Lost in Translation

Sign seen at park today:

Delicacies

I think I have already mentioned the freeze-dried caterpillars. I would like to share a few more of the delicacies we encountered. Some we have sampled, some we haven't.

Sunday in the Park

Sunday morning Zoe was a bit under the weather, probably due to her vaccinations the previous day. Our usually cheeky monkey practically fell asleep at breakfast. She had a slight fever too, so we decided to take it easy all morning. In the afternoon we ventured out to explore Liuhua Lake Park. Liuhua means "Flowing Flowers", a name said to date back to the Han period when palace maids tossed petals into a nearby stream while dressing their hair. The park is very beautiful, and despite the rain, we managed to get a few good photos.

To get there we had to go through a tunnel beneath the street.

Just outside the park gate we saw this cat. I wondered if they mark feral cats with purple ink for some reason, or if this kitty had a fight with a squid.

We saw many beautiful old banyan trees...

lush landscaped walkways...

scenic bridges...

a funny sign near the lake:


an area where people did funny exercises on machines and played ping pong and badminton:

and then we came upon a quaint little amusement park, where we heard "Auld Lang Syne" and "Oh Christmas Tree" playing on loudspeakers:

Zoe liked the balloons:

Many Chinese couples go to the park to get wedding photos done in Western-style attire.

In modern Chinese weddings, Sherry told us, the bride changes clothes at least three times. She might start out wearing a western style white dress for a church or civil ceremony. We saw a store on Shamian Island that sold very expensive-looking wedding gowns.

The bride would then change to a traditional red cheongsam for the tea ceremony and reception. Red is considered good luck and can help drive away evil spirits. Before the end of the reception, she would change into a cocktail dress to greet the guests and then see them off at the door. The brides we met were very happy to have their picture taken!


One bride insisted on taking a picture of her groom with Kevin and Zoe too!


One thing we find amusing is the reaction we get from Chinese people. Often we catch people staring at the three of us. We wonder what they are thinking. Usually, when they see Zoe in her little carrier they smile, laugh, and sometimes even touch her cheeks. I asked Lucia what people are saying when they see Zoe, and she said they are commenting that she is "funny" and "nice." And evidently, her hair is pretty wild even by Chinese baby standards. I am OK with a funny, nice baby!



After a while, we were drenched in sweat and Zoe started getting a little tired and hungry so we headed back to the hotel.

The China Hotel Marriott

Crystal chandelier in lobby

When we got back, we chilled out in front of the TV for awhile. We have discovered that Zoe loves to watch T.V....soon Sam will have someone to watch it with!


Mostly, we play with Zoe on the bed. That is her favorite pastime!

She loves to be propped up with all of her toys in front of her. She also likes to roll around on the bed, babbling and giggling. Sometimes we sing "My Zoe Lies Over the Ocean" while rocking her back and forth on our legs...that makes her smile too.

We stayed in for dinner (I had noodles and Kevin had PBJ), watched a little more TV, blogged, and then went to bed. Life is pretty easy here! No work, no chores, no laundry, no cooking. I still CAN'T WAIT to get home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I finally wore out Mom and Dad!

Our Home Away From Home

The view from our room

This is our 8th day at the China Hotel Marriott in Guangzhou. Although we are counting the days until we can come home (5, to be exact), we really have been enjoying our stay here. Saturday was by far the roughest day, because in the morning we went for Zoe's medical appointment. I use the term "appointment" loosely, because every adoptive family in Guangzhou seemed to have the same appointment. As we have come to expect, they appeared to be overcrowded and understaffed.

The clinic was also hot and smelled of cigarette smoke and, oddly enough, Chinese food. The sound of crying babies filled the air (some kids needed a half-dozen or so different vaccinations). We were told to expect an hour and a half wait, but we were there for over three hours. Once again, our Zoe was quite a trooper! The only time she cried was when she received her vaccinations, one in each thigh. I think I cried harder than she did. The rest of the process consisted of a hearing test done by a lady wearing a mask and playing a toy synthesizer, then a long wait in line, a medical exam done by another lady in a mask (a doctor?) who listened to her chest and looked in her ears and mouth, then a long wait in line, then weight and height measurements done by two ladies in masks, then the longest wait of all for the shots. Don't let the smiles fool you...we were miserable.


The rest of our day was much more pleasant. Linneker and Amy (our guides), took us on the bus to a very nice shopping mall. We noticed that almost all of the advertisements in the mall used American-looking models. We asked why, and were told that Chinese people think that means "quality product." We all stocked up on baby supplies and snacks, and I bought several containers of what appeared to be ramen noodles.
Since there was no indication (in English, anyway) of the flavor of each variety, I asked Linneker to translate the labels for me. He said I had purchased "seafood, spicy seafood, pig, and snake." I knew he was teasing about the snake, but wouldn't be surprised as I had seen other delicacies such as these crunchy-looking freeze-dried caterpillars at the mall:


After shopping, we came back to the hotel and let Zoe play with her toys:

pose for some photos:

demonstrate her famous disappearing -lips trick:

and go down for a nap:

We have another thumbsucker in the house!

After naptime, we met the whole group for dinner at the Japanese restaurant in the hotel.


We ordered a multi-course meal, which included shrimp tempura rolls, salad, miso soup, tempura beets and sweet potatoes, filet mignon with dried garlic chips, fried rice, and vanilla ice cream. The meal took a long time, but Zoe was great. She enjoyed watching the kissing fish in the tank behind our seats.

We will always remember the good times we had in Guangzhou, our home away from home.

Life is good.

Kevin and Jeff's Excellent Adventure

View Larger Map

The day started at 6 AM. I had to rush to get showered, eat, and head to the van. Jeff and our Chinese guide were already in the lobby. Late as usual, I thought. We all greeted each other and after a couple of minutes, decided to have our guide spell his English name, because we had no clue what he was saying. Was it "Arnold", "Donald" or "Randall"? None of the above. It was "R-O-N-A-L-D", he said. We immediately proceeded to the van for the long haul in the rain. As we pulled from the parking lot, Jeff and I were a little apprehensive about what the day was to hold. It was not long before we were conversing with Ronald about everything from where he learned English to why Karen Carpenter was on the radio. As we drove, he would occasionally turn to say something about the area or landscape.



Jeff and I were amazed at the number of trees that had been planted along the highway. Ronald informed us that the trees were from Australia and that they had been planted three years ago. I could not imagine the number of people it would take to get this task done. Entire hillsides as far as you could see off into the distance looked like manicured vineyards. I would have to say more than a million trees were planted since we continued to see this for the next several hours. I guess it is a good thing there are more than a billion people here to lend a hand. After three or four hours, I had to tell the drive I could use a "WC" at some point in the near future. Ronald translated for me with a slight chuckle. I am guessing he was thinking "small bladdered American." Nothing I have not heard before and something I knew I would repeat again at some point in the trip. I even joked with Ronald that our driver must be a camel as I never saw him use the facilities. He laughed but said he did not think he would translate that to him as he would not understand the comparison.

About an hour later, we were approaching Maoming. Every time I asked Ronald "are we in Maoming" (i.e. "are we there yet"), he would look at me and say he did not understand. I guess it was the third attempt when he finally understood what I was asking. To get to this understanding, I had to explain that tone was not very important in the English language. I said "It does not matter if I say 'mao', 'Mao', 'maO' or 'MaO' (i.e. emphasizing a certain part of the word), in English these would all mean exactly the same thing". He turned and said "Really", as I could see the light bulb going on in his head. From that point forward, he had little trouble understanding the hillbilly from Trenton, Ohio and responded with "We will be at the orphanage in a few minutes". The scenery in this part of China was very rural. Most of the buildings were brick, run down and loaded with people. Most, I thought, were selling some sort of good or another.


When we pulled our van onto a dirt/paved "market" street, I could see everything from meat to TVs being sold.

Weaving our way through the pedestrians, bicycles and motorcycles, we stopped and Ronald said "We are here".

Ronald

The official name of Zoe's orphanage is the Social Welfare Institute of Maogang District of Maoming City. It is a newer orphanage, built to accommodate increasing numbers of abandoned babies in the city of Maoming and the rural areas surrounding it. As I climbed from the car I could see the metal gate of the orphanage and the building we had seen in the pictures we found online. In the background you can see a new, larger structure being constructed to house more than 100 children, Ronald told me.

I guess I cannot tell you what was going on in my head at that exact minute. I was simply trying to absorb all the action. The old man at the gate that Ronald noted as the guard house, the offices behind that and the dormitory behind them. I reached into my bag to pull out the camcorder and began recording. It wasn't long before a number of kids had gathered around to me to stare. Ronald said they had likely never seen an American before.

As I filmed a 360 degree view I was overwhelmed with a sense of gratefulness and sadness. I thought of the other kids inside and how lucky we were to have Zoe in our family. That feeling came back several times that day when I saw the road on which she was found, the blue and white police station where she was taken and later at another orphanage in Wuchuan where we were able to meet the people that care for these children.

Dong Bianqi Road

Zoe Mei's "finding place" was somewhere along a street named Dong Bianqi Road, in the Nanhai Subdistrict of Maogang District of Maoming City. She was found on August 19, 2009 by an unnamed person and taken to the police station. Later, with the permission of the Bureau of Civil Affairs, she was sent to the institute where they determined that she was approximately 10 days old. Her official documents refer to her as an "institutionalized child whose birth parents cannot be ascertained."

Police Station

I thought of her biological parents and how hard it must have been for them to walk away and allow the state to watch over their baby. I thought of how scared and confused Zoe, and all the other children like her, must feel. When I looked into the eyes of the kids I met, I prayed that they would all find a home, no matter what their situation and that their current caretakers would continue to find the strength to be loving in this overwhelming situation. When I asked our guide to ask the director of the orphanage how kids were matched with parents, he responded "luck". When I think of how perfect Zoe is for us, I think "God" and I pray that He turns the haunting cries of those children that remain into tears of happiness for other families that follow.

Dad loves Zoe