Alright, so, where were we? Oh yes, running headlong into
our second week in China!
So, after a snowy day at the Bazaar in Urumqi, we decided to
take Thursday off just to hang out in the hotel. Around 2:00, we walked to the
local Pizza hut for a nice sit down lunch. Now, I realize that most Americans
do not really associate pizza hut with “nice, sit down” lunches. However, in
Urumqi, I would say Pizza Hut falls in the same line of restaurant as Olive
Garden or Outback Steakhouse here.
Anyway, in our excitement to leave our quite small hotel
room, we did not consider the repercussions of arriving at Pizza Hut during
Urumqi’s lunch hour, which is from 1:30-3:30. So, we waited about 30-40 minutes
for a table. Then, we had very nice pineapple and ham pizza with some cheesy
crust. Ellie liked it. It was good. Then, I got a little too confident in my
eating and drinking choices and decided to try something new: a chocolate milk
tea. I did not like it. It was not good.
After a tough night with Ellie and her
oh-so-ridiculously-messed-up sleep schedule, we met our guide, Jacky, in the
hotel lobby at 7:00 am Friday morning to head to Guangzhou! On one hand, we
were so excited to leave Urumqi to finally be around some English speaking
American families. On the other hand, we were dreading our first of three
airplane rides with Ellie. However, Ellie is really cute, so, off we went.
After seeing us through all of the security checkpoints,
Jacky said his goodbyes and we were on our own again. After making it all the
way down to our gate at the airport, I was dying for some kind of flavored
chocolate coffee (as you might have guessed by my mistake of ordering the
chocolate milk tea from pizza hut). We had time to spare, so we walked back
towards security with Ellie fast asleep in the carrier. (By the way, I look so
super manly wearing Allison’s beautiful red, black, and white super-cute baby
carrier with a magnificently precious Chinese baby tucked inside. I was wearing
my “this is what a cool dad looks like” t-shirt loud and proud.) Anyway, we
found a little coffee area and I saw a picture of a coffee that seemed good.
However, everything was in Chinese and I had no idea how much it was, so I
decided to give it a shot. I did not like it. It was not good. But, after I
asked how much, and the cashier brought over the calculator and showed me that
it was 130 RMB (that’s $21.00 U.S.A.) I drank all of it (after falling out of
my chair, of course). I still cannot believe I paid 130 RMB ($21.00 U.S.A.) for
a terrible little cup of coffee! That’s 21 McDoubles from McDonald’s!
Anyway, then we got on the plane, and it was not so bad. In
general, the plane is VERY loud on the inside, which is good when you have a
potentially crying baby. However, for most of the trip, Ellie was great. We had
one HUGE answer to prayer right up front. In China, you cannot have an
individual seat for a baby; babies get “lap seats,” meaning they sit in your
laps (obviously). So, we were hoping no one would sit next to us, since there
are three seats in a row. Well, low and behold, a nice gentlemen did have the
seat next to ours. We were sad. But then, another seat opened up and a flight
attendant offered the gentlemen another seat so he wouldn’t have to sit next to
the “American’s with the baby.” Freedom! We were so happy to have the extra
space! Then, Ellie did really well. We fed her a bottle during take off and
landing so her ears wouldn’t pop so bad. We spent about an hour and a half
feeding her our beef and noodle lunch by hand, and she even took a nap in the
carrier (once again, sporting the “cool dad” t-shirt).
Finally, we arrived at our hotel after meeting our guide,
Rebecca, and two other families in the airport. Ok, so our hotel is amazing!
There are two rooms with a door that will close to separate them! It’s great!
Ellie is on a better schedule now, sleeping in her crib even as I type this.
Now, just a bit more and then you can see some pics below.
We had our first meeting today to start finalizing the U.S. part of our adoption.
As it turns out, some of our paperwork was missing! Well, not really “some
paperwork,” in reality we were missing one Chinese piece of paper amid stacks
and stacks of other paperwork. We don’t remember anyone in Urumqi giving it to
us, but the Urumqi peeps are saying we have it. Whatever. Anyway, Rebecca has
put in a request for Urumqi to send another one, so all should be well.
Needless to say, we are now “the family that lost their paperwork.” Personally
I don’t think the Urumqi peeps ever gave it to us, and I am still really upset
that I paid $21 for a terrible cup of Chinese coffee in the Urumqi Airport!
Then, we took Ellie to the children’s play room in the hotel
and she had so much fun! We played with these little magnet toys and played a
“where’s mommy/where’s daddy” game that she absolutely loved! She is so cute
and precious!
For dinner, we headed to the local McDonald’s, and, while
not quite as nice as the Chinese version of pizza hut, it is more along the
lines of Zaxby’s in terms of its quaintness than the McDonald’s that we are all
used to seeing. It was good, and Ellie loves French fries.
Then, it was bath time for Ellie (she loves a bath) and
night-night.
Our hotel room!
Ellie!
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