It is so exhausting being here--the time change is just a killer, and we do not even have Elijah yet! Yesterday was Saturday, and by the time evening came, I was too tired to post.
Many more families have come to Guangzhou with AGCI who have adopted from other provinces. It has been neat to meet them and hear their stories. There are a surprising number of boys in our travel group, probably because these are all special needs adoptions. I have seen 4 girls--a 7 year old with a corrected cleft palate, a 3 year old who has vision issues, and twins, one who has a level one cleft palate. There are 7 boys in our travel group. One has a heart condition, one is 6 (I'm not sure what his special need is, if there is on beyond being six), one has malformed hands, one has a cleft palate, ours has hypospadia, then there are 3 more families still coming. I'm not sure what their stories are.
My mom, Kailey, and I went shopping yesterday with another couple at some of the stores we had checked out before. They bought a stroller (which they had planned to do here all along.) We were also scoping out shoes and some clothes, since there is very little for boys here on Shamian Island, with so many girls being adopted.
In the department store we were in, we watched a little boy [maybe two years old] waddle along with his pants around his knees. His mother got a plastic shopping bag from the clerk and held it for him to pee into. Then she took the little girl [maybe three years old] who was with them, pulled down her pants, scooped her into a supported squat, and held her over the bag to pee. Then she tied the bag shut and carried it around with her. We see kids peeing on the street all the time. [Of course, my parents have pointed out that they have seen adults peeing on the street in New York, Chicago, and Rome. We have seen none of that here.] Most little ones here do not wear diapers. They wear split pants with no crotch. Justin thinks that is hysterical that their privates and tush hang out for everyone to see. Parents carry their little ones with their tushies peeking. The littlest ones wear a cloth diaper with no plastic pants, but by six months or so, they cue their parents who hold them out to go where ever they are.
The other interesting thing is their concept of winter here. We are on the same latitude as Miami, FL. It is easily in the 80's here right now. I recognize that only Americans and Germans wear shorts outside of home or exercise, but here, beyond just wearing pants, people are wearing long sleeve shirts, jackets, sweaters, etc. They are selling puffy down coats in the stores. Fur lined shirts, padded jackets, snow pants too! Why? I do not get it. I recognize it is November and winter in parts of the northern hemisphere, but not here! We have also been told to dress Elijah in pants and long sleeves or the locals will fuss at us for not having him dressed correctly. We'll see. I brought long pants and tee shirts. Only two more days!
We are getting ready to attend the English speaking service here on the island in a few minutes. I'll fill you in later.
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