We and another one of the families in our group decided to go to the toy market that morning. We had heard that this is a HUGE place with tons of stuff including toys, the traditional silk dresses, shoes, and other things, and that prices there were so cheap and better than other places so we wanted to check it out and we got two taxis to take us there...we thought. We ended up at a large high end shopping mall thinking, this isn't quite what we pictured! We finally figured out that both shopping centers have the same overall name, and the drivers had dropped us at definitely the wrong one. So we asked two more cabs about taking us there. One said no, so all 8 of us piled into the other cab and headed to the toy market!
This place was insane. You could very easily get lost in it and seemed like a person could take a long time to find their way out! It was floors and floors, but each floor was a maze. And the hallways were small and kept winding around, and they had teeny stores lining them that were all packed with stuff.
We wanted to find cheap kids shoes there along with a couple of other things we were in search of, but we never could find shoes. Someone there told us in his best English attempt that there was a separate shoe market. So after a few hours of exploring the mall, we went searching the streets for the wholesale shoe market. After walking awhile we were getting a little tired and hungry by this point, carrying backpacks and babies the whole time. But then someone said Shamian Island was very close to where we were so we decided to give up on the shoe market and try to find it and get some lunch there and shop a little.
We tried to get a taxi but the drivers told us we didn't need one, that it was just around the corner and "that way", pointing down the road. We discovered that there must be a code among the locals, that if they can't understand us and want us to leave them alone, just point to the right and say "that way". So we walked for who knows how many miles and asked who knows how many people, and finally found Shamian Island. We were proud of our accomplishment and covered much more of the streets of Guangzhou than ever intended but we reached our goal! Haha. And, we were too tired to shop by the time we got there :) We ate lunch and by the time we left there we had only 2 hours until time to meet our guide in the lobby at 5:30 for the dinner cruise that our agency had scheduled, and Sadie still hadn't had a nap. So we got a taxi and headed back to the hotel. We passed the wholesale shoe market somewhere along the way!! :( Goodbye, shoe deals!
By the time we got back to the hotel I was thinking that me and Sadie, being pressed together with the baby carrier that straps her to me, had really gotten sweaty up against each other. I discovered once in the room that no, she had just peed through her diaper and soaked me and the carrier as well. So we washed her off, laid her down and she immediately went to sleep, and washed the carrier and hung it up to dry...and I took a shower! Then we got her up - not too happy to be woken...she takes so long to wake up - and rushed out to meet our group for the dinner cruise.
We had been warned by multiple adoptive families, and even our agency, that the food on this dinner cruise is super sketchy and lots of people have gotten sick from eating it, so we brought our own food for dinner just in case. It is a 2 hour or so little cruise where they make a circle in a boat, showing the skyline and structures of the city. It was really pretty. We passed by the Canton Tower, which is the tallest structure in China and the 4th tallest free-standing structure in the world. It disappeared into the fog at some point, but we had been able to see the full structure as we came into the city earlier in the week. So many of the buildings and bridges are lighted with very colorful changing lights, and the Canton Tower is as well. John gets motion sick a lot so he stood outside pretty much the whole boat ride, just to keep from getting sick. Sadie and I came in and out. It was very cold outside on the boat. She laughed hard whenever the wind blew and she got cold, not sure why it was so funny.
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| Canton Tower. You couldnt see the top but it is crazy tall. |
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| This picture makes me laugh. See the guy next to us? He could be staring at the 4th tallest structure in the world, but we are more interesting. We have almost gotten used to the stares. When we were at the zoo, they drove us (all of the adoptive families together) on a little shuttle around the zoo before letting us out to walk around. Some guys were videoing the pandas and as we came by they just turned their phones around to video us instead! We all said we may as well be in one of the cages and we could be the main exhibit :) |
Then came the entertainment. We had been told about this woman, the entertainment, who apparently thinks she is a very big deal, haha. And she did not disappoint! She came in with 4 balloons somehow attached to her head (someone said hot glue?) and a crazy outfit. She did tricks like juggling oranges and plastic knives (all to music) and clapped hard for herself when she accidentally dropped them. Then she started doing tricks with a ball, like spinning it on her finger and bouncing it on her head. She actually was pretty talented with the juggling and had some good moves with the ball too but her performance was just odd! She moved to the crowd and motioned for our guide to put her finger out, and she started spinning the ball on our guide's finger. Then she moved to one of the babies in our group, held his finger and spun it for a second on his...he was unimpressed and not too thrilled with her. I figured she was done at that point but then she came over to us, grabbed Sadie's finger and got right down in her face and started spinning the ball on her finger (in my lap). I don't think I have quite heard screams like this come from her until this point. Poor baby, I think this lady may have set her back a little. She was terrified. The lady quickly walked away thankfully, and I held Sadie close until she calmed down. I couldn't help but laugh a little when it first happened, just at the ridiculousness of the situation and the fact that of all the things I had worried about negatively affecting our new daughter this week, I had never imagined the trauma of the crazy balloon lady. But I felt so bad for her at the same time - no telling what went through her little mind as this lady came up grabbing at her! So she calmed down and the lady was out of sight for awhile, I guess spinning the ball around the back of the crowd...but as she came back into sight (across the room) Sadie started screaming hard again. So outside we went, until the lady was done and gone.
Not sure if that was the reason Sadie was more on edge the next day (yesterday) or if it was something else, but she has done SO well so far with all the walking around, shopping, being in the carrier, etc. However yesterday we went to Shamian Island, and any time any of the store workers got anywhere near her she would start screaming. Of course then they all wanted to try to calm her down even as I was trying to get my distance from them, and they would come over and squeeze loud toys in her face or shake the little swinging drum things in her face, all which upset her more. So whenever anyone started getting close one of us would leave the store with Sadie while the other finished whatever we were doing. I wish I knew or could communicate with her...I don't know if this all came from fear after the balloon lady scared her, and she was afraid one of these people who came close were going to take her away, or if something was reminding her of something else. No way to know. She would say Mama while she was crying - I don't know if she was saying Mama to me and was afraid of being taken away, or if she was reminded of her foster family and calling out for her foster mama. I wish I knew. Either way I just held her tight and sang to her until she calmed down, which she did pretty quick once we were outside, and then we went to grab lunch at Starbucks...caramel macchiato and a grilled chicken sandwich and it was so good!
Everything here to eat is so heavy. The Chinese food is heavy, and we have tried two places known for their American food, but I think here that means "deep fried". Chicken fingers, onion rings, pizza, burgers...all of which are yummy on occasion but when you are wanting something lighter or more like your normal food, these extra greasy versions of American fast food are not exactly it. We have been warned not to eat most of the fruit so dragon fruit and bananas are pretty much all we have felt safe eating, and vegetables are very scarce! We were told to only eat vegetables if they are cooked, but everything is cooked in lots of oil. We have enjoyed most of the food but every meal for two weeks does not sit well! I am ready for something light!!
Shamian Island had some neat little stores...I love all the little girls Chinese traditional dresses! Every time I saw them I was drawn to them :) John was loving that!
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| random statue of a large woman on Shamian Island |
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| school sports practice on Shamian |
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| this is a place where adoptive families traditionally get photos. we didnt attempt to get her out and in line... someone said this statue was on Amazing Race as well |
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| ahhhh Starbucks! |
Since Gotcha Day, Sadie has often pointed at things she likes and said something that sounds like "meow". Any picture of animals she says it, but she says it to some random things too. One of our questions for her foster mom was whether she had been exposed to any animals at all. She said that Sadie would feed a stray cat and say meow, so that was our guide's only guess as to why she meows at things. From what we understood that is the only animal she had seen (and at the zoo she meowed at all the animals). So last night we were looking through a little animal book we brought and she was meowing at everything, and she started learning animal sounds! She picks up up on things pretty quickly! She was having fun trying to imitate the sounds. Carter will have fun teaching her :)
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| Looking through the photo book we sent her when we were matched. Ready for her to meet her brother and sister! |
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| drinking bottles like a champ now |
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| coy pond at the hotel |
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| outside the hotel |
We did one small load of laundry through the hotel service when we got here, but it is expensive and they only deliver it at specific times of day, so we have been stretching our clothes to last to the end of the week. Yesterday I thought I had it planned it out til the end but just after putting a fresh clean pair of clothes on me and on Sadie, she threw up milk on us both...so, we ended up washing some clothes in the bathtub with a lot of dish soap!! Clothes are hanging around our room drying! Most of the people here hang their clothes out the window to dry so we feel we fit in. For those who are meeting us at the airport, know that we will be at the end of 30 straight hours of travel and possibly wearing clothes that have been washed in dish soap! If we are so happy to be home and see you that we tackle you with hugs, just hold your breath and smile :)
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