Back On

We are back to civilization.  We landed in Guangzhou late last night and was so glad to see that we finally were able to connect to the internet.  I am not sure why after one day in Hefei, the internet would only allow us to go to certain sites.  Bill was happy that he could get to ESPN, but I couldn't get to any of my sites. 

I figured that I would make up for lost time and go back to where I left off. 

Gotcha Day (day 4)
I guess it has been awhile because it took about an hour to decide what to pack in a diaper bag.  By then it was time to walk out of the hotel.  We said our last prayer as a family of four and off we went.  I am not sure why I thought the civil affairs office would be much nicer than what we drove to.  This building was extremely old and dirty.  We walked up four flights of stairs in the dark and finally were put in a conference room that had to of been 90 degreees.  It was barely two minutes before a little girl walked into the room holding the hand of an orphanage director.  I recognized her right away and got down on my knees to slowly approach her. 

The video is first being filmed by Bill and then one of the other fathers took the camera from him and filmed this one...

I will spare you the next one, but will tell you that the other three families in the room waiting on their children to arrive were probably scared to death after they saw Kora's display.  The two ladies from the orphanage began to leave and although Kora had been living with a foster family, they visited the orphanage often.  When she saw them leaving, she immediately began to scream.  And scream.  And scream.  I walked with her writhing in my arms up and down this dingy hallway.  She kept wanting to go to every Chinese woman who walked by me.  Some just came and took her out of my arms and tried to calm her down.  I am not sure it helped much.  It was about thirty minutes later when she finally fell asleep in my arms.  This was about two minutes before they came in to get us for a required picture.  And of course they needed her awake. So then she screamed for the next thirty minutes until it was time to leave.  Thank God she fell asleep on the bus ride back to the hotel.  She slept for three and a half hours in her crib in the room.  We all just stared at her and waited anxiously to see what was going to happen when she woke up. We figured she would cry some more but were pleasantly surprised when she woke up smiling.  We put her into a bath and got her out of the three layers of clothing they had her dressed in. I think I will go the rest of my life without knowing the answer to two questions....why the Chinese layer their children up no matter what the temperature and why they think squatty potty's are cleaner than regular toilets. 

Of course her first outfit was sporting Garnet and Gold.  Not sure who was more proud to feed her the first bottle.   

The rest of the day was us just playing games with many giggles.  She immediately showed her funny side by playing keep away games with Billy and Karsyn. She also switched back and forth between feeding both kids. We spent the rest of the day together as a family of five getting to know each other. 

Day 5

Today we went back to the Civil Affairs office to finalize the adoption.  We had to go into the same hot conference room and wait till the officials were ready for you. Then you had to be interviewed and approved.  And last came the notary who signed and confirmed all the paperwork. 

No body warned us that the same ladies from Kora's orphanage were going to be there when we arrived.  I knew immediately what that meant and wasn't looking forward to another goodbye. She did go straight to them but didn't show any signs of attachments.  She mostly just played with Billy and Karsyn and kept walking around the room.  At one point Kora came up to me and she had sweat dripping from her hair.  I took her coat off and stood back to watch her play.  What happened next was the first of many times over the last several days where I experienced the Chinese culture in a way that I was never really warned about throughout this process.  One of the orphanage ladies came up to me and grabbed Kora's coat out of my hand and began putting it back on her.  I quickly decided to choose my battles and just walked away.  The second time happened a few minutes later when the notary asked our guide to ask me why Karsyn was running around with so little clothes on.  When I looked over at Karsyn she had also taken her coat off and was down to only one layer of clothing.  I just told the notary that the reason was that Karsyn was hot.  She didn't seem to like that answer. Well the orphanage ladies eventually left and Kora did cry, but only for a short time.  Today someone brought a lolipop with them and handed it to me.  That worked like a charm.  

Later on that day we ventured out of the hotel with the group and our guide and walked to a nearby outdoor shopping area.  We went to Pizza Hut and ate dinner.  This was a much needed Americanized meal. 

Day 6

We finally had a free day. Our guide took one of the other families to visit their child's orphanage today so we had the whole day to ourselves.  Bill and I braved it and decided to hail a taxi to take us to the mall. Well that didn't go over so well.  The entire staff on the first floor of the hotel were laughing at us as we had to come back in to ask them to get us a taxi.  The were really nice about it and walked outside with us to hail us one and send us on our way.  

We ate lunch at McDonalds, had ice cream at Dairy Queen, and walked around for a couple of hours. It felt good to get out of the hotel.  This mall was a four story very high end mall.  We walked every floor and on the fourth floor we discovered an arcade.  Of course the kids were begging to  go in.  It seemed to go on forever and in the very back of it I spotted something that really shocked me. 

Yes that is a roller rink in the middle of a Chinese mall.  There was even a couple doing a couples skate while holding hands. 

So at this point of the trip Kora is slowly getting more comfortable with us and we are getting to know her more too.  She has a very strong minded personality and can communicate very loudly (I mean easily) her wants.  She switches every hour who she is attached to by demanding that the person (whoever it might be at that moment) hold her hand or push her stroller.  She makes us laugh constantly with this.  

Thanksgiving Day (day 7)

Thanksgiving Day we decided to go to the zoo.  They are famous for their Red Panda bears. 

The hotel actually had a very nice Thanksgiving Day buffet. All of the American families made reservations together and we enjoyed an evening celebrating together what we all had so much to be thankful for this year.  They had made a beautiful turkey and carved it right in front of us.  That was the only traditional American Thanksgiving dish served, but there were many other great dishes we were able to try.  

  

Day 8

We fly to Guangzhou and into air conditioning.  This is also the day Karsyn gets to see McKayla again. The plane ride started out well.  Kora just sat and played with all the buttons and toys around.  At one point she spilled water on her dress and began crying for me to take it off.  I debated whether or not to do it, but then for the sanity of everyone around decided that I would.  It was warm on the plane so I felt I was making the best decision.  Here comes another one of those Chinese culture moments that I just don't understand.  A woman walked by and tapped me on the shoulder and said "Don't you think that she is cold?" I looked up and just calmly replied "NO" and turned around.  In America we don't walk up to strangers and try to tell them how to parent.  So here comes the next one for the day.  We were about to land and the flight attendant asked me to put Kora back into her seat and put her seat belt back on for the landing.  She didn't take to that well and began screaming. Nothing was going to passify her except being able to get up.  After about five minutes of her screaming, a gentleman behind us took off his seat belt and came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder.  He said "excuse me...what is wrong with her?"  I looked at him and replied "she is a baby and is tired and doesn't want to be in her seat any longer." He then said to me "Don't you think that you should figure out a way to make her stop crying?" WOW!  Those that know me would have been real proud of me when all I did was say "Sir, if I knew how I would have by now." 

We finally landed and off to the hotel we went. 

Day 9

Today we had to go to the department of health to get Kora get a TB test and a physical.  This is a requirement before they will clear her for a Visa.  It went well.  She only cried for a minute after they stuck her with the needle. The rest of the day was a free day so we were able to just hang out and explore around the hotel.  The rooms are very spacious and nice.  Billy was glad to see a basketball court at the end of the garden that they have outdoors in the middle of the hotel.  There is a nice padded playground outside for the kids as well.  Hopefully the rain that we have had since we arrived will stop soon and the kids will be able to get out and play.  

All in all we are learning that we have a very strong willed child who clearly was given everything she wanted to appease her up to this point in her life.  She screams, hits, and throws herself down when she doesn't get what she wants.  The good news is that when she gets over it, she is extremely playful and full of life.  Nothing a little Aunt Kel can't fix once we get back to Florida.  

This catches us up.  I know I have left off a lot and have a million pictures and stories to tell about all that has happened up till now, but they will have to wait.