Our day was excruciating long yesterday - we woke up at 4am, left our house a bit after 6 to drive to Seatac. Checked into our flight about noon, left Seattle at 2. We landed in Beijing about 12 hrs later - I think it was almost 5, but don't remember. :) the flight was loooonnnngggg!!!!! I am nervous to do it again with a two year old! The seats are narrow! My poor hubby just fit, thankfully we volunteered to sit at the bulk head so had lots of leg room and space to stand and stretch. The crew was very polite, the people on the plane very quiet, including the few children and infants. Again, makes me nervous!!
We had a long layover in the Beijing airport, our flight was delayed an hour, too. Eman and I were so exhausted at this point - both of fell asleep on the floor and made quite the spectacle of ourselves. We were so happy to finally land in Xian and meet our guide. I almost cried from sheer exhaustion when we met her. It was amazing to get to the hotel and flop on the bed. We both passed out quite quickly after having a bath and snack. Our bed is HUGE. Celine (our guide) said they pushed two beds together for us. :) We have a view of the coy pond which is quite lovely.
Breakfast is buffet style. There was much of the same style breakfast foods that we eat, minus all of the sweet rolls, plus lots of vegetables, noodles, congee (we tried it and didn't love it..), and other stuff that I don't remember. Each item is labeled in English and Chinese. Lunch and dinner will be on our own. More later - eman wants to take a walk.
We just came back to our room from a little adventuring. We wondered around our hotel, which is very nice, btw, and then out on the street. Lots of brown sky/smog and crazy traffic, horns always blowing. We crossed over the street on a foot bridge and watched traffic for a while. It is amazing to see motorized bicycles weaving in and out of traffic, loaded down with whatever - sinks, windows, stacks of boxes, etc. also, lots of mopeds and scooters, none of the riders wearing helmets, either. We saw several with a dad driving their little child somewhere. On our way back to the hotel, we crossed the actual street. That was an adventure that made my heart race! We crossed with another more cautious Chinese couple. It felt like we nearly were run down, but I think that was just my nerves. :) traffic slows but does not stop for pedestrians. Traffic laws are suggestions and I don't think they are ever followed, especially by the motor scooters.
Just a few low hanging electrical wires.. No biggie.
I am amazed by how few young children we have seen - so different than in the US where you see kids everywhere you go! I don't know if they are in school or just left at home? When we were headed back to the hotel, we saw more young teens.
In 2 hours, we will have our girl..!! The hotel has a little crib in the room for us to use. I have her blankie and cozy bear all ready for her. Our guide showed us a video she was able to take of N. Celine was up in Yulin City for a training hosted by the CCCWA (Chinas adoption officials, etc). The video shows Naomi playing in her walker with a little boy next to her. The boy takes a toy from Naomi. She, very promptly, whacked him in the back of the head! Ha! She apparently has some spunk and knows how to look out for herself! This also confirms my nervousness of getting an untrained (by my polite American standards) two year old. She has definitely trained herself by orphanage standards. ;)
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