About the boys

The focus of this trip is Minlan, but at the same time, this is an amazing experience for the boys, and it has been very interesting to see how they see another culture, as well as deal with the adopting issues.

One we haven't mentioned much is the strange adoption bubble we travel in. It was slightly this way in Nanning, with three families staying at the same hotel, all there to adopt. We saw them at the Gotcha Day, the notary day, and around the hotel. The Majestic Hotel is also a favored one with adoption families, because they have great English speaking staff, good amenities within walking distance, and a Western style menu in one of their restaurants. But in Guangzhou, that's taken to a whole new level. The Marriott where we are staying has a breakfast buffet and each morning, we see over twenty families (and that's just during the window we eat during). Same story at the pool. And across town where the medical appointments are, the White Swan has been the locus for adoptive families for over 15 years. When the consulate was still there, it was really a one-stop shop. Our guide has over four families he's taking care of this week. Marilyn at one point asked if this was their full time job - yes it is. Each guide we've had during this process does this every week, week after week with new families coming in on Friday night starting the process all over again.

The boys see all this as interesting. Suddenly, halfway through our trip, they started seeing a whole lot of Americans (or Spaniards, as we've discovered at our hotel), they have people they can talk with, and the menu gets easier for them to manage. I told them they would get to go to a McDonalds as a cultural experience, and we discovered something really important: here, you can buy a toy without the Happy Meal. Also - they still have deep fried apple pies (not the baked ones that replaced the ones we used to have in the states).

They also notice the medical conditions that come with many of the kids who are adopted. Rather than not talk about it, we've been explaining what a cleft palette is, why a girl's hands may not work right, and why their sister has a hard time seeing things. In typical fashion, the boys are just curious, not opinionated about it, and I'm glad for the opportunity to talk.

We've also taken the Metro, trains, planes, and automobiles, and they've seen all kinds of people in each mode of transportation. The five hour train ride had salespeople on it, ramen vendors, and very nice people who helped us get all five of us in one section together. Across the board, people have been lovely to the boys, and have treated them like super stars.

When we first arrived, Declan was a little peeved at having his picture taken in public by everyone around us. But they haven't seen much blond hair in person. But he warmed to it. People flashed the "peace" signi in every picture, so the boys picked it up. After Beijing, all our photos have at least one person flashing the peace sign. Also, people asked us if the boys were twins - because all white people must look alike :-). I think the combination of blond boys, and a six foot tall red head and six two white haired lady made us stand out. Or maybe it was just my chrome dome.

One thing that annoyed me to no end earlier, but that I understand now is the boys' desire to go shopping everywhere. They see toys they've never seen, and even though they are made of plastic and break in a day, the boys are enthralled. We did do one day of shopping in Guangzhou which was ostensibly to get some tshirts because we needed another change of clothes. Since that was the whole point of the journey, it was great, and I loosened up a bit. Plus it was fun to see Minlan shopping, too.

As Karin posted earlier, everyone but me is or has been sick, so I'm trying to stay well. No adventures today except the pool and the TB screening. Tomorrow we are supposed to go shopping with a personal shopper in the afternoon. We'll see. Photos from the road to come....

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