Day 1

It's 4:00 AM  Beijing time.  Nathan and I are wide awake having slept for the last 8 hours.  Noah is still conked out, thankfully.  I cannot tell you when the last time was he fell asleep in the car during the day time, but after lunch yesterday we could not keep him awake. 

I have to tell you that the entire trip is a little surreal.  Part of me feels like it is a normal vacation, except we are coming home with a child.  Part of me feels so out of sorts and knows this is really monumental but I can't quite wrap my mind around it.  We have 2 families that have adopted previously and it seems sort of the same for them.  It has been interesting to see many of the Chinese people really staring at us.  Also, since two of the families are traveling with older adopted children from China,  many of the locals will stop and openly stare.  It will be interesting for us once we get Arwyn in Guizhou.  I am wondering how people will react to us.  With a population of a billion, I suppose the 10, 000 or so children adopted out each year are not really very many, so I am guessing many people have never seen a foreign family with adopted Chinese children. 

We began the day with a great Western style breakfast buffet in the hotel and then our group of 4 families left for the tour of the Temple of Heaven.  It is an incredible example of Chinese architecture and Feng Shui.  It is a sacrificial temple where the Emperor made sacrifices to the God of Heaven for the prosperity of his people.  We were there for quite a while and I can tell you that it is cold in Beijing.  The Temple park as it is now covers several hundred acres and much of it is barren of any landscape (right around the Temple) and it is cold and extremely windy.  We did not bring heavy coats but we are very layered and fared well in the cold.  Some of the families were not entirely prepared and as we were out in the cold most of the day, were quite chilled.

After the tour of the Temple we were taken to a traditional Chinese restaurant complete with entertainment.  We were served Chinese family style and it was quite tasty.  While we ate, dancers did traditional Chinese dances on the stage in front of us.  Today several other families will join us but yesterday there were 4 of us and two of the other families each brought a 6 year old girl with them.  One of those families has 5 girls (they brought one and the other 4 stayed home).  They are an amazing family.  One of their children is a bio child, 1 adopted from China and the other 3 are adopted from Ethiopia.  We were so touched at lunch yesterday as they shared their Ethiopian adoption story. 

She told us of a young mother that was clearly starving that showed up at the guest house where the Mom from our group was staying.  She was in labor and the families staying at the guest house held a piece of plastic over her while she gave birth on the doorstep.  They brought her in.....there was more, but in the end they helped her to the orphanage where she could get formula for her child as it was apparent that she was too malnourished to make milk.  Her stories were touching and heartbreaking and to hear them reminds me that while we are not adopting to save a child, in the  back of our minds, we know that these kids need help.

After lunch we headed to Hutong, the last remaining part of old Beijing.  Around 20 years ago, the older traditional areas of Beijing began to be torn down to make room for the hundreds of skyscrapers that are here.  We had the pleasure of taking rickshaws through this old city area and visited a traditional family home.  In fact, this family has owned this courtyard home for 40 years and one of the grandchildren was there giving tours of the family home.

By this point, we were all quite chilled having been outside since early that morning and we took the tour bus to our final destination, the Acrobatic show.  Noah and one of other children slept through the show, as well as myself and a few other parents.  Jet lag has definitely set in. 

After going to bed around 8PM last night and getting a full 8 hours of sleep, I think we are finally acclimating to the time change.  We are all starving - no dinner last night - too tired!  Today we are seeing the Great Wall and the Forbidden City.  If I had it to do over again, we would have hung out at the hotel all day yesterday and rested.  Oh well. 

I'm posting some photos of our tours yesterday for you guys to see back home.  There is Temple of Heaven, Noah, and the 3 of us in the rickshaw.  I have my face covered as the area we were in was very dusty and the wind was blowing.  Will post again tomorrow of the adventures of the Croys in China!

Hugs (2 days to Arwyn).

Dana

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Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.
-Henry David Thoreau