Hanging Out in Shanghai ...

Day 2 – 13 December 2008, Shanghai, China

Goooood Mooooorrrrrnnnnning China. Always wanted to do that. Breakfast this morning was OK. We had the usual Western style items on the menu, but as was the case last time, they weren’t cooked like we would have thought. But the pancakes were great and the orange juice was out of this world. Austin suggested we get a spicket routed to our room for the juice. We loaded up as much as we could on the things we could, Lily Grace using her reserve for watermelon, watermelon, and then some more watermelon!

Last night was very hot in our hotel room. We had adjusted the thermostats to as cold as possible and set the fans on high, only to have the hotel clerk tell us they didn’t control anything. ‘Open windows, please’ they said if you are too hot. They say please after everything. We found this out last time that the Chinese people are so very nice and they really aim to please you. It’s almost embarrassing sometimes at how nice they are to us.

Back to the heat. We had the front desk and then later a bell clerk and then another lady all tell us the same thing. Apparently when it gets winter here, they turn up the heat so it matches what they had outside during summer! So we opened the windows and tried to sleep. No such luck. We were all up at 2:00 this morning sweating like Thomas the turkey the day before Thanksgiving. Even Lily Grace was wringing wet, her thin hair glued to her forehead like strands of dried “mein!” I even tried sleeping on the balcony underneath the open window and that seemed to work except that Lily Grace was now wide awake and wanted to play. I’ve probably had three or four hours of sleep since Wednesday night. “Ni lei ma?” “Chur!” I am not kidding. This room is probably at 90 degrees and we get to hang out here all day waiting for a 4:55 pm flight to Beijing.

But enough complaining. We’re here and we’re all healthy and ready to get to Taiyuan. Taiyuan, and indeed much of Shanxi, are known for coal mining. We’re told to expect dirty air. Hopefully the mini-pharmacy mentioned in my last post will keep us from contracting anything too bad in the smog.

I wonder if Lia Faith senses anything or if she’s been told anything was about to happen. Or do they just gather her up on Gotcha Day and trek off to Taiyuan? I wish we had some input on how this works. I don’t want Lia to be afraid or upset, but I’m sure she will be. We’ll just do our best to comfort her and play with her once she’s with us. We have the same stacking blocks that Lily Grace played with on her Gotcha Day. Maybe they will have the same calming effect for Lia Faith. Hopefully, she will sense how much she is loved and will be comforted in that. Jessica told me last night that Lia is a really, really sweet girl. She says that she is easily comforted and pleased and doesn’t throw fits – Lily, you hear that? I think Jessica is really going to miss Lia Faith, but she knows where she is going and she knows that there are others in North Alabama who have come from the same orphanage.



Here’s some pictures from Shanghai at the Ramada. The hotel is decorated very pretty for Christmas. Even the waitresses and waiters in the restaurant are dressed as little Santa Clauses and all the hotel clerks and bellhops wear Santa Claus hats. Lily Grace found this Gingerbread house and got a little sassy, so we took lots of pictures. And the Christmas Tree in the lobby is very, very tall, as you can see.

Enjoy the pictures and we’ll post to you again later. Three times a day might be a little bit of a stretch, Erica, but we’ll do our best! Thank you for reading and for your comforting responses and well wishes. They really mean a lot to us, as anyone who has taken this journey will tell you.

Love,
Jerry, Connie, Austin, Lily Grace, and Lia Faith
Green, Party of Five