Day Two with JinZi

I think it's been  a week since our last post. Or maybe 2 days, it's hard to keep track. I have been getting very little sleep 2-4 hours per night, with a cat nap if I am lucky in the afternoon. 

Yesterday we spent doing paperwork. Our adoption is official in the eyes of the Chinese government. JinZi( pronounced :GinZah ) is a boy without a country until we touch down on American soil. He will then be a US citizen.  Today we spent our morning taking a little boat ride down a spring fed canal and then walked in a local park with 72 springs. The city is well known for all the springs. It was nice the kids had fun.  Jin needed to be carried for a good portion of the time. He is enjoying being cared for and is acting well beneath his age.  Last night he had another blow out at bed time. Scottie decided she needed to have one as well and utter craziness  ensued.  It was the largest jealousy rage I had ever seen until her blow out after we came back from our morning outing today. Jin , Scottie and I took a nap after her major blow out and his minor one. After our naps, we put our coats on and let Dayna have some down time. We walked around the 7 storie mall in our building and killed a couple of hours. 

We played cards on the floor of our room and practiced counting in both English and Mandarin. JinZi can now count to 5 on his own in English and Scottie is up to about 30 in Mandarin. We all discovered that we could not count in both languages at the same time. 

It has truly been hard but we know it will be worth it in the end. Scottie has the hardest time trying to understand why he doesn't know how to behave. She had been in a foster care situation while he as only ever been in an orphanage. Tomorrow we will make the long 4 hour drive each way to see the orphanage. We have purchased some diapers to give the orphanage and some snacks for the kids. 

Gotcha Pics

Gotcha Day

It's a little past 8 pm Sunday night.   Dayna is fast asleep. The kids are getting to know each other. Jin is doing his sisters hair at the moment.  I am having a pineapple flavored beer and watching European soccer with a Chinese voice over. It seems to be a perfect ending to crazy day. 

I woke up at 2ish and did cat naps until 4:45. We had breakfast at the hotel at 6am and then went to the airport. Things were relatively calm and excitement free. We had a smooth flight that lasted only 45 minutes  When we landed the "haze" was so bad you could only see 100 yards.  Our guide, Echo said it was just a haze. The people in China tend to downplay the fact that the air quality is so bad.  When we stepped off of the plane it smelled like the city was burning poo. It really reminded me of our incinolet electric toilet we had when we lived in Haines. 

Our trip to the hotel took around an hour.  The traffic was about the same as in Beijing. This city is very dirty and old. It has not been embraced by the powers that be and given a much needed facelift. Think of the worst, most polluted city you can and square it.  

When we arrived at the hotel around 12:30 we were told we would met Jin at 2 pm.  At about 10 after 2 the door bell rang. Dayna and I each hit the record button on our designated IPads and opened the door. An energetic busy little man came in and wanted to touch and see everything. He is full of life and energy.  I think he was as impressed with the room as we were when we first walked in.  We met one of his caregivers and another orphanage worker. They said we could visit his orphanage on either Wednesday or Thursday. So we will be driving 3-4 hours one way to visit the orphanage to see where he has spent the first 6 yrs of his life and meet his friends and caregivers. With our guide,  we did some basic paperwork and walked to a photo shop to have our pictures taken for the government. We were then turned loose and left to our own devises for the rest of the day.  We did a quick trip to the market for bottled water and a couple of snacks.  The afternoon was spent getting to know each other in the room. Boundaries were tested and introduced and this task will continue. As Scottie says "He has a lot to learn".  He is a sweet boy who seems to be adjusting well.  Only a couple of small melt downs while at the market when he couldn't get something he thought he wanted and then with the initial introduction to the idea of a bath. He rebounded well from both. He is very brave no tears yet.  Scottie ended up taking a bath first and then he decided that a bath could be a good idea. He had a great time in the bath. 

Okay so Fred spoke to soon. He is now very sad, and has been crying for about 45 min. Fred has convinced Jin that maybe bubbles could be something to do. 

Evening in Beijing

Air so thick you can taist it.  We saw a guy with a dust mask on take it off so he could have a cigarette.  I thought it ironic.  

Beijing and the Antique Street at Liulichang

 Today after breakfast we decided to explore an antique street our guide yesterday told us about. The hotel and our guide said that we should take a taxi or the subway but of course we did not do this and headed out on foot. We took a short cut through Tienanmen Square, had to go through security there. They are really stopping the illegal street vendors. It was interesting to watch the guards heavily searching the older local people, but let us walk on by.  From there we made our way toward the area where we believe the antique street, Liulichang, was to be found and well there it was. We had a great time looking at the art and other collectibles.  We purchased three wooden masks that represent a story told during the Ming Dynasty called the "Journey to the West", a carved wooden panel, and a Mao porcelain sign from 1968. We had a great time.

 Tienanmen Square in the background.

 Qianmen Gate to the City

 Liulichang street.

 For those of you who are unfamiliar with public toilets in China here is the squatty potty that Scottie and I visited today. This was a very nice one, there was even soap at the sink, but you should travel with your own toilet paper.

 Since we never like to travel the same way twice, we left Liulichang and headed down a new street in the direction of our hotel. We walked through a large hutong that stretched over a mile. The people there were very friendly and we had a great time.

 These are fish drying in the hutong.  if you zoom in you will notice the flys laying there eggs.

 Qianmen Street which is a 600 year old shopping district.

These were some kids we passed on the street that were playing in front of their houses. We walked 5 or 6 miles today and had fun. At least this portion of Beijing we are getting to know very well. Tomorrow we leave early for Jinan and we will get Townsend tomorrow evening.  Tonight will be the last night he will be an orphan,

Pictures!!!

 Mutianyu portion of the Great Wall. It was beautiful!!

 It was a Harry Potter broom!

 Cleaning up!

 The entire family! Although Zane and Quade were a little short and the boys were all a little thin.

Scottie was famous. Everyone wanted their picture taken with the golden haired girl.

Hutong's and Youth Hospitals

When I was getting ready to take my walk yesterday afternoon Scottie asked if she could come. So we bundled up and headed out.  For those who are not familiar with the word Hutong they are alleys with small tight houses with courtyards. These are the oldest neighborhoods in Beijing. Many are 600 years old or more. This is the old Beijing    There are many shops and restraints with much activity. People walk, bike, ride scooters both gas and electric and drive an occasional car down these tight alleys. The bikes will ring little bells to let you know they re coming its the electric scooters you have to keep an eye out for as they are silent.  We walked for a couple of miles and then headed back to the hotel.  

Scottie had a good time but would get flustered when we would go into a shop or restaurant.  She said it was bad that we did not speak Chinese and people did not speak English. I think I was finally successful in convincing her it would work out ok when we were successful in purchasing hair conditioner at our local grocery store. We have a new joke because of this store the sign out front says in English " Upermarket", it is on both sides so I am sure it did not have the S fall off.  In the Hutong we came across the Saga youth hostle. We went inside and discovered it also had a small western looking   Bar with food. It could have been a brew pub in your town USA.   Scottie did not want to go in, but came in with me she also was not interested in looking at the menu. The menu had only pictures of the food. It looked like they taken all there food ideas from Friday's and Hooters. When we left and started walking again. Scottie said, " why did you want to go to the youth hospital?  I didn't see any kids".  She felt better after we cleared things up.  

We checked on Dayna took a picture from our wi Dow and went out to find some dinner Dayna was feeling better but wanted to catch up on her sleep and rest.  We went to a mall that was 6 or 7 stories tall. If you Look at the picture at the bright square on the building on the left that is where the mall is. The bright light is a 30' tall TV screen. We had no luck finding anything that Scottie wanted to eat o we went back and ate at the noodle returns next to our hotel.   We had enough to bring some back for Dayna.  

It's almost 4:30 in the morning now. I have managed to  wake up Dayna who is feeling much better. I may just go take another walk and see what else is out there.   It is strange how traveling this direction may be hard to adjust to, but not in a way that drains you. I have plenty of energy I just can't gt on the local time. I'm not on my time either as it is 11:30 in the morning on Friday in Alaska. Well that's all for now.