Welcome to Urumqi!!

So it’s 6 AM on Monday morning here (that’s 6 PM on Sunday night in GA) and clearly sleep will not come, so I thought I’d take a minute to update.  We had a wonderful time in Beijing, but were so ready to get on the plane yesterday and move closer to Ellie.  Beijing and Urumqi are about 3000 miles apart and the flight yesterday was just over 4 hours. Navigating the Beijing airport with no guide and no English-speaking person was a little tricky, but we made it on the right plane. J This flight was the best one of the trip so far.  A little strange to be the only two non-Chinese people on the plane, but smiles are the international language and everyone seemed very nice.  About halfway through the flight, we could see nothing but desert land - miles and miles of beautiful desert.  Then about an hour out, we saw beautiful mountains – still desert, but beautiful snowy mountains.  About 2 minutes before we landed, out of nowhere a huge city appeared!  We both teared up as we approached Urumqi……so close to her now!!  Our guide, a very nice man who is from Urumqi named Jacky, met us at the airport with a driver.  We got a quick tour and background of Urumqi on the 30 minute drive to our hotel.  Urumqi boasts the 2^nd highest mountain range in the world, 2^nd to Mount Everest.  is very rich in Muslim culture.  The population is about 3 million.  It really is a beautiful and extremely clean city, especially clean when compared with Beijing, where the smog was so thick we could barely see across the street.  We arrived at the hotel, a 5 star hotel which is VERY nice according to Chinese or American standards.  I teared up again as I asked Jacky to ask the concierge to please send a crib to our room.  Jacky went over some paperwork with us (actually a lot of paperwork and it’s all in Chinese), and then we all went out to have dinner.  We told Jacky we wanted to an authentic Urumqi meal.  He told us about a flat noodle that is the staple here, prepared in modern Muslim fashion.  So we had a very spicy dish of noodles and beef.  It was delicious!!  Then, I guess Jacky figured that was going well so we were ready for the next step and he ordered us shish kabob.  Well, let’s just say that was a little TOO spicy for our GA palates, lol!!  We didn’t want to be rude, as Jacky was sharing his culture with us, so we had a few more bites, but we were laughing at each other on the inside as it felt like the meat was burning holes through our tongues!  We came back to the hotel and unpacked, did paperwork, and prepared our room for Ellie, packed her diaper bag, etc. 

 

We will meet Jacky this morning at 9 AM, that’s about 2 hours from now.  Then he will take us to the government building for official paperwork.  When we asked him what time we would see Ellie, he said that it would either be morning or afternoon, apparently the orphanage director will just know where we are today and bring her at some point.  Jacky said today would be filled with running all over town between the government building to the notary to the consulate, back to the government building, etc.  We know today will be a very hard day for Ellie…..while we have been preparing for her in our hearts for years, and in our home for 14 months, she probably just woke up this morning in her same bed in the only life she has ever known.  She will be taken from the people she loves today and left with two funny-looking, way too pale people with big noses.  We expect a very sad and scared little girl today, and we hope that she will allow herself to be comforted by us at some point soon, and to realize that we love her.  

 

The rest of the week is still loose at this point.  Jacky mentioned that he would like to take us to a museum on Tuesday to learn more about the history and culture of Urumqi, which we would love.  Then on Thursday we are hoping that the orphanage will allow us to visit.  While this may seem cruel, it is very much recommended to visit the orphanage with your child even during their grieving so that she can have some closure to that part of her life.  Also, we will be her only link with her life up until this point, and we want to know all we can so that we can give her the answers her little heart will someday crave.  Then Friday, we will leave Urumqi and fly about 3000 miles to Guangzhou.  All of the adoption paperwork is completed and finalized here in Urumqi, but then we will spend a week in GZ getting her passport and visa and everything that is required to get her into the US.  While I believe we may be the only adopting family currently in Urumqi, when we get to GZ we will join many other families from the US who are also working to get passports and visas for their children.  Once Ellie sets foot in Atlanta, she will officially be an American citizen!!  J 

 

Note that Kris is still asleep, and he's clearly the technology expert in this relationship, so getting pictures on here will have to wait until he is up!  :-)

 

Thank you so much for all the sweet wishes and for keeping us in your hearts during this time!  Today is a huge day for our family, and is already bursting at the seams with tears and emotions too big to describe!  We will try to update and post pictures soon!!  J