Let me start out by saying, "Thanks!" for letting us chronicle our trip online. It has really helped for us, at the end of every day, put our day into words. We want to remember as much about this trip as we can, and it is really helping for us to do this. Thanks for following our journey.
Olivia has totally bonded with Philip, and actually prefers him over me right now, which is fine. It is actually great because a lot of these children have not been around men, so the Dads are sometimes the last to bond. I don't think that was the case for Olivia, since we know that the director (male) came and got her every morning for a walk. We had a little crying fest last night, and I couldn't do anything to calm her down. Philip acted as the Baby Whisperer, and she slept all night!
I'm happy to report that we had another great day for the Martindale Family of 4! We really enjoyed seeing the sights we did today and feel better about the city. We saw a lot of greenery and trees, where we've only seen concrete, smog, and traffic up to this point. It is really beautiful on the other side of the river.
We started the day with our normal breakfast in our hotel. Little Sister can eat! Today, she had watermelon, yogurt (The yogurt here is so runny that you drink it with a straw.), some kind of melon that I've never seen before, congee, noodles, rice, and juice. Still no formula, even the Chinese kind that she's used to.
Learning about the stacking cups:
After breakfast, we headed out on another adventure. Oh, and by the way, it rained again today, and I'm not talking about a few sprinkles….it rained. Olivia took one look at the van and freaked out. No surprise there. The driver laughs every time it happens. We started out at the Civil Affairs Office to pick up Olivia's birth certificate. Vicky ran in to get that while we sat in the van. While she was in the office, I decided to try some music for Olivia. It was suggested to us from a BTDT adoptive father (Thanks for the suggestion!). It did something, because from there on out, no more crying in the van. MIRACULOUS!
We then traveled to Orange Island, which was suggested to us by another family who is here in Changsha as well. (We met on Facebook and have been communicating since we've been here.) It is located on the western side of the city, across the river. Hunan is known for its agriculture, and this river helps feed that industry. Orange Island was flooded a few years ago and has only been open again for a couple of years. When we arrived on Orange Island, we had to ride a little tram out to the focal point of the island, a huge state of Chairman Mao, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, and THE MAN in this country (Mao was from Hunan and spent time on Orange Island during his earlier years). Once we got off the tram, we had to walk quite a ways….in the pouring rain. At one point, Philip was holding both girls while getting lectured by older Chinese women that Ansley had on no pants and flip flops. Keep in mind, she was doing this in Chinese, but I knew exactly what she was saying. I just smiled and nodded. Orange Island was beautifully landscaped. We saw orange trees, roses, azaleas, and pansies, not to mention the Japanese maple trees and other beautiful shrubs. It smelled wonderful and was just beautiful. It would remind you a little of Cheekwood….just add the massive statue and some Chinese architecture. Again, my aunt, the Garden Club Queen, would LOVE this place! We made it to the huge statue, and it is huge. Had it not been pouring down rain, we would have stayed longer, but everyone was pretty miserable by this point. So, we boarded the tram again to head back. Philip, Ansley, and I were soaked to the bone, but we managed to keep Olivia pretty dry. People again had fun seeing the girls and taking pictures with them. Some of the women knew that we had adopted Olivia. Our guide told us that they were very happy that we had done this for her. Our guide told us that overall, the Chinese people were happy about adoptions because they love their children very much.
This is a picture of some Chinese folks "in line" to get on the tram. Again, we witnessed some passing in line and some pushing, in fact. We just kind of stood aside while this craziness went on.
This is a Chinese tea house:
Philip says that after this Orange Island experience, that I'm not allowed to choose any more activities the rest of the trip! I don't think he appreciated trouncing around in the rain that much. :)
After Orange Island, we headed to YuLu Academy, an ancient university that the province is known for. In fact, it is one of 4 ancient universities in the entire country. Actually, Changsha has over 20 universities in one city and is known for its education. YuLu is over 1,000 years old and is beautiful. On site, they have a library that is still used by some of the university students. They have silk scrolls still in the library that were written 1,000 years ago. Again, another activity that my aunt would enjoy. Here are a few pictures.
This is Confucius' Temple:
Little Sis is learning to climb steps.
Confucius Statue:
Some of YuLu has been rebuilt over the years, but not the stone portion of this gate.
Want to know what really made us happy today? Look what we found! A little taste of home...
And, look who we found when we got back to the hotel! Our friend, the happy bellman!
After we got the girls upstairs and had some lunch, I headed out on a little adventure of my own while they napped. I met up with my new friend and her little boy, and we walked to the "Friendship Store." It is very near the hotel, only 2 blocks, and we didn't have to cross too many crazy streets. We did go on an underground sidewalk. They are all over the place here, and it's a good thing. It is much safer underground than with the crazy traffic and scooters here. The Friendship Store is basically a mall with many levels and many expensive stores. They had Calvin Klein, Versace, Coach, and many other stores. I was looking for some new leggings for Olivia. The ones that I brought were filthy from today, and you must put them on these kiddos while you are out and about, or you will get yelled out in Chinese. :) Not to mention that it is a little chilly here in Changsha. I found some that weren't too expensive. I wasn't sure what size to get, so I took the white ones with me. The girl at the counter thought that the ones that I picked out were too small for a 2 year old, but I showed here that they were the same size as the white ones. They fit perfectly! (She had on size 12-18 month leggings.) Here are a few shots from my walk:
This is from inside the mall:
These planters line this portion of the street:
Typical parking here….not sure how the Rav4 is going to get out.
We went in one store that we thought was a candy store. We were wrong. Read the packaging closely: Duck Tongue with Soy Sauce. Glad we didn't buy anything!
8 lanes of traffic on this street. Our guide says that the Chinese feel that traffic lights are "suggestions" and don't have to be followed. I believe it!
Newsstand:
We almost got run over by this scooter. He's wearing a large poncho that covers not only him, but also the scooter.
This is a Chinese movie theater:
After naps, we went to the play room for a while and then tried the hotel restaurant for dinner. Our new friends, Kim and Brian from CO, joined us with their new son, Milo. He is 16 months old.
It is hard to believe that this is our last night in Changsha, but we are ready for Guangzhou. :) We fly out tomorrow night around 6pm. It is a one hour flight. Please pray for our safety and for Olivia to make it okay on the plane. Due to our later arrival in GZ, I'm not sure if I will have a chance to blog tomorrow, but I'll try.
Thanks again for all of your kind comments on both the blog and Facebook. It is overwhelming to see how much support we have. I wish we could thank each of you personally.
Zai jian (Goodbye in Chinese)!
Jill
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