Today was a fantastic day as we journeyed away from Guangzhou, China (pop 10 million) to the city of Yangchun (pop 1 million) about 3.5 hours away to visit Ella's orphanage.
I think the first thing that surprised us is a modern freeway system that brought us to Yangchun without really travelling any "back" roads that I think we imagined. No doubt, there were farmers and families working the fields and buildings, some pretty and some run down, but aside from the plethora of buses, mopeds, bicycles and motorcycles, the scene wasnt that much different from home. Especially the billboards and exit ramps - I guess you could say it was a surprising mix of modern conveniences with old world customs - China is really coming of age with perhaps the best analogy for our Woodstock friends being the continuing transformation of Bells Ferry Road.
OK enough of that. The highlight of the day was definitely seeing Sandra King, Ella's caretaker from New Zealand - Sandra doesn't do it singlehandly - she employs a staff of 18 that cooks, cleans and watches the kids - keeping it at a 4 to 1 ratio. We were so impressed with Sandra's operation beforehand, but I have to tell you after meeting her, I was absolutely awed. She had heard through her US secretary, Cindra, about Ella's escapade in the Buddhist temple and when we were sitting down for lunch, Sandra was astonished at the gratitude of the Chinese people and mentioned that is why she loves the Chinese people - It was absolutely touching.
We also got to meet again the director of the orphanage (Mrs. Wu - pronounced Yu), who has raised countless kids at the Yangchun orphanage over 13 years. She comes to the states every 4 years for a reunion and I think the results speak for themselves - she does a fantastic job overseeing the entire orphanage operation - the babies usually end up being very well adjusted from everything that I have read on the Yangchun kids Yahoo Group - and some couples on this trip that previously adopted from Yangchun.
Oh, they called Ella, Ting Ting at the orphanage - I have some footage that I will share - but the nurses and one of the older girls exclaimed - "Ting Ting" when they saw Ella. It was so cute. And the whole while, people looked at us the entire visit - you see Sandra is the only foreigner in Yangchun. It's just not a place for westerners, but it was great. I am attaching some pictures to this post. Aside from going to the orphanage, we went to the hotel where Ella was found (for lunch at that - yes it was a respectable establishment!) and to the bus station where Maya was found.
So another day down, the countdown to return home begins - we will be home in a week from now, barring any delays. We can't wait to come home - Dawn - also Laura told me to tell you she will call when we land in LA at about 8:00 or 9:00 your time Friday night. She is down at the playroom of the hotel (sponsored by Mattel as this hotel caters to adoption families) with Ella and Evan now. (Late breaking news - Laura came back and said that Ella just wanted her to stay with her while playing the whole time - she is so excited!)
Tomorrow's itinerary includes Visa Travel paperwork in the am and then a trip to the Pearl Market in the afternoon. Laura and Ella already each got beautiful Jade pendants (life saver shape) and now I need to research Pearls for them - Mom is getting a pink pearl but I heard there were nice black pearls and more. Any suggestions as comments would be appreciated.
Yesterday, was a fairly quiet day, with paperwork in the morning to arrange for Ella's Visa to travel home to the US (and application for her Social Security Card and Citizenship to the US as our daughter - yeah!!!). We did, however, venture out to the Pearl market and shopping area (the pictures do not do it justice) and were successful in purchasing a pink pearl necklace for mom as well as a mikimodo (sp?) pearl necklace for Ella's wedding day (hmm...talk about planning ahead)- We also had dinner at McDonalds!
The pearl market was in the middle of a shopping area in downtown Guangzhou that was absolutely huge - I will post some pictures of this tomorrow along with pictures from our trip to the zoo today. I will say the adventure of the day had to be catching a cab home. There are no lines in China and lets just say there werent enough cabs and the ones that were there werent particularly fond of picking up non Chinese. We were turned down by several and outhustled by many aggressive Chinese to the point where we didnt know how we were going to get home - it was just me, Laura, Evan and Ella in the middle of the city where noone could understand us. Scary for a while (about 30 minutes), but finally managed to get on a cab and make it back to our hotel.
Oh yeah, in addition to the pearls, Evan got a really cool pair of Pepsi shoes - yes that is right - Pepsi Sports is a brand of tennis shoes/sneakers in China. They are real cool and not cheap ($50 regular price).
Ella is doing wonderfully and had an OK time at the zoo today (I say OK in relative terms - compare Ella's expressions to the Camels and you'll understand what I mean!). In terms of zoo's the Guangzhou Zoo was OK, they did have a panda and lots of animals though it could have been more clean and some of the animals/buildings looked as if they weren't in the best of shape.
Fight Home - We tried to confirm China Southern flight back home today and were told that our paper ticket numbers did not match the numbers in China Southerns system. If this is not fixed by tomorrow, we will not have a flight home. We have had trouble with this itinerary before (on way here) and are extremely disappointed with our travel agency - JC Travel and have left them messages in additon to leaving our adoption agency in Colorado messages (they were the ones who recommended JC) - I think this will work out tomorrow, but I was extremely mad that the agency has made numerous mistakes with our travel. And until this is resolved, we cant be sure we'll be on the plane. I will have an update tomorrow.
With the taxi delay and the continuing flight saga, coupled with our other misadventures, we wonder what is next. The only thing that has gone like clockwork is ELLA - She is so CUTE and getting more attached to mom every day.
Thanks Everyone - see you soon - leaving you with a pair of pictures - Ella close up and schoolkids in China - imagine these uniforms at home! Oh heck, imagine the kids all lined up in order like this (haha).
