Our Golden Resources

My eyelids are at half-mast but we really wanted to say a few words before hitting the hay. So far Chongqing has been a whirlwind of crazy lights, lanterns and fireworks on our way from the airport, all looking very tantalizing--if we could think about anything but tomorrow, that is. Our flight on Sichuan Air was surprisingly delightful--even the Chinese food they served tasted better than a lot of the stuff in American restaurants. The plane was almost empty so it was kind of the CCAI Party Plane, and we're starting to get to know a few others in our group now. I was cheerful and fine until we stepped out from customs to see our guide, Marie, and her assistant Anita waiting for us with signs and I fel the tears well up against my will. I was just so overwhelmed after all this time to see those three little words: "Welcome CCAI Families." That would be us.

Marie is a delicate powerhouse and I'm already quite enamored of her. Like Alex, she daintily stood in the roaring bus for 30 minutes, sweetly and precisely explaining how everything we needed for the next day could be found in either a blue or pink evelope she's prepared for us, with helpful pink Post-its indicating where we needed to sign. Tomorrow we will be doing paperwork to register and notarize these adoptions and between that and the orphanage visit (an hour away) it will take most of the day. But Marie makes it sound fun when she does stuff like give a us a lis of recies that she knows the pbabi's wil like and includes the precise pen who wants everuon to sign witj. By the time we reached the Vegas-stu;e Gpd;em Respirces it was clea it would not suck. It's had to imagine anything going seriously wrong with Marie aruounf.

I seem to be losing it here, so more tomorrow. I've just spent several hours unpacking, organizing the babie's things and packing a diaper bag for our adventures tomorrwo (and how the hell do yu palc adiaperback?) I felt like I bought so much for her and now it sooks so little. It's verh weid toseeer crib just sitting there, like that's normal and

(after 7 hours of Ambien induced sleep.)

I have no idea what happened last night. I'm fairly certain I never even brushed my teeth. Marie gave us very explicit instructions on the bus and they included a bunch of papers we had to sign and a short essay to write giving our reasons for wanting to adopt Ruo-Ruo. Everything she said made me feel so emotional. I was tearing up intermittently for the entire 30 minute ride. She told us that we would have tags to hang around our necks that said in Chinese "We are adopting this baby and love her very much. Please return us to the Golden Resources Hotel." Hee. She also gave us a map that showed where our baby was found. Ruo-Ruo was off the map, onto the other side, and only an approximation was shown. Very sad. We also got a sheet of new info from the nannies, talking about the girls' habits, their roommates, favorite nannies, etc. Joy and Jarrah were not roommates, apparently. I was highly amused to see that "Mei Ruo cries when nanny feeds another baby. She moves closer to nanny then." David said she's obviously a smart girl. ;) We have a new photo of her that seems to be her passport photo, where she looks like a chubby empress in a red satin ermine-trimmed coat and and a slight frown.

I had a bit of a hiccup at the Hong Kong Airport when I was flagged for carrying both scissors and a knife in my carry-on. What an airhead! The scissors were an oversight, but the knife was intended as an orphanage gift (a Swiss Army) and of course I'd figured the safest place for irreplaceables was the carry-on luggage. I was interrogated by three extremely polite security officials and given a piece of a triplicate form, suggesting I won't be seeing those items again. It was just frustrating to lose one of the gifts we'd brought only one night before we needed them. Mary and Paul (yay!) came through with another gift for us--what would we do without them???

It took several hours to fill out forms, write the essay, wrap gifts, unpack our bags, set up the baby's things, unpack and re-pack the diaper bag (we'll be at the orphanage all morning, and the registry's office with the babies for paperwork all afternoon.) Somewhere in there I took an Ambien and that's when the slurring and weaving started. It did help us get a few hours of solid sleep and this morning the room looks orderly. We are extremely pleased with our swank room at the Golden Resources except for the pervasive smoke-smell that is either in the carpet, the bed covers, the air filter, or all of the above. I have a feeling I'll be getting used to it soon.

Just one more comment: David and I could hardly believe the visceral wallop of entering this room and seeing the crib, sweetly decorated with 101 Dalmations sheets and curiously swathed in a mosquito net canopy. There was also a baby bathtub beneath the sink in the bathroom. This room is intended for a couple with a baby. A family of three. Although we will be meeting Ruo-Ruo in only a couple of hours, that is still very hard to understand. But it's feeling a little more real all the time.

Next Entry