Getting Tian

First, these are the last photos of Kunming

This is the view of Kunming from our room. When I was here 21 years ago, most of the banks and buildings weren't here. And there were no cars, only hundreds, thousands of bicycles. Now there are still a few bicycles but the auto traffic is horrible.



Xui Lan was our Chinese facilitator, born in the year of the dragon. Someone not to be fooled with. She energetic and extremely knowledgeable. Humbleness is not a virtue. When explaining things to us I replied, "Yes, Xui Lan. I know nothing, you know everything." She readily agreed.



This is the Kunming airport as we get ready to fly to Guangzhou


Our trip is split into two parts. The Kunming part was the adoption of Tian and all the paperwork that involved. She is now ours but still a citizen of China. The second part of the trip is in Guangzhou where we obtain a visa for Tian to come to the United States and where we complete all the paperwork for her to become an American citizen. When she touches American soil she will be a citizen.

Guangzhou is cloudy, rainy, and cold. We're surrounded by American couples with babies all waiting for their appointment at the US Consulate. We've run into quite a few couples I would call "ugly americans"--extremely unfriendly with some sort of sense of false entitlement. Give them a friendly hello and they just stare at you.

Guangzhou is a world apart from Kunming.

I'm really feeling this traveling. Did I tell you my visa was red-flagged and I had to write a letter promising I would not write about my trip. I had to dig the fax machine out of the basement to send the fax and when I took it back downstairs, I tripped and busted the fax into pieces. The flight of the fax was quite beautiful, a perfect arc that sailed through the air before hitting concrete, unlike me who fell like a ton of bricks on my knee. The swelling and bruising went from my knee all the way to my toes and this is the first day the color has returned to normal although it still hurts. At the same time, the fall must have resulted in whiplash because my neck has been in great pain even though I feed it mucho ibuprofen daily. I probably exacerbated the pain by climbing the stairs at Dragon's Gate, riding the zip line, carrying Tian and carrying luggage.

Now I have a respiratory infection and am taking Cipro and hacking like I've got black lung.

Lorraine's been great on the trip and is really loving being a mother. She has bonded smoothly with Tian. Also, she has said things I have longed to hear for ten years, like: "Let's get you something to eat." "Why don't you take a little nap." and "Come on, let me give you a bath." Unfortunately, she's talking to Tian and not me.

We've pretty much have had it with Asian food. We've eaten everything placed before us even though we don't know what it is. Twenty years ago I would not have considered eating Western food while traveling, but now it is different. In Guangzhou there is a bar called Lucy's that serves pizza, hamburgers, and such and we will probably take most of our meals there until we leave.

Baby clothes (all the name brands) are incredibly cheap here--since they are made here--and Lorraine is spending her time shopping with the other mothers from our group. Lorraine also finished the paperwork with the US Consulate and tomorrow we will receive the visa for Tian and have a swearing in ceremony. We could leave tomorrow night but we can't get a flight until Sunday. With Mom shopping, there is not much to do for Dad except play with the baby which I am enjoying to the fullest. Also, I found a bookstore--need I say more.

I know there are lots of things going on in the States and Iraq but we hear little. At the same time, you probably don't hear much about what's going on around China. So, let me quote a few of the headlines and stories in today's CHINA DAILY (all exact quotes):

SON HAMMERS PARENTS TO MAKE WAY FOR WIFE

DRUNK DRIVER LEADS POLICE CHASE ON THREE WHEELS
Police who chased a drunk driver who sped off after hitting a motorcyclist, were astonished to discover his car had lost a wheel when they finally stopped it.

MOLE SUPERSTITION ENDS LOVE AFFAIR
A two-year romance ended after a superstitious mother heard her son's girlfriend had a mole on her shoulder.

WIFE PROTESTS LADY DOC EXAMINING HER HUSBAND
A wife refused to let a woman doctor examine her husband's manhood and marched him out of the hospital

CROSS-DRESSED MUGGER COMES TO GRIEF
A mugger thought disguising himself as a woman would help catch victims unaware and make robbing them easier. But the man surnamed Feng came unstuck when he targeted a woman walking home late one night. And whereas the vicitm would have thought twice about resisting a man, she had no hesitation in fighting off another "woman". Feng was sent packing after she sank her teeth into his hand and clawed his face.

As my friend Ray Russell says, "You can't make this stuff up."

More tomorrow after the swearing in ceremony.