Kaia's Quest
Saturday, May 31, 2003
Saturday:
AM trip to a large (8-floor) department store, which included an integrated McDonalds and a full grocery on the lowest level. Very wide selection of grocery items, including many western preferences in chips, sodas, instant coffee and cocoa. (We should be set for drinks and snacks through our stay here in Changsha; saves on the room service charges...) The store was a huge place which would take days to explore thoroughly; we got about 3 hours. We wish we could have gotten here earlier in the trip; all the essentials can be found here. Not as much of the crowds of onlookers there; for the most part we were able to shop undisturbed. Strangest part was the different arrangement used in buying items in the department store - you select the items wanted, the local department clerk writes out a ticket for you, which you bring to a nearby cashier for payment, then you return to the original department to retrieve the item. Seems a bit strange. But the kids were able to get a GameBoy game each (multi-game combo cartridges in both Chinese and English) and Amy really enjoys buying outfits for Kaia at $3 each... As a special bonus, we were finally able to find bottles of Perrier water there - first place other than the hotel minibar we've seen them, and they'd been getting awfully tempting...
Pizza Hut delivered for lunch, then we took the kids back to the pool til 6:00. Kaia really enjoys the water and is much more comfortable taking baths in the sink now. She's been a very happy, content baby overall and when she needs a change or wants her bottle, she cries but doesn't have a piercing "scream" other babies seem to have. (This we appreciate; some of the other parents have real screamers...) She seems very comfortable with us in general; especially likes to ride in the stroller or Snugli.
Alex and Jason have been very interested about and helpful around the baby - Jason insisting on laying out the sundry diaper-changing items, and Alex helping to support her bottle when she drinks. On the downside, their room has been looking like something out of a George Orwell movie... Just 2 full days left here in ChangSha, we'd best start cranking out more pictures...
Friday, May 30, 2003
Multi-day post; sorry for the delays...
Wednesday:
Registration Office Day. Went to sign the official adoption papers and paid the bulk of the orphanage / legal fees. Sure glad that part's done; wanted to get the money out of our hands. We were required to wear masks, but otherwise the signings and picture taking went well. Warm day, office was hot but bearable. Air is a bit tough to breathe sometimes due to smog. Afterward, most of the group shared a dim sum-type lunch at the hotel's 2nd floor Hunan-style restaurant. We had previously examined this place - "Food Street" - without finding likely meals, but were successful this time, with soup, broccoli, corn cakes, rice and beef rolls. The Schiffs weren't quite so lucky, as they managed to wear their baby's lunch several times during the course of the meal.
Kaia had had a 103+ degree fever during Tues afternoon which responded to meds, and she didn't sleep well Tues night. Min-wa (AFC nurse) verified our suspicions of ear infections, and with some Amoxicillin borrowed from the Sander's, Kaia slept much better Wed night. Her fever has been under control since the initial spike, and she has been in a much better mood, smiling and laughing at Alex in particular, which tickles him to no end.
Thursday:
Trip to Yuelu Academy. Quite a few photos of the gardens, statuary, and performers to share later; we watched (and videotaped) a performance of traditional music and bought a CD. Very pretty campus; easily the most restful place we've seen in China to date. After this trip, the group returned to the hotel and split up for different destinations (some light bickering involved...); we rested a bit then went back to the local market we previously had discovered for drinks and snacks. (The press of schoolchildren wasn't quite as bad this time... but we still drew attention.) A local girl followed us in the store and helped to translate requests - she even carried Jason's basket! Once back, we crashed in the room a while & fed Kaia Cheerios. Took the kids bowling before dinner (2nd time) and watched "Grinch" on HBO before bed.
Friday:
AM trip to the Hunan Embroidery Institute. Not a very exciting name, but inside this complex is an array of fine artwork crafted entirely of hand-made embroidered patterns - artwork such as landscapes, flowers, tigers, pandas, and famous individuals' photos. Many of these creations are set in custom displays which turn; others are simply framed or made into table / floor standing screens. Several rooms of pieces were displayed for sale, at prices ranging from 100 yuan ($12) to 100,000 yuan (!) and more - these last were huge, impossibly detailed pictures which could have taken months or years to embroider. A few simple gardens, common to the architecture here, complemented the facility. We were allowed to photograph freely inside, including pictures of the women who worked there, who were pleasant and curious about the children. Truth be told, this could be said about almost everyone here...
After returning, group lunch at the Cantonese Seafood restaurant on the hotel's 4th floor, then we brought the kids to the 9th floor swimming pool for several hours. Two young (10/11-ish) Chinese girls spent quite a lot of time playing with the boys and the Sander girls, and asking about Kaia. They spoke little English but were quite amused, though occasionally frustrated, at my Chinese (I didn't have my phrase book with me at the pool!) Everyone is healthy; Kaia was in great spirits today and LOVED the swimming pool!!!
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
Conn, sonar; we have baby contact at 3 o'clock...
We have our daughter! Kaia Jade Staples was delivered to the 34th floor conference room at the Dolton Hotel, Changsha, at 3:30PM on 05/26/2003. Baby is built much like sumo wrestler...
The hour of sheer bliss (not) which followed has been captured on video for posterity. Rated PG for some emotional language, periods of baby screaming, and references to bodily functions. Kaia screamed for an hour, standing half the time and sweating all the time, then came back to the room with us. She lay in her crib for a awhile, just watching us, then fell asleep with a bottle till 1:00am. Another bottle kept her asleep til 7:00am, except for an hour between 4-5 when she lay in the crib watching us some more.
Tues morning we trekked a few blocks to the nearest Friendship Store and another dept store nearby. The traffic is hectic - assertion rules the roads here, and you pretty much drive where and how you can, against traffic and pedestrians. The stores were interesting, but there wasn't too much we needed to buy. We did draw many stares, greetings, and commentary from the stores' clientele and staff. On the way back, we detoured around a danwei compound thru some local neighborhoods, shopping some more and drawing crowds if we stopped for any length of time. At one point, we stopped to buy Yu-Gi-Oh cards from a street vendor and were surrounded by 30 schoolchildren. All during the detour, we were constantly greeted "hello" by the kids, to the approval of their mentors following. We will remember this walk for a long time...
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Posting from the Internet Cafe in the Dolton Hotel, Changsha. We arrived via Guangzhou yesterday, trip was long but uneventful. Jason left his GameBoy games in the LAX terminal... but otherwise all is well. We all slept well but Jason went to sleep before dinner. Breakfast at the Coffee Garden was sumptuous and loaded with other adptive families and business folk.
We did some brief shopping yesterday, stopping at a small children's care shop on the way to the hotel. We explored out a block or two from the hotel last night, far enough to visit some local stores, but not far enough to get to KFC or McDonald's.
We should be getting Kaia today at 3:00pm - will post later.
