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DAY
4 OF OUR JOURNEY TO KAI!
APRIL
1, 2006
THE
PRESSURE IS ON!!!
Hi
Friends,
I
have gotten your emails asking about the
April 1 update. WOW! We
got back to the room from touring (since 7
am) at about 7:30 p.m.
and
I could LITERALLY not keep my eyes
open. Had I had Kai he'd have been
tucking himself in....ok, not that
bad....but close! I kissed
everyone goodnight
at
the front door of the room and that's ALL I
remember. It was a
free-for-all. I hope Amanda wasn't
Karaoke'ing in the lobby at midnight!
:)
It
is now 4:45 am and my bio clock is still
totally screwed up. But I'm
posting before we take off to Hangzhou
whether it kills me.
So....here
goes, April 1.
We
awoke at the usual 6:30 time. I called
to check on AJ, who by the way I was told is
GIGGLING up a storm? HUH? Do 1
week old babies giggle?
Anyways,
I know he's doing great and really being
doted on. I miss him so much though,
and think of him often.
After
my call, we went down to breakfast. which
once again was excellent. We had to
laugh at the service at the Novotel Peace
restaurant. Those of you waiting
to
travel will find that restaurants and stores
have many, many employees....(imagine how
many people are looking for jobs) and I
guess they figure that they are so
easily
replaceable that their expectation for
service is very high. I literally
would take the last bite of whatever on my
place, put my fork down, and within
seconds
the plate would be removed. My Mom and
I made a game of it. We'd serve small
portions just so we could finish everything
and see who's waiter was fastest.
There
were 4 of us at our table, and 3 waiters
serving on us.
AMAZING!!
After
breakfast, we met up with the Smiths and
Kathy and her family and off we
went. Our first stop, the Jade
Factory. Thank goodness we had
Jackie who
kept
telling me she bought everything over 50%
cheaper in Guangzhou, otherwise the shopping
spree would have begun. Amanda didn't
get out of the bus, and
Scott,
my Mom and moseyed through the store after
watching how they designed, cut and polished
the jade. For those non-jade experts
out there....like moi, Jade
comes
in a large variety of colors. I always
thought it was just green. Anyways, we
were there a short time and then boarded the
bus to head to the Great Wall.
Words
truly cannot describe the awesomeness of
this structure. Just to think that it
is over 2000 years old is mind boggling, and
pictures do not do it justice.
I
am so very glad we came. Being one of
the 7 wonders of the world, and the only
man-made structure visible from space, it is
definitely a must see, and if you can
bring
home a baby while on the trip....well,
that's just icing on the cake.
When
we arrived there, Joe, our guide said,
"do you guys want to go the
"easy" way or the hard
way?" Well, I've read
enough yahoo boards to
know
that it's the hard way or the harder
way. Mom and I, and the Smith's said
the easy way.....Scott, Amanda and Kathy and
her crew (with 2 little ones)
said
the hard way. We go and take a group
picture, and then head off into our separate
paths. Story of my life....Mom
and I went a different way than Scott and
Amanda
did,
yet we ended up in the same place.
There I was ready to go the hard way.
The Smiths turned around (they had 4 little
ones with them) to go look for the easy
way.
Mom and I said, we'll go ahead and tough it
out....although, from the time we got off
the bus, she kept saying there was no way
she'd do it. We lost sight of
Amanda
and Scott right away and headed up!
Mom got to the platform (maybe 20 steps up)
and said...."I can't go on any
further". I got a kiss for luck
and braved
the
elements (actually the weather was gorgeous)
as I began the treacherous climb.
Being a Floridian, who is used to altitudes
lower than sea level, I was really
struggling to
breathe.
I'd climb approximately 10 steps, some which
were 3 feet high, others 5 inches high, and
have to stop and rest. Thank you, Lord
for those hand railings.
It
must've been a sight to see because being so
steep, I ended up using the hand railings as
a rope, sort of like how you would see a
mountain climber scaling the
side
of a mountain. But...I was doing
it. I reached the first tower
and that in itself gave me the strength to
want to continue. There are 7 towers
in all. By the way,
we
went up the Badalying side. There is
another side to go up with cable cars that
take you to the top, but the guide said it
is usually very overcrowded.
After
about 6 stops to catch my breath and allow
my now jello-like legs to regain some
posture, I noticed Amanda about 40-50 steps
ahead of me. I didn't see Scott
anywhere
at first. I noticed Andrew (Kathy's
brother) and Libby, her little girl,
standing by Amanda....but where was
Scott. So, I yell out her name and
wave my arms,
like
someone lost at sea when they see a
ship. I figured if I could get to
Scott, he would no doubt "help me
up" the steps. Yes, I have no
shame....I would have used
a
cane if they let me. Amanda sees me
and says, "Hi Mom!!" I yell
back "Where's Scott?" She
says "Here...sitting....he's
dizzy!" I stand on my tippy toes
and see Scott
sitting
on a step...actually laying on a step,
looking, well....dead! Scared the crap
out of me. I couldn't believe my tough
guy (yeah, the one I had been looking for
to
carry
me up the steps) was down. Poor
baby! He boasted over and over
and he'd make it to the top. He so
badly wanted a medal. They sell these
medals that say
I
climbed the Great Wall and they engrave your
name and date of them. Upon seeing
him, Adrenalin kicked in and I scurry up the
50 steps. When I get to Scott, he's
white
as
a sheet and sweating profusely. The
first thought that crosses my mind is....do
they have 911 in China? How do I get
him down from here? How long before
rescuers
arrive? And then....the topper....OH
MY GOD!!! I'm a day from getting Kai
and if he dies I have to call off the
adoption!! (yea, a bit selfish...but
I'm being honest! LOL!)
I
kneel before him and asked him
twice..."what's wrong, are you
ok?" He doesn't answer
me. He's obviously breathing, but my
nerves are getting the best of me and
I
said sternly..."Scott, answer
me!" He looks up, not
looking very well, and said. "I'm
ok. I just locked my knees when we
stopped to rest and got light
headed". I said,
"Ok,
let's go down". By then we have a
crowd of people surrounding us as this grown
man who is clearly not looking well, is
motionless on the ground. Scott
insisted he
wanted
to keep going. He kept saying,
"Give me a minute....give me a
minute." We were about 20 steps
away from the 3rd tower, and that in itself
was an admirable
feat
to accomplish! I ask Amanda if she
wants to continue and she, completely full
of energy and says
emphatically..."YES!"
So, then Andrew and the girls took off.
I
once again look down at my worn out husband
and ask him if he's sure he wants to
continue and he says yes. We wait a
couple of minutes more and got
up.
We
start heading towards the 3rd tower.
Seconds later, Amanda is calling down to us
from there....waving from a window and
yellow..."Hey, Mom!"
I
think that gave Scott and I some strength to
continue. We arrive at the third tower
a few minutes later, and once again, Scott
sits on the floor....very pale. I said
to him,
"I'm
heading back. We've gone up a lot
further than I even thought I'd
go." I knew he would
follow. We kiss Amanda goodbye as she
and Andrew continue up
and
Scott and I begin our descent down the mountain,
which I thought would be easier.
HA!!! Going down such a steep
mountain, with "jello legs" at a
high rate of speed
was
not pretty. I kept picturing our
"Gotcha moment" with Kai.
There we are, ready to hold our child, we
give him a big TOOTHLESS smile! :)
I
also have to mention that the trend did not
stop. I did stop a couple of times to
ooohh and ahhhh over some beautiful Chinese
babies. Gosh, they are so cute!!!
We
make it down to the bottom and I am the one
now ready to collapse. We regain our
strength and wait until the rest of the
group comes down. It was definitely an
adventure,
but never did I dream it would be so
difficult.
Continuing
on with our day, we leave the Great Wall and
head to The Friendship Store. This was
non-eventful, and pretty much a state-run
tourist trap. It was a HUGE...
I
mean larger than Super Wal-Mart huge store
filled with everything from $50,000. jade
statues to small trinkets. Scott
quickly reminded me about GZ being less for
the same
stuff.
We all headed into the restaurant and sat
down to some "ok" food. I
was hungry, so it didn't matter what we
ate. I must say I am getting pretty
tired of Chinese food.
Another
tip moment for those that are on my
heels....our meals are included and it
includes your first "drink".
Beer, soda or water, the rest of the drinks
you pay
for....but
very cheap. Also,
Scott really likes the beer. He says
no aftertaste but really good. I'm not
a beer drinker.
We
leave there, and to be honest, I would have
been very content to head back to the
hotel. We had two more
stops. The Summer Palace and
then Peking Duck dinner.
The
smaller kids were already exhausted and
showing it. :) We decide
to continue on. Kathy and her family
decide they will head back to the hotel and
we pull over
on
the side of a highway to hail a cab.
Yep...pretty strange, but not for the
Chinese, since it seemed people do it here
all the time.
We
drop them off and continue on to the Summer
Palace. This place is about 200
years old and was created by the Empress for
her to reside during the months of
May
- October. She had a beautiful
lake made so that she'd be surrounded by the
breeze coming off the lake. It
was quite impressive and I felt a bit
jealous that
I
couldn't have a "summer palace",
but who'd want to clean a place that size
anyways! :=0
We
went thru that pretty quickly, which is a
shame because it really has a lot of
history, but we were so tired that it didn't
matter if the Empress herself was
walking
us through. I just wanted to get to
the end. We came back to the
hotel for a quick 30 minute rest (which FLEW
by) and then boarded the bus for dinner.
The
food was excellent...but again,
Chinese. Did I say I'm getting tired
of Chinese food? OMG! What I
would give for tacos, right now. Also,
the Smith kids
were
going full-blast and poor Jackie and Greg
(Mom and Dad) couldn't enjoy their dinner at
all. We laughed earlier and Jackie
said, "Maybe Joe can take the kids to
dinner
while we all go out!" hahaha!
We
came back to the hotel....and the rest is
history.
This
morning we leave to Hangzhou, the capital of
Zhejiang, which is Kai's
province. Tomorrow morning we
meet Kai at the Civil Affairs Office.
It has been said
that
sometimes the officials go ahead and bring
the children out to the families on
Sundays....but I don't think that will
happen since there is another family coming
in
late
this evening and getting their little girl
from YiWu also.
To
my QT4 friends....I am not sure when we are
going to visit the orphanage....but Betty
assured me it would be no problem. And
again, I PROMISE to try my
hardest
to get pictures of your babies. I know
how important that would be to you. If
they absolutely tell me no, I will at least
ask to see them for myself so I can give
you
whatever details I see.
Thank
you all again for your emails and
support. We're really enjoying reading
them, and I look forward to the many
laughs. Also, I've gotten quite a bit
of emails
from
people I don't know....and I love
it!! Thanks for following us
peons on this trip of a
lifetime!! We are so blessed
with wonderful family and friends!
Next
posting will be from Hangzhou, China!!!
Love
to all....
The
Bombardiers
Scott,
Ohilda, Amanda, and the
"unofficial" Bombardier, Abuela
Titi.
CLICK
HERE FOR PHOTOS & VIDEO
(some
special pics are of the fish at the
Friendship Store lunch....it REALLY was
good!! I was the only one to eat
it. When that dish came out is when
my
Mom broke out the can of Libby's Vienna
Sausages! hahaha!)
 
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