Friday, July 29, 2005
Tidbits from Nanning
Lis and I were beginning to wonder if it was ever
going to happen, but yes the most notable update from
China, although a seemingly small thing, has us
feeling very upbeat today. Our daughter smiled! I
would like to lie and say that I coaxed it out of her
with my crazy daddy antics, but alas, it was another
of her 'sisters', actually one of Mia's former
roommates that tickled her funnybone momentarily. A
crack in her otherwise somewhat somber persona, but
we'll take it! Otherwise she is an awesome baby -- it
is funny to refer to a 14 mo old that way, but she is
such a little peanut, it definitely fits. No question
that she personifies the 'hard knock' orphanage life.
We have the sense that she has a 'quiet' personality
to begin with, and that does not serve you well when
you're at an understaffed orphanage in rural China.
Walmart was interesting, very much like that in the
states. Very popular with the locals... It was funny -
I asked where the antipersperant area was and there
was some confusion. Eventually we found the spot -
only one brand, and only one 'scent' for men - whole
area took up about 8 inches of shelf space - although
given some of the body aroma of the hotel staff, I
guess this fits! Overall, merchandise especially
shoes, are extremely cheap, most kids shoes are less
than 4 bucks.
Tonight we have a group dinner with the rest of the
families. They promised they were taking us to a
restaurant where they try to 'westernize' their dishes
somewhat. When we asked what this meant, they said
that they would chop the head and feet of the chicken
before serving! Reminds of the end of Christmas Story
movie.
There are some very intersting things, to me anyway,
that I find interesting enough to try to remember...
- the fire extinguishers, even at '5 star hotels' are
just literally laying around. No cubby in the wall
with a glass door, or shelf, or anything. There's a
few here , there , wherever. Fire safety a relatively
new concept perhaps.
- Unlike the cyclist in Beijing, the moped and
motorcycle riders in Nanning all wear helmets...and
are somewhat more obedient to traffic signals. The
helmets look wimpier than the helmets I wore during
Little League baseball, but at least it is something.
I cannot believe that Mia and I haven't witnessed and
accident looking out the hotel windows, which we like
to do. The bikes and mopeds and cars and buses swarm
back and forth and around each other like some kind of
crazy dance...I think it is the relatively slow
traffic speed that saves the day.
- Air conditioning is a relatively rare thing in
general it seems. I mean, we are traveling like kings
and queens, riding in AC equipped buses, etc. But all
the government building, monuments, and museums that
we have visited, including the Nanning airport are fan
cooled only (if they have remembered to turn them on)
- Using a chinese version of windows XP isn't bad --
thanks to icons which are universal.
- I can't say enough about the staff that are helping
us and guiding us. They translate, coordinate, and are
extremely friendly. Heck, they even organized a local
massage therapist to come by tonight (one hour massage
= 8 bucks!). And apparently pediatricians here still
make housecalls....
I will populate the blog with a bunch of pictures when
I get home; hopefully will post again in a couple
days....
Mark
