Gotcha Day!!!

Gotcha Day!!
It is finally here, the day we've been waiting so long for, Gotcha Day. We woke just a few minutes before the alarm and started getting ready for our 5:30AM bus departure. The kids did great and we were downstairs and mingling with the the anxious families before loading on the bus. The same family that had a daughter faint in Tianamen Square had one of their other daughters faint this morning and their third daughter vomited last night. Tough, tough start to the trip for them. Hopefully they get everyone sorted and can enjoy the rest of their trip! We rode to the airport and learned what terminal and flights we'd all be on. We are departing from terminal 2 and flying on Eastern China Air to Xi'an at 7:55AM. So imagine me, the detail oriented planner learning that our flight to the adoption city leaves in less than 2 hours and we are not at the airport. Apparently God is working on my control issues with this trip, so I take a deep breath and give the worries to him knowing that it'll all work out. (I hope!!!)

We drop the first group of families off at terminal 3 and wished them well before we headed to our terminal. We unloaded and Mandy, our guide who picked us up Friday, walked us to the check in area. This is a pretty crazy sea of people and I would have loved to take a picture, but after Mom's experience in Paris' CDG, I wasn't going to take a chance, so you'll have to trust me. We checked in with no issues and that was as far as Mandy could take us so we played roulette with which security line we would pick. We opted for the wheelchair line since we had the stroller. In China, security is tight and each person needs to approach the security desk individually, stand in a specific spot where they use a camera to match you with your passport photo. Then you proceed to the scanners to have your bags x-rayed. I had to lift Veronica up so the camera could see her and then to her dismay I had to pull her thumb out of her mouth. I hope they enjoyed the scene as she wasn't a big fan of that at all. We cleared security and headed to our gate. We did what we thought was a gate check of the stroller and waited for our flight to board. Our planes was a nice 737 and was packed. Max was hoping for an A-380, but apparently a 737 will do for the 1h40m flight to Xi'an. :). I guess we'll have to go to Singapore so we can catch an A-380 for him. Good problem to have, huh? Heheheh maybe we can time it so that we can catch the F1 night race around the city - But I digress (just need to plant the seeds, you know).

Our flight to Xi'an was nice and we were glad to see that more Westerners were on the flight, too. Apparently Xi'an is booming as we deplaned on the tarmac and took a bus to the terminal. We collected our bags and met Rea, our guide. She walked us to the van and we loaded off and headed to the city. Already we can tell that Xi'an is different from Beijing as we can see maybe 1 mile instead of 1/3rd mile from the smog and haze. The airport is about 45 minutes from the city and we pass through farm fields before we start bumping into the city traffic and skylines. Tall apartment complexes are very common and we can see that Xi'an is developing quickly from the number of cranes. Rea jokes that the national bird in China is the skyscraper crane. As we get closer to the hotel we come upon the 600+ year old city wall and drive along it for a while before entering via the South gate. Very impressive as it is very wide and must have taken tens of thousands of people to build the 9 mile long ramparts. The inside of the wall is the packed dirt from the moat that surrounds it and I can't wait to explore it but only after we get our son.

We check into the hotel and Rea helps us to our room. It is around noon and our appointment at the civil affairs office is at 3:00 so we have some time to burn. We start getting settled in to the room, preparing the gifts, etc and head to lunch in the hotel's restaurant. Their Western buffet features fried rice, fried noodles and an assortment of Chinese looking dishes but apparently if you have silverware on the table, it's Western. LOL! We finish and head back to the room with over an hour to kill so Ron and Julie lay down for a quick snooze before the big deal. We meet Rea in the lobby and head out. The civil affairs office is less than a block away so it was funny that we drove, but if you've seen the traffic in China, you can appreciate the relative safety of a van. We unload and go into the building that says it is the Xi'an Science and Technology Museum, but looks like an office building to me. The Adoption Affairs office is on the 6th floor and we get off, turned to the right and then another quick right. We walk through the door and can see our son sitting on the floor surrounded by adults. Holy cow! Can this be real? I think we both expected to have to sit there and wait for them to bring him to us, but nope, there he is! We say hello and his name but he isn't in to it. Who are these people and why are they so excited to see me? I thought they were just pictures in an album, but here they are, large as life. The orphanage director and one of his caregivers (not Mary Ann, sorry mom) are there with him and brought some pictures and a box with some dirt from Weinan for him wrapped nicely. We'll leave it wrapped for him so he can open it some day in the future when he is ready and wants to learn more about where he was born. We sign some papers and we're off to do some shopping. We pick out a few outfits from the limited selection including split pants for him to sleep in and then go to get formula (they call it milk) and water. Buying items in China is different in that usually you pay the cashier first then get your item. In the Carrefour you checked out at the end like we do back home, but apparently formula is different. So I paid and then we headed to the checkout lanes, back to the van and to the hotel.

Hard to believe it is really happening. We are trying not to overwhelm him, but it is hard. You want to let him know that he is loved so much by us, but we're really rocking his world. He is overstimulated and will glance at the ceiling or wherever someone isn't. We were told not to call him by his English name until we get back to the states and his caregiver told us that he goes by Shan-Shan so we're going with that. :) We continue to bond and build the trust that he needs and the older kids do great not crowding him and giving him room, while still being there for him to see. Shan-Shan can stand and sit in various poses, but we've not seen him walk yet so wonder if that is due to his institutionalization. We'll probably learn all kinds of things that we can attribute to that over the years.

We enjoy a meal of oatmeal and "Cream of Wheat" in the coffee cups in the room and try our hand at mixing stage 3 rice cereal that is green and smells horrid. The good news is that he loves it. We all start getting ready for bed and sack out for the evening. Shan-Shan seems to rock himself to sleep and he is out. We clean our dinner cups, try to get things ready for tomorrow and not long after, we are out.