Here's Savannah and her friend Franci on their first playdate. We opted for the hotel hallway as Scott had come down with what we called "Mao's Revenge."
We stayed at the Gloria Plaza Hotel and from some of the hotel windows we could see this beautiful pavilion across from another hotel. One night we went out for a walk after dinner, enjoying the warm, sultry evening air and as we wound our way back to the hotel two events occurred. The first was this gorgeous view of the pavilion and second was one of my Top 5 Most Memorable Moments of the entire trip. While walking past a restaurant we were approached by a young boy, maybe around 9 or 10 years old, who introduced himself as Tom, pointing out that Tom was his "American" name. We introduced ourselves to him and Tom asked what Savannah's name was and we told him her Chinese name. He said that it was a good name, wisely nodding his head like an old sage. He then asked what her American name was going to be and I told him Savannah. He practiced saying it a few times and smiled with approval.
Father's Day 2005. Our group toured the Nanchang Zoo on what was Father's Day back in the US. The zoo itself was very sad, and an event that I could have done without. The stench, the poor conditions that the animals were being kept in compared to our zoo's at home was something I can add to the "Been there done that" list. The bright spot however was this moment of watching my baby girl sleep and watching some of the older kids playing with some of the Chinese kids as they chased bubbles around.
After the zoo we went to finish our last order of business... off to the Police Station to receive the girls' passports and approval to leave the province. As we waited I observed many pregnant women waiting in the lobby area and I wondered several things about them. What were they thinking of these American families adopting these children? Was she struggling with pressures from her family on what to do if she gave birth to a girl? What would be the next part in her baby's story? I could only hope that all would go well. I also couldn't imagine being pregnant in a society that required you to check in with the Police on how your condition was progressing.The next day we flew off to Guangzhou... or so we thought when we packed our bags, checked out of the hotel and headed to the airport. The flight we were on was supposed to have us in Guangzhou around 8 pm. What should have been a 5 pm departure turned into an ugly wait. For nearly 2 hours we were stuck on the airplane still connected to the jet way because of the monsoon rains impacting the airport in Guangzhou that were preventing us from taking off. The flight crew had no intention of letting anyone off the plane to wait, and the toilets were near the point of being no longer usable. Not prepared with any sort of in-flight service they went to the snack stand and bought bottles of water and crackers for everyone. To look at our guide Wendy you would think that there is no way that this petite young woman could intimidate anyone. I can tell you that she was truly a force to be reckoned with. She went to bat not only for our travel group, but also for another equally as large group of adoptive families. Finally we were allowed off the plane and into the insanity of what had become the terminal. Passengers from backed up flights as well as those still arriving for their flights were all over the place. There was one small noodle shop where we finally staked out seats, but only enough to allow our group to rotate. Hour after hour ticked by without any news of when we could go. The most unnerving part of the trip happened at this point when Savannah's diaper needed to be changed. There wasn't a place in the restroom where I could do that and I found myself going towards a quiet corner, but still near a spot where I could see Scott. A woman in her late 20's or early 30's approached me and was making every effort that she could to help me with Savannah's diaper. To say that I was freaking out about this is an understatement. I kept looking toward the restaurant, willing Scott to turn his head. With shaking hands I hurried to change her diaper, put Savannah back in her carrier and holding her close to my chest managed to dodge the woman and find my way back to the security of Scott and the group. Later, when I was able to think about the encounter, I wondered if she'd been in a position where she'd had to abandon her baby and that was why she was so determined to help me. Finally around midnight we were allowed to board the plane and begin the next leg of our journey to bring Savannah home.
We arrived in Guangzhou around 2 am, with the plan for the next day to be passport photos and the medical visit required by the State Department for immigrant visa's. We were able to sleep in a little bit before heading down to take in the famous White Swan breakfast buffet. After eating the breakfast we had in Beijing and Nanchang, finding ourselves face to face with a spread that included french toast and other treats was amazing. Savannah had already rejected congee back in Nanchang and once she tasted the eggs and other baby friendly foods from the buffet there was definitely no going back for her. It was at breakfast that we were able to first see the impact of the rains that had prevented the foster moms in Jiangxi from traveling to the orphanage on the day that Scott and several other parents visited Yihuang. The color of the water wasn't a surprise to me after seeing the Mississippi, but the bloated pigs floating down river were unexpected. Trees and other debris kept drifting past the windows. After breakfast we had enough time to walk a bit of Shamian Island, which is where we first met Jordan of Jordan's, the shop well-known in the Yahoo DTC group world. He was hurrying along, coming from the direction of the canal that separates Shamian Island from mainland Guangzhou. Jordan stopped to introduce himself and ask where we were from. Our friends said Montana and for ease of geography I told him Seattle. After a bit more conversation he warned us that if we were going somewhere we should hurry because the water was near ready to crest over the side of the canal and flood the streets on Shamian Island. Within minutes the water was rising and beginning to make its way into shops. Within an hour it was nearly at knee level and I'm sure we were all a sight as we trudged through the flooding water with mom's holding babies and dad's carrying strollers above their heads as we walked to the medical clinic. The water got to be so bad that the first floor lobby of the White Swan was flooded and we never did see the swimming pool because of it being closed. I remember seeing some long white floating things that I am still referring to as really long worms (I'm in denial that they were dead snakes) and the water made our legs itch and burn. Yuck!
The following day we had our appointment at the US Consulate where we took the next step toward Savannah becoming a US Citizen by taking an oath on her behalf. After that we were off for an adventurous shopping trip to the wholesale district. Scott was already beginning to realize that Savannah's love of shopping was a quality innate to her and not something she was learning from me. Walking through the wholesaler proved his worst fears true. Not only did she like to shop, she had decisive taste too. Savannah picked out two dresses that she liked as well as some shoes and a hat.
After a trip to the wholesaler we set off on our first non-guided adventure. Scott, myself and our friend Arin and our two girls set off to find Six Banyan Temple with the hope of having our girls blessed by Buddhist monks. Armed with only the address of where we were going on one side of the hotel business card we wound our way via cab through the streets of Guangzhou. Talk about a leap of faith! At the mercy of a cab driver that we had no way of talking to beyond "thank you," "you're welcome," and "cold Coca Cola." Finally we found ourselves in front of the temple and I almost had to laugh at the trinket shops next door selling all the Buddha and Quan Yin statues. Quan Yin is the deity that refused to enter into Heaven because there were still people on Earth who were suffering, also known as "She who hears all cries." No doubt she was close to hearing from me if we hadn't arrived at our destination when we did. We made it inside, looked around as we tried to figure out what to do next and began to wander around. We walked into one building where a young monk began to play a game of peek-a-boo with Savannah. Both of them were laughing at the antics of the other. We continued wandering for a bit when an older monk approached me and told me in English "You have a beautiful daughter." Surprised at being spoken to in English, I smiled back at him and said "Xie xie." The interactions with both monks was blessing enough for me after that.
The next day was a big day. We were leaving mainland China for a short stay in Hong Kong over night before continuing on to Seattle. As I sat in the airplane taxing toward the runway bound for Hong Kong I was struck with magnitude of the moment and the responsibility being placed on my shoulders. Here was my baby girl leaving the only world she'd known. Never again would her perspective of China be solely hers. The next time she would come back she could discover her own perspective, but it would be created with a bit of comparison to life in the US. Just as I knew she would have a good and happy life with us, I also knew that it was our job to help keep her connection to her birth culture intact and to look for opportunities at home for her to be a part of our local Chinese community.
Savannah set the pace for the day, we checked into the hotel attached to the Hong Kong airport and Savannah promptly fell asleep for a few hours.
In the afternoon we made our way to the tram that takes people up Victoria Peak where we wandered around and found a trail offering gorgeous views all around Hong Kong and Lantau Island. This city steeped in British influence and Chinese traditions seemed like the perfect bridge from Savannah's life in the East to her life in the West.
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