MARY'S TRIP TO CHINA
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Actually she fell asleep half way through the procedure. Her caretaker was having a very hard time giving her up and was trying not to cry although from time to time a tear would fall down her cheek.Iris had to sign an official form promising to care for and educate Mandy. After Iris signed the form they
took a sock off Mandy's foot and dipped it in red ink and stamped the document with Mandy's foot print. On the way back to our hotel Mandy woke up and was very interested in looking out the window of the bus. When we got back to the room we stripped her of her clothes. She was dressed in 5 layers of clothing all old and very dirty. We gave her a quick sponge bath and put her in an outfit Iris had brought. We fed her some applesauce and Cheerios, both of which she loved. We found out later that she loved everything except green onions and Tofu (How about that Uncle Bob). We put her in the crib and handed her a baby keys rattle. She looked at the keys and dropped them over the side of the crib with a bored look on her face. Iris picked up the keys and handed them back to her and with a hint of a smile at the corner of her lips Mandy dropped the keys on the floor again. Iris gave Mandy the keys a third time (sucker!) and Mandy dropped the keys again this time breaking out in full fledged giggles. At this point we knew this kid was no dummy and it really was going to take both of us to handle one baby. And the angel baby slept all night while in the distance we could hear baby cries
from several other hotel rooms. Tuesday February 24th-- We brought our own stroller with us to China. It is really neat. It's made by Evenflo and it is a combination stroller, backpack, and tripod (baby seat for eating). We used the stroller today as we went out with the group to get Visa pictures taken for the baby. We had to walk about a block and a half through the streets because it was too narrow for our bus to negotiate. We were like a little parade and people stopped and pointed at us and the various babies. One family of mother, father and what looked to be about a 7 year old boy decided to join us and the little boy wanted to help push the stroller. The sidewalks are enormous blocks of cement about a foot in thickness with gaps between blocks which make negotiating with the stroller precarious. I can see a difference already in the babies since yesterday. They are becoming more comfortable with their families and starting to bond. It is difficult but I am
holding back with Mandy so she can develop a primary bond with Iris. She really is a wonderful baby. Wednesday February 25th--Both Iris and the baby are sick today. Iris has a sinus
infection and Mandy has a cold or is teething. Tracy called the hotel doctor who brought some Chinese herbs for Iris. On the tour today we went to see the Yellow Crane Tower. It is based on a
Chinese fairytale about a poor man who is visited by two yellow cranes and becomes wealthy after that. They had a beautiful mural depicting the story. Then we went to a government operated department store. Iris heads to the ladies room which turns out to be not much more than a hole in the floor becomes violently ill and throws up. Apparently the Chinese herbs did not agree with her stomach. While we are in the department store Iris is looking for clothing to donate back to the orphage. I am holding onto the stroller and first 2 sales ladies come up to admire the baby, then a couple more come up. We ended up with 20 people surrounding the stroller just to admire the baby. In the meantime Mandy is going through her giggling and bouncing routine. We had lunch at KFC. Same food as America. They must fly it in. Also in Wuhan they have the first bridge that was ever built over the Yantzee River in 1957. All the taxis here are little red and grey Citrons. The extent of the city is overwhelming.
(to be continued)
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