Emotions snuck up on me again yesterday as we prepared for our leg back to Beijing. Our hearts fluttered when we saw our children on Skype, even more so that the trip to Beijing meant just one more airplane ride back to Canada. I also had a heavy heart knowing that we would be taking Nevin from home province-- but then again, leaving made him feel more like he was really ours....like coming home from the hospital with a newborn baby.
Traffic was crazy in Hohhot City Centre, but it seemed our driver drove with some caution and kept his speed below the flow of traffic when we hit the highway It was as if he were keeping the safety of the baby in mind. Not only were we escorted by our guide, we were met at the airport by two of the Nanny's from Nevin's orphanage. We upgraded our flight back to Beijing to first class for an additional 1250 Yuan, a reasonable amount for the extra space for our son's first flight. And the Nanny's helped with the translating and ticket exchange. As we were passing through the security check point, Nevin's Nanny began to cry and waved to us. It struck me profoundly, and I found myself standing in the doorway blowing kisses while fighting back the tears-- and I was losing. I stood there as long as I could, until I couldn't see them anymore....it was like I was in a heart wrenching scene of a movie.
David came through the carry on baggage-xray and we started to walk to our departure gate. Then my tears were too hard to fight back, bottom lip quivering, about to have an ugly cry. I just tried to breathe, and kissed my new son's head and held David's hand.
Our departure was about 40 minutes delayed due to air traffic congestion. Hummm.... traffic congestion in the sky made me a little nervous. I took the opportunity to change a diaper and feed Nevin the last of the rice cereal I brought from Canada. He ate the entire package since Monday. Did I mention he likes to eat?
Nevin seemed to enjoy being in the big seats, and didn't fuss a bit during take off. He looked out the window and watched quietly. As we flew over the breathtaking mountains of Inner Mongolia, Nevin and I sat at the window and waved goodbye to his birth province. The view was incredible. Mountains were poking through the tops of the clouds and stretched as far as I could see. I only wished we had the chance to see the country side and grasslands of Inner Mongolia, and to be closer to the mountains. David wanted to ride full gallop on a horse in the grasslands....maybe he can do that with Nevin when we go back for a homeland visit.
The flight was quick, and smooth-- except for the airplane I saw pass over top of us....hummm traffic congestion in the sky....The flight was almost too quick, and Nevin was remarkable--as if it was just another van ride somewhere. We touched down just an hour later. But I wished we could've just kept going to Canada.
Another family from our travel group arrived just 15 minutes after us and their baby was sick. He had been throwing up for over 24 hours. And then we learned that another family from our group took their baby to the hospital and had been on IV fluids with a bronchial infection. I felt badly for them, and lucky at the same time. Nevin is as strong as an ox, and healthy (knock on wood).
And on to the new hotel. A lovely hotel, but the travel company cut corners again and put us in the small rooms. Our other family couldn't even put the cot in the room for their older daughter. It was late in the day, we were all hungry and decided to deal with it the next day.
This morning I was up just before 5 am. Still turned around from jet lag. Showered, Skyped and ready for breakfast before 7am. Breakfast was more westernized here in Beijing, so there were more familiar offerings. The dining room was beginning to fill up with families from all over the world with their new babies, most of them girls. It seems that our families were the only ones who adopted boys.
Our trip to the Great Wall was postponed, as half of our group had sick babies, and one family were on their way back to the clinic to have their baby checked for pneumonia. So David and I took Nevin next door to a giant supermarket. We stood like two dummies not knowing where to enter, and not entirely sure we were allowed to go in. It almost looked like a Costco idea....like a membership store. But once we were in we enjoyed looking at all the Asian products, spirits etc. We picked up a bottle of wine, and NEW CASTLE BROWN if you can believe it, some rice cereal, milk and some little crackers that nearly burned our face off! We had the very same type of cracker the night before, but of course, can't read Chinese. David and I took a couple, casually eating them while we were chatting-- and at the same time, our eyes popped from our heads, desperately trying to find something to drink. They were so hot! We laughed insanely for about 20 minutes.
So the afternoon agenda was changed to a trip to the Silk Market. Oh My God! You've never seen anything so crazy. Five floors of booths filled with anything you wanted to buy. The sales people were very aggressive, actually touching me and grabbing my arm. One even tried to take Nevin from me when he was fussy. Don't touch my baby! Nevin did well, and fell asleep in Daddy's arms. I bought a few pieces of traditional Chinese pj's for the kids, and other trinkets, and some beautiful wall scrolls in Chinese calligraphy and art work. We ended up in the middle of a small brawl when a local attacked one of the sales girls. He was a big guy and I got bumped in the arm by the hooligan. I was more concerned about Nevin but he was fine.
We headed back to the hotel with plenty of bags, tired and hungry. My head was spinning a bit from the jet lag. We ordered room service, which was very good, and then it was about an hour of paperwork in the hallway with our guide.
Tomorrow its off to Immigration at the Embassy for Nevin's medical. We are there from 8:30 until noon, as there are many other families attending as well. In the evening, we have tickets to attend the Chinese Acrobats, which is said to be marvelous. I can't remember what else is going on this week, as all I am looking forward to is seeing the wall, and packing to head home. I miss Dylan and Heather tremendously.
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