Today was an errand day.
We had three appointments today and all needed to go. We had another fabulous buffet. Our little man can eat! I honestly think he might have out-eaten
Adam! We have decided to give Christian
what he wants when he wants it within reason these next few weeks. Food is a touchy subject though because he
has had some major tummy problems and we didn’t want to push it too far. Vivian ran to the pharmacy for us and bought
some remedy that we have been mixing for him – a total of five times a
day. Tummy problems can be quite common
for kids in Christian’s position. He is
stressed, over-tired, and eating foods outside of the one place he has received
all of his nourishment his whole life.
It still is hard to watch. He was
very uncomfortable for him on the ride home especially.
Our first two appointments were fast. They were here in Zhengzhou and we just had
to sign a few papers at each place. We
were really fortunate because one fee was waived. It was funny actually, the government is
increasing the fee from 1800 yuan, but they don’t know what they are going to
raise it to, so for the mean time they are not charging families anything. Didn’t make sense to me why they didn’t just
take the crisp bills we already had in the red envelope, but for whatever
reason, they told us to keep it. This
equates to about $300.
Our third appointment was in Shanqui. This is the city where Peng Peng was
found. It is about a three hours drive
away from our hotel. The first hour or
so was city driving, but the next two hours were beautiful. We got to see all kinds of fields. Men and women were digging in the dirt and
pulling supplies in trailers pulled by their bicycles. This is what I pictured China to be and it
was stunning. It was amazing to me to
only see about five tractors total, and the tractors they were using reminded
me of the pictures I have seen of my grandfather driving on his dairy farm
sixty years ago. We saw apple trees,
fields flooded for locus roots, and corn.
There were even a few places were goats were along the interstate. Some of the big billboards were folded in
half. Our guide said this is because of
the strong wind and rain that they get in the summer months. The weather here is very similar to back
home, it just doesn’t get as cold as Minnesota in the winter months here.
We went to the domestic affairs building and the officer
helped us complete necessary paperwork for Christian’s passport. We should get this on Friday in a few
days. She took our picture and after
about ten minutes we were done. Oh –
this might be TMI, so feel free to skip, but this is part of the experience J … I had to use the
bathroom after the three hour drive before returning home, so I asked to use
the bathroom. Vivian and the orphanage
director walked me to a different building to go to the bathroom. They stood outside while I went in. I smiled at a lady sitting next to one of the
stalls and she returned my smile– I am not sure why she was there in the first
place. I cringe just thinking about what
that bathroom looked like. When I was
finished I turned the handle to get out, but alas, it didn’t open. I tried to not panic, but I really could not
open the door. I was working hard when
the lady on the other side started speaking to me in Chinese – I think trying
to give me instructions on what to do.
She pushed a little rod through a hole that I never noticed. I didn’t know what to do with it. I was twisting and turning the knob and she
started talking louder and I kept saying, “English”. AH.
About a minute later my guide walked in to check on me – thank goodness! I was freed!
We had been told we could visit Christian’s “Finding Place”. That is about five miles away from the office
we were at. Unfortunately, there was
road construction there and the driver would have to spend about an hour and a
half getting there using back roads. The
orphanage director offered to take some pictures and to share them with
us. Vivian said that from what she read
and what she has experienced, the place Christian was dropped was by loving
parents. They knew that he would be in
good hands outside of a senior housing area and that he would be given a good
home. She also shared with us the ad in
the paper they have to put in case he was missing. There is a little write-up and a
picture. It breaks my heart. Until this week I have never seen a picture
of him pre-surgery. His lip was repaired
at 7 months old. His cleft lip was
pretty severe. I just picture his poor
mother having to give him up after carrying him for nine months. Maybe she was beyond elated to be
pregnant. Maybe she wanted nothing more
than to raise her beautiful boy. But he
was really underweight, which indicates he wasn’t getting much
nourishment. Not many people here have
anywhere near as good of a health care plan like we have back home. I think she loved him so much she was willing
to give him up and to leave him outside a retirement home so that he could have
a better future and chance then she was able to provide. I am so thankful that he is ours and I love
him dearly, but a part of me wishes she was never in that position and that she
could have had the resources to keep this darling and to know his future. He is a gem and I am sure would have made her
very proud.
The ride home went well, but it really was an exhausting
day. This is when Christian’s tummy was
hurting him more and when we got to the hotel room and he was able to run
around and work some things out he seemed to feel much better. We stayed in and got room service and crashed
in bed by around 9:00.
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