Archive for the ‘Ava’ Category
No pictures today. We took them but I am too tired to even transfer them from the camera – much less upload them. Our internet here is, ummm, slow (to say the least). I will do my best to do a picture catch up post tomorrow once we get to Zhengzhou. We fly early tomorrow morning.
Today we went to the Beijing Zoo. By ourselves even though it nearly gave our guide hives that we took off on our own. He was appalled (“but you have to cross the street to catch a taxi back” and “it will cost you about 40 yuan each way”) but we managed to handle it with no problems. 40RMB is about $6, by the way. It didn’t break the bank.
What did annoy me was that our guide approached us this AM and told us we needed to pay 500RMB for our participation in the tour yesterday. We did not plan on touring with them due to the cost quoted by CCAI but were instead going to go on our own. He told us to hop on the bus with them to catch a ride despite me telling him that we were not participating in the group tour and he assured us it was pay as you go for our own tickets, etc. It’s not the amount of money exactly but the way it was handled and dictated to us after the fact. I gotta say, I’ve been really happy with CCAI overall but the experience we’ve had with the travel department has been the one sour spot in the process.
Anyhoo…
The zoo was interesting. I’ll spare you the history lesson about the grounds but they were old (Qing dynasty era) and beautiful. The animal enclosures, however, are a different story. They don’t even attempt to mimic a natural setting but are instead small and sparse. Everything was mostly clean and the animals appeared healthy but it left the animal lover in me a bit sad. People didn’t hesitate to feed the animals anything and everything despite signs to the contrary and there was no shortage of people throwing trash into the animals’ areas. I don’t love zoos anywhere but this one did make me appreciate the effort the US puts into their zoos these days.
Ava did enjoy herself though. The monkeys were cool (aren’t they always?) and we saw a teeny-tiny baby monkey hanging out with his mom. We saw penguins and tigers and pandas, too. Ava crashed hard in the stroller (yeah, I won on taking it today) so we only stayed about 3 hours before heading back to the hotel where we spent the rest of the afternoon packing, napping, watching movies, and just taking it easy. We all needed the downtime.
It’s been a bit of an unexpected strain on us in dealing with all the stares we get with Ava. I realize that staring is culturally different here and is not considered rude the way we Americans normally interpret it (aggression) but it gets tiresome. It is constant. The younger people seem much more likely to smile at us but the older generation does not seem to look upon us as kindly. I finally figured out that if we stare back it generally seems to stop them a bit quicker but we have been approached a few times. Most have been older women who are curious but kind and a quick answer that she is American tends to stop the conversation there. We’ve also had a couple interactions where the tone of voice isn’t so friendly and we simply walk away at that point. Thankfully Ava seems oblivious to most of this.
What’s great is that kids are kids and they are all friendly. So cute seeing her make little friends despite the language barriers. Why can’t adults be like that, too?
Another thing that is bothering me a lot more this time (likely because I’m more attuned to who’s around me with Ava) is how many disabled beggars there are. It is so heartbreaking to see them and I wish we could help them all – but we can’t because the minute we do then we would be swarmed. It just hurts my heart to know that we have so much in the US and a social support system that helps those who are unable to support themselves while people in other countries have so little – with the reasons for that absolutely out of their control. I swear, next time someone asks me why we adopted from China instead of one from our own country I’m gonna stick them on a plane and let them see how some people have to survive in a country without Medicaid and a decent social welfare system that at least allows most people some sort of a safety net. We did give a few yuan to a very kind elderly lady who was begging outside the zoo today since she heard J trying to buy tickets and she walked over and helped us buy the right ones. She was so grateful for us giving her less than $1 USD. No one else was even acknowledging her but they had no problem buying junk souvenirs and snacks from the many street vendors outside the gate.
I hate to end on a downer so I will instead reiterate how proud I am of Ava. She hasn’t been perfect but I can tolerate the extra attitude and over-dramatic moments since she’s barely 5 years old and is handling this trip better than most adults.
Merry day is in two days. Please send your best thoughts or prayers or whatever you do that this goes well for her and for us.
We kind of accidentally ended up on a dreaded tour bus today.
We heard the CCAI group was meeting downstairs this morning so we stopped by the lobby after breakfast to say hello and introduce ourselves. Next thing I know we’re getting our things and hopping on the bus to join the group on the hutong tour excursion. We had planned to head on over and do the Forbidden City today anyway so we figured this was a free ride that would also give J the opportunity to do the hutong tour he liked so much last time.
So – hutong tour by cycle rickshaw it was. J loved it. I was kind of meh about it. Ava was totally into being able to ride the tour bus.
It’s always interesting to see inside the hutongs. It’s quite a mixture of tradition and progress. I guess it’s progress, anyway.
Reggae Bar? No problem.
There was also a lounge named for Michael Jackson, one named Outlaw Gangsters, and we certainly mustn’t leave out the Soft & Lazy.
And this one just made me miss my dogs.
The home we visited was actually quite nice. Ms. Fong (I’m sure this is spelled wrong) opened her home for us to tour and to chat with her for a bit. She is a retired physics professor but most importantly she had lots of animals (cats, dog, racing pigeons, koi, crickets, chickens) so we felt right at home. Ava got right to work taking pictures.
Last time we went the home we visited had no central heat and minimal conveniences such as indoor running water or kitchen appliances. She also rented out part of her courtyard living area. Ms. Fong, on the other hand, has quite a modern kitchen (with running water even – although still no bathroom) and has her daughter and son-in-law sharing her space. Her son-in-law is an artist and has a beautiful studio.
We also loved her wall of family photos.
We spent a little longer chatting and asking questions before heading back. Ava was incredibly thrilled about getting back on the bus and couldn’t wait to ride that marvelous contraption again.
I, on the other hand, was less than excited. It did what tour buses are wont to do and took us straight to an hour long live infomercial (aka the official government sanctioned silk shop) where they showed us a 5 minute demo about how silk is made and then spent an hour trying to talk us into buying overpriced silk pillows, comforters, and clothes. I’m pretty sure I showed my disinterest clearly enough – so much so that the salespeople didn’t even bother talking to me.
Of course it also helped that Ava was hungry and exhausted so she spent most of our time there like this:
And then she roused a bit and we decided to put her down where she promptly assaulted a mannequin. She really did, y’all. For some unknown reason she decided to touch (which is a big no-no for us and something she rarely does without asking) and sent the poor child sized mannequin crashing to the floor totally severing it’s left arm before breaking it (the arm) into a million pieces. I’m not sure who was more mortified – Ava, the saleslady, or J. I was mostly just concerned about Ava so I probably came off as dismissive and arrogant American-like (I didn’t mean to be, really) but the salesperson assured us it was fine, hung the pieces of the broken arm sort of back on, and we made a hasty exit for the bus. Of course on the way out I had a Chinese gentleman ask me in heavily accented Spanish if ”la nina es china?” to which I actually answered (also in Spanish) which seems to be another skill I have miraculously acquired (thank you, college Spanish class) much like the ability to use chopsticks. It didn’t even hit me until a few seconds later that he addressed us in Spanish – which even now seems slightly odd.
We successfully avoided the vendors selling crap outside (I am much better at saying no this time and having them actually listen) and got the overtired kid back on the bus and headed to lunch.
Lunch was good. Real Chinese food. No General Tso’s here.
Then Tienanmen square and the Forbidden City. Shall I summarize and then post pictures? Yes? Yes.
Summary: We walked a lot. The guide talked a lot and I didn’t listen to much. Ava is heavy after carrying her for a while – especially on slippery and uneven gazillion year old cobblestones. I will not listen to J when he says don’t bring the stroller. We have still successfully avoided having to use a squatty potty. I can still get blisters even in comfortable, already broken in shoes. Ava can be a bit of a brat when she is getting too much attention (she was the only kid on board for much of the day) and is overtired. The pollution and smog here has been horrible the last couple of days and is playing havoc with our allergies.
And all that said, she did pretty amazing considering how much she’s been dragged around the last few days and I’m proud of her even if I did want to strangle her a couple of times.
Now pictures. Lots of them.
Our travel group:
Ava’s new friends:
Tienanmen family photo:
Formulating the plan of attack on the Forbidden City:
Threatened with being an ingredient in soup if she didn’t smile:
Bribed with the promise of future bunny snacks if she would smile:
With our guide, George:
And…CRASH!
Needless to say her day ended shortly thereafter (although she did manage to stick it out through dinner at the restaurant across the street where 5 of us ate very, very well for a whopping $18).
She was asleep in seconds and J soon followed.
Me? I, on the other hand, am still up sorting through pictures and fretting about becoming a mom of two in less than 72 hours from now. I am excited on one hand yet terribly worried about how we’re going to manage this especially since Ava is in full on mama mode right now. I just keep reminding myself that this will be all right – we’ll figure it out somehow.
(I have a million more pictures from today. Maybe a photo post in the near future.)
my beautiful, beautiful girl turned 5.
And don’t worry – her birthday wasn’t overlooked in the slightest.
We had a party. Or two. Actually, we had three.
One in early March with my family. There was cake, special time with Mamaw & Papaw, and crafts (PAINTS!) with the cousins.
And then there were Ariel (notice a theme here) cupcakes at school on her actual birthday.
And then we had a ginormous olympic themed gymnastics party last weekend – of which I have no photos to post because I was busy and J took all the pictures and I have no time to transfer them to my computer. Suffice it to say a GREAT time was had by all, I think, and Ava loved having all of her friends come out to celebrate with her (and I loved it, too).
We officially started our holiday season today with Thanksgiving dinner #1 with my family. (Oh my word, I’m still stuffed HOURS later.)
We haven’t visited my folks in a while and since we have J’s folks coming to our house for the actual holiday we decided to make a quick (quick being relative since it’s a 5+ hour drive) trip up before the holiday. Fortunately my family was game with moving the holiday up to accommodate us so we spent the whole day doing nothing but cooking, socializing, and eating. And make no mistake, we definitely ate. A lot.
My whole entire immediate family (+ an uncle) was here which is always cool. I know these days can’t last forever so it’s especially nice when we can make it happen. Most of the grandkids were also here so Ava had cousins upon cousins to play with. And to be clear, by play with I really mean boss around. She’s the youngest so she tends to be a tad bit spoiled (by everyone) sometimes.
What I really love about these days is that I can relax a bit with Ava. It’s so nice to know that I don’t have to eagle eye her every minute because I know that my mom and my sisters and her cousins are watching her too. On top of that, it warms my heart to know that all of this running about and playing with her cousins are building these lifetime memories for her. I remember all of the holidays with my grandparents/aunts & uncles/cousins and I so want her to have at least a taste of the same. It’s harder, of course, since we don’t live close enough to make it an everyday thing but we’re doing what we can with what we’ve got.
Also nice is making that last minute trip to the grocery store (that’s a Thanksgiving tradition too, isn’t it?) and running into an old childhood friend that you haven’t seen in years and years and years. That can only ever happen in your hometown and you realize how much you miss stuff like that after you’ve moved on and moved away. I mean, running into people we know happens at (now) home but these are people I’ve known for 12 years or less. The gal I ran into today has known me almost my whole life. Even though we don’t often talk there’s just a comfort level with people you’ve known and been friends with forever that you don’t have with anyone else.
You know what I don’t miss about my hometown, though? Trains. Stupid whistle-blowing at all hours of the night gets old fast…
Heading back home tomorrow and will jump right back into the hectic rat race and all of the stress that awaits me in my real life. But today was a really, really nice day and gave both J and I a desperately needed break. The rare opportunity to relax a bit today made the whole drive worth every minute.