Awaiting Kate: August 17, 2010: Xian – Walking the Streets of Downtown Xian

This morning it was so nice to not have to set an alarm as we had no where we had to be today. Kate slept pretty late this morning…a little past 8:00 am. She woke up crying as she has been doing the past few mornings since we have had her. Although I think Kate is doing remarkably well adjusting to all of us, I can see that she still does not trust us fully…I expect for this to take quite awhile. I can only imagine that she just thinks we are just another group of people taking care of her at this particular time and she wonders when we will leave. She is very babyish for her age of 2 years and 4 months and quite dependent upon us for everything. Although her weight appears to be healthy, she is not very strong at all. Her muscles seem very weak, especially in her abdomen. If she is lying on her back, it is very difficult for her to get up on her own without rolling over to her tummy…which is also not very easy for her. She is beginning to walk on her own which we hope will help her build up some muscle and strength. She probably spent a good deal of time in her crib or a walker or a Nanny's arms.

Fortunately, she goes to Sean and I both easily. She loves Caroline and copies everything that she does…good and bad! She also adores her Gailie. Kate has a precious laugh that we have heard many times and a smile to die for! Her eyes and face are very expressive as you can see in our pictures. I do see a look of concern on her face often and it breaks my heart. I pray every day for her to be relieved of her need to feel worried or concerned about anything. She has a family now…she has a Mommy and a Daddy that love her and will protect her…I pray for her to feel that kind of love and security that allows children to be carefree.

It is really just the waking up that is so difficult for Kate…but once she is fully awake and realizes where she is and remembers us, she smiles and interacts with all of us well. We got dressed and headed down to the breakfast buffet which is pretty yummy here at the Xian Sheraton. For those familiar with Chinese Adoption, it is no White Swan Breakfast Buffet…but it is completely sufficient!!

We decided not to tour with our CCAI guide today because she was going to a Museum and I did not think it was something that would really entertain Caroline or Kate. Plus, we really wanted to get out and walk the streets of Xian. The downtown area is very historic and there is a lot to see. Our CCAI guide reminded us repeatedly about pickpockets when we told her about our plans to explore downtown. (We heeded her advice and all went very well.) We walked from our hotel into downtown. It was a really long walk, but the weather was cloudy and surprisingly comfortable and not as humid or hot as it has been. We passed little storefront windows where folks were selling steaming noodles, dumplings, and stewed looking meats. Passersby would just stop in and grab a bowl of food and eat right there on the sidewalk with chopsticks or they might squat down near a light post with their bowl. I love seeing how the people that actually live and work in this city live and interact on a regular daily basis.

We saw every type of vehicle on streets of Xian: there were 3 wheeled cars, mopeds, motorized bikes with wagons attached to the back, lots and lots of regular bicycles, buses, taxis, etc…and it seemed that the main rule of the road was "There are NO rules of the road!" The driving and the drivers were crazy. There were times even in the privately rented bus for our adoption agency that I literally saw another bus or car come within inches from plowing right into the side of us! We walked through the City Wall of Xian which is the last standing city wall in China. It is really big and thick and at night the top of it is lit up which is beautiful. We stopped at the Bell Tower first which is at the center of the City. It is a beautiful ancient building in the traditional Chinese style. We spotted a Starbucks and quickly made our way over for a coffee. I tried to take a picture of the Starbucks Menu which is completely in Chinese…it was so cool looking! But I was quickly reprimanded by one of the Chinese Baristas that no photos are allowed. Caroline had fallen asleep in her stroller on the walk so she slept through our Starbucks experience and missed out on Gailie's Caramel Frappacino Whipped Cream…but our little Kate took full advantage. Sean fed her the whipped Cream from the end of a straw and she LOVED it! We have quickly found that Kate loves to eat!! She eats just about anything…she is not hard to please in that area at all.

From the Starbucks we walked to the Drum Tower which is just a couple of blocks from its sister tower, The Bell Tower. The buildings are similar looking except that you can see the large drums lining the circumference of the 2^nd floor of the Drum Tower. Adjacent to the Drum Tower is the Muslim Market which I absolutely loved! It is a huge market of little stalls of folks selling everything: Chinese dresses and jackets, beautiful silk table runners, jade and pearls, sunglasses, watches, paintings, roasted walnuts, mouton pita wraps, pigs feet and a whole host of completely unidentifiable things to eat! It was hot and noisy and packed with people. I loved the buzz of it and I loved bargaining on the price of the goods I was buying. I didn't realize I loved bargaining like that…but you really do get a little adrenaline rush from it…or I did anyway! Sean was laughing at me. He kept saying…"Are you OK? I think you are a little too hooked on this!" The great thing is that when you know you can find the item you want at the next booth or stall…you don't mind walking away if the vendor does not come down to your price. After the vendor would adamantly insist there is no way he/she could sell that item for that low price (emphasizing that the price is ridiculous!) they would then literally come chasing after us when we would turn and leave begging us to come back and buy for that price. It was so great!!

We were pretty exhausted and starving after the excitement of the Market, so we decided to take a taxi home instead of making the long walk back to the hotel. It was rush hour and it was next to impossible to find cab. Sean finally hailed one down for us and we ate dinner at a highly recommended dumpling restaurant right next door to our hotel. The food was absolutely delicious, but the experience was completely off the wall. Not one soul in the restaurant spoke English…although they did have an English translation of the menu…so we knew what we had ordered. It was so smoky and they did not have any high chairs. Since no one spoke any English, we had to act out what we needed…like a high chair for Kate or napkins or diet coke. It was so funny…that Mom, Caroline, Sean and I just could not stop laughing. It ended up they have no highchairs…so Kate sat in this huge chair which she kept sliding through the sides. They had no napkins…so we used Kleenex and no diet coke! BUT, the food was awesome…some of the best dumplings we have ever had!