Nanjing

As our plane arrived in Nanjing after a long flight and sitting on the runway for about an hour, we were exhausted but excited to be in the city where we would finally meet our daughter.  Just walking in the airport, you could tell that this place had a whole different feel than Beijing, and we really liked it.  It was a little smaller, more intimate, more like Grand Rapids or Louisville than New York City.  We got our free luggage cart (which we should have more of at home instead of having to pay!)  and went to meet our guide who was holding up a sign with AAI on it.  She introduced herself as Jane and the driver as Tong (sp?).  Jane got us loaded up in the van and sat in the back to give us an overview of all that would happen that week.  She had a nicely typed up itinerary for us to follow.  She explained the 24 hour holding period and how the adoption process would work.  She was very knowledgeable and has been doing this for about 10 years.  She said that she has met Ming before as well. 

She told us about our hotel which was a five star hotel, but she said that the room would be very small as she had a hard time finding one available.  There was some kind of international medical equipment conference going on in town.  We told her not to worry that we would make it work for us.  Nanjing was very beautiful as we drove in that night.  The city has a wall that is one of the longest city walls still standing.  Each brick has the inscription on it of the person who made it.  We asked Jane what happened if one of the bricks broke.  She said that person would be punished, imprisoned, or even put to death.  I guess you had to make for sure that your bricks were good ones if you wanted to live.   Nanjing is also the only city that has both mountains, a lake, and the river.  The city of Nanjing has been the capital of China a few times.  It is considered the southern capital of China, and Beijing is the northern capital.  There were lots of city lights and beautiful buildings that we could see even at night. 

Our first sight of the hotel was like a sigh of relief as it looked a little more promising than our Beijing accommodations.   Not that Beijing was bad, this was just a little nicer.  Our room in Beijing actually ended up being bigger than this one though.  We went up to check out our room and it was quite small with twin beds.  By the time we put in a rollaway bed for Katelyn and the crib for Emma, that pretty much filled the room.  We didn’t care as we were just ready to meet Emma and enjoy the week.  Jane was giving orders to the maids for the things that we needed.  We had her ask them to empty the mini-bar so that we could use the refrigerator for ourselves.  I immediately got busy and unpacked all of our loot so that we would be organized the next day.  We weren’t going to meet Emma until about 2:00, but I just couldn’t sleep not having things all put together.   Luckily there was a large window ledge that could hold a couple of suitcases and that helped to expand our place a little.  Once I sorted and organized, it really was amazing what you can do to help just about any place feel a little better, no matter how small it is.  The room had kind of a raw odor to it.  We are not quite sure what it was.  I used the little things of Oust air freshener, but that didn’t really help.  Once they cleaned the room a couple of times, it got better over the next couple of days.   I think it was coming from the air vents.  When I would smell that smell, I would always think about Jon coming home from Iraq and saying how he smelled like Iraqi butt after a few days on a plane without being able to bathe.  Ha, ha!  (I thought you would appreciate that, Jon!) 

I finally collapsed in the bed, feeling really good with what I was able to accomplish.  Katelyn did her jumping around crazy hyper thing for a little while and then crashed.  She was so happy that her birthday was the next day and that she was meeting Emma that I don’t think she could have contained herself if she tried.  Although it was very annoying, we tried to be understanding as she had so much adrenaline pumping through her as we all did.  We went to breakfast the next morning after waking at 6 am and not being able to sleep.  I have talked a little already about how nice breakfast was.   

Sorry if I have repeated a couple of things.  I couldn’t remember what all I had already posted.  After breakfast we ventured out to buy some bottled water, and we could tell that we were going to really, really like Nanjing.   We then went up to the room to await the time when we would meet Emma. 

Then we met Emma, which you can read all about in my Amazing Baby post!

In the hotel gift shop in Nanjing, they had these huge, gorgeous porcelain dolls that were dressed in Victorian style clothing.  Josh sent me in there one evening just to look at them.  We both agreed that they made us think of his Mom and how much she would have loved them.  It made me sad to think about how much she would have loved to meet Emma and share in this wonderful journey with us.  We miss her so very much.  I may have to buy one of those dolls in the market here in Guangzhou just because, so that I can keep that memory of Marlene close to my heart.   Grandma DeeDee you would have loved to see them too.

All of the guides here are in awe whenever Josh tells them that he is the oldest of 12 children.  They are very interested in the Fisher fam and how it came to be so large!!   Both Jane and Helen have talked about the one child policy here.  Helen was telling us how expensive it is to have a second child.  I will have to double check with Josh, but I think she said it could cost up to $35,000 and her husband would lose his job because of what he does.