A few hours ago I told a man yes, I still have blonde hair and yes, my eyes are still blue ... STOP staring for crying out loud. Pretty sure he didn't hear me, or would even understand me ... but never stopped staring ... The - ENTIRE - plane ride. An older woman at the Fuzhou airport literally tripped because, as she walked past me, she continued to stare/scowl back at me. I decided a direct, clear Hello, as I looked directly back at her might work. She didn't say hello back, but she turned away. Mission accomplished.
If you're catching a theme here, yes ... I was ready to leave Fuzhou.
And WOW am I in love with Guangzhou already. Got in late tonight, haven't seen much, but the hotel lobby, and it's filled with people of all sorts of nationalities ... I no longer stand out.
Ahhhhhhh ... :)
We finally met up with the family we were "traveling with" from our adoption agency. They adopted from a different province than we did, so we didn't meet up until now for the final week. And wow did they have a week! Their first day with their new 5 year old son ... at a park, and unbeknownst to them, he slips his foster parents phone number to a woman at the park and within minutes they are surrounded by police. The mom told me she was shaking like crazy, trying to hold on tightly to her son, while some woman kept trying to pull him away from her. She couldn't get her phone to dial out, to get in touch with our case manager and thought, this is it ... I'm not leaving China with my son. Um ... Horrible. It all got cleared up and they got a ride back to their hotel, compliments of the police. The rest of the week, they stayed in their hotel room (shocker) and said the hotel manager had to remove the door knob from the inside to keep their son from walking away. She and her husband are clearly AMAZINGLY resilient as they still have smiles on their faces. They, too, are happy to no longer be in their adoption province.
All of that makes me feel less stressed about my nights with James ... which seem to be like a scene right out of The Shining, as I hold him firmly and sing Twinkle, Twinkle ... on repeat ... over and over again. I'm beginning to be a pro at straight up creepy. BUT ... It works. He calms down and falls asleep.
So back to this million dollar beer from the mini bar. Refreshing ... as this moment of bliss will be short lived. Tomorrow is the medical day. I've heard nothing good about it and our guide informed us, at one point, they will take James away from us - which will, no doubt, send him into a panic (as he is finally realizing we are his people) and will take blood from him for testing.
Awesome.
We meet in the lobby for that fun at 10 tomorrow morning,
For now, he is finally sleeping, and I'll just enjoy my cold beverage.
Hello Guangzhou.
Becky-congratulations to you and Curt! James is so handsome and so loved. I know the challenges you are feeling with his grieving-it is so tough. Hang in there-your love and support will carry him through. I can see his bonding toward you and it so so beautiful! Best wishes tomorrow-the blood test without you and being taken away sucks-I won't lie. Luckily kids are so resilient and being right their afterwards helps so much. It took three people to hold my daughter down and I got comments like wow she is really strong. In a weird way I was so proud. Hugs and kisses and some goldfish helped sooth her quickly. And if you need something-there was a wine vending machine at the clinic-I am sure that it has come in some use with a family or two! Congrats again, safe travels, and many prayers as you make your way home.
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