A Bull in a China Shop

 

 

Hey- Melissa here. Trav left me in charge of the blog because he's feeling a little yucky and frankly he hasn't had 2 seconds to himself.  I'm not sure quite where Trav left off so I'll just catch you up to speed on a few things.

Everyone is asleep in the room. Unfortunately, Lucy doesn't like being in the hotel room or really most places in the hotel.  She was brought to us here at the hotel instead of the Civil Affairs office, which we are grateful for since it gave us 1 more day with her than if we had to wait for the office to open on Monday.  I do however think that this may have something to do with her distress over being in the here.  

In general she was just cranky and cries a lot (rightfully so).  She has incredibly long eyelashes and a fabulous smile.  It's so hard to see the sadness that she has.  I know that she misses her foster family deeply.  It is good for her to grieve but I'm not sure what else could be more painful to watch.

On a lighter note I'm going to add in a few details that you all might not be interested in but I want to preserve somewhere. Yesterday we went to the hotel's indoor pool in the afternoon. We were told that you have to wear a swim cap in the pool by so we bought some at Walmart during our crazed visit there.  When we checked in at the pool they handed me a slinky-type bracelet with a round center and Trav a key on a bracelet.  That's it, no other instructions.  We pantomimed that we didn't know what to do or where to go and they take us to entrances for male and female locker rooms.  We parted ways and I practically ran into a naked lady upon entering the ladies' locker room.  The bracelet was apparently a proximity key for a locker.  I waved my wrist near a locker and the door popped open.  In it was a towel and a pair of pink flip flops.  I took the towel and shoved most of my size 9 boats in to them.  After walking through a few more rooms I toddled my way out to the pool.  Luckily the rest of my family was there and we were able to have a good time in the pool.  With our Wallie World swim caps on we strutted to the pool.  I'm sure it was a sight to see.  Lucy played with Trav and Ty and I played together.  She really has him wrapped around her finger. 

This morning we went to the countryside of Nanchang to get a glimpse into their lives.  There were people in the streets, kids eating ice cream and adults preparing food.  We walked out to the fields and saw rice patties.  From what we understand they are about 7-10 days from harvesting the rice.  The rice was inside of beautiful golden shells.  Dave took pictures, with their permission, of a few of the residents.  They really seemed to enjoy seeing their photos on the digital display.  On one of the 2 main roads men were building a multi story building.  It really was a sight to see these old fashioned wheelbarrows being hoisted by rope to the top of the building.  When I say hoisted I mean that they look like they were practically flying up there.  A lady in our travel group said, 'this looks like San Francisco in the 1800s'.  She was right!

After the countryside visit we had another fabulous authentic Chinese lunch.  My personal favorite is the eggplant.  Tyson of course likes anything spicy and poor Trav doesn't really get to eat.  Lucy is what they call a 'velcro-baby'.  While she is grieving she is stuck to him like glue.  He literally can't go to the bathroom without her.  He doesn't know it but he is super dad.  You should see him with her.  All of her needs are met by him alone.  He changes her diapers, feeds her, carries her everywhere and even does her hair.  I basically get to pick out her clothes and then carry around the backpack all day. 

I used to feel that sometimes a white daddy with an Asian baby stuck out in America.  Well, now I can say that it sticks out WAY more in Nanchang.  Trav has Lucy in our ErgoCarrier (probably the best purchase that we made for the trip) most of the day.  We haven't attempted a stroller but it wouldn't be very practical anyway.  The sidewalks are majorly torn up.  It appears that they are paving them with these large stone pavers but I'm not sure in what order.  The pavers are intact for maybe 200 feet and then boom, dirt or concrete.  Then 100 feet later more pavers.  To say that it isn't 'stroller friendly' is a complete understatement.  We'd probably have better luck getting my feet into tiny little Asian-sized flip flops than getting a stroller safely to the bodega. 

After an unsuccessful nap time we took a long walk to the park.  By long I mean it takes a long time to walk around mini death traps.  The park is one of the 'people's parks'.  It is basically a large concrete park with different kinds of artwork, statues and flags commerating their history.   I met an nice 20 something man and chatted for a moment.  His English is great even though he has never been to the US.  He said that he practices it often and likes to watch American t.v.  Of course I couldn't leave it at that.  I asked his favorite show and he said that right now he is finishing season 5 of LOST.  Apparently the show Prison Break is really popular amongst his friends too.  And the show Heroes is too 'how you say… unreal'.

On the way home we ate at KFC.  Yup, the Colonel is in China too.  Dave asked if I thought it tasted like American KFC but I really don't even know since I can't remember the last time I had it at home.  Lucy likes pretty much anything fried so this was right up her ally. 

Speaking of things Lucy likes and doesn't like.  She likes her Baba, watching KaiLan, eating, her new sippy cup, her pacifier, being carried in her Ergo, her 3 stuff animals and going places.  She does not like: me looking at her or touching her, getting her clothes or diaper changed, putting on any shoes but the ones she came in (and peed in), the hotel and seeing our faces in the morning.  We see her clothes her eyes tightly and then pop them open.  When she sees us she cries and makes a terrible face that says 'ahhhh… you are still here!'.

So, you might be wondering why I titled this post in the way that I did.  Well, I'll give you a little background.  Porcelain is of very high quality here.  The term 'china' started here, as there is a town south of Nanchang with a name something like ChaNang.  As the world was made aware of the great quality porcelain that was made there it was shipped all over.  If you say the name of the town fast enough you may here is as 'China'.  So, over time the name of this type of porcelain was named china.  Soooooo, I digress.  Today we were in a beautiful china shop.  Poor Trav was walking through a threshold and hit his head on a picture.  The picture fell, and knocked over a few boxes of china.  Luckily I learned a little earlier that china does not break easily so we escaped with only one piece broken.  The picture and its frame were so heavy that I had to use 2 hands to drag it off of the boxes.  Trav was initially afraid that we had just bought a few thousands dollars worth of damaged china but later had a laugh that he was just a bull in a china shop. FYI- if you bang two pieces of good china together it sounds like a bell being struck.  The guy was freaking me out smacking china together to make his point.

For our praying friends and family we ask that you continue to pray for us.  We need it!  Lucy still rejects me pretty hard and it's taking its toll on Trav.  He's tired and not feeling that great.  My heart of course hurts that she is so bothered by my presence.  Tyson is a trooper and still tries to serve her and love her even though she rarely returns his affections.  Blogspot is blocked here but if you want to please leave a comment.  It was so awesome for me to read you comments when I returned home last time and I'm sure that it will be this time too.

Well.  I think I will join the family now and get some zzzzzzs.  You all are the best and we can't wait to introduce Lucy to you in person.  I'll try to get Trav to post some more pics tomorrow.

Much love-Melis