today we had many 'firsts' with Mary Clare. she is smiling more and more easily and tonight was the first time she laughed out loud. We were at dinner with our whole group at a cantonese restaurant (it was really gOod, but I do think they stuck to very safe things and we didn't eat anything very unusual like the canton style is known for) and there was a mirrored wall behind us. she was in a great mood so I was bouncing her hight on my lap and then I lifted her up over my arms into the air and she giggled! Of course I did it over and over and she just laughed and laughed. I swear it was just the sweetest sound. It is making me teary just to write it out. then I had to pass her to Lee because my arms were getting tired!
another first was she ate a small amount of solids. she tried some asian pear this morning, just a nibble and seemed to like gumming it after she held it in her mouth and thought about it awhile. tonight we gave her a bit of rice too. She seemed to be working it around her mouth with her tongue well.
she is just a sweet easygoing girl. oh and she is going to be mobile soon! she was rocking on her hands and knees and doing an abrieviated army crawl thing. she will roll around and move all over the king bed. All of this from a girl who was like sack of potatoes when we first met her. I think that I was wrong about her muscle tone and that she was just so limp because she was overwhelmed and freaked out.
******notes from Lee*******
Today I connected with the Peoples of the People's Republic of China in the city of GuangZhou. It began with a jaunt into the city, by way of taxicab, deep into the heart of the shopping district. The shopping district includes stores such as "Grand Buy", "Carrefour" and "Double Happiness Luck and Harmony Gifts of Jade Pearls for Love Dragons". I chose Carrefour to find the illustrious cutom-made silk suits of China. What I found was that Americans are rock and roll stars in China! Especially if you are tall. And by tall, I mean above five foot seven. No one speaks English, which makes me an incredible negotiatior, I'll explain later. I moved from department to department looking for my suit, and at each department, I found a more excited saleswoman. Each saleswoman was exponentially more excited than the last. I ended my journey at the Georgia Childes counter where I had my friend (Shane), 4 saleswomen and 2 managers haggling over the price of a suit. I think that they all thought that I understood Manadarin and was an expert negotiatior, because they kept on showing me the calculator with a price that begun at @ 3000 Yuan for a Suit, Tie and shirt and ended up at 1258 ($150) Yuan with a mysterious 600 Yuan store credit and a 4 star (I never knew there were ratings) ping-pong paddle. I'm sure that part of the amazement of the sales people was that the suit could be purchased by anyone in the entire country since it was made for someone so tall. Anyway, it was nice to be showered with praise and discounts. The trick is to hang around forever and finally reveal to them that you can only pay with American Express. No one takes American Express. Then, they panic and keep showing you a calculator that has a lower price since there is no other way to communicate. People were always apologizing for their poor english, but I did want to somehow tell them not to feel too bad. It's not as if I speak a word of Mandarin other than Ni How (it means Hello, I thought this was Me How until yesterday). After Carrefour, we went on a walk just trying to get lost (which isn't hard) in the city. You might think it's a little intimidating being in a place where you don't know the language, but Chinese people are just too friendly. I played a pick-up game of hackey sack with 5 women that owned/operated an herb store, watched american-style ballroom dancing in an outdoor park with thousdands of people (which was indescribable). It's hard to tell when the Chinese are mocking Americans versus appreciating us. It really is. They almost always giggle when you walk by them, but I think it's because they are truly excited to see such different people. Shane and I then had a group of teenage girls come up and ask us if we could take a picture with them. If that happened in New York City, it would definitely be a scam of some kind. Definitely. But, they were just giggling about how tall we were and then showed us the picture of they took it. I would also like to understand the complex and varied emotions around the adoption of so many Chinese orphans, because I have seen such a number of different reactions, but it's probably too much to disucss on this blog. Anyway, I need to hit the road, tomorrow we're going to Mass early. That should be interesting!
another first was she ate a small amount of solids. she tried some asian pear this morning, just a nibble and seemed to like gumming it after she held it in her mouth and thought about it awhile. tonight we gave her a bit of rice too. She seemed to be working it around her mouth with her tongue well.
she is just a sweet easygoing girl. oh and she is going to be mobile soon! she was rocking on her hands and knees and doing an abrieviated army crawl thing. she will roll around and move all over the king bed. All of this from a girl who was like sack of potatoes when we first met her. I think that I was wrong about her muscle tone and that she was just so limp because she was overwhelmed and freaked out.
******notes from Lee*******
Today I connected with the Peoples of the People's Republic of China in the city of GuangZhou. It began with a jaunt into the city, by way of taxicab, deep into the heart of the shopping district. The shopping district includes stores such as "Grand Buy", "Carrefour" and "Double Happiness Luck and Harmony Gifts of Jade Pearls for Love Dragons". I chose Carrefour to find the illustrious cutom-made silk suits of China. What I found was that Americans are rock and roll stars in China! Especially if you are tall. And by tall, I mean above five foot seven. No one speaks English, which makes me an incredible negotiatior, I'll explain later. I moved from department to department looking for my suit, and at each department, I found a more excited saleswoman. Each saleswoman was exponentially more excited than the last. I ended my journey at the Georgia Childes counter where I had my friend (Shane), 4 saleswomen and 2 managers haggling over the price of a suit. I think that they all thought that I understood Manadarin and was an expert negotiatior, because they kept on showing me the calculator with a price that begun at @ 3000 Yuan for a Suit, Tie and shirt and ended up at 1258 ($150) Yuan with a mysterious 600 Yuan store credit and a 4 star (I never knew there were ratings) ping-pong paddle. I'm sure that part of the amazement of the sales people was that the suit could be purchased by anyone in the entire country since it was made for someone so tall. Anyway, it was nice to be showered with praise and discounts. The trick is to hang around forever and finally reveal to them that you can only pay with American Express. No one takes American Express. Then, they panic and keep showing you a calculator that has a lower price since there is no other way to communicate. People were always apologizing for their poor english, but I did want to somehow tell them not to feel too bad. It's not as if I speak a word of Mandarin other than Ni How (it means Hello, I thought this was Me How until yesterday). After Carrefour, we went on a walk just trying to get lost (which isn't hard) in the city. You might think it's a little intimidating being in a place where you don't know the language, but Chinese people are just too friendly. I played a pick-up game of hackey sack with 5 women that owned/operated an herb store, watched american-style ballroom dancing in an outdoor park with thousdands of people (which was indescribable). It's hard to tell when the Chinese are mocking Americans versus appreciating us. It really is. They almost always giggle when you walk by them, but I think it's because they are truly excited to see such different people. Shane and I then had a group of teenage girls come up and ask us if we could take a picture with them. If that happened in New York City, it would definitely be a scam of some kind. Definitely. But, they were just giggling about how tall we were and then showed us the picture of they took it. I would also like to understand the complex and varied emotions around the adoption of so many Chinese orphans, because I have seen such a number of different reactions, but it's probably too much to disucss on this blog. Anyway, I need to hit the road, tomorrow we're going to Mass early. That should be interesting!
posted by Tracy C. at 9:04 AM
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When traveling to China, it's important to know what food items you should pack. Here are 10 must-have foods on your next trip to China!
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