Stuck on the Island

Not really stuck per se, well kind of...so the day started like any other until the phone rang.  It was Liz, the fabulous social worker who has helped all of us become a family from day 1 with Frank!  She was just checking it and it was great to hear from her and fill her in on what has been happening on this side of the world.  Shortly after hanging up, the phone rang again, this time it was the front desk...when we initially made our reservations we were supposed to come in to Guangzhou on Friday, but since the passport wasn't going to be ready on time, we were allowed to fly in on Wednesday and we had to add a few days to our stay at the hotel here.  In doing so unfortunately, the hotel could not figure out how to keep us in the same room so we had to move all of our stuff (that I just finished unpacking and organizing all over the room...aarrgghhh!!!!) down 2 ROOMS  - seriously??? Seriously.  So, breakfast finished, moved all of our stuff, then it was almost lunch time.  We were bound and determined to try to stick to Yashu's schedule (at least as much as we could) so we decided to stick to the island, eat lunch, abbreviated nap time, then leave the island.  The first three phases of that plan went swimmingly - lunch at the restaurant in our hotel (not that fabulous and waaayyyy overpriced, plus we were the only ones in there so I am not entirely sure they were even open, hmmm?).  Then came the leaving of the island part.  About 2 years ago we went to a county fair, one of the best in middle TN, and we were eating, going on rides, having a great day.  The three of us got on the ferris-wheel and as soon as my feet were off of the ground I had an enormous panic attack.  Can I just ask, do you know how many times I rode the ferris-wheel on Navy Pier?  I lived on the 19th and 28th floors of apartment buildings.  A county ferris-wheel gave birth to a fear of heights??? Ridiculous.  The only way off of this island is a pedestrian bridge that is up about 3 flights of stairs hovering over the highway...I got to the bottom and just couldn't do it.  Frank just shakes his head and laughs at me at times like these, luckily Yashu is not aware of enough to know what a freak her mother is yet.  My amazing husband even tried to get a cab to take us across the street, a request that was met by frantic pantomiming and yelling in Mandarin and finally "IT IS JUST RIGHT THERE - NO WAY!!!!".  Seriously. Sigh.  We did however find directions to a store somewhere in the middle of the city to pick up some every day items and found a cab to take us there at least.  Finding a cab on the way home was a different story but we did finally make it.  I never thought I would say this, but man do I miss the smelly Walmart in Nanning.

To be fair though, China is the least wheelchair\stroller friendly country I have ever been to.  There are cobblestone sidewalks, giant curbs, huge staircases with no ramps, multi=level stores with no elevators but strollers are not allowed on the escalators.  I may be even more aware because of our daughter but man the ADA would have a field day with this place.  My arm muscles are getting huge just from lifting one side of the stroller to walk down the street.

Meanwhile, Little Miss is really realizing that she is stuck with us.  Even more so, she is realizing that we don't speak the same language.  That makes her mad.  Really M.A.D.  Today, she is more upset with me, which as long as I am kept fed, doesn't upset me too much.  I get it.  She called three wonderful women "Mama" and doesn't feel like she needs a fourth.  Three women who she could speak to (literally) and I fall way short of her standards of care giving in that regard.  John is a HUGE novelty and she has never called someone Baba before.  I get it.  I feel for her in a way that only a mother can.  I also look at Frank and see how Daddy is his favorite playmate on the planet but at the end of a bad day, he calls me into the other room to talk.  When Frank is angry\scared\confused\sick, he wants his mommy to hold him until he falls asleep.  Someday, I hope our little 5 going on 17 year old, will feel the same way.  Until then, we take the smiles when we can, remove as many tears as she can squeeze out and wipe the snot with whatever we can find - this is being a parent and I wouldn't trade our little critters for anything in the world.

xoxo - n.