Day Eight-Zhengzhou

Thanks to those of you who comment on the blog... we'd love to hear from the rest of you, though, so we can still feel a bit connected to home.  Write me at kevin[at]forkboy[dot]net or Jen at weeksofjen[at]hotmail[dot]com.  We don't mind answering questions. What do you want to know about China?  Adoption?  The meaning of life?

Great day!  The baobao let me hold her for about a minute at the museum, then for a few minutes in the afternoon, then more in the evening!  Today we heard more laughs and giggles out of her than we have before, and she made a best friend with whom she could play a crazy game called "run down the hall as fast as our goofy toddler legs can carry us while squealing so loud that an old Chinese couple comes to the door to be amused by the Amercans" (trademark paperwork is pending on the name). This game is *hilarious* toddler comedy.  More on that later.

This morning was a bit of culture... our original travel plans called for us to take the day and go to the Shaolin Temple (yes, THE Shaolin Temple, where all that kung fu comes from).  I had been excited about that possibility for a long, long time, but after some back-and-forth, we decided that a full-day trip with a girl we've known for only a couple of days involving two 1.5-hour bus rides might not be the best thing for her development.  Plus, we'd have to split the cost of a bus and driver for the half day.  Next time it is.

Instead, we went to one of the three most prominent museums in China, the Henan Provincial Museum, in the giant pyramid building.

Every time I get a glimpse into the vast history of this region and this people, I'm reminded of a bit by the British comedian Eddie Izzard. He was talking to an American audience about England's vast history compared to America's, and how we think that British people all live in castles.  He said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "only Americans could say 'we spent millions to restore this building to how it looked more that FIFTY years ago!'  Surely not. Surely no one was ALIVE back then."  This is what goes through my head when I try to take in a culture that has existed for so many thousands of years.  The museum is extremely impressive, with artifacts, art, bones, and musical instruments from nearly every age of China's central plains.

It was beautiful, and I would have liked to stay longer, but of course we were a group of six of our families with their new kids and so things were a bit hurried.  Here was me:  I had my jacket on, with my large man-bag over one shoulder, the diaper bag with spare diapers, wipes, toys, snacks, the baby carrier, and Nora's coat over the other shoulder, then the video camera and still camera around my neck, trying to keep up with the group.  I took a lot of pictures so I can enjoy the museum later.

Then a bunch of fun moments that made the hardships of the last couple of days all worth it:

 - Inside the museum, I took Nora for a minute while Jen took her coat off... she didn't cry (though *I* almost started to). Mostly because she was stuffing her face with puff snacks.  I had to get a picture taken... it's been commented that there weren't any pictures of dad with baobao... this is because she basically didn't want me near her for a couple of days.

 - Just after our tour, outside the museum, Jen and the 12-year-old girl being adopted into our group each took a hand and started lifting her up high into the air, and she was actually giggling hysterically.

 - Back at the hotel that afternoon, she let me hold her for a full couple of minutes and didn't freak out or lunge for her mom.  This made me so happy I did a little dance with her around the room.

 - A couple of our friends from the group have a little boy about Nora's age, and we try to get them to play together.  They finally hit it off today when I was off with our guide getting our last huge packet of paperwork ready... Nora and Shawn met out in the hallway, discovered this new, vast open range of possibilities that is the fourth floor of the west wing of the Crowne Plaza hotel and started the aforementioned running-and-cackling game.  Nora was quite glad to have found a friend and we had them run around a lot.

Good day!  She seems to be sleeping well, too.  Things are good right now.  Tomorrow, that may change as it'll be baby's first plane ride.

P.S. If anyone knows of a site where I could post videos that isn't blocked in China (YouTube is), then let me know.


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