AdoptionPosted by: Tom on ... 16 Sep 2012 04:54 pm
After breakfast today we headed out for a trip out to a small farming village on the outskirts of Changsha. We wandered through rice paddies and chatted with some of the locals. Overall, I think Sandy and I were struck with how different it felt from how these communities felt 20 years ago. When we spent some time with the locals, almost all of them had smart phones and seemed much more connected to the “modern” world. Sandy also felt it strange how the “modern” and “old” worlds combined. The farmers lived in run-down houses with cement floors but had smart phones. The farmers utilized wooden sticks lashed together, but also used an electric weed whacker. A road ran through the farm, and we saw both an old-school trucks crammed higher than it should with recycle-able type items pass by, and a fancy BMW. Just across the street from the generations old industry of rice farming here monstrous factories producing modern world goods. I guess this is what happens when progress happens so quickly.
The pictures are, of course, below. The smaller of the two babies is 15 days old and the larger is 5 months old. They were both very cute and I think heightened our excitement for tomorrow and our meeting of Liz. The people were super friendly. They operated a little shop and when we went to purchase cold drinks they just gave them to us. Seth has started quite a collection of foreign Coke cans. It was beautiful and interesting to see the homes of the area of which there was great diversity. Most of the homes were modest and quite run down. There was one home, though, just raised from the farmland that was massive and beautiful. It would rival any mansion you would encounter in the states. Our guide affirmed that it was likely the home of a government official. The best paying and therefore most coveted jobs are those working for the government. As a government employee myself, that’s certainly a difference between the two countries:)
Afterwards, we quickly headed back out to Walking Street for a bit of a shopping trip. We found a Walmart and shopped around for a bit. Seth got a soccer ball so he can keep his skills up while we’re here and some Oreos for a “home-y” snack. I say “home-y” because these Oreos didn’t have vanilla filling, they had half-orange, half-mango filling. Of course, that was our choice, we could have had lime, blueberry or raspberry filling. The resulting combination isn’t gross, but admittedly it does fall a bit short of the expectation one might have before eating an Oreo. Seth is doing great practicing his Chinese and was able to successfully ask a WalMart employee how to say “oreo” in Chinese. We also picked up a few small cars and books for Liz.
One thing that were are struggling with more than expected here in Changsha is finding food. Essentially none of the restaurants have pictures of the food on the menu and so we are generally ordering blind. After making a few attempts, we finally decided to go the KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) route. We tried ordering FIVE different things from the menu to which the response was “meiyou” (they were out!). We instead jumped to a McDonald’s just to get something in our stomachs. Not very exotic, but quick and easy and gratefully eaten.
Upon returning to the hotel we decided to try out the pool. We were required to wear swim caps which Seth loved, but drove me nuts! Plus, the water made me feel a little funny, so I left the area early while Seth and Sandy swam on. . . (rumor has it Sandy beat Seth in a breast-stroke competition, but that Seth reclaimed victory in the head-to-head free style event. Neither of them could really rock a flip turn. Apparently we didn’t watch quite enough of the Olympics).
Dinner was another adventure. The hotel food is good, but we really wanted to try to get out. Another adoptive family had recommended a place across the street that apparently has amazing fruit tea. When we got there and sat down, we realized that only the drink portion of the menu was in English, the remainder was in Chinese. So we sadly felt like we should leave and try somewhere else. We found yet another restaurant without English or picture menus, BUT they had a very patient, helpful waitress who was willing to sift through our broken Chinese and bring us something made with “chicken” and something made with “beef” and some fried rice. We had no idea what was really coming or how much we had just paid for food, but we ended up with some beef/green onion dish and some chicken/random Chinese vegetable dish, some sort of chicken soup and the aforementioned fried rice. We actually loved it all except for the chicken (but the vegetables were good) and felt completely satisfied when we were given a bill for a mere $11. All’s well that ends well.
We spent a bit of time after dinner chatting with our new friend Lisa and her son Joseph. They are from Long Island and have the New York accent to prove it! This is their fourth trip to Changsha and they have great stories to tell. Their daughter is from the same orphanage as Liz, but has been living in foster care and just turned four years old. Lisa was told our girls have probably been kept together the last few days. It’s nice to consider that Liz may not be completely scared and alone.
Post-socializing meant crashing with a movie and some snacks. Sandy fell asleep before the movie was over (no surprise there), but Seth and I toughed it out.
Tomorrow we meet Liz, our sixth child and 3 daughter. We can’t wait and feel so blessed to, once again, be here in China adding to our family. We are a bit nervous, as I think most that are about to meet their new child are … but excited and anxious as well. Please pray for us, but mostly for Liz. Big day coming.
As for the pictures …
— Farming community
— More pictures from Walking Street and the Walmart connected to the area
— Special “shout out” picture for the Steeds … Go Canucks!
— Picture of the Chinese lanterns … I was basking in the cultural beauty of tradition until I realized that all of the lanterns were emblazoned with “Coca Cola”.