The day of April 20th started early for us, as we left the hotel at 5:15 AM to catch an 8 AM flight. However, jetlag woke us up even earlier than we needed to be awake, as it had been doing ever since our arrival in Jinan. So we began our day with sleep deprivation. In addition, I had had a dry little cough ever since our first day in Jinan, which I had thought was a reaction to the pollution. By Sunday, however, I was congested enough to realize that I actually had a cold.
We didn't have any trouble getting to the airport on time, but the alert security staff caught us trying to sneak yet another potentially dangerous substance onto the airplane: a mysterious white powder (aka baby formula). So, for the second time in three days, I went through the routine of going back out through security to check our carry-on bag with its offending substance. (As someone pointed out later, it probably did seem a little strange that we had powdered baby formula but no baby.)
We discovered, en route, that the flight wasn't straight through to Kunming, but actually made a quick stop in Chongqing. We got a substantial snack on both legs, and this, in addition to the granola bars we had munched for breakfast, was all the food we ate that day until dinner. Neither of us slept much on the flights either, so you can imagine the shape we were in as we approached Kunming!
As we began our descent, I craned my neck around the passenger next to me to look out the window. I received an impression of very green mountains, terraced far up with rice paddies, and startlingly red earth. As we got closer to the city, I could see acres of construction sites: six-story apartment buildings, just like the outskirts of every other growing Chinese city. The air as we approached was turbulent, and I got the distinct impression that many of our fellow passengers were first-time fliers. At one point I heard a loud collective gasp as we lurched into a particularly dramatic air pocket, followed by exclamations and relieved laughter as the denser air at the bottom bore us up.
After getting our luggage, we were met by our guide (holding up a sign reading "Welcome Linette McDaniel family"), who whisked us off to our van. The driver's wife and preschool-aged daughter had accompanied him as far as the airport, and our guide mentioned that the little girl was adopted. That was interesting to me, since many Chinese still believe it's best not to tell small children that they're adopted.
We drove straight to the Civil Affairs office, an apartment which has been converted to office space. I actually didn't realize until just before we walked in that that was the place; I thought we were making an intermediate stop. We asked Leo, our guide, if he would be willing to video our first meeting, and he agreed, but then when we walked in she was right there, being held by a nanny. One other woman and two other men were also there with Esther Si Di. (One of the men was a director of the orphanage and the other I assume was the driver; I'm not sure who the other woman was.) I didn't recognize Esther at all, but I knew she must be the one because she was the only baby in there. By that point, between exhaustion and the shock of suddenly coming face-to-face with a new family member, I was pretty dazed. I had thought that they would hand her to us right away, but it seemed that we had to sign some papers first. So we took turns signing papers and interacting with Esther while her nanny held her. I felt pretty awkward interacting with her, because I wasn't sure what she would think of us and I was conscious of all the interested eyes on us. Once when I smiled at Esther she smiled back, and the orphanage staff exclaimed, "She likes her!" At some point I handed over the photos of two Kaiyuan alumni that their parents had entrusted to me to deliver to the staff. The nannies and director looked through them with interest and discussed which children the photos were of. (I didn't have their names written in Chinese characters, so there was some confusion, but I think they finally got it figured out.) When Tim and I were both busy signing papers, Esther's nanny talked to her and bounced her on her hip, and I could hear Esther laughing. It was clear that they liked each other and had a good relationship, which made me feel good about the care Esther had been getting in her Social Welfare Institute.
Finally Esther's nanny handed her to me, without much warning. Esther didn't act at all bothered about being handed off to a stranger, although she wasn't thrilled either, just seemed to take it in stride. I pulled her stuffed giraffe toy out of the diaper bag and tried to interest her in it, but she wasn't very interested. The director asked me (in English), "You like? You like?" I thought, "Duh, I didn't do mountains of expensive paperwork, wait 13 months and travel halfway around the world to NOT like her!" but I just said yes. Then we had to do more paperwork--we took turns holding her--and then suddenly our guide said that the Kaiyuan folks hadn't had any lunch yet so why didn't we finish our paperwork tomorrow when we came back to sign the final adoption papers. So, as abruptly as that, everyone Esther knew walked out the door, leaving her with us. She got very solemn, but still didn't cry.
In the van on the way to our hotel, I sat with Esther in my lap and Tim sat next to us. Esther grabbed his thumb and held on tight while she looked out the window. I could see her little eyeballs going back and forth as she watched the scenery go by. I stroked her head and was surprised by how coarse her hair felt compared to the baby hair of my siblings. (But now her hair is soft and smooth, so maybe it was just the shampoo they used?) When she started to fuss I pulled out her giraffe again and she sucked on its horn for a few minutes, but still didn't want to play. By now she was hanging on to Tim's thumb with one hand and my finger with the other. Then I tried to distract her by pointing out the things we could see out of the window. That sort of worked, but in the end she fussed herself to sleep in my arms.
Esther didn't wake up when I climbed out of the van at our hotel, so I held her sleeping in my progressively more aching arms as we checked in, ordered a crib, and got all of our luggage up to our sixth-floor room. There I laid her ever-so-gently on the bed, where she promptly woke up and started wailing. She got up on hands and knees, laid her head on the bed, and rocked back and forth, crying, with her head turned away from me. Every once in a while she would turn her head to glare at me, then look the other way again. After some time (looking back I'm guessing it wasn't a very long time, but it sure seemed like it) I concluded that she wasn't making any progress towards going to sleep. The director had told me (when I asked) that she hadn't taken her noon nap, and I knew from the schedule they had given us that she normally slept from 12-2, so I knew she must be tired. My poor arms had had enough carrying for the day, so I put her in the Ergo carrier and walked up and down with her until she fell asleep again. Then I lay down on the bed, Ergo and all. I wasn't going to risk waking her up this time! I was so tired myself that I closed my eyes and ignored the rest of the world, even the staff who came tiptoeing and giggling into the room to set up the crib. I didn't manage to fall asleep, but I stayed there for an hour or so while Esther got some semblance of a nap.
And since this entry is getting pretty long, I think I'll save the narrative of the rest of the day for another entry.
Linette
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