Wednesday 10pm
This morning all the Bethany families got together to take the famous "red couch" pictures. Usually you put all the babies on one of the red couches at the White Swan to take pictures. Since our group is so big, there was no way to put all the kids on one couch and stay sane. We decided to take pictures according to the province from which they came. There we were, the parental paparazzi, jockeying for position to get a good shot. We also took pictures by family, then moms with kids. Kara was great throughout, though she tended as always to wander around when it wasn't our turn. A common phrase I'd utter is, "I lost my kid." Then I'd see her working the room as usual. If she came to someone who didn't notice her right away, she'd stand in front of that person, swaying back and forth with arms swinging as if to say, "Please notice my cuteness."
We moved to take a group picture in front of the waterfall. Well, Kara had decided she'd had enough of this modeling stuff. She wanted to climb up and down the stairs. My guess is that she never climbed stairs in the orphanage. It is not a pretty sight to watch her do it. As the families assembled to take the picture, there was my daughter looking like a lavender Gollum (if you are not a Lord of the Rings fan, just think of a cross between a mongoose and a monkey) in her traditional Chinese dress climbing the stairs. I scooped her up to take the group picture and that was it. There was only one howler monkey in the group and her last name ends in Froisland.
After the pictures we decided to explore and go off the island (as opposed to "off the wall" which was what Kara was doing during the photo session. We will preserve that photo to be taken out at convenient times.). For a little while we walked with a family in which one of the ladies in the family had been one of the first babies to be adopted through Holt (a very well known adoption agency). She had been adopted from Korea and was here to support her niece's adoption. She actually knows James' Uncle Tim and Aunt Rhoda by name through a Mennonite paper for which Aunt Rhoda writes.
We wandered into an outdoor market that sold lots of dry goods. It was very difficult to determine exactly what some of the things were. We saw some small dried flowers which we think are to be used for tea (probably not as good as Mr. Dang's tea… I realized it is Dang not Wang. They rhyme, it was an easy mistake.). Someone tried to sell me some kind of root, I have no idea what it was. Some of the more exotic (for us) things that were being sold were (all dried): large dead flies (I get a lot of those at home); snakes, something that looked like mini-horseshoe crabs; worms; and seahorses. You could get little seahorses or big seahorses, there were a whole lot of seahorses. Stall after stall had the same things being sold and available in large quantities. I found the whole thing fascinating.
When we crossed the bridge to get off the island, it felt like we were in Beijing again. Bare bottom babies once again were the height of fashion (I'll take them any day over the frightful sight from yesterday!). I also found myself having to go ting bu donging all over again. In addition, we got plenty of looks from people passing by. We're going to explore again tomorrow since it is our LAST FULL DAY IN CHINA!!!!
Kara is such a different girl than the one we picked up over two weeks ago. There are times in which I miss that really quiet complacent girl, since I have anything but that now. Kara is getting herself in shape to do battle with her competition. She enjoys throwing pity parties by making all kinds of noise and squirming around on the floor. When she realizes no one is coming to her party, she quits. Unfortunately it can take a while before she quits. Today as we were leaving to go to dinner with friends, she decided to throw herself a full blown pity extravaganza right in the hallway. This was something to behold. She was laying on her back and started to show off her swimming skills by doing what amounted to the backstroke in the hallway. As impressed as we were with her aquatic skills being demonstrated in a hotel hallway, she was swimming the wrong direction so we had to put an end to it.
We still have twice daily torture sessions which we think are paying off. Her teeth are looking a little better. Her walking is much better and she has picked up speed (usually when we are trying to catch her). She has learned to "high five," shake hands, and blow kisses. We have her quite conditioned so that anytime the computer is on, she'll want to climb into one of our laps and then she'll start waving. See, that's why we don't have pets, we have children to entertain us.
Two families left today, more will leave tomorrow and we will leave Friday. Supposedly there will be 35 adoptive families on the plane going from Guangzhou to Beijing. See, we're going to take over the world. It's bittersweet to be going our separate ways, but all of us have been ready for some time to go home. We have met some amazing families who we hope will be lifelong friends. Our friends the Faulkners just sent over an ice cream sundae which I was walking around calling "my precious" (sorry, another Lord of the Rings reference). Their daughter, Sarah, has offered her babysitting services to us if we pay for transportation. She lives in Indiana. That'd be one expensive date.
Here are a few things I am looking forward to in getting home:
1. Real hugs and kisses from my kids, friends and family.
2. Watching Kara and her wonder twin unite (either that or engage in mortal combat, probably both)
3. Living in 2700 square feet of space instead of approximately 500.
4. Being able to brush my teeth with the water that comes out of the tap
5. Chocolate chip cookies.(homemade of course)
6. Cars staying in one lane at a time
7. Having the right of way when crossing the road
8. Babies in diapers
9. Being able to go outside and not feel like I need another shower after 5 minutes
10. People assuming I speak English.
Etc., etc., etc.
One funny story to share before I sign out for the day: A family who has a four-year-old said that their daughter was starting to relax around them so they started playing "peek-a-boo" with her. They'd be playing around and when they'd say "boo!" she'd stand still and give them a worried look. After a little while she'd relax and they'd resume the game. Then the same thing would happen again, she'd freeze when they'd say "boo." Finally they realized that the word pronounced "boo" in Chinese means "no." So the poor girl was thoroughly confused. Later someone told them that instead of "peek-a-boo" you need to play "peek-a-bah."
One more day to go, but who's counting?
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