Our Journey to Carson

Bye-Bye Beijing...Hello Hefei!!

Jet lag does some crazy things to a body. I was wide awake last night at 11PM, then took Tylenol PM and dropped into bed like a log. Apparently, while I was sleeping, Meggie and Kevin woke up at 1AM and decided to watch some TV...they enjoyed watching "Click" with Adam Sandler and the Chinese version of "The Little Mermaid"! Since I was dead to the world thanks to my little wonder pill, I missed that small adventure. This morning at 4:45AM, we were all WIDE AWAKE! Today, we're all just feeling a little...blah. Not exactly sick, not specifically fatigued, but definitely a little "off." Can't wait to feel like myself again...

Last night, before taking my wonder pill, I e-mailed Billie (another CCAI mom) and we set up to meet for breakfast this morning. When we arrived at the hotel's breakfast buffet, we found Trish and Buck sitting with Russ and Cindy. (I actually knew none of these people but we all sorta stuck out in a restaurant full of Chinese people!) Russ and Cindy are at the tail end of their trip, so they had their darling Chloe with them. We joined them for breakfast and eventually Billie and Joe arrived with their adorable Anna and Billie's sister, Nikki (I think that was her name...I'm awful with names!). Billie, Trish, and I have "met" on the Yahoo groups, so it was sorta like having a reunion with old friends...even though we had never actually met before! Pictures first:

Russ, Chloe, and Cindy...heading home!!

Trish and Buck

Joe, Nikki, Billie, and Anna

We are so afraid to eat something that will make us ill, so we picked very carefully from the buffet. Such the nerd that I am, I took a picture of the food I was brave enough to eat:

Since the tap water isn't potable in China, we have to use bottled water to brush our teeth. Can I tell you, using tap water (especially for teeth brushing) is a hard habit to break. Since I'm deathly afraid I'll make myself ill accidentally drinking the water, we decided to do this in the bathroom:

As we checked out of the hotel (with our guide, Lisa's, help), we encountered a couple of small issues. When I went to sign the bill and pay for the Internet charges and Meggie's roll-away bed (which we never used), the bill stated we owed 346.60. Panic started to rise up in me. Lisa sensed my panic and helped me figure out the bill...reminding me that the figure was in yuan, not American dollars. Oh, much better! That is only about $47!! The reason we didn't use the roll-away bed will be best explained by pictures:

Our room at the Beijing Holiday Inn...quite claustrophobic...

...and the gigantic roll-away bed!

When I woke up about 8PM from a much-needed nap last night, Meggie was asleep next to me on one of the beds. Since it would require a total rearranging of the room to fit the roll-away bed and Meggie was already comfortable, I just left her in my bed and the gigantic roll-away bed stayed rolled away.

As we were getting ready to leave the hotel this morning, Lisa came up and said the staff claimed we ate chocolates out of the mini refrigerator in the room and we had to pay. Nope, didn't do that -- I didn't even know there WERE chocolates in the mini refrigerator. Lisa cleared that up and we headed to the airport.

Lisa was so funny, herding us through the airport with the three other families like a momma duck and her ducklings. Her English was very clear and easy to understand, but her tone of voice was sort of like a kindergarten teacher's...so it came across as if she viewed us as simpletons. (Honestly, in the adoption world, I guess we sort of ARE simpletons.) We didn't really establish much of a relationship at all with Lisa since we only just met her this morning, but the other families were quite impressed with her. Here is a picture of Lisa giving us our boarding passes at the airport:

During our breakfast discussion, Billie and Trish told us that you could carry on liquids on in-China flights (that is NOT allowed on U.S. flights). Since all of our suitcases were overweight and we didn't want to pay the fees, we had the bright idea to move all of our heavy liquid bottles (shampoo, lotions, bubbles for Carson) into our carry-on luggage. After Lisa said her goodbyes and left us on our own to go through security and board the plane, we discovered that in-China flights do NOT allow liquids. The workers at the x-ray machine removed our water bottles and stuck their noses inside to smell them (those went directly into the trash afterwards) and had an absolute fit when they found the bottles of bubbles in Meggie's carry-on. They opened the lids and found the bottles were sealed, as purchased. It took some convincing to let us take them through to the plane. When they got to Kevin's carry-on and found all the shampoos, lotions, etc., they refused to let him through and made him go back through to baggage check and check that bag! Just on reaction, Meggie and I turned around and followed him to baggage check. Kevin suggested that we go through and get checked in for the flight. When I went BACK to the security area, it created a HUGE stir because our boarding passes were already stamped...they acted like they weren't going to let us through! And we had just been screened by these exact same workers about five minutes earlier!!

We eventually got through security and Kevin joined us JUST in time...we got to our gate as they were announcing last call for our flight! It is very funny to watch crowds when we walk through...they stare at Meggie like she's a celebrity! She always gets an up-and-down look, then they crane their necks to follow her as she walks on by. (She is getting more than a little self-conscious about it!! ) As we entered the plane, it was odd how conversations stopped and people just boldly STARED at us! Too funny...but I have to admit it WAS a little disturbing to be the only Americans on the entire plane! We were sort of at the mercy of whoever could speak English!

We arrived in Hefei after a VERY turbulent flight...Meggie was on the verge of freaking out, the ride was so bumpy! As we came through after getting our bags, we saw our guide, Lisa (a different Lisa) waiting for us. She was jumping up and down and waving to us...as if we were long lost friends! She looked so happy to see us, but I wanted to snap a quick pic. Unfortunately, the quality isn't great 'cause I was rushed:

This was the sort of welcome I expected in Beijing...which is why being led to an unmarked van by Michelle made me a little worried! Anyway, Lisa is SO sweet and I can tell she loves her job! She gave us a typed itinerary for tomorrow with some helpful hints for the hotel. Along with that, she gave us a bag that contained all of this:
She said the food she included are typical sweets that local children enjoy...and if Carson prefers any of it, she will take us to the market to stock up! How sweet is that?!! When we entered our hotel, we were AMAZED!! Such a beautiful building! There is an enormous chandelier in the lobby that is very reminiscent of Phantom of the Opera. This is truly the nicest hotel I have EVER stayed in. Take a peek at the rooms (we have two adjoining):

Mom and Dad's room

Meggie and Carson's room, before Meggie unpacked...

...and afterward, with "touches from home" on the beds......and some of Carson's books on the table by the window!

As we started to unpack our suitcases (since we'll be here for six days, we decided NOT to live out of the suitcases!), there was a knock on the door. When we answered, this was delivered to the room:
Even though Carson is probably NOT going to want to sleep in the crib (he has been sleeping in a bunk bed in the foster home), the stroller will be quite handy! Too bad it's a loaner, it would come in handy for the airports on the way home! This hotel clearly caters to its adoptive families. After the stroller and crib were delivered, I noticed a note sitting on the desk, addressed to us. In the letter, the General Manager of the hotel welcomed us and congratulated us on adopting a "baby from Anhui Province." Also, as a "gesture of...sincerity," they presented us a jar of baby food for our "cute little kid." Such a sweet gesture, but I doubt a four year old is gonna want to eat pureed pears!! Isn't that a hoot??!!

So, now it's nearing 4PM and we're just being totally lazy. Since every TV station is in Chinese (different from Beijing, where we had multiple choices of channels -- some in Chinese, some in English), we put a movie in our portable DVD player and we're just hanging out in our room. Meggie's about to fall asleep on the bed, Kevin is resting in the chair, and as soon as I'm done here I think I'll join Meggie for a little nap, too. We ordered room service at Lisa's suggestion and were mostly disappointed in our choices. Kevin and Meggie wasted most of theirs. My sandwich was fine...I opted for ham and cheese, difficult to mess that up...but my banana split had a bunch of greyish-purple cubes of gel in them, which a little bit grossed me out. I ordered the banana split 'cause ice cream is my comfort food, but those little cubes will make me second guess that choice!

So this is it. Our last day together as a family of three. Our last day to chill out and take long naps...few four year olds tolerate that kind of boredom! However, that makes tomorrow the FIRST day...to meet Carson and begin our lives as a family of four! We're meeting Lisa in the hotel lobby at 9AM (which is Sunday night, 9PM, for all of you) to head to the registration office and get our Little Man!!

Off to my nap...if I can calm myself long enough to actually relax...