At the caves, one would light 3 incense sticks in front of this statue to pay respect. Zach took this picture of our friend John doing this.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Big night out....!
When we got back from visiting Laibin, the other familiies weren't back yet.......we decided to venture out on our own with Jim and Nancy and Laina; and the social worker who flew down to meet us, Pat.....as much as we love Chinese food, we decided a little taste of Americana is what we needed tonight.....so, we loaded up the strollers, and headed downtown Nanning (about 15 minutes from our hotel to the shopping area....)....GORGEOUS night....about mid 60s.....nice and comfortable......So, we ended up at Pizza Hut (which is not like America pizza hut.....very nice...beer and wine......nice sit down)....anyways, we are waiting out front, and its Saturday night...by a mall.......tons and tons of people...teen age kids.....A group of teenage kids approached us, and in very good broken English, asked if we could sing happy birthday to their friend, as she was turning 15.....so, we broke into song, and they LOVED it...!!!! they were laughing and smiling, asking where we were from......about our two babies....next thing we know, we look up, there is about 3 rows deep of Chinese people, all giggling with us...looking at the babies....felt like being an American Rock Star in China.....all the Chinese people loved saying 'hello' in English and giggling.....we got sooo much attention, it was funny....When we got into Pizza Hut, there was a group of young student teachers from Canada.....we chatted with them briefly; they are in China for a month, and like us, needed a little good home cooking ...(okay, it is Pizza Hut, but damn did it taste good with a cold Bud...!!!).......Bella was at her BEST tonight...playing to the crowd...laffing...giggling.....eating EVERYTHING in sight........we think that the weather helped......nice lesiure dinner...nice walk back to the hotel...she smiled the whole way home...got her home......changed her into her pjs, out like a light....!!!!! Every night in Nanning we've eaten at the hotel; it was nice to go out at night....especially on a Sat night....most times, we get odd stares from the locals...tonight, being that it was a young crowd, they were very intrigued by us, and loved chatting...asking questions...and most are taking English in school....one girl is travelling to New York and Florida this year with her family......All and all, a very nice night.......
Bella's birthplace...."Found" area
It is about 5:30 in the afteroon.....we just got back from a long van ride to see the area where Bella was born (and where she was abandonded). We are in Nanning City, which is very close to the border of Viet Nam, and is Southeast China. We drove with Jim and Nancy (and Laina) to Laibin City, which is about 2 hours north of Nanning. Going through Nanning, we noticed that there is very well to do areas, where they are building luxury condos...high rises......one thing we noticed, that due to the humid climate, it is very very green here.......once we got out of nanning and on the expressway, we were completely in farm/rural country.....We went for about 2 hours, not seeing too much....In my mind, I expected Laibin to be a VERY rural farm village....but, when we got off the exit for Laibin, we were surprised that it was very well built up....fairly large city (maybe size of Worcester???).....and seemed to be expanding.....Yes, there were VERY poor sections, but was not what I expected....It seemed to be similar to Nanning, but on smaller scale, and less populated...(and more low income)........We went to the 'found' place of Bella first......She was left outside the Emergency Area of the People of Laibin Hospital.....we were 'pleased' to see the abandonment spot....VERY high traffic......safe........Small grass area.....right in front of the ER....They said that she was left under an umbrella.....that she was 'about a half day old', so she was born and basically abandonded......It was nice to get some 'closure' as to where she came from......We then moved onto where Laina was 'found'....All Jim and Nancy had for info was that she was left by a Furniture Mart by the train station.....We drove there, and it was in a VERY poor...run down section...there were housing that was very low income......the Furniture mart was beautiful, and Jim and Nancy are taking comfort in the idea that she was born in one of the low income 'project's'..the mother knew she couldn't take care of her, and thus, dropped her off at the highly travelled Furniture Mart (which seemed geared to middle to upper class)......It was nice to see this for both of families, even if it was a long day..We also drove past Laibin Social Welfare Institute (the orphange)....we were not allowed to go inside, nor could we take pictures from OUTSIDE of the van....had to take pictures from inside the van....Even that was questioned by officials, who came over and asked what we were doing...it was a large building on a main street....there is an outside area in the back that the kids could play at.....other than that, a non descript apartment style building.......Zach, per usual, did great...Bella, per usual, ate the whole way up, slept the whole way back.....!!! We are here for one more day (Sunday), and tomorrow we are visiting a very large mountain area, close to the city and a famous 'flea market', where we hope to get some trinkets representing this area......When we got back from the trip today, we were all hot....tina took Bella upstairs.....Zach and I took a walk.....Zach bought two lolllipops for 1 YUAN (7.75 YUANS equal a dollar), and I bought an ice cold beer for 3.5 YUAN (less than 50 cents).......When we were waiting for our trip this morning, we noticed red carpet rolled out...numerous official looking cars....large stretch limos....BMW"s.....much to our chagrin, we were NOT travelling to Laibin in style....the Prime Minister of Viet Nam is visiting, and actually staying at our hotel...i guess that speaks well for our hotel....We depart Monday morning for Guangzho, which is less than an hour flight from here...We go to the Consulate.....Get visas for the babies.....and get them checked out, medically....supposed to be very quick, and we are staying at the famous White Swan hotel for two nights, which caters to American Families adopting...guess great shopping in the area, and some "american style" restaurants....i love chinese food as much as the next, but craving a good old fashion juicy Burger, with an ice cold beer...(that and a damn drink with ICE in it...!)....more later...
Friday, April 13, 2007
Laibin
Today is Saturday, 4/14......We are off to Laibin, which is where Bella is from (and where she was abandoned). We are travelling with our friends, Jim and Nancy, who live on the Vineyard. Their little girl, Laina (8 months old) is from the same area. Both Bella and Laina were abandonded in or near Laibin and raised at the Laibin Social Welfare Institute. We decided to take an hour ride to visit this area to get an idea as to where she is from, and possibly see the abandonment spot. We won't be able to go into the orphanage, but hope to take pictures outside. We will post updates when we get back later on.....it is hard to believe that it is Sat.....you completely lose track of time when you are here.....all days run together....and going back and forth with the 12 hour difference (checking in with folks back home), makes you realize the difference.....example....8:40 at home at night; 8:40 saturday morning.....will be INTERESTING when we get home.......we arrive at 10 PM at Logan; which our body will tell us is 10 AM China time.......least we got weekend to try and catch up......We hear a major nor'easter is moving in late sunday for Mass........we are hoping that our driveway doesn't flood, and we come home to water downstairs....but what can ya do......roll with the punches.........this trip puts a lot in perspective.....somethings you can control; others you cannot.....Just got to take it as it comes.......We have now had Bella for five nights, and she has slept GREAT every...single..night...(thank god)....yesterday, took a late afternoon nap, so stayed up a little later (went down about 9 30 but was content to play in her crib til she fell asleep).....her and Zach both slept to about 7 (as did mom and dad.....Dad had a glass of Great Wall Cabernet, watching the only english station, HBO......)....well, off to Laibin.....willl check back later on......Sports fans, what is the latest with who the Pats are eyeing? no news over here...although the doorman at the hotel, asked us in broken english, if we knew Yao Ming.....guess they think that all of us in US live close by.......didn't have the heart to tell him, so said yes, that we grab coffee now and then, and talk Chinese politics....not sure he bought it.......
Ya Ling Caves (and how Bella ate her way through them..!)
Today we took a short journey to the Ya Ling Caves in the mountains about 35 minutes outside of Nanning City. It was a peaceful ride through the country, and got to see a lot of farm land, and incredible mountains (Zach took some great pictures...)....Before you go to the Caves, you visit a small recreated village, depicting how the farmers in this province live.....It was very interesting to show how simple they live, and what they need to do, utilizing primative tools, in order to survive....from there, you light 3 incense candles and place them at the foot of a large Buddah-like statue and say a little prayer, and bow three times....The caves were incredible......Polar Caves in NH got nothing on these....All of the guys on our trip (myself, Jim and John; and there is Carmen, a woman who is travelling all alone but has been doing great, and helps that she has a 21 month old that sleeps about 12 hours a day....no fussing, and is a joy); all tried out our Snugglis today.....Loaded with the children in front, we were ready to attack the caves.....Up and down rock stairs, it was about an hour walk through the limestone caves....throughout the tour, a guide will have lights shine on various formations in the caves, indicating what the locals had named them......such as limestone formations that resembled two men playing chess.....Dragons....Lions.......husband and wives....very interesting....Zach thoroughly enjoyed it, but kept trying to take pictures, in the dark.......Bella did fantastic for the first 2 thirds of the walk, content to be facing out of the Snuggli, taking everything in (wait to everyone meets here....VERY VERY nosy).....(side note to Jim, Tracy, Brittany and Spencer: we now know what you mean about the 'second child'......we think we got the female Spencer......very very active...!!!).....when the other children started dozing off, we thought it time to switch Bella around so she could lie on her stomach and nap......NOPE.......only thing that could quiet the shrills in the Cave was to keep a chip in her mouth at all times (smoky bacon Pringles seemed to do the trick).....when it got quiet, and the guide was about to point out an interesting formation, little Bella would let you know she's still there.....pop a chip in the mouth, buy yourself a few more minutes....like feeding the meter.....when we were approaching the last of the steps, heading up, is when she decided to doze off......Tina took her at this point, and we exited the Caves....They closed a gate behind us, and we all gathered to wait for the bus....it was then we noticed that we did not have our camera......Our guide was getting the van/bus, so we had to convey, in broken English, that they needed to open the gate for us to retrieve our Camera...they finally conceeded, and myself and another lady (who is travelling to assist her friends), ventured in.....mind you, during the tour, they have colored flourescent lights that light up now and then, or small lights mounted on the rocks.....at this point, all is turned off....they were kind enough to provide us with a small flashlight, and we fumbled up a few rock stairs, til we noticed a silver shiny object, that luckily was the camera........Zach was pleased, as he was the official photographer today...(all pictures that I post later are ones that Zach took himself, NO help whatsoever....).....Back to the hotel for some lunch, and relaxation....Bella is napping now, so Tina and Zach are taking a walk.........For those friends of Zach who are reading this (Evan....Jocelyn...Helen...Brittany...Spencer...Alex...Julia..Bryan and Matthew....Gerrianne...AJ...Nick and Alex......Mrs. Maguires class.......and anyone we may have missed), Zach wants to say hi and that he misses everyone.......This is a once and a life time trip, and we are blessed to be on this journey, and blessed with a very healthy.....very happy.......daughter......For those catching up on blog posts, I finally converted this to English, and noticed that I had one post (labelled GREAT WALL) as a draft, and not published.....So, I re posted it.......
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