Great Wall - Great Day

Great Wall - Great Day

Thank you, everyone, for your prayers. After a feverish night I enjoyed a day with no fever and no stomach problems. Thank You, God!

After a very quick breakfast, we were slow moving this morning, we met up with Tingting in the lobby. Roger had to take 2 extra trips back to our room. The first was for his hat. Then as we were getting on the bus I realized that I hadn't gotten the snuggly. So back he went again.

On the way to the Great Wall - over an hour's drive, we stopped at a jade factory. We were given a special discount - 35% off anything we bought - because we were adopting a Chinese baby. We bought two things there.

Then it was on to the Great Wall. During the trip Tingting gave us a lot of information about it's history and other tidbits about China.

I was nervous about the climb, especially since I had to carry Violet and just recovering from whatever I had had the night before. The first part that we walked was sloped, not steps. Then the steps began. It wasn't easy. Roger took some pictures of the steps, but the ones that he got were the short ones. Some steps were almost to my knees. A lot of the way had a railing (I'm sure not original :) so that helped. I had many people say things like, "You are very strong" and the like when they saw me climbing with Violet. We hadn't gone too far when I knew that I needed to take it easy. Going down was even worse than going up - for me at least. Wearing the snuggly made it so that I couldn't see my feet. Tori and Roger went ahead of me and warned me of "dangers" like puddles, steep steps, drainage troughs, etc.

Tori decided to stay with me while Roger started to climb again. I am so proud of how far he got. He went to the second tower up. Quite a feat.

We stopped at a Chinese restaurant on the way home. I didn't eat much, even though the food was very good, because I wanted to take it easy on my stomach.

Then it was home to the hotel. I was happy to get back to our room and take it easy. But I had to wait until after we went for a swim. Tori was pleased to be back at a hotel with a pool. Violet loved swimming, which we were expecting since she loves bathtime. She was not so fond of the swimming cap. But after she got in the water she forgot about it.

Tomorrow we go and get Violet's pictures for her visa and permanent residency. She gets her medical. We also go to the Canadian Embassy and apply for her visa. It will be a very important day.

We plan to go to The Temple of Heaven tomorrow afternoon. We are going to get a calligraphy scroll done for Violet. It will be done by a descendant of the Emporer's Family.

Back in Beijing

Back in Beijing

Saturday proved to be a very interesting day. When we got up Roger checked the weather in Beijing on the computer and it said that they were experiencing a dust storm. I thought please don't let our flight be delayed again!

When we went for breakfast Roger got me my usual – Violet and I sit at the table while the other two go through the buffet. About 5 bites into my meal I said I can't eat anymore. I did drink my two glasses of juice.

After we got back to the hotel room I was sick. I felt some better afterwards. We left the hotel about 9:30 am. The drive to the airport seemed very long. I was feeling sick again. (It was about an hour's drive.) Isabel helped us check in and then we went through security. Our departure gate was right through security so I didn't have to walk far. The restroom was very close, too. I took Violet to the restroom and changed her diaper. I was sick again.

Those of you who know me well, know that I am sick very easily. I think it is how my body conditioned itself back when I was young. I was lactose intolerant and when I felt sick I threw up. Then I felt better because what was causing the problem was now out of my system. And my body continues to do that through the years – if I have a headache I throw up. So I didn't worry too much about being sick. I wondered if it had anything to do with my sinuses draining. I thought perhaps that was what was making my stomach upset.

As we sat in the departure area we could see outside. We could see that there was no plane at our gate. And I thought, "Not again." We wondered if it was late arriving because of the dust storm in Beijing.

We were scheduled to begin boarding at 11:30 – still no plane. I saw that people were beginning to line up to board. Ray commented, "Can't they see there's no plane yet?" But then to our amazement the ticket agents were starting to send them through. They didn't go to gate 7, but walked down to another gate. So we gathered up our kids and belongings and went and stood in line.

We asked the flight attendants if I could hold Violet, or if she needed to be buckled in her seat – since she had her own seat and was over 2 years old. I still didn't think that was as safe for her since she is so small. Our seats were 19 C, D, E, F. We put Roger across the aisle from us. Then I sat on the aisle holding Violet and Tori had the window. Before we took off the flight attendant asked me to move to the middle seat, she said it was safer. Probably just because people walking the aisle might bump Violet's legs or arms. So now our aisle seat was empty.

I snuggled Violet in as the plane began to move out on the tarmac and she fell asleep within moments. So the take-off didn't bother her at all. She slept for over an hour.

About 10 or 15 minutes into the flight my stomach started bothering me again. I montioned to Roger and he came and sat beside me. I just knew I was going to be sick. And I was. I have never thrown up on a plane before. At first I was embarrassed that people might hear me, and then I just didn't care. When I mentioned it to our friends after we got off the plane, she said that they didn't hear me. They were seven rows ahead of us.

We got to Beijing okay, Violet cried during the descent. But once we touched down she was okay. I was sick one more time in the Beijing airport before we collected our luggage.

We had no problems getting our luggage. Our guide, Tingting, was waiting for us. After a bit of manuevering we got to our bus and were headed back to the hotel. Tingting told us that we were lucky we didn't fly in in the morning as the dust storm was very bad. She said people weren't venturing outside because the dust would coat them and make it very hard to breathe.

I made out okay on the ride to the hotel. While we waited to check in I realized that my stomach seemed to be settling and now I was just tired. And hot. The hotel seemed so hot.

We got a pleasant surprise when we got to our room – besides the faint smoky smell – the room is way bigger than what we had here before. We have a suite. Our bed is queen size. Tori has a full size twin bed (not just a cot) with good mattresses. The sitting area has a couch and two chairs and an coffee table. AND WE HAVE A FRIDGE! Hooray!

I wanted a cool shower right away. But once I got in the tub the water seemed too cold, so I decided a warm shower might help soothe my muscles – from carrying Violet in her snuggly.

I didn't feel up to eating supper. Roger and Tori went to the hotel restaurant and Violet and I stayed in our room. (Violet won't go without me.) I wanted something easy on my stomach so that it wouldn't revolt again. So I had a banana. Violet ended up eating most of it. (Which surprised me, since every other time we tried to give her banana she wouldn't eat it – would just spit it out.)

After supper I took my temperature. I had a very slight fever – 99.1. When Roger and Tori got back they found Violet and I sleeping in bed. I asked Roger to find some fever meds for me, so that it wouldn't get worse. Took my temperature again. This time it was 100.8. Took some medication and drank some ginger ale that they brought back for me.

Violet ended up sleeping with us all night. Around 3 am, both of us were awake. I wanted to take another dose of medication – just to keep on top of things. I was feeling some better, so I was surprised when my temperature was 101.5. Took more medication. Roger filled up Violet's cup and she drank some water. I drank a whole bottle. I want to keep hydrated.

It is now 6:30 am. When I woke up I felt a lot better. I took my temperature and it was back to normal range – 98.2!! Please pray that it stays down. Today is a big day – we visit the Great Wall. I want to enjoy it. I'll also need my strength because I'll be carrying Violet.

I'll post pictures when we get back from our tour. We leave in two hours.

Oh, and we had a blessing when we checked out in Fuzhou. I told Roger how much our internet service charges should be. When he was completing the check-out they said, "No internet." But Roger explained that we did have internet. So they explained, "No charge for internet – free."

What a blessing!

Saying Goodbye to Fuzhou

Saying Goodbye to Fuzhou

First off, thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. It certainly was a birthday to remember. Despite my cold I had a lovely day. When Tori woke up she gave me a birthday card from the kids at school. I was so pleased. And surprised. I asked her how she managed to get that here without me ever seeing it. Clever girl.

Actually the morning started off a little rough. Violet was awake early and then when Tori got up Violet was a little cranky. Which made Tori a little cranky. And I thought, "Happy Birthday to me!" But they just needed some time and then the day improved.

We didn't have any appointments in the morning so we took a walk in a park located behind the hotel. There were beautiful flowers and fish ponds. Then we came to the front of the hotel and went for a walk around West Lake. Violet fell asleep soon after we started that walk and Roger spent most of the walk pushing the stroller on its back two wheels so Violet's head wouldn't flop forward. He's such a good daddy.

We ate snack food for lunch - we have plenty of it here in our room. The hard part is controlling Violet while she eats. It is much easier when she is in a high chair. I'm embarraseed everytime housekeeping makes up our room at how messy it is. Right now there are cracker crumbs right outside the bathroom door. Violet loves transferring things from one container to another, and it is unavoidable for things to end up on the floor.

We needed to meet in the lobby for 2:30 pm to go pick up Violet's passport. We debated amongst ourselves if it should be earlier...we wondered if the appointment was actually 2:30. A little after 2 there was a soft knock on our door. It was our guide, Isabel. I said, 'Oh, are we late?" But that wasn't the case. She had some paperwork for us. She also had a birthday present for me! She is so thoughtful. Isabel was impressed with how Violet is "jabbering" away.

We picked up the passports at the police station. We had to wait outside until it was cleared for us to enter. At the top of the stairs into the building there was like a little waiting room...with leather couches even. It was under the roof, so it was cooler. Isabel made a comment about waiting and Roger said, "Oh, if someone wearing a gun tells me to wait, I'm fine with that!" Isabel added, "Especially in China."

We had to show adoption paperwork and our passports in order to pick up Violet's passport. When one of the police officers was looking at Violet's pictures he kept looking at the picture and then at her. At one point it was like he said, "Are you sure this is the right child?" And my heart started quaking!!! But then he looked at me and said, "She is very beautiful." There were no problems.

After the police station we stopped at the supermarket. The daddys went inside with Isabel and the mommys and kids stayed in the bus. When they got back on the bus Roger gave me another birthday gift - a box of chocolates. Yum! I haven't opened them yet, but I'm sure they are delicious.

Violet fell asleep in my arms on the way back to the hotel. In her snuggly - which she loves. Oh, I forgot to mention this little story. When we were getting ready to leave for the police station Violet grabbed her snuggly off the dresser and carried it over to the bed and laid it down. Then she got up on the bed. It was obvious that she wanted in her snuggly. It was so cute. I had wondered how we would manage with the language barrier, but she is doing fabulously at making her wishes known to us. Yesterday I was putting on lip gloss in the bathroom and she was watching me. She held up her hand to me and said, "I-E-I-E-I-E!" We've figured out that she says that whenever she wants something. Isabel said, "I-E" is nanny. So Violet must have said "Nanny" to get what she wanted at the orphanage. So I bent down and put a little lip gloss on her lips. Then, are you ready for this? - she rubbed her lips together. Oh...my...land! It was so cute!

We went to the restaurant here in the hotel for my birthday supper. I wore my jade necklace that Roger and Tori had bought for me the day before. It is a tiger pendant. I was born in the year of the tiger. So was Tori. She got a smaller necklace, too. Violet has joined our family in the year of the tiger!

We got to the restaurant about 5:10. The buffet didn't start until 5:30, so we took our seats and waited. Then when it opened we walked around the buffet to see if there was anything we wanted. Believe me, there wasn't! Squid, full fish head included, prawns, a lot of sushi and much more. We decided to order from the menu. Thankfully it didn't take too long to receive our meals. But Violet was getting a little put out from sitting so long and not having any real food! (She kept throwing her raisins and cheerios on the floor. She kept throwing everything on the floor!) It was very fancy, and the waiter even came and placed the napkins on our laps. Roger said that he was thankful that he saw him do it to me first, otherwise he might have clocked him! Then he took Violet's napkin and wrapped it around her neck like a bib. A bit later it started to come off and he re-wrapped it. I said to Violet, "Can you say thank you?" And the waiter, Clarence, said, "She speaks?!?" He didn't realize that she was two. The waiting staff always seem to get a kick out of how she feeds herself. I feel like a negligent parent, but she has a fit if I try to feed her. So I just pass her the spoon and she feeds herself. Oh, she didn't have a problem when I gave her some of my soup last night. She ate from me then.

When we got back to the hotel we started packing up everything. Then it was bath time and off to bed.

Our flight leaves Fuzhou at 12:05 pm. We'll leave the hotel at 9:30 am. It is a 2 1/2 hour flight to Beijing. Hopefully there are no delays this time!!!

I'm kind of sad about leaving Fuzhou. There are some things I will miss.

I will miss the beautiful scenery outside the hotel. It is right on the lakefront and there is a beautiful walking trail that we've used - I think everyday.

I will miss the delicious breakfasts at the hotel. Very good.

I will miss Michelle from guest services. Whenever we entered the lobby, if she was on duty, she would come and talk to us. Very friendly. And she got us extra blankets and pillows. :D

I will miss our king size bed. Back in Beijing it is a twin size.

I will miss the mini fridge in our room. It has been wonderful having cold water to drink. Our room in Beijing didn't have a fridge.

I will miss the beautiful weather. No explanation needed for that!

But most of all, I believe I will miss Isabel, our guide. This has been one of the most important weeks of our lives and she has been so helpful to make everything go smoothly. She said it is easy when she has families as easy going as the two of ours. She wishes all her families were as flexible as we are. There will always be a special place in my heart for Isabel.

Well, the day is moving forward so I should get prepared for it.

No worries. We will have internet in Beijing, too! Talk to you again soon.