Tuesday, May 13th

Day 7
Tuesday, May 13th
Hi – it’s Crystal.
We thank everyone for your concerns regarding the earthquake. I am heartbroken over the devastation that it has caused people. Massive efforts for relief are pouring in locally and internationally. We are so fortunate that we were not caught up in this devastation.
We slept well last night and had an early start this morning as we woke up at 5 am in order to get out of here by 8:30 am. I wanted Madeline to have plenty of time to wake up slowly, play a little bit with us and we needed time to shower and get our stuff organized for the day. It worked out really well because no one was rushed. Kids are like animals and they can sense emotional turmoil. Maddy is going through enough right now and needs us to be soothing, calming influences to her. We almost have a routine set up already and working to constantly improve it for Maddy so that we make her transition as smooth as possible.
This is a lot for this tiny little girl to take in. Add not feeling well to what she is currently going through and it is a difficult time for her right now. We are doing our best to help her relax and adjust to new life.
I am a changed woman forever now because everyone knows that one of the top three priorities in my pre motherhood days were the following: sleep, good food and did I say sleep? My mother ‘s jaw is going to drop when she reads this posting as I do not know if she ever thought that this would happen to me. I can’t believe I am writing this because honestly, I never thought that my mind set would change regarding how much I love my sleep. In my previous life, my life was planned around naps and getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep a night. Now it revolves around our daughter's sleep and waking patterns.
Today we went back to the Civil Affair Office and filled out paperwork to finalize the adoption. It took maybe one hour and a half. Then we went to the supermarket and picked up some essentials. The most important product being Maddy’s formula. We returned to the hotel and thank goodness the Holt staff deals with first time parent’s like us because they showed us how to make the formula similiar to what Madeline is used to having at the orphanage. Her formula is so thick it’s like drinking a very, very thick milkshake. Basically, we cut off the tip of the nipple of her bottle so the thick paste like liquid can funnel through it very quickly. She downed her first official bottle in less than 3 minutes. The orphanage stated that she likes fruit juices or fruit but she didn’t want it this morning at breakfast.
We have been hanging out at the hotel this afternoon and went for a walk around the island. This area is very interesting as our hotel “The White Swan” is on the Pearl River and all of the buildings surrounding us resemble British architecture. It is very American friendly and there are many great places to shop and dine. I can’t wait to get out and buy some stuff. Tonight we are going to Thai food.

I do not care for the weather here. It is hot (mid to high 80’s) and very humid. The pollution is quite pronounced as I have had to use my medications for my Asthma and we have only been here one day. I usually do not need to use any meds back home in Oregon for my Asthma.
Even though this is a major city in the Southern part of China the pace is slower than Beijing. People are more relaxed and do not seem as stressed out. According to one of the Holt staff; “The Cantonese are very set in their ways and are more resistant to change than in Northern China.” I thought that was an interesting statement. She also stated that in this part of China it is still very family oriented and family tends to come back to the area they are from post University. Beijing attracts ambitious people who are very far from their families and return only once a year. Cantonese is a very difficult dialect to learn as it has 9 essential tones while Mandarin has only 4. Everyone can read the same characters though which is good.
One other comment…China has done an outstanding job preparing for the Olympics. The air quality is very good. I was skeptical about the pollution before we left for our trip but left feeling very good about Beijing. Also, I noticed a couple of other cultural differences that I think would be more prominent if The Olympics were not in Beijing. Spitting was virtually non-existent. Usually, men are spitting everywhere. I observed on this trip that if a gentleman needed to spit, he would actually walk over to a trash can and spit in it. Also, the squatty potty situation has not been as bad as I thought it would be. I was concerned about the hygenic conditions of them prior to our trip. They were actually clean (I am a germ a phob and do not use port a potties in the US unless it is an absolute emergency) and the smells from the potty’s in Beijing were not prominent. This is speaking from an experienced squatty potty user as I used one in just about every public tourist spot in Beijing because I drank so much water to stay hydrated. A must though is to bring your own toliet paper and hand sanitizer.
I’ll let you know how it goes down here in southern China regarding the potties….I know all of you are SO interested in this disgusting topic.
Oh by the way we can’t view our blog in China so if you would like to e-mail us comments feel free to do so at crystalm7@hotmail.com We would love to hear from you. Off to dinner at the local Thai place.
More tomorrow….