If you have read my blog long - or ever - you are thinking....duh. NO way.
I dreamed up the absolute most fearful 12 hour flight to Beijing that you can imagine. I mean, picture a Boeing 797 doing the stunts of the Blue Angels (and not on purpose). You know, the one and only thing that is half way comforting about my ridiculous tendencies is that the reality is rarely as horrific as I dream it up to be. The problem of course, is all the time I waste dreading something that I can't change. I am pretty sure God speaks about that in Scripture many, many (many) times.
Anyway, as He always is, He was there. "His faithfulness reaches to the heavens..." (and it certainly reaches up to 40,000 ft.) If the flight was turbulent I don't recall. Truly. No fear. And it actually went by way faster than I ever dared hope.
We landed in the Beijing Airport at 7:00 pm China time - the day AFTER we left Arizona. Such a surreal thing - to "fly over" an entire day. There was one other family from our travel group on our flight. They also had three of their other children with them and our CCAI guide Jason was waiting for us at the baggage claim.
I want to pause to give a shout out to CCAI. There are situations where your child's file can not be picked up by CCAI, and you can't use them. But, you guys, if there is ANY way at all for you to use Chinese Children Adoption International - then you absolutely must. I am sure there are other great agencies, but I can not imagine how anyone could be any better. Their customer service is beyond compare. Our guides did everything but tuck us in at night. NO joke. Maybe some people don't want to have their hands held, but for us rookie travelers - YES please. Help me cross the street, I am so good with that.
Anyway, so Jason met us at the airport, with the bus (and driver - Master Su) and off to the hotel we went. On the way, he gave us the schedule for the weekend's activities and lots of history of Beijing. Jason had a habit of repeating himself. He said literally everything at least twice - and he hit the important things (like what time to be back on the bus the next day) three or four times in one sentence. You could tell this was not Jason's first rodeo and he likely learned long ago that the Americans do not listen very well.
By the time we got into the room and settled, we were ready for bed. Since we had eaten on the plane, we had some protein bars, took a melatonin (those things have literally saved my sanity these last few weeks), and off to sleep we went. Considering our internal clocks were way off, we were up bright and early and off to breakfast in the hotel dining room where we met the rest of our travel group. These families deserve their own post, so I won't go into much detail except to say that we met 13 other families during our time in China, and they are life long friends now. No doubt, there are not that many people on the planet that I have shared moments as intimate as the ones we shared in that Gotcha room on the 15th. We're getting there.....
After breakfast, we all went to the bus. Jason showed up at breakfast in a BRIGHT yellow coat and a large red flag with CCAI printed on it. He was going to make sure that all of his charges were accounted for and safely delivered to the next city. Bless him, he was awesome!!
The first day we toured Tienanmen Square and the Forbidden City. Then, we took individual rickshaw rides to a private residence, where the owners served a home made lunch to our entire group. With 14 families, lots of us bringing other children, and two bringing grandparents - we had a grand total of 43 traveling together.
It was a wonderful day of seeing the capital city and some of the most famous landmarks in China. Glimpsing the culture of our future children was important and eye opening. On the surface, I learned that the Chinese people are very cold natured, they love tall blonde Americans and follow them around like the paparazzi, they have no personal space limitations and don't mind walking in a herd with their bodies literally pressed together and moving along like a tidal wave.
On a deeper level, I learned that everyone should be the minority at some point. Experiencing a period of time when I could not understand anyone, didn't look like anyone, and most often found everyone staring at me was disturbing and yet very profound. It opened my heart just a little more to the plight of my brothers and sisters of all races and the prejudices that still sadly exist in our country. A nation that was founded to give shelter and refuge to the masses - meant to be a melting pot, a land of opportunity. Yet, we have not come nearly far enough in areas that really matter.
I learned that Jeremiah's people are strong, beautiful, smart, and they are survivors. The Chinese birth mamas have encountered so many many obstacles in creating their families. Poverty, pollution, a government that controls your life so rigidly that it tells you how many babies you can deliver. A medical system that prevents poor families who want to keep their babies from being able to do so because of finances. The courage and bravery of the mamas and babas who would actually leave their babies in a public market, knowing they would be found, hoping against hope that they would be adopted - would I actually have that kind of selfless love and steadfast courage? Would I? Or would I hold my baby tight against my chest and refuse to give him up until he drew his last breath? I honestly don't know. As selfish as it sounds - I don't know if I would have the courage to give them up that way. Not ever really knowing what happened to them. Oh, how I wish I could hug Jeremiah's first mommy. How I wish I could somehow tell her that he is loved, happy, and ok. That we will do for him medically what she could not. Somehow I imagine myself being able to communicate with her. On some deep, primal level that only two people who passionately love the same little soul can do. I pray that she just knows. That two weeks ago a peace flooded her tormented soul.
China was amazing in so many ways. It was a place of almost mystic haze. It is steeped in ancient superstitions. Beijing was old meets new in many ways. The ancient landmarks, the traditional pagodas and architecture, the Great Wall, the temples, the Buddhas - all that in stark contrast to the absolutely breathtaking skyscrapers, concrete, cell towers, and thirty million residents pressed together in a huge mass of humanity.
We toured the Great Wall on Saturday. It was freezing, it was a brutal climb, especially dragging a five year old who was "soooo cold he was going to diiiie right here on THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA!!!" But, the view from the top (well, not quite the top, I couldn't drag Patrick that far) - but the view -- there are no words. Over 4,000 miles of wall stretches across the northern part of the country. Building the wall took the lives of an estimated 1,000,000 people - it is known as the "longest cemetery in the world." It was absolutely breathtaking.
After we thawed out, we toured a jade factory, learned the history and significance of jade to the culture and had lunch at the restaurant on site. It was a wonderful day, bonding even more with our group - dreaming about our babies who we would meet on Monday morning in a new city, and just soaking in the culture so that we will have so much to share with our kids when they are old enough to ask questions.
Jeremiah, we loved "your people." We loved their soft smiles, their shy waves and quiet "hellos." We love their jet black hair and beautiful almond shaped eyes. We loved learning all that we could about the things that make China one of the most studied ancient cultures in all of history. There is such an intensity there - we fell in love with the people.
Sunday morning we left early for the airport. Again, our amazing guides made the in-country flight as painless as possible. They gathered our luggage, collected our passports, drove us there, walked us in and received our boarding passes and hugged us good-bye at security. We flew 2 hours south to Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan province, where in the wee hours of the next morning, 15 children - orphans no more - would begin to make their way from all over the countryside to one central office building in the middle of a bustling city. Fourteen Mamas and Daddies, three grandparents, and more "extra" children than I can remember would be waiting to smother them with hugs and kisses. Lollipops in abundance - tears, smiles, emotions that literally drive you to your knees.
Coming up next.....Gotcha Day!!!!
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