear college friend was there 5 minutes after we checked in with her daughter and 2 month old son. It was so nice to see a familiar face and catch up. She even had 2 beautiful little dresses for Iris! Went on a restaurant finding adventure for dumplings. After driving all over, we got dropped in front of an empty building next to a market. It was fun to look around at the shops and lights as we figured out how we missed seeing the restaurant in the building BEHIND the one with the right address on it! It was a delicious dinner and we returned to a beautiful view of the Bund from the hotel room.

April 11

Althought we successfully stayed up until China bedtime, we were up early breakfast. We both chanced the orange juice and it was YUMMY, and we began our two weeks of eggs, eggs, and more eggs for breakfast (yup, EVERY day). It was frustrating to see the beautiful spread of dairy and cut fruits that we were not “allowed” to eat. After we ate, we walked the Bund to the end. There was a stretch of plum trees in blossom. We hadn't gone far and none of the stores were open yet, so we walked toward into the city. A couple of blocks in, we found a textile market with rows and rows of suits and dresses and fabric for sale. The people inside were definitely surprised to see us. After figuring out that this was a clothing store, we continued on and found a street market down alleys and alleys where we’d been the night before for dinner. There were live turtles, eels, crawfish and lots of interesting fruits and veggies. But mostly there were PEOPLE. Hoards of them, buying groceries and clothing and toys. 

 Done with the alleys, we walked out and up a subway stop park, then crossed over to a larger park next to Yu Garden. There was a bamboo “forest,” a pond, and a lady being yelled at for standing on the grass. HA! It was too bad we didn't have more time to see Yu Garden since we were so close, but we headed back to catch a noon train. 

 The taxi ride was long and lots of traffic, which might have had something to do with the Formula 1 race in town that weekend, but the train station was clean and easy to navigate. I was glad we didn't have any more luggage though—you have to be able to lug it up and down crowded escalators and into the train yourself. 

We boarded our bullet train (it went 307km per hour!) and found out we had 2^nd class tickets (not ideal) and middle seats. Sara did a lot of leaning over the sleeping lady next to her to take pictures!

The train ride was very pretty. It was a fairly clear day in the country and the mountains on the way were gorgeous.

 

We arrived in Nanchang and our guide found us at the bottom of the escalator. She walked right up and said our names in perfect English. Good thing we stood out a little because she had forgotten her sign! After a quick trip to the bathroom (no way was I aiming at a hole in the floor on a moving train, ahem), we went straight to buy train tickets for our Friday departure. Then, our sweet driver took us to “home” for the next week....the Shangrila. After getting checked in, our guide went to buy us water and recommended we just eat at the hotel restaurant. We didn’t know better so we had the buffet ($30 per person!). It was the first of MANY dinners at that hotel restaurant. We never got sick from the food there, and the service was wonderful.

April 12

Our hotel is gorgeous.  Brand new, marble, crystal, porcelain, orchid arrangements everywhere!

We went to explore a little in the morning before our guide came. The area was very new. Our guide came later and took us back to the same place, asking if we wanted to buy anything for baby there. It was a very beautiful and very empty mall, where we found a 4 level kids climbing area that had no net over a tile floor and picket fence! The AC felt good though, it was getting hot.

We went back to the hotel & agreed to meet at 1:45 because Iris was supposed to get there at 2. We went down about 1:40 to change money and the orphanage escort was walking in the door with Iris! Our guide was nowhere to be seen so we waited a minute and then went over. 

 Iris was walking all over the marble floors. The lady from the orphanage. didn’t speak English. We asked her “(our daughter's chinese name)?” and she nodded and asked, “Mama, Baba?” and we nodded. Iris was about to run out the doors so I went and picked her up. No ceremonial handing over. Just picked her up and tried not to cry. Our guide came running from the bathroom and we were handed things from foster mom and our guide translated the note from foster mom for us. We sat in the “lounge” area because it was empty and held Iris while we asked a few questions. Then the lady from the orphanage left and our guide went up to the hotel room with us to sign and thumb print some papers for the next day. Iris did well, looking out the window and playing. She woke up a lot that night and cried and hit us in the face and was mad as she woke up though. That continued a few more nights. Poor thing knew that we were all wrong—the wrong place, the wrong faces and the wrong smells to be comforting her. She was well loved in her foster family and we are grateful for it, but it made it hard for her.

April 13 Monday

A beautiful morning...Went to Civil Affairs office to finalize the adoption. They took our official family photo, which will forever be on the most official adoption document we have. 

 They also took Iris's footprint on the paperwork we had already signed and put our thumbprints on. Mostly we sat in the waiting area. There was a Spanish family with a sad little boy around 2 with cleft lip and palate. Iris kept wanting to make friends and offer him her puffs. Afterward went to the notary office where they asked if Iris was “acceptable” to us. YES! And we went to the passport office to drop off her passport paperwork. It was hot and overwhelming and we were tired!

April 14 Tuesday

Went to Tenweng Pavillion and Iris slept the whole time. It is a beautiful pavilion and gardens, with interesting history displays inside, and our guide used one display to tell us all about how they make porcelain and why it's made in this province. There were lots of school children on a field trip to the pavilion and several would come over saying “hello” over and over. We finally said hello back, which turned them into a puddle of giggles. They asked where we were from and we said America, which warranted even more giggles. Then we asked them how old they were and they all clammed up. Apparently we had reached the end of their English knowledge. Later, they sent over a little girl who's English was better and she asked us a few more questions. They were sweet. She said our daughter looked Chinese. Yes, yes she does. LOL!

After a quick stop at the grocery, it was time for lunch at a local restaurant. We were hungry and our guide helped us to order. Feeling adventurous, we tried duck and donkey. I have to say, hubby's comment of “I've gotta put some more donkey sauce on this rice” put me into such a fit of giggles myself that I had tears running down my face when our guide came back!

April 15 Wednesday

Ahhh. A day to ourselves. We walked and walked mostly. And napped.

April 16 Thursday

We were up early to go porcelain shopping before our orphanage tour. Our guide had a porcelain studio she wanted to take us to, and she told us in advance about how to judge the quality of the porcelain. We picked out a plate with the famous pavilion on it to display, as well as a special gift for our little lady for later. We paid for them and agreed to let them be shipped to our hotel in Guangzhou for “free,” a decision we would later lament!

You might hate me for it, but I'm going to completely skip writing about the orphanage and foster family that we were beyond blessed to meet that afternoon, because that deserves it's own space. Let me just say that the people who cared for our daughter were amazing, and the entire time we were there I was completely overwhelmed.

April 17 Friday

Packed up, check out of the hotel and head to Nanchang train station for the train to Guangzhou. Again, the station was quit modern and easy to navigate. We had no trouble until we boarded the train and then waited an hour to depart, turning our 5.5 hour trip with a one year old into a 6.5 hour train trip, once again in second class, so the seats were barely bigger than on an airplane. But, at least this time we had a window seat!

Second half later....